Mark 15:16-26

GOD’S WORD Translation

The Soldiers Make Fun of Jesus^(A)

¹⁶ The soldiers led Jesus into the courtyard of the palace and called together the whole troop. ¹⁷ They dressed him in purple, twisted some thorns into a crown, and placed it on his head. ¹⁸ Then they began to greet him, “Long live the king of the Jews!” ¹⁹ They kept hitting him on the head with a stick, spitting on him, and kneeling in front of him with false humility.

The Crucifixion^(B)

²⁰ After the soldiers finished making fun of Jesus, they took off the purple cape and put his own clothes back on him. Then they led him out to crucify him. ²¹ A man named Simon from the city of Cyrene was coming ⌞into Jerusalem⌟ from his home in the country. He was the father of Alexander and Rufus. As he was about to pass by, the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross.

²² They took Jesus to Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). ²³ They tried to give him wine mixed with a drug called myrrh, but he wouldn’t take it. ²⁴ Next they crucified him. Then they divided his clothes among themselves by throwing dice to see what each one would get. ²⁵ It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. ²⁶ There was a written notice of the accusation against him. It read, “The king of the Jews.”