Before Pilate and Herod
1Then the whole assembly rose and took him to Pilate. 2They began to accuse him: “We found this man subverting our nation, opposing the payment of tribute to Caesar and claiming to be the Christ, a king.” 3Pilate questioned him: “Are you the king of the Jews?” He answered, “You say so.” 4Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no case against this man.” 5But they insisted: “He stirs up the people, teaching all through Judea. He began in Galilee and has come as far as here.” 6When Pilate heard this he asked whether the man was a Galilean, 7and on learning that he came under Herod’s jurisdiction he sent him on to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem in those days. 8Herod was delighted to see Jesus. He had wanted to see him for a long time, because of what he had heard about him, and he was hoping to watch him perform some sign. 9He questioned him at length, but Jesus gave him no answer at all. 10The chief priests and the scribes stood there, accusing him vehemently. 11Herod and his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him; then he dressed him in splendid clothing and sent him back to Pilate. 12That very day Herod and Pilate became friends; before this they had been enemies.
The Sentence
13Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, 14and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who leads the people astray. Now I have examined him in front of you and found no basis for your charges against him. 15Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look: he has done nothing that deserves death. 16So I will have him flogged and release him.” 17For he was obliged to release one prisoner to them at the festival.* 18But they all shouted together, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!” 19Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an uprising that had taken place in the city, and for murder. 20Pilate appealed to them again, wanting to release Jesus, 21but they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” 22A third time he said to them, “Why? What wrong has this man done? I have found in him nothing that deserves death. So I will have him flogged and release him.” 23But they pressed him with loud cries, demanding that he be crucified, and their shouting won the day. 24So Pilate gave his verdict that their demand be granted. 25He released the man they asked for, the one thrown into prison for uprising and murder, and handed Jesus over to their will.
The Road to the Cross
26As they led him away, they seized a certain Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the fields, and laid the cross on him to carry behind Jesus. 27A great crowd of people followed him, and women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him. 28Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me. Weep for yourselves and for your children, 29for the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed.’ 30Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ 31For if this is what they do when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?” 32Two others, criminals, were also led away to be put to death with him.
The Crucifixion
33And when they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, and the criminals as well, one on his right and one on his left. 34Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided his clothes among themselves by casting lots.* 35The people stood there watching, and the rulers sneered: “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.” 36The soldiers mocked him too. They came up and offered him sour wine, 37saying, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself!” 38There was also an inscription above him: This is the king of the Jews. 39One of the criminals hanging there hurled abuse at him: “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself, and us!” 40But the other rebuked him: “Do you not even fear God, now that you are under the same sentence? 41And we deserve it: we are getting what our deeds have earned. But this man has done nothing wrong.” 42And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
The Death of Jesus
44It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45because the sun went dark. And the curtain of the sanctuary was torn down the middle. 46Then Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I place my spirit.” And with these words he breathed his last. 47When the centurion saw what had happened, he gave glory to God and said, “Truly this man was innocent.” 48And all the crowds who had gathered for the spectacle, when they saw what had happened, went home beating their breasts. 49All those who knew him stood at a distance, and so did the women who had followed him from Galilee, watching all this.
The Burial
50Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the council, a good and upright man 51who had not consented to their plan and their action. He was from Arimathea, a town of the Jews, and he was waiting for the kingdom of God. 52He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 53He took it down, wrapped it in a linen sheet and laid it in a tomb cut in the rock, where no one had ever yet been laid. 54It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning to dawn. 55The women who had come with him from Galilee followed close behind, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. 56Then they went back and prepared spices and perfumed oils. And on the Sabbath they rested, as the commandment required.
