Crucifixion of Jesus

1Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed.

2So they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor.

3When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders.

4“I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.” “What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”

5So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

6The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.”

7So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners.

8That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day.

9Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on him by the people of Israel,

10and they used them to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”

11Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” “You have said so,” Jesus replied.

12When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer.

13Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?”

14But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor.

15Now it was the governor’s custom at the festival to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd.

16At that time they had a well-known prisoner whose name was Jesus Barabbas.

17So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?”

18For he knew it was out of self-interest that they had handed Jesus over to him.

19While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.”

20But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.

21“Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor. “Barabbas,” they answered.

22“What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked. They all answered, “Crucify him!”

23“Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”

24When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!”

25All the people answered, “His blood is on us and on our children!”

26Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

27Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him.

28They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him,

29and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said.

30They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again.

31After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

32As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross.

33They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”).

34There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it.

35When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

36And sitting down, they kept watch over him there.

37Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

38Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.

39Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads

40and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!”

41In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him.

42“He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.

43He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ”

44In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

45From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land.

46About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli,lemasabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).

47When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.”

48Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink.

49The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”

50And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

51At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split

52and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.

53They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

54When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

Mark 15:1-40

1Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, made their plans. So they bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate.

2“Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate. “You have said so,” Jesus replied.

3The chief priests accused him of many things.

4So again Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.”

5But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.

6Now it was the custom at the festival to release a prisoner whom the people requested.

7A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising.

8The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.

9“Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate,

10knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him.

11But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.

12“What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them.

13“Crucify him!” they shouted.

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

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

16The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers.

17They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him.

18And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!”

19Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him.

20And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

21A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross.

22They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”).

23Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.

24And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see 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.

29Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days,

30come down from the cross and save yourself !”

31In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself!

32Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

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

34And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).

35When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”

36Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said.

37With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.

38The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

39And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”

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

Luke 23:1-48

1Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate.

2And they began to accuse him, saying, “We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Messiah, a king.”

3So Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” “You have said so,” Jesus replied.

4Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”

5But they insisted, “He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.”

6On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean.

7When he learned that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.

8When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform a sign of some sort.

9He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer.

10The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him.

11Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate.

12That day Herod and Pilate became friends—before this they had been enemies.

13Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people,

14and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him.

15Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death.

16Therefore, I will punish him and then release him. ”

18But the whole crowd shouted, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!”

19(Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)

20Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again.

21But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

22For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him.”

23But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed.

24So Pilate decided to grant their demand.

25He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.

26As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.

27A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him.

28Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children.

29For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’

30Then “ ‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!” ’

31For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

32Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed.

33When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left.

34Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

35The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”

36The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar

37and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”

38There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

39One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

40But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?

41We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

42Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. ”

43Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

44It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon,

45for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.

46Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.

47The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.”

48When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away.

John 19:1-30

1Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.

2The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe

3and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face.

4Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.”

5When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”

6As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!” But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”

7The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”

8When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid,

9and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer.

10“Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”

11Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

12From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”

13When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha).

14It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon. “Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.

15But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” “Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.

16Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus.

17Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha).

18There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.

19Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

20Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek.

21The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”

22Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

23When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.

24“Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.” This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said, “They divided my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.”So this is what the soldiers did.

25Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

26When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman,here is your son,”

27and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

28Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”

29A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips.

30When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.