Jesus Before Pilate

23 ^(A)Then the whole company of them arose and brought him before Pilate. ² And they began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man ^(B)misleading our nation and ^(C)forbidding us to give tribute to ^(D)Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, ^(E)a king.” ^3 (F)And Pilate asked him, ^(G)“Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, ^(H)“You have said so.” ⁴ Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, ^(I)“I find no guilt in this man.” ⁵ But they were urgent, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, ^(J)from Galilee even to this place.”

Jesus Before Herod

⁶ When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. ⁷ And when he learned that he belonged to ^(K)Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time. ⁸ When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, ^(L)for he had long desired to see him, ^(M)because he had heard about him, and he was hoping ^(N)to see some sign done by him. ⁹ So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer. ¹⁰ The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. ¹¹ And Herod with his soldiers ^(O)treated him with contempt and ^(P)mocked him. Then, ^(Q)arraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate. ¹² And ^(R)Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before this they had been at enmity with each other.

¹³ Pilate then called together the chief priests and ^(S)the rulers and the people, ¹⁴ and said to them, “You brought me this man ^(T)as one who was misleading the people. And ^(U)after examining him before you, behold, I ^(V)did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. ¹⁵ Neither did Herod, for ^(W)he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him. ^16 (X)I will therefore punish and release him.”^[a]

Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified

^18 (Y)But they all cried out together, ^(Z)“Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas”— ¹⁹ a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and ^(AA)for murder. ²⁰ Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus, ²¹ but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” ²² A third time he said to them, “Why? ^(AB)What evil has he done? ^(AC)I have found in him no guilt deserving death. ^(AD)I will therefore punish and release him.” ²³ But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed. ²⁴ So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted. ²⁵ He released the man who had been thrown into prison ^(AE)for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, ^(AF)but he delivered Jesus over to their will.

The Crucifixion

^26 (AG)And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. ²⁷ And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were ^(AH)mourning and lamenting for him. ²⁸ But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹ For behold, ^(AI)the days are coming when they will say, ^(AJ)‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ ^30 (AK)Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ ³¹ For ^(AL)if they do these things when ^(AM)the wood is green, what will happen ^(AN)when it is dry?”

^32 (AO)Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. ^33 (AP)And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, ^(AQ)one on his right and one on his left. ³⁴ And Jesus said, “Father, ^(AR)forgive them, ^(AS)for they know not what they do.”^[b] And they cast lots ^(AT)to divide his garments. ³⁵ And ^(AU)the people stood by, watching, ^(AV)but ^(AW)the rulers ^(AX)scoffed at him, saying, ^(AY)“He saved others; ^(AZ)let him save himself, ^(BA)if he is ^(BB)the Christ of God, ^(BC)his Chosen One!” ³⁶ The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and ^(BD)offering him sour wine ³⁷ and saying, ^(BE)“If you are ^(BF)the King of the Jews, save yourself!” ^38 (BG)There was also an inscription over him,^[c] “This is ^(BH)the King of the Jews.”

^39 (BI)One of the criminals who were hanged ^(BJ)railed at him,^[d] saying, “Are you not ^(BK)the Christ? Save yourself and us!” ⁴⁰ But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? ⁴¹ And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴² And he said, “Jesus, remember me ^(BL)when you come into your kingdom.” ⁴³ And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in ^(BM)paradise.”

The Death of Jesus

^44 (BN)It was now about the sixth hour,^[e] and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour,^{[f] 45} while the sun's light failed. And ^(BO)the curtain of the temple was torn in two. ⁴⁶ Then Jesus, ^(BP)calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, ^(BQ)into your hands I ^(BR)commit my spirit!” And having said this ^(BS)he breathed his last. ⁴⁷ Now ^(BT)when the centurion saw what had taken place, ^(BU)he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!” ⁴⁸ And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home ^(BV)beating their breasts. ⁴⁹ And all ^(BW)his acquaintances and ^(BX)the women who had followed him from Galilee ^(BY)stood at a distance watching these things.

