15:1 Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, reached a decision. They bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate.

15:2 "Are you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate. "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied.

15:3 The chief priests accused him of many things.

15:4 So again Pilate asked him, "Aren't you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of."

15:5 But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.

15:6 Now it was the custom at the Feast to release a prisoner whom the people requested.

15:7 A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising.

15:8 The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.

15:9 "Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate,

15:10 knowing it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him.

15:11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.

15:12 "What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?" Pilate asked them.

15:13 "Crucify him!" they shouted.

15:14 "Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"

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

15:16 The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers.

15:17 They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him.

15:18 And they began to call out to him, "Hail, king of the Jews!"

15:19 Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him.

15:20 And 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.

15:21 A 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.

15:22 They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull).

15:23 Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.

15:24 And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.

15:25 It was the third hour when they crucified him.

15:26 The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS.

15:27 They crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left.

15:28

15:29 Those 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,

15:30 come down from the cross and save yourself!"

15:31 In 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!

15:32 Let this Christ, 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.

15:33 At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour.

15:34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"--which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

15:35 When some of those standing near heard this, they said, "Listen, he's calling Elijah."

15:36 One man ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. "Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to take him down," he said.

15:37 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.

15:38 The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

15:39 And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, "Surely this man was the Son of God!"

15:40 Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome.

15:41 In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.

15:42 It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached,

15:43 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body.

15:44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died.

15:45 When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph.

15:46 So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.

15:47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.