Matthew 27

New King James Version

Jesus Handed Over to Pontius Pilate^(A)

27 When morning came, ^(B)all the chief priests and elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put Him to death. ² And when they had bound Him, they led Him away and ^(C)delivered Him to ^[a]Pontius Pilate the governor.

Judas Hangs Himself^(D)

^3 (E)Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty ^(F)pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, ⁴ saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.”

And they said, “What is that to us? You see to it!”

⁵ Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and ^(G)departed, and went and hanged himself.

⁶ But the chief priests took the silver pieces and said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, because they are the price of blood.” ⁷ And they consulted together and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. ⁸ Therefore that field has been called ^(H)the Field of Blood to this day.

⁹ Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, ^(I)“And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the value of Him who was priced, whom they of the children of Israel priced, ¹⁰ and ^(J)gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.”

Jesus Faces Pilate^(K)

¹¹ Now Jesus stood before the governor. ^(L)And the governor asked Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?”

Jesus said to him, ^(M)“It is as you say.” ¹² And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, ^(N)He answered nothing.

¹³ Then Pilate said to Him, ^(O)“Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?” ¹⁴ But He answered him not one word, so that the governor marveled greatly.

Taking the Place of Barabbas^(P)

^15 (Q)Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to releasing to the multitude one prisoner whom they wished. ¹⁶ And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called ^[b]Barabbas. ¹⁷ Therefore, when they had gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release to you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” ¹⁸ For he knew that they had handed Him over because of ^(R)envy.

¹⁹ While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, “Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him.”

^20 (S)But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. ²¹ The governor answered and said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?”

They said, ^(T)“Barabbas!”

²² Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?”

They all said to him, “Let Him be crucified!”

²³ Then the governor said, ^(U)“Why, what evil has He done?”

But they cried out all the more, saying, “Let Him be crucified!”

²⁴ When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a ^[c]tumult was rising, he ^(V)took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this ^[d]just Person. You see to it.”

²⁵ And all the people answered and said, ^(W)“His blood be on us and on our children.”

²⁶ Then he released Barabbas to them; and when ^(X)he had ^[e]scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.

The Soldiers Mock Jesus^(Y)

^27 (Z)Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the ^[f]Praetorium and gathered the whole ^[g]garrison around Him. ²⁸ And they ^(AA)stripped Him and ^(AB)put a scarlet robe on Him. ^29 (AC)When they had ^[h]twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand. And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” ³⁰ Then ^(AD)they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head. ³¹ And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, ^(AE)and led Him away to be crucified.

The King on a Cross^(AF)

^32 (AG)Now as they came out, ^(AH)they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear His cross. ^33 (AI)And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, ^34 (AJ)they gave Him ^[i]sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.

^35 (AK)Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, ^[j]that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet:

^36 (AM)Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there. ³⁷ And they ^(AN)put up over His head the accusation written against Him:

THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

^38 (AO)Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left.

³⁹ And ^(AP)those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, ^(AQ)“You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! ^(AR)If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”

⁴¹ Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the ^[k]scribes and elders, said, ⁴² “He ^(AS)saved others; Himself He cannot save. ^[l]If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe ^[m]Him. ^43 (AT)He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ”

^44 (AU)Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.

Jesus Dies on the Cross^(AV)

^45 (AW)Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. ⁴⁶ And about the ninth hour ^(AX)Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, ^(AY)“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

⁴⁷ Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, “This Man is calling for Elijah!” ⁴⁸ Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, ^(AZ)filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.

⁴⁹ The rest said, “Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him.”

⁵⁰ And Jesus ^(BA)cried out again with a loud voice, and ^(BB)yielded up His spirit.

⁵¹ Then, behold, ^(BC)the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, ⁵² and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; ⁵³ and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

^54 (BD)So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, ^(BE)“Truly this was the Son of God!”

⁵⁵ And many women ^(BF)who followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him, were there looking on from afar, ^56 (BG)among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and ^[n]Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

Jesus Buried in Joseph’s Tomb^(BH)

⁵⁷ Now ^(BI)when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. ⁵⁸ This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him. ⁵⁹ When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, ⁶⁰ and ^(BJ)laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed. ⁶¹ And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting ^[o]opposite the tomb.

Pilate Sets a Guard

⁶² On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, ⁶³ saying, “Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, ^(BK)‘After three days I will rise.’ ⁶⁴ Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come ^[p]by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ So the last deception will be worse than the first.”

⁶⁵ Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how.” ⁶⁶ So they went and made the tomb secure, ^(BL)sealing the stone and setting the guard.