Jesus enters Jerusalem

11 When Jesus and his followers approached Jerusalem, they came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives. Jesus gave two disciples a task, ² saying to them, “Go into the village over there. As soon as you enter it, you will find tied up there a colt that no one has ridden. Untie it and bring it here. ³ If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘Its master needs it, and he will send it back right away.’”

⁴ They went and found a colt tied to a gate outside on the street, and they untied it. ⁵ Some people standing around said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” ⁶ They told them just what Jesus said, and they left them alone. ⁷ They brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes upon it, and he sat on it. ⁸ Many people spread out their clothes on the road while others spread branches cut from the fields. ⁹ Those in front of him and those following were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!^{[a] 10} Blessings on the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest!” ¹¹ Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. After he looked around at everything, because it was already late in the evening, he returned to Bethany with the Twelve.

Arrest

⁴³ Suddenly, while Jesus was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, came with a mob carrying swords and clubs. They had been sent by the chief priests, legal experts, and elders. ⁴⁴ His betrayer had given them a sign: “Arrest the man I kiss, and take him away under guard.”

⁴⁵ As soon as he got there, Judas said to Jesus, “Rabbi!” Then he kissed him. ⁴⁶ Then they came and grabbed Jesus and arrested him.

⁴⁷ One of the bystanders drew a sword and struck the high priest’s slave and cut off his ear. ⁴⁸ Jesus responded, “Have you come with swords and clubs to arrest me, like an outlaw? ⁴⁹ Day after day, I was with you, teaching in the temple, but you didn’t arrest me. But let the scriptures be fulfilled.” ⁵⁰ And all his disciples left him and ran away. ⁵¹ One young man, a disciple, was wearing nothing but a linen cloth. They grabbed him, ⁵² but he left the linen cloth behind and ran away naked.

A hearing before the Sanhedrin

⁵³ They led Jesus away to the high priest, and all the chief priests, elders, and legal experts gathered. ⁵⁴ Peter followed him from a distance, right into the high priest’s courtyard. He was sitting with the guards, warming himself by the fire. ⁵⁵ The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for testimony against Jesus in order to put him to death, but they couldn’t find any. ⁵⁶ Many brought false testimony against him, but they contradicted each other. ⁵⁷ Some stood to offer false witness against him, saying, ⁵⁸ “We heard him saying, ‘I will destroy this temple, constructed by humans, and within three days I will build another, one not made by humans.’” ⁵⁹ But their testimonies didn’t agree even on this point.

⁶⁰ Then the high priest stood up in the middle of the gathering and examined Jesus. “Aren’t you going to respond to the testimony these people have brought against you?” ⁶¹ But Jesus was silent and didn’t answer. Again, the high priest asked, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the blessed one?”

⁶² Jesus said, “I am. And you will see the Human One^[a] sitting on the right side of the Almighty^[b] and coming on the heavenly clouds.”

⁶³ Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “Why do we need any more witnesses? ⁶⁴ You’ve heard his insult against God. What do you think?”

They all condemned him. “He deserves to die!”

⁶⁵ Some began to spit on him. Some covered his face and hit him, saying, “Prophesy!” Then the guards took him and beat him.

Peter denies Jesus

⁶⁶ Meanwhile, Peter was below in the courtyard. A woman, one of the high priest’s servants, approached ⁶⁷ and saw Peter warming himself by the fire. She stared at him and said, “You were also with the Nazarene, Jesus.”

⁶⁸ But he denied it, saying, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t understand what you’re saying.” And he went outside into the outer courtyard. A rooster crowed.

⁶⁹ The female servant saw him and began a second time to say to those standing around, “This man is one of them.” ⁷⁰ But he denied it again.

A short time later, those standing around again said to Peter, “You must be one of them, because you are also a Galilean.”

⁷¹ But he cursed and swore, “I don’t know this man you’re talking about.” ⁷² At that very moment, a rooster crowed a second time. Peter remembered what Jesus told him, “Before a rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down, sobbing.

