Mark 15
1 Very early in the morning the chief priests met together with [the rest of] the Jewish council, [in order to decide how to accuse Jesus before the Roman governor. Their guards] tied Jesus’ hands [again]. They took him to [the house of] Pilate, [the governor, and they started to accuse him, saying] “[Jesus is claiming that he is a king!]!”
Early in the morning, the chief priests met together with the elders and scribes and the entire Jewish council. Then they bound Jesus and led him away. They handed him over to Pilate.
2 Pilate asked Jesus, “Do you [claim to be] the king of the Jews?” Jesus answered him, “You yourself have said so.”
Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” He answered him, “You say so.”
3 Then the chief priests claimed that Jesus had done many bad things.
The chief priests were presenting many charges against Jesus.
4 So Pilate asked him again, “Don’t you have anything to say? Listen to how many bad things they are saying that you [have done]!”
Pilate again asked him, “Do you give no answer? See how many charges they are bringing against you!”
5 But [even though Jesus was not guilty], he did not say anything more. The result was that Pilate was very much surprised.
But Jesus no longer answered Pilate, and that amazed him.
6 It was the governor’s custom [each year] during the [Passover] celebration to release [one person who was in prison. He customarily released] whichever prisoner the people requested.
Now at the time of the feast, Pilate usually released to them one prisoner, a prisoner they requested.
7 [At that time] there was a man called Barabbas who had been {whom [the soldiers had]} [put in prison with some other men]. Those men had murdered [some soldiers] when they rebelled [against the Roman government].
There with the rebels in prison, among the murderers held for their part in the rebellion, was a man named Barabbas.
8 A crowd approached [Pilate] and asked him [to release someone], just like he customarily did for them [during the Passover celebration].
The crowd came to Pilate and began to ask him to do for them as he had done in the past.
9 Pilate answered them, “Would you like me to release for you the [man whom you] Jewish [people say is your] king?”
Pilate answered them and said, “Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”
10 [He asked this] because he realized what the chief priests were wanting to do. They were accusing Jesus because they were jealous of him [because many people were becoming his disciples].
For he knew that it was because of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him.
11 But the chief priests urged the crowd [to request] that Pilate release Barabbas for them instead [of Jesus].
But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to cry out that Barabbas should be released instead.
12 Pilate said to them again, “[If I release Barabbas], what do you want me to do with the man whom [some of] you Jews say is [your] king?”
Pilate answered them again and said, “What then should I do with the King of the Jews?”
13 Then they shouted again, “[Command that your soldiers] crucify him!”
They shouted again, “Crucify him!”
14 Then Pilate said to them, “Why? What crime has he committed?” But they shouted even louder, “[Command your soldiers to] crucify him!”
Pilate said to them, “What wrong has he done?” But they shouted more and more, “Crucify him.”
15 So, because Pilate wanted to please the crowd, he released Barabbas for them. Then, after [his soldiers] had whipped Jesus with leather straps into which they had fastened metal pieces, [Pilate told the soldiers to take him away] in order that he would be crucified {they would crucify him}.
Pilate wanted to satisfy the crowd, so he released Barabbas to them. He scourged Jesus and then handed him over to be crucified.
16 The soldiers took Jesus into the [courtyard of the] palace [where Pilate lived]. That place was the government headquarters. Then they summoned the whole (cohort/group of soldiers) [who were on duty there].
The soldiers led him inside the courtyard (which is the government headquarters), and they called together the whole cohort of soldiers.
17 [After the soldiers gathered together], they put a purple robe on Jesus. Then they placed on his head a crown that they made from [branches of] thornbushes. [They did those things in order to ridicule him by pretending that he was a king].
They put a purple robe on Jesus, and they twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on him.
18 Then they greeted him [like they would greet a king, in order to ridicule him], saying, “Hooray for the King [who rules] the Jews!”
They began to salute him and say, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
19 They repeatedly struck his head with a reed and spat on him. By kneeling down, they [pretended to honor] him.
They struck his head with a reed staff and they spat on him. They bent their knees before him to pretend to worship him.
20 When they had finished ridiculing him, they pulled off the purple robe. They put his own clothes on him, and then they led him outside [of the city] in order to nail him to a cross.
When they had mocked him, they took off of him the purple robe and put his own garments on him, and then led him out to crucify him.
21 [After Jesus carried his cross a short distance], a man named Simon from Cyrene [city came along]. He was the father of Alexander and Rufus. He was passing by while he was returning [home] from outside [the city. The soldiers] compelled Simon to carry the cross [for Jesus].
A certain man, Simon of Cyrene, was coming in from the country (he was the father of Alexander and Rufus), and they forced him to carry his cross.
22 They brought them both to a place that they [call] Golgotha. That name means, ‘a place [like] a skull’.
The soldiers brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which interpreted means, “Place of a Skull”).
23 Then they tried to give Jesus wine that was {that they} mixed with [medicine called] myrrh. [They wanted him to drink it so that he would not feel so much pain when they crucified him]. But he did not drink it.
They offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not drink it.
24 [Some] of the [soldiers took his clothes]. Then they nailed him to a cross. Afterwards, they divided his clothes among themselves by gambling with [something like] dice. They did this [in order to determine] which [piece of clothing] each one would get.
