Mark 15

15 ¹At dawn the chief priests, elders, scribes, and the whole council consulted together, bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate.

²Pilate asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" "You say so," Jesus replied.

³The chief priests kept accusing him of many things. ⁴So Pilate questioned him again: "Have you no answer? See how many charges they bring against you."

⁵But Jesus said nothing more, and Pilate was amazed.

⁶Now at the festival, Pilate used to release one prisoner for them—whoever they asked for. ⁷A man called Barabbas was in prison with the rebels who had committed murder during the uprising. ⁸The crowd came up and began asking Pilate to do for them what he always did. ⁹"Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?" Pilate answered, ¹⁰for he knew it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed him over. ¹¹But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead. ¹²"So what do you want me to do with the one you call King of the Jews?" Pilate asked them again.

¹³Crucify him!" they shouted back.

¹⁴"Why? What evil has he done?" Pilate asked. But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"

¹⁵To satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

The Soldiers Mock the King

¹⁶Soldiers led him away into the palace (the governor's headquarters) and called together the whole company of soldiers. ¹⁷They dressed him in purple, twisted together a crown of thorns, and set it on him. ¹⁸And they began to salute him: "Hail, King of the Jews!" ¹⁹They kept beating his head with a staff, spat on him, and knelt in mock homage to him. ²⁰After mocking him, they stripped off the purple and put his own clothes on him, then led him out to crucify him.

The Son Is Crucified

²¹They forced a passerby coming from the countryside—Simon of Cyrene, father of Alexander and Rufus—to carry his cross. ²²They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). ²³They offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.

²⁴They crucified him. They divided his clothes among them, casting lots for what each would get. ²⁵It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. ²⁶The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS. ²⁷They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right and one on his left. ^a a v27 The earliest manuscripts do not have a verse 28 here; later copies add: "And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, 'He was numbered with the transgressors.'"

²⁹Those passing by insulted him, shaking their heads, saying, "Ha! You who tear down the temple and build it in three days, ³⁰save yourself and come down from the cross!"

³¹Likewise the chief priests and scribes mocked him among themselves: "He saved others; himself he can't save. ³²Let the Christ, King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so we can see and believe." Those crucified with him also insulted him.

The Father's Son Breathes His Last

³³At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.

³⁴At three in the afternoon Jesus cried out loudly, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" meaning, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

³⁵When some of those standing nearby heard this, they said, "Listen, he's calling Elijah."

³⁶One ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave him a drink. "Let him be," he said, "let's see if Elijah comes to take him down."

³⁷With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. ³⁸And the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. ³⁹The centurion facing Jesus saw how he breathed his last and said, "Truly this man was the Son of God."

⁴⁰Women were also watching from a distance, including Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and Joses, and Salome. ⁴¹These women had followed him in Galilee and served him; many others who came up with him to Jerusalem were also there.

Laid in the Tomb

⁴²Evening had come, and since it was Preparation Day—the day before the Sabbath. ⁴³Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member who himself was waiting for the kingdom of our Father, dared to go to Pilate and ask for Jesus' body. ⁴⁴Pilate was surprised he was already dead; summoning the centurion, he asked if Jesus had been dead long. ⁴⁵When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he granted the body to Joseph. ⁴⁶Joseph bought linen, took the body down, wrapped it in the cloth, and laid it in a tomb cut from rock. Then he rolled a stone against the tomb's entrance. ⁴⁷Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.