¹ Immediately in the morning the chief priests with the elders, scribes, and the whole council consulted together, bound Jesus, carried him away, and transferred him as a prisoner to Pilate. Pilate was the region’s Roman governor. ² Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?” He answered, “So you say.” ³ The chief priests accused him of many crimes. ⁴ Pilate asked him again, “Don’t you have any answers for them? They are accusing you of many crimes!” ⁵ Jesus didn’t answer. And Pilate was amazed. ⁶ Now at the feast Pilate customarily pardoned and released one prisoner—one who they requested by name. ⁷ And Pilate was holding an insurgent named Barabbas (his name means “Son of the Father”) along with others who rebelled along with him. They were all murderers. ⁸ The great crowd roared loudly for Pilate to release a prisoner as he customarily did during the feast. ⁹ Pilate answered, “Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” ¹⁰ (because Pilate sensed that the chief priests had really arrested Jesus because they were jealous of him). ¹¹ But the chief priests riled up the mob so that they all demanded that Pilate release Barabbas to them instead. ¹² Pilate responded, “Then what should I do to the man you call the King of the Jews?” ¹³ They roared back, “Crucify him!” ¹⁴ Pilate said to them, “Why? What crime did he commit?” But they roared back even louder, “Crucify him!” ¹⁵ Pilate wanted to appease the mob, so he released Barabbas to them. And after he flogged Jesus with a lead-tipped whip, Pilate released him to Roman soldiers to be crucified. ¹⁶ The soldiers led Jesus away to the great courtyard (named the Praetorium), then called for the entire regiment. ¹⁷ The regiment clothed Jesus in royal purple, weaved a crown made of thorns, and pressed it on his head. ¹⁸ They saluteed and taunted him, saying “Hail, King of the Jews!” ¹⁹ They struck his head with a stick that came from a reed. They spat on him. And bowing their knees, they “paid homage” to him. ²⁰ When they had mocked him in these ways, they took the purple robe off him and dressed him in his own clothes. And the soldiers led Jesus out to crucify him. ²¹ On the way, the soldiers chose a man who happened to be passing by on his way from the country (Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus). They forced him to join them and carry Jesus’s cross. ²² They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha. This name means, “Place of the skull.” ²³ The soldiers offered him wine drugged with myrrh, but Jesus wouldn’t drink it. ²⁴ They crucified Jesus—they nailed him to a cross. And they gambled together to decide who would get each piece of his clothes. ²⁵ It was the third hour—about 9 o’clock—when they crucified Jesus. ²⁶ A sign with his crime was fastened above him. It read, “THE KING OF THE JEWS.” ²⁷ Along with Jesus, the soldiers crucified two robbers—one on his right hand, and one to his left. ²⁸ [This fulfilled the Scripture that says, “He was counted alongside those who live lawlessly.”] ²⁹ Those who passed by defamed him, shook their heads and hurled insults, “Ha! You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, ³⁰ save yourself! Come down from the cross!” ³¹ Similarly, the chief priests mocked him among themselves and with the scribes. They said, “He saved others. He can’t save himself! ³² Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, that we may see and believe him.” Those who were crucified with him also insulted him. ³³ When the sixth hour had come (about noon), there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, or approximately 3 P.M. ³⁴ At the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which means, *“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” * ³⁵ Some stood by heard this and said, “Look! he is calling Elijah.” ³⁶ One ran and filled a sponge full of vinegar. He put it on the end of a stick and offered it to Jesus to drink, saying, “Leave him alone. Let’s see whether Elijah comes to take him down!” ³⁷ Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed his last breath. ³⁸ The temple curtain (that separated the Most Holy Place from the rest) was torn in two from the top to the bottom. ³⁹ When the Roman centurion standing guard saw that Jesus cried out like this and then breathed his last breath, he said, “This man really was God’s Son!” ⁴⁰ There were women watching from far away including Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James the Younger and of Joseph), and Salome. ⁴¹ When Jesus was in Galilee, these women travelled with him and supported him. Also, many other women who came to Jerusalem with Jesus were there. ⁴² When evening arrived, because it was the Preparation Day—that is, the day before the Sabbath— ⁴³ Joseph of Arimathaea boldly went to Pilate, and asked for Jesus’ body. (Joseph was a prominent council member who was also looking for God’s Kingdom.) ⁴⁴ Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus was already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him whether Jesus had been dead long. ⁴⁵ After discussing this with the centurion, he granted Jesus’s body to Joseph. ⁴⁶ Joseph bought a linen cloth, and taking him down, wound him in the linen cloth and laid him in a tomb which had been cut out of a rock. He rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. ⁴⁷ Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses, saw where he was laid.