< Mark 15 >
1 As soon as it was early morning, having already formed a plan, the chief priests with the elders and scribes, indeed the whole council, bound Jesus, led Him away and handed Him over to Pilate.
2 Pilate asked Him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” So in answer He said to him, “You stated a fact!”
3 But the chief priests kept accusing Him of many things.
4 So Pilate asked Him again, saying: “Are you not going to answer? See how many things they are testifying against you!”
5 But Jesus still gave no answer, so that Pilate marveled.
6 Now at the feast he would release to them one prisoner, whomever they would request.
7 Well there was one called Barabbas, who had been bound with his fellow insurrectionists, who in the insurrection had committed murder.
8 Then the crowd began to call out and request that he do just as he always did for them.
9 So Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?”
10 (He knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy.)
11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should release Barabbas to them instead.
12 Pilate answered and said to them again, “What then do you want me to do to him you call ‘king of the Jews’?”
13 Again they shouted, “Crucify him!”
14 But Pilate said to them, “But what evil did he do?” They just yelled all the louder, “Crucify him!”
15 So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them, and Jesus, after a flogging, he handed over to be crucified.
16 Then the soldiers led Him away into the courtyard (that is, the Praetorium) and assembled the whole garrison.
17 They clothed Him with purple, plaited a crown of thorns and put it on Him,
18 and began to ‘acclaim’ Him by saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
19 They kept hitting Him on the head with a rod and spitting on Him, and kneeling down they would ‘worship’ Him.
20 When they had ridiculed Him, they took the purple off Him and put His own clothes on Him. Then they led Him out to crucify Him.
21 A certain passer-by, Simon a Cyrenian (the father of Alexander and Rufus), coming in from the countryside, was compelled to carry His cross.
22 They brought Him to a place Golgotha, which is translated, ‘Place of a Skull’.
23 They offered Him wine mixed with myrrh to drink, but He did not take it.
24 After crucifying Him, they divided His clothes by casting lots for them, to see who would take what.
25 It was the third hour when they crucified Him.
26 The statement of His ‘crime’ that had been written was: THE KING OF THE JEWS.
27 With Him they also crucified two bandits, one on His right and one on His left.
28 So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was numbered with transgressors.”
29 Those who passed by kept ridiculing Him, wagging their heads and saying, “Hey! You who can destroy the temple and build it in three days,
30 save yourself and come down from the cross!”
31 Similarly, the chief priests, with the scribes, kept mocking among themselves saying: “He saved others; he can't save himself!
32 Let the Christ, the king of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe him.” Those who were crucified with Him insulted Him as well.
33 Now when the sixth hour had come [noon], darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour.
34 At the ninth hour Jesus called out strongly, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lima sabachthani?” which is translated, “O God, my God, why have You forsaken me?”
35 When some of the bystanders heard it they said, “Listen, he's calling Elijah.”
36 Then someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a reed and started offering it to Him to drink, saying, “You let him be! ‘Let's see if Elijah is coming to take him down’!”
37 Then Jesus gave a loud shout and breathed out His spirit;
38 and the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
39 Well when the centurion, who was standing opposite Him, saw that He breathed out His spirit after giving such a loud shout, he said, “This man really was God's Son!”
40 There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome
41 —they used to follow Him and minister to Him when He was in Galilee—and many other women who had come up with Him to Jerusalem.
42 Now when evening had come, because it was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath),
43 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member who also himself was waiting for the Kingdom of God, came and boldly went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
44 Well Pilate was surprised that He was already dead; and summoning the centurion he asked him when He had died.
45 Upon the centurion's confirmation he granted the body to Joseph.
46 Having bought linen, he took Him down, wrapped Him in the linen and laid Him in a tomb that had been cut out of rock; then he rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.
47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses observed where He was placed.
