- Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, reached a decision. They bound Jesus, led him away and turned him over to Pilate.
- Are you the king of the Jews? asked Pilate. Yes, it is as you say, Jesus replied.
- The chief priests accused him of many things.
- So again Pilate asked him, Aren't you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.
- But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.
- Now it was the custom at the Feast to release a prisoner whom the people requested.
- A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising.
- The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.
- Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews? asked Pilate,
- knowing it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him.
- But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.
- What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews? Pilate asked them.
- Crucify him! they shouted.
- Why? What crime has he committed? asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, Crucify him!
- Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
- The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers.
- They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him.
- And they began to call out to him, Hail, king of the Jews!
- Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spat on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him.
- And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.
- A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross.
- They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull).
- Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.
- And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.
- It was the third hour when they crucified him.
- The written notice of the charge against him read: the King of the Jews.
- They crucified two robbers with him,
- one on his right and one on his left.
- Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days,
- come down from the cross and save yourself!
- In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. He saved others, they said, but he can't save himself!
- Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe. Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
- At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour.
- And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which means, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
- When some of those standing near heard this, they said, Listen, he's calling Elijah.
- One man ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to take him down, he said.
- With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.
- The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
- And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, Surely this man was the Son of God!
- Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome.
- In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.
- It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached,
- Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body.
- Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died.
- When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph.
- So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.
- Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.
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