Jesus Delivered to Be Crucified

19 Then Pilate took Jesus and ^(A)flogged him. ^2 (B)And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. ³ They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. ⁴ Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that ^(C)I find no guilt in him.” ⁵ So Jesus came out, wearing ^(D)the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, ^(E)“Behold the man!” ⁶ When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, ^(F)“Take him yourselves and crucify him, for ^(G)I find no guilt in him.” ⁷ The Jews^[a] answered him, “We have a law, and ^(H)according to that law he ought to die because ^(I)he has made himself the Son of God.” ⁸ When Pilate heard this statement, ^(J)he was even more afraid. ^9 (K)He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, ^(L)“Where are you from?” But ^(M)Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰ So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” ¹¹ Jesus answered him, ^(N)“You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore ^(O)he who delivered me over to you ^(P)has the greater sin.”

¹² From then on ^(Q)Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. ^(R)Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” ¹³ So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on ^(S)the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic^[b] Gabbatha. ¹⁴ Now it was ^(T)the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour.^[c] He said to the Jews, ^(U)“Behold your King!” ¹⁵ They cried out, ^(V)“Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” ^16 (W)So he ^(X)delivered him over to them to be crucified.

The Crucifixion

So they took Jesus, ¹⁷ and ^(Y)he went out, ^(Z)bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. ^18 (AA)There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. ¹⁹ Pilate ^(AB)also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” ²⁰ Many of the Jews read this inscription, for ^(AC)the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. ²¹ So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” ²² Pilate answered, ^(AD)“What I have written I have written.”

^23 (AE)When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic.^[d] But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, ²⁴ so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” ^(AF)This was to fulfill the Scripture which says,

So the soldiers did these things, ^25 (AH)but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶ When Jesus saw his mother and ^(AI)the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, ^(AJ)“Woman, behold, your son!” ²⁷ Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to ^(AK)his own home.

The Death of Jesus

²⁸ After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now ^(AL)finished, said (^(AM)to fulfill the Scripture), ^(AN)“I thirst.” ²⁹ A jar full of sour wine stood there, ^(AO)so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. ³⁰ When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ^(AP)“It is finished,” and he bowed his head and ^(AQ)gave up his spirit.

Jesus' Side Is Pierced

³¹ Since it was ^(AR)the day of Preparation, and ^(AS)so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was ^(AT)a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. ³² So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other ^(AU)who had been crucified with him. ³³ But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. ³⁴ But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out ^(AV)blood and water. ^35 (AW)He who saw it has borne witness—^(AX)his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—^(AY)that you also may believe. ^36 (AZ)For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: ^(BA)“Not one of his bones ^(BB)will be broken.” ³⁷ And again another Scripture says, ^(BC)“They will look on him whom they have pierced.”

Jesus Is Buried

^38 (BD)After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly ^(BE)for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. ^39 (BF)Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus^[e] by night, came ^(BG)bringing a mixture of ^(BH)myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds^[f] in weight. ⁴⁰ So they took the body of Jesus and ^(BI)bound it in ^(BJ)linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. ⁴¹ Now in the place where he was crucified there was a ^(BK)garden, and ^(BL)in the garden a new tomb ^(BM)in which no one had yet been laid. ⁴² So because of the Jewish ^(BN)day of Preparation, ^(BO)since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

A Vision of Four Chariots

6 Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, four chariots came out from between two mountains. And the mountains were mountains of ^(A)bronze. ² The first chariot had ^(B)red horses, the second ^(C)black horses, ³ the third ^(D)white horses, and the fourth chariot dappled horses—all of them strong.^{[a] 4} Then I answered and said to ^(E)the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” ⁵ And the angel answered and said to me, ^(F)“These are going out to the four winds of heaven, after ^(G)presenting themselves before ^(H)the Lord of all the earth. ⁶ The chariot with the black horses goes toward ^(I)the north country, the white ones go after them, and the dappled ones go toward ^(J)the south country.” ⁷ When the strong horses came out, they were impatient to go and ^(K)patrol the earth. And he said, “Go, ^(L)patrol the earth.” ^(M)So they patrolled the earth. ⁸ Then he cried to me, “Behold, those who go toward ^(N)the north country have set my Spirit at rest in ^(O)the north country.”

