Mar 15 | NASB2020 | STEP | Early in the morning the chief priests with the elders , scribes , and the entire Council immediately held a consultation ; and they bound Jesus and led Him away , and turned Him over to Pilate .

1 ^aEarly in the morning the chief priests with the elders, scribes, and the entire ^{▼▼Or Sanhedrin
,} ^cCouncil immediately held a consultation; and they bound Jesus and led Him away, and turned Him over to Pilate. 2 ^dPilate questioned Him: “So You are the King of the Jews?” And He answered him, “It is as you say.” 3 And the chief priests started accusing Him ^{▼▼Or harshly}of many things. 4 But Pilate questioned Him again, saying, “Do You offer nothing in answer? See how many charges they are bringing against You!” 5 But Jesus ^fsaid nothing further in answer, so Pilate was amazed.

6 ^gNow at the Passover Feast he used to release for them any one prisoner whom they requested. 7 And the one named Barabbas had been imprisoned with the rebels who had committed murder in the revolt. 8 And the crowd went up and began asking Pilate to do as he had been accustomed to do for them. 9 Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” 10 For he was aware that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd ^hto ask him to release Barabbas for them instead. 12 And responding again, Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” 13 They shouted ^{▼▼Or again}back, “Crucify Him!” 14 But Pilate said to them, “Why, what ^{▼▼Or crime has He committed}evil has He done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify Him!” 15 Intent on satisfying the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus ^kflogged, he handed Him over to be crucified.

Jesus Is Mocked

16 ^lNow the soldiers took Him away into ^mthe ^{▼▼Or court}palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they *called together the whole Roman ^{▼▼Normally 600 men (the number varied)
,} ^pcohort. 17 And they *dressed Him in ^{▼▼Prob. a term for a Roman soldier’s red cloak (cf. Matt 27:28)}purple, and after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on Him; 18 and they began saluting Him: “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 And they repeatedly beat His head with a ^{▼▼Or staff (made of a reed)}reed and spit on Him, and kneeling, they bowed down before Him. 20 And after they had mocked Him, they took the ^{▼▼See note v 17}purple cloak off Him and put His own garments on Him. And they *led Him out to crucify Him.

21 ^tAnd they *compelled a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and ^uRufus), to carry His cross.

The Crucifixion

22 ^vThen they *brought Him to the place ^wGolgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. 23 And they tried to give Him ^xwine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it. 24 And they *crucified Him, and * ^ydivided up His garments among themselves, casting ^{▼▼Lit a lot upon}lots for them to decide ^{▼▼Lit who would take what}what each man would take. 25 Now it was the ^{▼▼I.e., 9 a.m.
,} ^acthird hour ^{▼▼Lit and}when they crucified Him. 26 The inscription of the charge against Him ^{▼▼Lit had been inscribed}read, “ ^afTHE KING OF THE JEWS.”

27 And they *crucified two ^{▼▼Or robbers}rebels with Him, one on His right and one on His left. ^{▼▼Late mss add the following as v 28: And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was counted with wrongdoers.”} 28 ^{▼▼This verse is empty in this translation.}– 29 Those passing by were ^{▼▼Or blaspheming Him}hurling abuse at Him, ^akshaking their heads and saying, “Ha! You who are going to ^aldestroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30 save Yourself by coming down from the cross!” 31 In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking Him among themselves and saying, “ ^amHe saved others; ^{▼▼Or can He not save Himself?}He cannot save Himself! 32 Let this Christ, ^aothe King of Israel, come down now from the cross, so that we may see and believe!” ^apThose who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.

33 ^aqWhen the ^{▼▼I.e., noon
,} ^assixth hour came, darkness ^{▼▼Lit occurred}fell over the whole land until the ^{▼▼I.e., 3 p.m.
,} ^avninth hour. 34 At the ^{▼▼I.e., 3 p.m.
,} ^axninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “ ^ayEloi, Eloi, lema sabaktanei?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” 35 And when some of the bystanders heard Him, they began saying, “Look! He is calling for Elijah!” 36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink, saying, “ ^{▼▼Lit Allow that we see; or Hold off, let us see}Let us see if Elijah comes to take Him down.” 37 ^baBut Jesus let out a loud cry, and ^{▼▼Lit expired}died. 38 ^bcAnd the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 ^bdAnd when the centurion, who was standing ^{▼▼Or opposite Him}right in front of Him, saw that He ^{▼▼Lit expired}died in this way, he said, “Truly this man was ^{▼▼Or a son of God; or a son of a god}the Son of God!”

40 ^bhNow there were also some women watching from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of ^{▼▼Or Jacob}James ^bjthe ^{▼▼Lit little (either in stature or age)}Less and Joses, and ^blSalome. 41 When He was in Galilee, they used to follow Him and ^bmserve Him; and there were many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.

Jesus Is Buried

42 ^bnWhen evening had already come, since it was ^bothe preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43 Joseph of Arimathea came, a ^bpprominent member of the Council, who was himself also ^bqwaiting for the kingdom of God; and he ^brgathered up courage and went in before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Now Pilate wondered if He was dead by this time, and summoning the centurion, he questioned him as to whether He was already dead. 45 And after learning this from ^bsthe centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. 46 Joseph bought a linen cloth, took Him down, wrapped Him in the linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb which had been cut out in the rock; and he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47 ^btMary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were watching to see where He was laid.