Mark 15:1-47 CEB

[1] At daybreak, the chief priests—with the elders, legal experts, and the whole Sanhedrin—formed a plan. They bound Jesus, led him away, and turned him over to Pilate. [2] Pilate questioned him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus replied, “That’s what you say.” [3] The chief priests were accusing him of many things. [4] Pilate asked him again, “Aren’t you going to answer? What about all these accusations?” [5] But Jesus gave no more answers, so that Pilate marveled. [6] During the festival, Pilate released one prisoner to them, whomever they requested. [7] A man named Barabbas was locked up with the rebels who had committed murder during an uprising. [8] The crowd pushed forward and asked Pilate to release someone, as he regularly did. [9] Pilate answered them, “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” [10] He knew that the chief priests had handed him over because of jealousy. [11] But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas to them instead. [12] Pilate replied, “Then what do you want me to do with the one you call king of the Jews?” [13] They shouted back, “Crucify him!” [14] Pilate said to them, “Why? What wrong has he done?” They shouted even louder, “Crucify him!” [15] Pilate wanted to satisfy the crowd, so he released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus whipped, then handed him over to be crucified. [16] The soldiers led Jesus away into the courtyard of the palace known as the governor’s headquarters, and they called together the whole company of soldiers. [17] They dressed him up in a purple robe and twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on him. [18] They saluted him, “Hey! King of the Jews!” [19] Again and again, they struck his head with a stick. They spit on him and knelt before him to honor him. [20] When they finished mocking him, they stripped him of the purple robe and put his own clothes back on him. Then they led him out to crucify him. [21] Simon, a man from Cyrene, Alexander and Rufus’ father, was coming in from the countryside. They forced him to carry his cross. [22] They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha, which means Skull Place. [23] They tried to give him wine mixed with myrrh, but he didn’t take it. [24] They crucified him. They divided up his clothes, drawing lots for them to determine who would take what. [25] It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. [26] The notice of the formal charge against him was written, “The king of the Jews.” [27] They crucified two outlaws with him, one on his right and one on his left. [29] People walking by insulted him, shaking their heads and saying, “Ha! So you were going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, were you? [30] Save yourself and come down from that cross!” [31] In the same way, the chief priests were making fun of him among themselves, together with the legal experts. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself. [32] Let the Christ, the king of Israel, come down from the cross. Then we’ll see and believe.” Even those who had been crucified with Jesus insulted him. [33] From noon until three in the afternoon the whole earth was dark. [34] At three, Jesus cried out with a loud shout, “Eloi, eloi, lama sabachthani,” which means, “My God, my God, why have you left me?” [35] After hearing him, some standing there said, “Look! He’s calling Elijah!” [36] Someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, and put it on a pole. He offered it to Jesus to drink, saying, “Let’s see if Elijah will come to take him down.” [37] But Jesus let out a loud cry and died. [38] The curtain of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. [39] When the centurion, who stood facing Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “This man was certainly God’s Son.” [40] Some women were watching from a distance, including Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James (the younger one) and Joses, and Salome. [41] When Jesus was in Galilee, these women had followed and supported him, along with many other women who had come to Jerusalem with him. [42] Since it was late in the afternoon on Preparation Day, just before the Sabbath, [43] Joseph from Arimathea dared to approach Pilate and ask for Jesus’ body. (Joseph was a prominent council member who also eagerly anticipated the coming of God’s kingdom.) [44] Pilate wondered if Jesus was already dead. He called the centurion and asked him whether Jesus had already died. [45] When he learned from the centurion that Jesus was dead, Pilate gave the dead body to Joseph. [46] He bought a linen cloth, took Jesus down from the cross, wrapped him in the cloth, and laid him in a tomb that had been carved out of rock. He rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb. [47] Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was buried.