The Crown and the Temple

⁹ And the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁰ “Take from the exiles ^(P)Heldai, Tobijah, and ^(Q)Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon, and go the same day to the house of Josiah, the son of ^(R)Zephaniah. ¹¹ Take from them silver and gold, and make a crown, ^(S)and set it on the head of ^(T)Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. ¹² And say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, the man whose name is ^(U)the Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and ^(V)he shall build the temple of the Lord. ^13 (W)It is he who shall build the temple of the Lord ^(X)and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his throne. And there^[b] shall be a ^(Y)priest on his throne, ^(Z)and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.”’ ¹⁴ And the crown shall be in the temple of the Lord as ^(AA)a reminder to ^(AB)Helem,^{[c] (AC)}Tobijah, ^(AD)Jedaiah, and Hen ^(AE)the son of Zephaniah.

^15 (AF)“And those who are far off shall come and ^(AG)help to build the temple of the Lord. ^(AH)And you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. ^(AI)And this shall come to pass, if you will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.”

A Call for Justice and Mercy

7 ^(AJ)In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is ^(AK)Chislev. ² Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men ^(AL)to entreat the favor of the Lord, ^3 (AM)saying to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts and ^(AN)the prophets, “Should I weep and ^(AO)abstain in ^(AP)the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”

⁴ Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me: ⁵ “Say to all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in ^(AQ)the fifth month and in ^(AR)the seventh, for these ^(AS)seventy years, ^(AT)was it ^(AU)for me that you fasted? ^6 (AV)And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? ^7 (AW)Were not these the words that the Lord proclaimed ^(AX)by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, ^(AY)with her cities around her, and the ^(AZ)South and the ^(BA)lowland were inhabited?’”

⁸ And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, ⁹ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ^(BB)Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, ^10 (BC)do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, ^(BD)or the poor, and ^(BE)let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” ¹¹ But ^(BF)they refused to pay attention ^(BG)and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear.^{[d] 12 (BH)}They made their hearts diamond-hard ^(BI)lest they should hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent ^(BJ)by his Spirit through ^(BK)the former prophets. ^(BL)Therefore great anger came from the Lord of hosts. ^13 (BM)“As I^[e] called, and they would not hear, ^(BN)so they called, and I would not hear,” says the Lord of hosts, ^14 (BO)“and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all ^(BP)the nations that they had not known. ^(BQ)Thus the land they left was desolate, ^(BR)so that no one went to and fro, ^(BS)and the pleasant land was made desolate.”

The Coming Peace and Prosperity of Zion

8 And the word of the Lord of hosts came, saying, ² “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(BT)I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. ³ Thus says the Lord: ^(BU)I have returned to Zion and ^(BV)will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, ^(BW)and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, ^(BX)and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. ⁴ Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(BY)Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age. ⁵ And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. ⁶ Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(BZ)If it is marvelous in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, ^(CA)should it also be marvelous in my sight, declares the Lord of hosts? ⁷ Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, ^(CB)I will save my people ^(CC)from the east country and from the west country, ⁸ and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. ^(CD)And they shall be my people, and I will be their God, ^(CE)in faithfulness and in righteousness.”

⁹ Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(CF)“Let your hands be strong, you who in these days have been hearing these words from the mouth of ^(CG)the prophets who were present on ^(CH)the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built. ¹⁰ For before those days ^(CI)there was no wage for man or any wage for beast, neither was there any safety from the foe for him who went out or came in, for I set every man against his neighbor. ¹¹ But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, declares the Lord of hosts. ^12 (CJ)For there shall be a sowing of peace. The vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce, ^(CK)and the heavens shall give their dew. ^(CL)And I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. ¹³ And as ^(CM)you have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, ^(CN)so will I save you, and ^(CO)you shall be a blessing. ^(CP)Fear not, but ^(CQ)let your hands be strong.”

¹⁴ For thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(CR)“As I purposed to bring disaster to you when your fathers provoked me to wrath, and I did not relent, says the Lord of hosts, ¹⁵ so again have I purposed in these days to bring good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; ^(CS)fear not. ¹⁶ These are the things that you shall do: ^(CT)Speak the truth to one another; ^(CU)render in your gates judgments ^(CV)that are true and make for peace; ^17 (CW)do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and ^(CX)love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the Lord.”

¹⁸ And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, ¹⁹ “Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast of the ^(CY)fourth month and the fast of the ^(CZ)fifth and the fast of the ^(DA)seventh and the fast of the ^(DB)tenth shall be to the house of Judah ^(DC)seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore love ^(DD)truth and peace.

²⁰ “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Peoples shall yet come, even the inhabitants of many cities. ²¹ The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, ^(DE)‘Let us go at once ^(DF)to entreat the favor of the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts; I myself am going.’ ^22 (DG)Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and ^(DH)to entreat the favor of the Lord. ²³ Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days ^(DI)ten men ^(DJ)from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for ^(DK)we have heard that God is with you.’”

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