Mark 14:53-15:39

English Standard Version

Jesus Before the Council

^53 (A)And ^(B)they led Jesus to the high priest. And all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together. ^54 (C)And ^(D)Peter had followed him at a distance, ^(E)right into ^(F)the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with ^(G)the guards and ^(H)warming himself at the fire. ⁵⁵ Now the chief priests and the whole council^[a] were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none. ^56 (I)For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony ^(J)did not agree. ⁵⁷ And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying, ^58 (K)“We heard him say, ^(L)‘I will destroy this temple ^(M)that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, ^(N)not made with hands.’” ⁵⁹ Yet even about this their testimony did not agree. ⁶⁰ And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?”^{[b] 61} But ^(O)he remained silent and made no answer. ^(P)Again the high priest asked him, “Are you ^(Q)the Christ, the Son of ^(R)the Blessed?” ⁶² And Jesus said, “I am, and ^(S)you will see the Son of Man ^(T)seated at the right hand of Power, and ^(U)coming with the clouds of heaven.” ⁶³ And the high priest ^(V)tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need? ⁶⁴ You have heard ^(W)his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they ^(X)all condemned him as ^(Y)deserving death. ^65 (Z)And some began ^(AA)to spit on him and ^(AB)to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” And the guards received him ^(AC)with blows.

Peter Denies Jesus

^66 (AD)And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, ⁶⁷ and seeing Peter ^(AE)warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” ⁶⁸ But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway^[c] and ^(AF)the rooster crowed.^{[d] 69} And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” ⁷⁰ But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” ⁷¹ But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” ⁷² And immediately the rooster crowed ^(AG)a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, ^(AH)“Before the rooster crows twice, you will ^(AI)deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.^[e]

Jesus Delivered to Pilate

15 ^(AJ)And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests ^(AK)held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. And ^(AL)they bound Jesus and ^(AM)led him away and ^(AN)delivered him over to ^(AO)Pilate. ^2 (AP)And Pilate asked him, ^(AQ)“Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, ^(AR)“You have said so.” ³ And the chief priests accused him of many things. ⁴ And Pilate again asked him, ^(AS)“Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you.” ⁵ But Jesus ^(AT)made no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.

Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified

^6 (AU)Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. ⁷ And among the rebels in prison, who had ^(AV)committed murder ^(AW)in 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 ^(AX)it 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 ^(AY)the man you call the King of the Jews?” ¹³ And they cried out again, “Crucify him.” ¹⁴ And Pilate said to them, “Why? ^(AZ)What 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 ^(BA)scourged^[f] Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.

Jesus Is Mocked

^16 (BB)And the soldiers led him away inside ^(BC)the palace (that is, ^(BD)the governor's headquarters),^[g] and they called together the whole ^(BE)battalion.^{[h] 17} And they clothed him in ^(BF)a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. ¹⁸ And they began to salute him, ^(BG)“Hail, King of the Jews!” ¹⁹ And they were striking his head with a reed and ^(BH)spitting on him and ^(BI)kneeling down in homage to him. ²⁰ And when they had ^(BJ)mocked him, they stripped him of ^(BK)the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they ^(BL)led him out to crucify him.

The Crucifixion

^21 (BM)And 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 (BN)And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). ²³ And they offered him wine mixed with ^(BO)myrrh, but he did not take it. ²⁴ And they crucified him and ^(BP)divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. ²⁵ And ^(BQ)it was the third hour^[i] when they crucified him. ²⁶ And the inscription of the charge against him read, ^(BR)“The King of the Jews.” ²⁷ And with him they crucified two ^(BS)robbers, ^(BT)one on his right and one on his left.^{[j] 29} And ^(BU)those who passed by derided him, ^(BV)wagging their heads and saying, ^(BW)“Aha! ^(BX)You 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, ^(BY)“He saved others; ^(BZ)he cannot save himself. ³² Let ^(CA)the Christ, ^(CB)the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may ^(CC)see and believe.” ^(CD)Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.

The Death of Jesus

³³ And when the sixth hour^[k] had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.^{[l] 34} And at the ninth hour Jesus ^(CE)cried with a loud voice, ^(CF)“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 ^(CG)sour wine, put it on a reed ^(CH)and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” ³⁷ And Jesus ^(CI)uttered a loud cry and ^(CJ)breathed his last. ³⁸ And ^(CK)the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. ^39 (CL)And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he^[m] breathed his last, he said, ^(CM)“Truly this man was the Son^[n] of God!”