Jesus before Pilate

¹Early in the morning the chief priests met hurriedly with the elders, the teachers of the Law, and the whole Council, and made their plans. They put Jesus in chains, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate.

²Pilate questioned him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “So you say.”

³The chief priests were accusing Jesus of many things,

⁴so Pilate questioned him again, “Aren't you going to answer? Listen to all their accusations!”

⁵Again Jesus refused to say a word, and Pilate was amazed.

Jesus Is Sentenced to Death

⁶At every Passover Festival Pilate was in the habit of setting free any one prisoner the people asked for.

⁷At that time a man named Barabbas was in prison with the rebels who had committed murder in the riot.

⁸When the crowd gathered and began to ask Pilate for the usual favor,

⁹he asked them, “Do you want me to set free for you the king of the Jews?”

¹⁰He knew very well that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him because they were jealous.

¹¹But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask, instead, that Pilate set Barabbas free for them.

¹²Pilate spoke again to the crowd, “What, then, do you want me to do with the one you call the king of the Jews?”

¹³They shouted back, “Crucify him!”

¹⁴“But what crime has he committed?” Pilate asked. They shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”

¹⁵Pilate wanted to please the crowd, so he set Barabbas free for them. Then he had Jesus whipped and handed him over to be crucified.

The Soldiers Make Fun of Jesus

¹⁶The soldiers took Jesus inside to the courtyard of the governor's palace and called together the rest of the company.

¹⁷They put a purple robe on Jesus, made a crown out of thorny branches, and put it on his head.

¹⁸Then they began to salute him: “Long live the King of the Jews!”

¹⁹They beat him over the head with a stick, spat on him, fell on their knees, and bowed down to him.

²⁰When they had finished making fun of him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes back on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

Jesus Is Crucified

²¹On the way they met a man named Simon, who was coming into the city from the country, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus' cross. (Simon was from Cyrene and was the father of Alexander and Rufus.)

²²They took Jesus to a place called Golgotha, which means “The Place of the Skull.”

²³There they tried to give him wine mixed with a drug called myrrh, but Jesus would not drink it.

²⁴Then they crucified him and divided his clothes among themselves, throwing dice to see who would get which piece of clothing.

²⁵It was nine o'clock in the morning when they crucified him.

²⁶The notice of the accusation against him said: “The King of the Jews.”

²⁷They also crucified two bandits with Jesus, one on his right and the other on his left.

²⁸[And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith: And with the wicked he was reputed.] (Vulgate/DR Patch)

²⁹People passing by shook their heads and hurled insults at Jesus: “Aha! You were going to tear down the Temple and build it back up in three days!

³⁰Now come down from the cross and save yourself!”

³¹In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the Law made fun of Jesus, saying to one another, “He saved others, but he cannot save himself!

³²Let us see the Messiah, the king of Israel, come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him!” And the two who were crucified with Jesus insulted him also.

The Death of Jesus

³³At noon the whole country was covered with darkness, which lasted for three hours.

³⁴At three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud shout, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why did you abandon me?”

³⁵Some of the people there heard him and said, “Listen, he is calling for Elijah!”

³⁶One of them ran up with a sponge, soaked it in cheap wine, and put it on the end of a stick. Then he held it up to Jesus' lips and said, “Wait! Let us see if Elijah is coming to bring him down from the cross!”

³⁷With a loud cry Jesus died.

³⁸The curtain hanging in the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.

³⁹The army officer who was standing there in front of the cross saw how Jesus had died. “This man was really the Son of God!” he said.

⁴⁰Some women were there, looking on from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of the younger James and of Joseph, and Salome.

⁴¹They had followed Jesus while he was in Galilee and had helped him. Many other women who had come to Jerusalem with him were there also.

The Burial of Jesus

^42-43It was toward evening when Joseph of Arimathea arrived. He was a respected member of the Council, who was waiting for the coming of the Kingdom of God. It was Preparation day (that is, the day before the Sabbath), so Joseph went boldly into the presence of Pilate and asked him for the body of Jesus.

⁴⁴Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus was already dead. He called the army officer and asked him if Jesus had been dead a long time.

⁴⁵After hearing the officer's report, Pilate told Joseph he could have the body.

⁴⁶Joseph bought a linen sheet, took the body down, wrapped it in the sheet, and placed it in a tomb which had been dug out of solid rock. Then he rolled a large stone across the entrance to the tomb.

⁴⁷Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph were watching and saw where the body of Jesus was placed.