Trial before Pilate

15 At daybreak, the chief priests—with the elders, legal experts, and the whole Sanhedrin—formed a plan. They bound Jesus, led him away, and turned him over to Pilate. ² Pilate questioned him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

Jesus replied, “That’s what you say.” ³ The chief priests were accusing him of many things.

⁴ Pilate asked him again, “Aren’t you going to answer? What about all these accusations?” ⁵ But Jesus gave no more answers, so that Pilate marveled.

⁶ During the festival, Pilate released one prisoner to them, whomever they requested. ⁷ A man named Barabbas was locked up with the rebels who had committed murder during an uprising. ⁸ The crowd pushed forward and asked Pilate to release someone, as he regularly did. ⁹ Pilate answered them, “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” ¹⁰ He knew that the chief priests had handed him over because of jealousy. ¹¹ But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas to them instead. ¹² Pilate replied, “Then what do you want me to do with the one you call king of the Jews?”

¹³ They shouted back, “Crucify him!”

¹⁴ Pilate said to them, “Why? What wrong has he done?”

They shouted even louder, “Crucify him!”

¹⁵ Pilate wanted to satisfy the crowd, so he released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus whipped, then handed him over to be crucified.

Jesus is tortured and killed

¹⁶ The soldiers led Jesus away into the courtyard of the palace known as the governor’s headquarters,^[c] and they called together the whole company of soldiers.^{[d] 17} They dressed him up in a purple robe and twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on him. ¹⁸ They saluted him, “Hey! King of the Jews!” ¹⁹ Again and again, they struck his head with a stick. They spit on him and knelt before him to honor him. ²⁰ When they finished mocking him, they stripped him of the purple robe and put his own clothes back on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

²¹ Simon, a man from Cyrene, Alexander and Rufus’ father, was coming in from the countryside. They forced him to carry his cross.

²² They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha, which means Skull Place. ²³ They tried to give him wine mixed with myrrh, but he didn’t take it. ²⁴ They crucified him. They divided up his clothes, drawing lots for them to determine who would take what. ²⁵ It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. ²⁶ The notice of the formal charge against him was written, “The king of the Jews.” ²⁷ They crucified two outlaws with him, one on his right and one on his left.^[e]

²⁹ People walking by insulted him, shaking their heads and saying, “Ha! So you were going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, were you? ³⁰ Save yourself and come down from that cross!”

³¹ In the same way, the chief priests were making fun of him among themselves, together with the legal experts. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself. ³² Let the Christ, the king of Israel, come down from the cross. Then we’ll see and believe.” Even those who had been crucified with Jesus insulted him.

³³ From noon until three in the afternoon the whole earth was dark. ³⁴ At three, Jesus cried out with a loud shout, “Eloi, eloi, lama sabachthani,” which means, “My God, my God, why have you left me?”

³⁵ After hearing him, some standing there said, “Look! He’s calling Elijah!” ³⁶ Someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, and put it on a pole. He offered it to Jesus to drink, saying, “Let’s see if Elijah will come to take him down.” ³⁷ But Jesus let out a loud cry and died.

³⁸ The curtain of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. ³⁹ When the centurion, who stood facing Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “This man was certainly God’s Son.”

⁴⁰ Some women were watching from a distance, including Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James (the younger one) and Joses, and Salome. ⁴¹ When Jesus was in Galilee, these women had followed and supported him, along with many other women who had come to Jerusalem with him.

Jesus’ burial

⁴² Since it was late in the afternoon on Preparation Day, just before the Sabbath, ⁴³ Joseph from Arimathea dared to approach Pilate and ask for Jesus’ body. (Joseph was a prominent council member who also eagerly anticipated the coming of God’s kingdom.) ⁴⁴ Pilate wondered if Jesus was already dead. He called the centurion and asked him whether Jesus had already died. ⁴⁵ When he learned from the centurion that Jesus was dead, Pilate gave the dead body to Joseph. ⁴⁶ He bought a linen cloth, took Jesus down from the cross, wrapped him in the cloth, and laid him in a tomb that had been carved out of rock. He rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb. ⁴⁷ Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was buried.