¹Early in the morning, after forming a plan, the chief priests with the elders and the experts in the law and the whole Sanhedrin tied Jesus up, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. ²So Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” He replied, “You say so.”³Then the chief priests began to accuse him repeatedly. ⁴So Pilate asked him again, “Have you nothing to say? See how many charges they are bringing against you!” ⁵But Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed. ⁶During the feast it was customary to release one prisoner to the people, whomever they requested. ⁷A man named Barabbas was imprisoned with rebels who had committed murder during an insurrection. ⁸Then the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to release a prisoner for them, as was his custom.⁹So Pilate asked them, “Do you want me to release the king of the Jews for you?” ¹⁰(For he knew that the chief priests had handed him over because of envy.) ¹¹But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas instead. ¹²So Pilate spoke to them again, “Then what do you want me to do with the one you call king of the Jews?” ¹³They shouted back, “Crucify him!” ¹⁴Pilate asked them, “Why? What has he done wrong?” But they shouted more insistently, “Crucify him!” ¹⁵Because he wanted to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them. Then, after he had Jesus flogged, he handed him over to be crucified. ¹⁶So the soldiers led him into the palace (that is, the governor’s residence) and called together the whole cohort. ¹⁷They put a purple cloak on him and after braiding a crown of thorns, they put it on him. ¹⁸They began to salute him: “Hail, king of the Jews!” ¹⁹Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Then they knelt down and paid homage to him. ²⁰When they had finished mocking him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes back on him. Then they led him away to crucify him. ²¹The soldiers forced a passerby to carry his cross, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country (he was the father of Alexander and Rufus). ²²They brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha (which is translated, “Place of the Skull”). ²³They offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.²⁴Then they crucified him and divided his clothes, throwing dice for them, to decide what each would take. ²⁵It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. ²⁶The inscription of the charge against him read, “The king of the Jews.” ²⁷And they crucified two outlaws with him, one on his right and one on his left. ²⁹Those who passed by defamed him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who can destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, ³⁰save yourself and come down from the cross!” ³¹In the same way even the chief priests—together with the experts in the law—were mocking him among themselves: “He saved others, but he cannot save himself! ³²Let the Christ, the king of Israel, come down from the cross now, that we may see and believe!” Those who were crucified with him also spoke abusively to him. ³³Now when it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. ³⁴Around three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” ³⁵When some of the bystanders heard it they said, “Listen, he is calling for Elijah!” ³⁶Then someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Leave him alone! Let’s see if Elijah will come to take him down!” ³⁷But Jesus cried out with a loud voice and breathed his last. ³⁸And the temple curtain was torn in two, from top to bottom. ³⁹Now when the centurion, who stood in front of him, saw how he died, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!” ⁴⁰There were also women, watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. ⁴¹When he was in Galilee, they had followed him and given him support. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were there too.⁴²Now when evening had already come, since it was the day of preparation (that is, the day before the Sabbath), ⁴³Joseph of Arimathea, a highly regarded member of the council, who was himself looking forward to the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁴⁴Pilate was surprised that he was already dead. He called the centurion and asked him if he had been dead for some time. ⁴⁵When Pilate was informed by the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph. ⁴⁶After Joseph bought a linen cloth and took down the body, he wrapped it in the linen and placed it in a tomb cut out of the rock. Then he rolled a stone across the entrance of the tomb. ⁴⁷Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where the body was placed.