Mar 15 | ESV | STEP | And as soon as it was morning , the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council . And they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate .

1 ^aAnd as soon as it was morning, the chief priests ^bheld a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. And ^cthey bound Jesus and ^dled him away and ^edelivered him over to ^fPilate. 2 ^gAnd Pilate asked him, ^h“Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, ⁱ“You have said so.” 3 And the chief priests accused him of many things. 4 And Pilate again asked him, ^j“Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you.” 5 But Jesus ^kmade no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.

Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified

6 ^lNow at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. 7 And among the rebels in prison, who had ^mcommitted murder ⁿin the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas. 8 And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did for them. 9 And he answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” 10 For he perceived that ^oit was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead. 12 And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with ^pthe man you call the King of the Jews?” 13 And they cried out again, “Crucify him.” 14 And Pilate said to them, “Why? ^qWhat evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him.” 15 So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having ^rscourged ^{▼▼A Roman judicial penalty, consisting of a severe beating with a multi-lashed whip containing imbedded pieces of bone and metal} Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.

Jesus Is Mocked

16 ^tAnd the soldiers led him away inside ^uthe palace (that is, ^vthe governor’s headquarters), ^{▼▼Greek the praetorium} and they called together the whole ^xbattalion. ^{▼▼Greek cohort; a tenth of a Roman legion, usually about 600 men} 17 And they clothed him in ^za purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. 18 And they began to salute him, ^aa“Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 And they were striking his head with a reed and ^abspitting on him and ^ackneeling down in homage to him. 20 And when they had ^admocked him, they stripped him of ^aethe purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they ^afled him out to crucify him.

The Crucifixion

21 ^agAnd they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. 22 ^ahAnd they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). 23 And they offered him wine mixed with ^aimyrrh, but he did not take it. 24 And they crucified him and ^ajdivided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. 25 And ^akit was the third hour ^{▼▼That is, 9 a.m.} when they crucified him. 26 And the inscription of the charge against him read, ^am“The King of the Jews.” 27 And with him they crucified two ^anrobbers, ^aoone on his right and one on his left. ^{▼▼Some manuscripts insert verse 28: And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “He was numbered with the transgressors”} 29 And ^aqthose who passed by derided him, ^arwagging their heads and saying, ^as“Aha! ^atYou who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30 save yourself, and come down from the cross!” 31 So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, ^au“He saved others; ^avhe cannot save himself. 32 Let ^awthe Christ, ^axthe King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may ^aysee and believe.” ^azThose who were crucified with him also reviled him.

The Death of Jesus

33 And when the sixth hour ^{▼▼That is, noon} had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. ^{▼▼That is, 3 p.m.} 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus ^bccried with a loud voice, ^bd“Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 35 And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” 36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with ^besour wine, put it on a reed ^bfand gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” 37 And Jesus ^bguttered a loud cry and ^bhbreathed his last. 38 And ^bithe curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 ^bjAnd when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he ^{▼▼Some manuscripts insert cried out and} breathed his last, he said, ^bl“Truly this man was the Son ^{▼▼Or a son} of God!”

40 There were also ^bnwomen looking on ^bofrom a distance, among whom were ^bpMary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and ^bqSalome. 41 When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ^brministered to him, and there were also many other women who ^bscame up with him to Jerusalem.

Jesus Is Buried

42 ^btAnd when evening had come, since it was ^buthe day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, ^bva respected member of the council, who ^bwwas also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died. ^{▼▼Or Pilate wondered whether he had already died} And summoning ^bythe centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. 45 And when he learned from ^bzthe centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. 46 And Joseph ^{▼▼Greek he} bought ^cba linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and ^cclaid him in a tomb ^cdthat had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled ^cea stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47 ^cfMary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.