Mark 15:16-39
New American Standard Bible
Jesus Is Mocked
16 (A)Now the soldiers took Him away into (B)the [a]palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they *called together the whole Roman [b](C)cohort. 17 And they *dressed Him in [c]purple, and after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on Him; 18 and they began saluting Him: “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 And they repeatedly beat His head with a [d]reed and spit on Him, and kneeling, they bowed down before Him. 20 And after they had mocked Him, they took the [e]purple cloak off Him and put His own garments on Him. And they *led Him out to crucify Him.
21 (D)And they *compelled a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and (E)Rufus), to carry His cross.
The Crucifixion
22 (F)Then they *brought Him to the place (G)Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. 23 And they tried to give Him (H)wine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it. 24 And they *crucified Him, and *(I)divided up His garments among themselves, casting [f]lots for them to decide [g]what each man would take. 25 Now it was the [h](J)third hour [i]when they crucified Him. 26 The inscription of the charge against Him [j]read, “(K)THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
27 And they *crucified two [k]rebels with Him, one on His right and one on His left.[l] 29 Those passing by were [m]hurling abuse at Him, (L)shaking their heads and saying, “Ha! You who are going to (M)destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30 save Yourself by coming down from the cross!” 31 In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking Him among themselves and saying, “(N)He saved others; [n]He cannot save Himself! 32 Let this Christ, (O)the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, so that we may see and believe!” (P)Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.
33 (Q)When the [o](R)sixth hour came, darkness [p]fell over the whole land until the [q](S)ninth hour. 34 At the [r](T)ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “(U)Eloi, Eloi, lema sabaktanei?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” 35 And when some of the bystanders heard Him, they began saying, “Look! He is calling for Elijah!” 36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink, saying, “[s]Let us see if Elijah comes to take Him down.” 37 (V)But Jesus let out a loud cry, and [t]died. 38 (W)And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 (X)And when the centurion, who was standing [u]right in front of Him, saw that He [v]died in this way, he said, “Truly this man was [w]the Son of God!”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Mark 15:16 Or court
- Mark 15:16 Normally 600 men (the number varied)
- Mark 15:17 Prob. a term for a Roman soldier’s red cloak (cf. Matt 27:28)
- Mark 15:19 Or staff (made of a reed)
- Mark 15:20 See note v 17
- Mark 15:24 Lit a lot upon
- Mark 15:24 Lit who would take what
- Mark 15:25 I.e., 9 a.m.
- Mark 15:25 Lit and
- Mark 15:26 Lit had been inscribed
- Mark 15:27 Or robbers
- Mark 15:27 Late mss add the following as v 28: And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was counted with wrongdoers.”
- Mark 15:29 Or blaspheming Him
- Mark 15:31 Or can He not save Himself?
- Mark 15:33 I.e., noon
- Mark 15:33 Lit occurred
- Mark 15:33 I.e., 3 p.m.
- Mark 15:34 I.e., 3 p.m.
- Mark 15:36 Lit Allow that we see; or Hold off, let us see
- Mark 15:37 Lit expired
- Mark 15:39 Or opposite Him
- Mark 15:39 Lit expired
- Mark 15:39 Or a son of God; or a son of a god
Mark 15:16-39
The Message
16-20 The soldiers took Jesus into the palace (called Praetorium) and called together the entire brigade. They dressed him up in purple and put a crown plaited from a thornbush on his head. Then they began their mockery: “Bravo, King of the Jews!” They banged on his head with a club, spit on him, and knelt down in mock worship. After they had had their fun, they took off the purple cape and put his own clothes back on him. Then they marched out to nail him to the cross.
The Crucifixion
21 There was a man walking by, coming from work, Simon from Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus. They made him carry Jesus’ cross.
22-24 The soldiers brought Jesus to Golgotha, meaning “Skull Hill.” They offered him a mild painkiller (wine mixed with myrrh), but he wouldn’t take it. And they nailed him to the cross. They divided up his clothes and threw dice to see who would get them.
25-30 They nailed him up at nine o’clock in the morning. The charge against him—the king of the jews—was scrawled across a sign. Along with him, they crucified two criminals, one to his right, the other to his left. People passing along the road jeered, shaking their heads in mock lament: “You bragged that you could tear down the Temple and then rebuild it in three days—so show us your stuff! Save yourself! If you’re really God’s Son, come down from that cross!”
31-32 The high priests, along with the religion scholars, were right there mixing it up with the rest of them, having a great time poking fun at him: “He saved others—but he can’t save himself! Messiah, is he? King of Israel? Then let him climb down from that cross. We’ll all become believers then!” Even the men crucified alongside him joined in the mockery.
33-34 At noon the sky became extremely dark. The darkness lasted three hours. At three o’clock, Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
35-36 Some of the bystanders who heard him said, “Listen, he’s calling for Elijah.” Someone ran off, soaked a sponge in sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down.”
37-39 But Jesus, with a loud cry, gave his last breath. At that moment the Temple curtain ripped right down the middle. When the Roman captain standing guard in front of him saw that he had quit breathing, he said, “This has to be the Son of God!”
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Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson