Mark
Chapter 15
1 Early in the morning, the chief priests met with the elders and teachers of the law and the whole council. They tied up Jesus, took Him away, and handed Him over to Pilate.
2 Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” He replied, “You say that I am.”
3 The religious leaders accused him of many things, but he did not reply.
4 Pilate asked him another time, “Aren’t you going to answer? See how many accusations they are making against you.”
5 But Jesus still did not answer anything, so Pilate was amazed.
6 At the festival, he set free for them any one prisoner they wanted.
7 There was a man named Barabbas, who was in prison with others who had started a rebellion, and he had killed someone in that rebellion.
8 The crowd loudly started to ask him to do what he always did for them.
9 Pilate answered them, “Do you want me to release the King of the Jews to you?”
10 He knew the chief priests had handed him over because they were jealous.
11 The leading priests convinced the crowd to ask for Barabbas to be released instead.
12 Pilate answered and asked them again, “What do you want me to do to the one you call the King of the Jews?”
13 They shouted again, “Crucify him.”
14 Then Pilate asked them, “Why, what wrong has he done?” But they shouted even louder, “Crucify him.”
15 So Pilate, wanting to please the crowd, let Barabbas go and handed Jesus over to be nailed to a cross after he had whipped him.
16 The soldiers took him inside the building named Praetorium and gathered all the troops there.
17 They dressed him in purple, made a thorn crown, and placed it on his head.
18 They started to greet him, saying, “Hello, King of the Jews!”
19 They hit him on the head with a stick, spat on him, and kneeling down, pretended to worship him.
20 After they made fun of him, they took off the purple robe, dressed him in his own clothes, and took him out to nail him to a cross.
21 They forced Simon from Cyrene, who was just passing by from the fields and was father to Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.
22 They took him to a place called Golgotha, which means Skull Place.
23 They offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.
24 After they nailed him to the cross, they divided his clothes by casting lots to decide what each one would get.
25 It was nine in the morning when they nailed him to the cross.
26 The sign of his charge was written above: THE KING OF THE JEWS.
27 They crucified two thieves with him, one on his right and the other on his left.
28 The scripture that says, “He was counted among the lawbreakers,” came true.
29 People walking by insulted him, shaking their heads and saying, “Oh, you who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days,”
30 Save yourself and come down from the cross.
31 The leading priests also made fun of him, talking with the teachers of the law, saying, “He saved others, but he can’t save himself.”
32 Let the King of Israel, Christ, come down from the cross now, so we can see and believe. Those who were on the crosses next to him insulted him.
33 When it was noon, the whole country became dark until three in the afternoon.
34 At three in the afternoon, Jesus shouted loudly, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you left me alone?”
35 Some people standing nearby heard this and said, “Look, he’s calling for Elijah.”
36 Someone ran and soaked a sponge with vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to him to drink, saying, “Wait; let’s see if Elijah will come to save him.”
37 Jesus shouted loudly and then died.
38 The curtain in the temple tore in two from top to bottom.
39 When the army officer standing in front of him saw that he shouted like this and then died, he said, “Truly, this man was God’s Son.”
40 Women were also watching from far away, including Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and Joses, and Salome.
41 She, while in Galilee, followed him and helped him; and many other women who went with him to Jerusalem did the same.
42 Now when evening came, since it was the time to get ready, which is the day before the Sabbath,
43 Joseph from Arimathaea, a respected leader who was also looking forward to God’s kingdom, went bravely to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body.
44 Pilate was surprised that he was already dead. He called the centurion to ask if he had been dead for some time.
45 When he learned it from the officer, he gave the body to Joseph.
46 He bought good cloth, took him down, wrapped him in it, put him in a tomb cut from rock, and rolled a stone to the tomb’s entrance.
47 Mary Magdalene and Mary, Joses’s mother, saw where he was placed.