Mark 15

¹Immediately, at the first light of dawn, the chief priests, having reached a decision with the elders, the scholars of the Law, and the entire Sanhedrin, bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. ²Pilate questioned him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” He answered him, “Those are your words.” ³The chief priests began accusing him of many things. ⁴Pilate questioned him again, saying, “Have you no answer? See how many charges they are bringing against you!” ⁵But Jesus no longer answered anything, which left Pilate astonished.

⁶Now, at every festival, it was his custom to release for them one prisoner—whomever they requested. ⁷There was a man called Barabbas, imprisoned among the insurrectionists who had committed murder during the uprising. ⁸The crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did for them. ⁹Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” ¹⁰For he realized that the chief priests had handed him over because of envy. ¹¹But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead. ¹²Pilate spoke to them again, “Then what should I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” ¹³They shouted back, “Crucify him!” ¹⁴Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!” ¹⁵So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and after he had Jesus flogged, he handed him over to be crucified.

¹⁶The soldiers led him away inside the palace—that is, the Praetorium—and they called together the entire cohort. ¹⁷They dressed him in a purple robe, and after weaving a crown of thorns, they placed it on him. ¹⁸Then they began to salute him: “Hail, King of the Jews!” ¹⁹They kept striking his head with a staff, spitting on him, and kneeling down in mock homage to him. ²⁰When they had finished mocking him, they stripped him of the purple robe and put his own clothes back on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

²¹They conscripted a passerby coming in from the countryside, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to carry his cross. ²²They brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means “Place of a Skull”). ²³They tried to give him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. ²⁴And they crucified him. They divided his clothes among themselves, casting lots for them to see what each would take. ²⁵It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. ²⁶The inscription of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS. ²⁷And with him they crucified two insurgents, one on his right and one on his left.

²⁹Those passing by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the Sanctuary and rebuild it in three days, ³⁰save yourself by coming down from the cross!” ³¹In the same way, the chief priests along with the scholars of the Law mocked him among themselves, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself! ³²Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, so that we may see and believe!” Even those who were crucified with him were insulting him.

³³When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. ³⁴And at 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 those standing there heard it, they said, “Look, he is calling for Elijah.” ³⁶Someone ran, soaked a sponge in sour wine, put it on a staff, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to take him down.” ³⁷But Jesus let out a loud cry and breathed his last. ³⁸And the curtain of the Sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. ³⁹When the centurion standing there facing him saw how he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”

⁴⁰There were also women watching from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the Younger and Joses, and Salome. ⁴¹These women used to follow him and provide for him when he was in Galilee; and there were many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem.

⁴²When evening had already come, since it was the Day of Preparation (that is, the day before the Sabbath), ⁴³Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member who was himself awaiting the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus. ⁴⁴Pilate was surprised that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he questioned him as to whether he had been dead for long. ⁴⁵After confirming it with the centurion, he granted the corpse to Joseph. ⁴⁶Joseph bought a linen cloth and, after taking him down, wrapped him in the linen and laid him in a tomb that had been hewn out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. ⁴⁷Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were watching where he was laid.