Mark 15

New American Standard Bible 1995

Jesus before Pilate

15 ^(A)Early in the morning the chief priests with the elders and scribes and the whole ^[a](B)Council, immediately held a consultation; and binding Jesus, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate. ^2 (C)Pilate questioned Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And He *answered him, “It is as you say.” ³ The chief priests began to accuse Him ^[b]harshly. ⁴ Then Pilate questioned Him again, saying, “Do You not answer? See how many charges they bring against You!” ⁵ But Jesus ^(D)made no further answer; so Pilate was amazed.

^6 (E)Now at the feast he used to release for them any one prisoner whom they requested. ⁷ The man named Barabbas had been imprisoned with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the insurrection. ⁸ The crowd went up and began asking him to do as he had been accustomed to do for them. ⁹ Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” ¹⁰ For he was aware that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy. ¹¹ But the chief priests stirred up the crowd ^(F)to ask him to release Barabbas for them instead. ¹² Answering again, Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” ¹³ They shouted ^[c]back, “Crucify Him!” ¹⁴ But Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify Him!” ¹⁵ Wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus ^(G)scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified.

Jesus Is Mocked

^16 (H)The soldiers took Him away into ^(I)the ^[d]palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they *called together the whole Roman ^[e](J)cohort. ¹⁷ They *dressed Him up in purple, and after twisting a crown of thorns, they put it on Him; ¹⁸ and they began to acclaim Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” ¹⁹ They kept beating His head with a ^[f]reed, and spitting on Him, and kneeling and bowing before Him. ²⁰ After they had mocked Him, they took the purple robe off Him and put His own garments on Him. And they *led Him out to crucify Him.

^21 (K)They *pressed into service a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and ^(L)Rufus), to bear His cross.

The Crucifixion

^22 (M)Then they *brought Him to the place ^(N)Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. ²³ They tried to give Him ^(O)wine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it. ²⁴ And they *crucified Him, and *^(P)divided up His garments among themselves, casting ^[g]lots for them to decide ^[h]what each man should take. ²⁵ It was the ^[i](Q)third hour ^[j]when they crucified Him. ²⁶ The inscription of the charge against Him ^[k]read, “^(R)THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

²⁷ They *crucified two robbers with Him, one on His right and one on His left. ²⁸ [^[l]And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was numbered with transgressors.”] ²⁹ Those passing by were ^[m]hurling abuse at Him, ^(S)wagging their heads, and saying, “Ha! You who are going to ^(T)destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, ³⁰ save Yourself, and come down from the cross!” ³¹ In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking Him among themselves and saying, “^(U)He saved others; ^[n]He cannot save Himself. ³² Let this Christ, ^(V)the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!” ^(W)Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.

^33 (X)When the ^[o](Y)sixth hour came, darkness ^[p]fell over the whole land until the ^[q](Z)ninth hour. ³⁴ At the ^(AA)ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “^(AB)Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” ³⁵ When some of the bystanders heard it, they began saying, “Behold, He is calling for Elijah.” ³⁶ Someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink, saying, “^[r]Let us see whether Elijah will come to take Him down.” ^37 (AC)And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed His last. ^38 (AD)And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. ^39 (AE)When the centurion, who was standing ^[s]right in front of Him, saw ^[t]the way He breathed His last, he said, “Truly this man was ^[u]the Son of God!”

^40 (AF)There were also some women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of ^[v]James ^(AG)the ^[w]Less and Joses, and ^(AH)Salome. ⁴¹ When He was in Galilee, they used to follow Him and ^[x](AI)minister to Him; and there were many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.

Jesus Is Buried

^42 (AJ)When evening had already come, because it was ^(AK)the preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, ⁴³ Joseph of Arimathea came, a ^(AL)prominent member of the Council, who himself was ^(AM)waiting for the kingdom of God; and he ^(AN)gathered up courage and went in before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁴⁴ Pilate wondered if He was dead by this time, and summoning the centurion, he questioned him as to whether He was already dead. ⁴⁵ And ascertaining this from ^(AO)the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. ⁴⁶ Joseph bought a linen cloth, took Him down, wrapped Him in the linen cloth and laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. ^47 (AP)Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were looking on to see where He was laid.