¹⁶ Gideon divided the 300 men into three companies. He gave them each rams’ horns and jars with torches inside. ¹⁷ He said to them, “Watch me, and do what I do. When I come to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. ¹⁸ When I and those with me blow our rams’ horns, then the rest of you around the camp do the same and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’ ”

¹⁹ Gideon and his 100 men came to the edge of the camp. It was the beginning of the midnight watch just at the change of the guards. They blew their rams’ horns and smashed the jars they were holding in their hands. ²⁰ The three companies also blew their rams’ horns and broke their jars. They held the torches in their left hands and the rams’ horns in their right hands so that they could blow them. They shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” ²¹ While each man kept his position around the camp, everyone in the Midianite camp began to run away, screaming as they fled. ²² The 300 men kept on blowing their rams’ horns, and the Lord caused the whole camp of Midian to fight among themselves. They fled as far as Beth Shittah, toward Zererah, and as far as the bank of the stream at Abel Meholah near Tabbath.

²³ The men of Israel were summoned from Naphtali, Asher, and all Manasseh to help pursue the troops of Midian.

²² Pilate asked them, “Then what should I do with Jesus, who is called Christ?”

“He should be crucified!” they all said.

²³ Pilate asked, “Why? What has he done wrong?”

But they began to shout loudly, “He should be crucified!”

²⁴ Pilate saw that he was not getting anywhere. Instead, a riot was breaking out. So Pilate took some water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. He said, “I won’t be guilty of killing this man. Do what you want!”

²⁵ All the people answered, “The responsibility for killing him will rest on us and our children.”

²⁶ Then Pilate freed Barabbas for the people. But he had Jesus whipped and handed over to be crucified.

The Soldiers Make Fun of Jesus^(A)

²⁷ Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the palace and gathered the whole troop around him. ²⁸ They took off his clothes and put a bright red cape on him. ²⁹ They twisted some thorns into a crown, placed it on his head, and put a stick in his right hand. They knelt in front of him and made fun of him by saying, “Long live the king of the Jews!” ³⁰ After they had spit on him, they took the stick and kept hitting him on the head with it.

The Crucifixion^(B)

³¹ After the soldiers finished making fun of Jesus, they took off the cape and put his own clothes back on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

³² On the way they found a man named Simon. He was from the city of Cyrene. The soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross.

³³ They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). ³⁴ They gave him a drink of wine mixed with a drug called gall. When he tasted it, he refused to drink it. ³⁵ After they had crucified him, they divided his clothes among themselves by throwing dice. ³⁶ Then they sat there and kept watch over him. ³⁷ They placed a written accusation above his head. It read, “This is Jesus, the king of the Jews.”

³⁸ At that time they crucified two criminals with him, one on his right and the other on his left.

³⁹ Those who passed by insulted him. They shook their heads ⁴⁰ and said, “You were going to tear down God’s temple and build it again in three days. Save yourself! If you’re the Son of God, come down from the cross.” ⁴¹ The chief priests together with the experts in Moses’ Teachings and the leaders made fun of him in the same way. They said, ⁴² “He saved others, but he can’t save himself. So he’s Israel’s king! Let him come down from the cross now, and we’ll believe him. ⁴³ He trusted God. Let God rescue him now if he wants. After all, this man said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” ⁴⁴ Even the criminals crucified with him were insulting him the same way.

Jesus Dies on the Cross^(C)

⁴⁵ At noon darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. ⁴⁶ About three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” ⁴⁷ When some of the people standing there heard him say that, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.” ⁴⁸ One of the men ran at once, took a sponge, and soaked it in some vinegar. Then he put it on a stick and offered Jesus a drink. ⁴⁹ The others said, “Leave him alone! Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”

⁵⁰ Then Jesus loudly cried out once again and gave up his life.

⁵¹ Suddenly, the curtain in the temple was split in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split open. ⁵² The tombs were opened, and the bodies of many holy people who had died came back to life. ⁵³ They came out of the tombs after he had come back to life, and they went into the holy city where they appeared to many people.

⁵⁴ An army officer and those watching Jesus with him saw the earthquake and the other things happening. They were terrified and said, “Certainly, this was the Son of God!”

⁷ Our bodies are made of clay, yet we have the treasure of the Good News in them. This shows that the superior power of this treasure belongs to God and doesn’t come from us.