They crucified him and divided up his garments by casting lots to determine what piece each soldier would take.
25 It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him.
It was the third hour when they crucified him.
26 They [attached to the cross above Jesus’ head] a sign on which it had been written {someone had written} the reason why [they were nailing him to the cross]. [But all] that it said was, “The King of the Jews.”
On a sign they wrote the charge against him, “The king of the Jews.”
27 They also nailed to crosses two men who were bandits. They nailed one to a cross at the right side [of Jesus] and one to a cross at the left side [of Jesus].
With him they crucified two robbers, one on the right of him and one on his left.
29 The people who were passing by insulted him by shaking their heads as [if here were an evil man]. They said, “Aha! You said that you would destroy the Temple and then you would build it again within three days.
Those who passed by insulted him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days,
30 [If you could do that, then] rescue yourself by coming down from the cross!”
save yourself and come down from the cross!”
31 The chief priests, along with the men who taught the [Jewish] laws, also [wanted to] make fun of Jesus. So they said to each other, “He [claims to have] saved others [from their sicknesses] [IRO] but he cannot save himself!
In the same way the chief priests were mocking him with each other, along with the scribes, and said, “He saved others, but he cannot save himself.
32 He said, ‘I am the Messiah, I am the King who [rules the people of] Israel.’ [If his words are true], he should come down now from the cross! Then we will believe [him]!” The [two] men who were crucified beside him also insulted him.
Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe,” and those who were crucified with him also taunted him.
33 At noon the whole land became dark, [and it stayed dark] until three o’clock in the afternoon.
At the sixth hour, darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour.
34 At three o’clock Jesus shouted loudly, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” That means, “My God, my God, why have you deserted me?”
At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is interpreted, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
35 When some of the people who were standing there heard [the word ‘Eloi’, misunderstanding it], they said, “Listen! He is calling for [the prophet] Elijah!”
Some of those standing by heard his words and said, “Look, he is calling for Elijah.”
36 One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine. He placed it on [the tip of] a reed, and then he [held it] up for [Jesus] to suck out [the wine that was in] it. [While he was doing that, someone] said, “Wait! Let’s see whether Elijah will come to take him down [from the cross]!”
Someone ran, put sour wine on a sponge, put it on a reed staff, and gave it to him to drink. The man said, “Let us see if Elijah comes to take him down.”
37 And then, after Jesus shouted loudly, he stopped breathing [and died].
Then Jesus cried out with a loud voice and died.
38 [At that moment] the [heavy thick] curtain that closed off [the most holy place in] the Temple split into two pieces from top to bottom. [That showed that ordinary people could now go into the presence of God].
The curtain of the temple was split in two from the top to the bottom.
39 The officer who supervised the soldiers [who nailed Jesus to the cross] was standing in front of Jesus. When he saw how Jesus died, he exclaimed, “Truly, this man was the man who was also God!”
When the centurion who stood and faced Jesus saw that he had died in this way, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God.”
40 There were also some women there, watching these events from a distance. They had accompanied Jesus when he was in Galilee [district], and they had provided what he needed. They had come with him to Jerusalem. Among those women was Mary from Magdala [town]. There was [another] Mary, who was the mother of the younger James and of Joses. There was also Salome.
There were also women who looked on from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James the younger and of Joses), and Salome.
When he was in Galilee they followed him and served him. Many other women also came up with him to Jerusalem.
42 When evening was near, [a man named] Joseph from Arimathea [town came there]. He was a member of the [Jewish] council, one whom everyone respected. He was also one of those who had been waiting expectantly for the [time when] God [would send] his king to begin to rule. [He knew that, according to Jewish law, people’s bodies had to be buried] {[someone had to bury people’s bodies]} [on the day they died. He also realized that] it was the day when [people] prepared [things for] ([the Jewish day of rest/the Sabbath]), [and that the Sabbath would start when the sun set]. So he became courageous and went to Pilate and asked Pilate [to permit him to take] the body of Jesus [down from the cross and bury it immediately].
When evening had come, because it was the Day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath,
Joseph of Arimathea came there. He was a respected member of the council, who was waiting for the kingdom of God. He boldly went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
44 Pilate was surprised [when he heard that] Jesus was already dead. So he summoned the officer who was in charge of the soldiers [who crucified Jesus], and he asked him if [Jesus] had already died.
Pilate was amazed that Jesus was already dead; he called the centurion and asked him if Jesus was dead.
45 When the officer told [Pilate that Jesus was dead], Pilate allowed Joseph [to take away] the body.
When Pilate learned from the centurion that Jesus was dead, he gave the body to Joseph.
46 After Joseph bought a linen cloth, he [and others] took [Jesus’ body down from the cross]. They wrapped it in the linen cloth and laid it in a tomb that [previously] had been dug out of the rock [cliff]. Then they rolled a [huge flat] stone in front of the entrance to the tomb.
Joseph had bought a linen cloth. He took him down from the cross, wrapped him in the linen cloth, and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of a rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.
47 Mary [from] Magdala and Mary the mother of Joses were watching where Jesus’ [body] was placed {where they placed Jesus’ [body]}.
Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw the place where Jesus was buried.
