Jesus before the Council^(A)

⁵³ Then Jesus was taken to the High Priest's house, where all the chief priests, the elders, and the teachers of the Law were gathering. ⁵⁴ Peter followed from a distance and went into the courtyard of the High Priest's house. There he sat down with the guards, keeping himself warm by the fire. ⁵⁵ The chief priests and the whole Council tried to find some evidence against Jesus in order to put him to death, but they could not find any. ⁵⁶ Many witnesses told lies against Jesus, but their stories did not agree.

⁵⁷ Then some men stood up and told this lie against Jesus: ^58 (B)“We heard him say, ‘I will tear down this Temple which men have made, and after three days I will build one that is not made by men.’” ⁵⁹ Not even they, however, could make their stories agree.

⁶⁰ The High Priest stood up in front of them all and questioned Jesus, “Have you no answer to the accusation they bring against you?”

⁶¹ But Jesus kept quiet and would not say a word. Again the High Priest questioned him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed God?”

^62 (C)“I am,” answered Jesus, “and you will all see the Son of Man seated at the right side of the Almighty and coming with the clouds of heaven!”

⁶³ The High Priest tore his robes and said, “We don't need any more witnesses! ^64 (D)You heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?”

They all voted against him: he was guilty and should be put to death.

⁶⁵ Some of them began to spit on Jesus, and they blindfolded him and hit him. “Guess who hit you!” they said. And the guards took him and slapped him.

Jesus before Pilate^(A)

15 Early in the morning the chief priests met hurriedly with the elders, the teachers of the Law, and the whole Council, and made their plans. They put Jesus in chains, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. ² Pilate questioned him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

Jesus answered, “So you say.”

³ The chief priests were accusing Jesus of many things, ⁴ so Pilate questioned him again, “Aren't you going to answer? Listen to all their accusations!”

⁵ Again Jesus refused to say a word, and Pilate was amazed.

^28 [a]

^29 (A)People passing by shook their heads and hurled insults at Jesus: “Aha! You were going to tear down the Temple and build it back up in three days! ³⁰ Now come down from the cross and save yourself!”

³¹ In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the Law made fun of Jesus, saying to one another, “He saved others, but he cannot save himself! ³² Let us see the Messiah, the king of Israel, come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him!”

And the two who were crucified with Jesus insulted him also.

The Death of Jesus^(B)

³³ At noon the whole country was covered with darkness, which lasted for three hours. ^34 (C)At three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud shout, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why did you abandon me?”

³⁵ Some of the people there heard him and said, “Listen, he is calling for Elijah!” ^36 (D)One of them ran up with a sponge, soaked it in cheap wine, and put it on the end of a stick. Then he held it up to Jesus' lips and said, “Wait! Let us see if Elijah is coming to bring him down from the cross!”

³⁷ With a loud cry Jesus died.

^38 (E)The curtain hanging in the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. ³⁹ The army officer who was standing there in front of the cross saw how Jesus had died.^[b] “This man was really the Son of God!” he said.