Jesus Is Buried

^50 (BZ)Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, ⁵¹ who had not consented to their decision and action; and he ^(CA)was looking for the kingdom of God. ⁵² This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁵³ Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and ^(CB)laid him in a tomb cut in stone, ^(CC)where no one had ever yet been laid. ⁵⁴ It was the day of ^(CD)Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning.^{[g] 55 (CE)}The women ^(CF)who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. ⁵⁶ Then they returned and ^(CG)prepared spices and ointments.

On the Sabbath they rested ^(CH)according to the commandment.

Jesus Delivered to Be Crucified

19 Then Pilate took Jesus and ^(A)flogged him. ^2 (B)And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. ³ They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. ⁴ Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that ^(C)I find no guilt in him.” ⁵ So Jesus came out, wearing ^(D)the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, ^(E)“Behold the man!” ⁶ When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, ^(F)“Take him yourselves and crucify him, for ^(G)I find no guilt in him.” ⁷ The Jews^[a] answered him, “We have a law, and ^(H)according to that law he ought to die because ^(I)he has made himself the Son of God.” ⁸ When Pilate heard this statement, ^(J)he was even more afraid. ^9 (K)He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, ^(L)“Where are you from?” But ^(M)Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰ So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” ¹¹ Jesus answered him, ^(N)“You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore ^(O)he who delivered me over to you ^(P)has the greater sin.”

¹² From then on ^(Q)Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. ^(R)Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” ¹³ So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on ^(S)the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic^[b] Gabbatha. ¹⁴ Now it was ^(T)the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour.^[c] He said to the Jews, ^(U)“Behold your King!” ¹⁵ They cried out, ^(V)“Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” ^16 (W)So he ^(X)delivered him over to them to be crucified.

The Crucifixion

So they took Jesus, ¹⁷ and ^(Y)he went out, ^(Z)bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. ^18 (AA)There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. ¹⁹ Pilate ^(AB)also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” ²⁰ Many of the Jews read this inscription, for ^(AC)the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. ²¹ So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” ²² Pilate answered, ^(AD)“What I have written I have written.”

^23 (AE)When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic.^[d] But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, ²⁴ so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” ^(AF)This was to fulfill the Scripture which says,

So the soldiers did these things, ^25 (AH)but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶ When Jesus saw his mother and ^(AI)the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, ^(AJ)“Woman, behold, your son!” ²⁷ Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to ^(AK)his own home.

The Death of Jesus

²⁸ After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now ^(AL)finished, said (^(AM)to fulfill the Scripture), ^(AN)“I thirst.” ²⁹ A jar full of sour wine stood there, ^(AO)so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. ³⁰ When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ^(AP)“It is finished,” and he bowed his head and ^(AQ)gave up his spirit.

Jesus' Side Is Pierced

³¹ Since it was ^(AR)the day of Preparation, and ^(AS)so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was ^(AT)a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. ³² So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other ^(AU)who had been crucified with him. ³³ But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. ³⁴ But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out ^(AV)blood and water. ^35 (AW)He who saw it has borne witness—^(AX)his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—^(AY)that you also may believe. ^36 (AZ)For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: ^(BA)“Not one of his bones ^(BB)will be broken.” ³⁷ And again another Scripture says, ^(BC)“They will look on him whom they have pierced.”

Jesus Is Buried

^38 (BD)After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly ^(BE)for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. ^39 (BF)Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus^[e] by night, came ^(BG)bringing a mixture of ^(BH)myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds^[f] in weight. ⁴⁰ So they took the body of Jesus and ^(BI)bound it in ^(BJ)linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. ⁴¹ Now in the place where he was crucified there was a ^(BK)garden, and ^(BL)in the garden a new tomb ^(BM)in which no one had yet been laid. ⁴² So because of the Jewish ^(BN)day of Preparation, ^(BO)since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.