The Resurrection

¹After the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices to go and anoint the body of Jesus.

²Very early on Sunday morning, at sunrise, they went to the tomb.

^3-4On the way they said to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” (It was a very large stone.) Then they looked up and saw that the stone had already been rolled back.

⁵So they entered the tomb, where they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe—and they were alarmed.

⁶“Don't be alarmed,” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is not here—he has been raised! Look, here is the place where he was placed.

⁷Now go and give this message to his disciples, including Peter: ‘He is going to Galilee ahead of you; there you will see him, just as he told you.’”

⁸So they went out and ran from the tomb, distressed and terrified. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

ANOTHER OLD ENDING

⁹After Jesus rose from death early on Sunday, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had driven out seven demons.

ANOTHER OLD ENDING

^9-10[The women went to Peter and his friends and gave them a brief account of all they had been told. After this, Jesus himself sent out through his disciples from the east to the west the sacred and everliving message of eternal salvation.]

¹⁰She went and told his companions. They were mourning and crying;

¹¹and when they heard her say that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe her.

Jesus Appears to Two Followers

¹²After this, Jesus appeared in a different manner to two of them while they were on their way to the country.

¹³They returned and told the others, but these would not believe it.

Jesus Appears to the Eleven

¹⁴Last of all, Jesus appeared to the eleven disciples as they were eating. He scolded them, because they did not have faith and because they were too stubborn to believe those who had seen him alive.

¹⁵He said to them, “Go throughout the whole world and preach the gospel to all people.

¹⁶Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.

¹⁷Believers will be given the power to perform miracles: they will drive out demons in my name; they will speak in strange tongues;

¹⁸if they pick up snakes or drink any poison, they will not be harmed; they will place their hands on sick people, and these will get well.”

Jesus Is Taken Up to Heaven

¹⁹After the Lord Jesus had talked with them, he was taken up to heaven and sat at the right side of God.

²⁰The disciples went and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and proved that their preaching was true by the miracles that were performed.]

A Cry of Anguish and a Song of Praise

¹My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? I have cried desperately for help, but still it does not come.

²During the day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer; I call at night, but get no rest.

³But you are enthroned as the Holy One, the one whom Israel praises.

⁴Our ancestors put their trust in you; they trusted you, and you saved them.

⁵They called to you and escaped from danger; they trusted you and were not disappointed.

⁶But I am no longer a human being; I am a worm, despised and scorned by everyone!

⁷All who see me make fun of me; they stick out their tongues and shake their heads.

⁸“You relied on the Lord,” they say. “Why doesn't he save you? If the Lord likes you, why doesn't he help you?”

⁹It was you who brought me safely through birth, and when I was a baby, you kept me safe.

¹⁰I have relied on you since the day I was born, and you have always been my God.

¹¹Do not stay away from me! Trouble is near, and there is no one to help.

¹²Many enemies surround me like bulls; they are all around me, like fierce bulls from the land of Bashan.

¹³They open their mouths like lions, roaring and tearing at me.

¹⁴My strength is gone, gone like water spilled on the ground. All my bones are out of joint; my heart is like melted wax.

¹⁵My throat is as dry as dust, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have left me for dead in the dust.

¹⁶An evil gang is around me; like a pack of dogs they close in on me; they tear at my hands and feet.

¹⁷All my bones can be seen. My enemies look at me and stare.

¹⁸They gamble for my clothes and divide them among themselves.

¹⁹O Lord, don't stay away from me! Come quickly to my rescue!

²⁰Save me from the sword; save my life from these dogs.

²¹Rescue me from these lions; I am helpless before these wild bulls.

²²I will tell my people what you have done; I will praise you in their assembly:

²³“Praise him, you servants of the Lord! Honor him, you descendants of Jacob! Worship him, you people of Israel!

²⁴He does not neglect the poor or ignore their suffering; he does not turn away from them, but answers when they call for help.”

²⁵In the full assembly I will praise you for what you have done; in the presence of those who worship you I will offer the sacrifices I promised.

²⁶The poor will eat as much as they want; those who come to the Lord will praise him. May they prosper forever!

²⁷All nations will remember the Lord. From every part of the world they will turn to him; all races will worship him.

²⁸The Lord is king, and he rules the nations.

²⁹All proud people will bow down to him; all mortals will bow down before him.

³⁰Future generations will serve him; they will speak of the Lord to the coming generation.

³¹People not yet born will be told: “The Lord saved his people.”