Jesus before His Accusers

^53 (A)They led Jesus away to the high priest; and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes *gathered together. ⁵⁴ Peter had followed Him at a distance, ^(B)right into ^(C)the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the ^[a]officers and ^(D)warming himself at the ^[b]fire. ⁵⁵ Now the chief priests and the whole ^[c](E)Council kept trying to obtain testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, and they were not finding any. ⁵⁶ For many were giving false testimony against Him, but their testimony was not consistent. ⁵⁷ Some stood up and began to give false testimony against Him, saying, ⁵⁸ “We heard Him say, ‘^(F)I will destroy this ^[d]temple made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.’” ⁵⁹ Not even in this respect was their testimony consistent. ⁶⁰ The high priest stood up and came forward and questioned Jesus, saying, “Do You not answer? ^[e]What is it that these men are testifying against You?” ^61 (G)But He kept silent and did not answer. ^(H)Again the high priest was questioning Him, and ^[f]saying to Him, “Are You ^[g]the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” ⁶² And Jesus said, “I am; and you shall see ^(I)the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and ^(J)coming with the clouds of heaven.” ^63 (K)Tearing his clothes, the high priest *said, “What further need do we have of witnesses? ⁶⁴ You have heard the ^(L)blasphemy; how does it seem to you?” And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death. ⁶⁵ Some began to ^(M)spit at Him, and ^[h](N)to blindfold Him, and to beat Him with their fists, and to say to Him, “^(O)Prophesy!” And the officers ^[i]received Him with ^[j]slaps in the face.

Peter’s Denials

^66 (P)As Peter was below in ^(Q)the courtyard, one of the servant-girls of the high priest *came, ⁶⁷ and seeing Peter ^(R)warming himself, she looked at him and *said, “You also were with Jesus the ^(S)Nazarene.” ⁶⁸ But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you are talking about.” And he ^(T)went out onto the ^[k]porch.^{[l] 69} The servant-girl saw him, and began once more to say to the bystanders, “This is one of them!” ⁷⁰ But again ^(U)he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders were again saying to Peter, “Surely you are one of them, ^(V)for you are a Galilean too.” ⁷¹ But he began to ^[m]curse and swear, “I do not know this man you are talking about!” ⁷² Immediately a rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had made the remark to him, “Before ^(W)a rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” ^[n]And he began to weep.

Jesus before Pilate

15 ^(X)Early in the morning the chief priests with the elders and scribes and the whole ^[o](Y)Council, immediately held a consultation; and binding Jesus, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate. ^2 (Z)Pilate questioned Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And He *answered him, “It is as you say.” ³ The chief priests began to accuse Him ^[p]harshly. ⁴ Then Pilate questioned Him again, saying, “Do You not answer? See how many charges they bring against You!” ⁵ But Jesus ^(AA)made no further answer; so Pilate was amazed.

^6 (AB)Now at the feast he used to release for them any one prisoner whom they requested. ⁷ The man named Barabbas had been imprisoned with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the insurrection. ⁸ The crowd went up and began asking him to do as he had been accustomed to do for them. ⁹ Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” ¹⁰ For he was aware that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy. ¹¹ But the chief priests stirred up the crowd ^(AC)to ask him to release Barabbas for them instead. ¹² Answering again, Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” ¹³ They shouted ^[q]back, “Crucify Him!” ¹⁴ But Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify Him!” ¹⁵ Wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus ^(AD)scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified.

Jesus Is Mocked

^16 (AE)The soldiers took Him away into ^(AF)the ^[r]palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they *called together the whole Roman ^[s](AG)cohort. ¹⁷ They *dressed Him up in purple, and after twisting a crown of thorns, they put it on Him; ¹⁸ and they began to acclaim Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” ¹⁹ They kept beating His head with a ^[t]reed, and spitting on Him, and kneeling and bowing before Him. ²⁰ After they had mocked Him, they took the purple robe off Him and put His own garments on Him. And they *led Him out to crucify Him.

^21 (AH)They *pressed into service a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and ^(AI)Rufus), to bear His cross.

The Crucifixion

^22 (AJ)Then they *brought Him to the place ^(AK)Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. ²³ They tried to give Him ^(AL)wine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it. ²⁴ And they *crucified Him, and *^(AM)divided up His garments among themselves, casting ^[u]lots for them to decide ^[v]what each man should take. ²⁵ It was the ^[w](AN)third hour ^[x]when they crucified Him. ²⁶ The inscription of the charge against Him ^[y]read, “^(AO)THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

²⁷ They *crucified two robbers with Him, one on His right and one on His left. ²⁸ [^[z]And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was numbered with transgressors.”] ²⁹ Those passing by were ^[aa]hurling abuse at Him, ^(AP)wagging their heads, and saying, “Ha! You who are going to ^(AQ)destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, ³⁰ save Yourself, and come down from the cross!” ³¹ In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking Him among themselves and saying, “^(AR)He saved others; ^[ab]He cannot save Himself. ³² Let this Christ, ^(AS)the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!” ^(AT)Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.

^33 (AU)When the ^[ac](AV)sixth hour came, darkness ^[ad]fell over the whole land until the ^[ae](AW)ninth hour. ³⁴ At the ^(AX)ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “^(AY)Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” ³⁵ When some of the bystanders heard it, they began saying, “Behold, He is calling for Elijah.” ³⁶ Someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink, saying, “^[af]Let us see whether Elijah will come to take Him down.” ^37 (AZ)And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed His last. ^38 (BA)And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. ^39 (BB)When the centurion, who was standing ^[ag]right in front of Him, saw ^[ah]the way He breathed His last, he said, “Truly this man was ^[ai]the Son of God!”

^40 (BC)There were also some women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of ^[aj]James ^(BD)the ^[ak]Less and Joses, and ^(BE)Salome. ⁴¹ When He was in Galilee, they used to follow Him and ^[al](BF)minister to Him; and there were many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.

¹⁸ knowing that you were not ^[a](A)redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your ^(B)futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, ¹⁹ but with precious ^(C)blood, as of a ^(D)lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. ²⁰ For He was ^(E)foreknown before ^(F)the foundation of the world, but has ^(G)appeared ^[b]in these last times ^(H)for the sake of you ²¹ who through Him are ^(I)believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and ^(J)gave Him glory, so that your faith and ^(K)hope are in God.