15 As soon as it was morning, the chief priests, leaders, and the scribes talked together. They tied Jesus and took him before Pilate to be judged.

² Pilate asked him, `Are you the King of the Jews?' Jesus answered, `Yes, I am.'

³ The chief priests brought many complaints against Jesus.

⁴ Then Pilate asked him, `Have you nothing to say? These people are bringing many complaints against you!'

⁵ But Jesus said nothing. Pilate was very much surprised about this.

⁶ At the feast Pilate used to let one prisoner free. He let the people choose the man they wanted to go free.

⁷ In the prison was a man named Barabbas. He had led some people who had been fighting in the city. He had killed a man.

⁸ The people started shouting. They asked Pilate to let one prisoner free, as he used to do.

⁹ Then Pilate asked, `Do you want me to let the King of the Jews go free?'

¹⁰ He knew that the chief priests did not like Jesus. He knew that was why they brought Jesus to him.

¹¹ But the chief priests talked to the people. They told them to ask Pilate to let Barabbas go free.

¹² Pilate asked them, `Then what shall I do with the man whom you call King of the Jews?'

¹³ They shouted back, `Nail him to a cross!'

¹⁴ Pilate then asked, `Why, what wrong thing has he done?' But they shouted even more, `Nail him to a cross!'

¹⁵ Pilate wanted to please the people, so he let Barabbas go free. He told the soldiers to beat Jesus and nail him to a cross.

¹⁶ The soldiers took Jesus to a room. They called all the soldiers together.

¹⁷ They put a red gown on Jesus. They made a big ring of thorns like a crown and put it on his head.

¹⁸ Then they began to speak to him as if he were a king. They shouted, `Greetings, King of the Jews!'

¹⁹ They hit him on the head with a stick and spat on him. They kneeled down before him as if to give him great respect.

²⁰ When they had made fun of him, they took off the red gown and put his own clothes on him again. Then they took Jesus out of the city to nail him to a cross.

²¹ man was coming in from the farms. His name was Simon. He was born in the country of Cyrene. Alexander and Rufus were his sons. The soldiers caught Simon and made him carry Jesus' cross.

²² They took Jesus to Golgotha. That means the place of a head bone.

²³ They wanted Jesus to drink wine mixed with something bitter. But Jesus would not drink it.

²⁴ Then they nailed him to a cross. They gambled to see how they should divide Jesus' clothes.

²⁵ It was nine o'clock in the morning when they nailed him on the cross.

²⁶ They put the complaint they had against him above Jesus' head. It was, `The King of the Jews.'

²⁷ They also nailed two bad men on crosses there. One was put on the right side of Jesus and one was put on the left side of Jesus.

²⁸ The holy writings say, `He was counted as one of the bad people.' It came true.

²⁹ The people who passed by said wrong things about him. They shook their heads and said, `Ha, ha! You are the man who said you could break down the temple and build it again in three days.

³⁰ Save yourself and come down from the cross.'

³¹ The chief priests and the scribes also made fun of him. `He saved other people, but he cannot save himself!

³² If he is the Christ, the king of the people of Israel, he should come down from the cross now. We want to see it and believe!' The bad men who were also nailed to crosses said the same things to him.

³³ About midday the whole land became dark and stayed dark for three hours.

³⁴ About three o'clock, Jesus called out loud, `Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?' That means, `My God, my God, why have you left me alone?'

³⁵ Some of the people standing there heard what Jesus said. They said, `Listen, he is calling for Elijah!'

³⁶ One man ran to get something called a sponge. He made it wet with sour wine and put it on the end of a stick. With it he gave Jesus a drink. He said, `We will see if Elijah will come and take him down!'

³⁷ Then Jesus called out loud. Then he died.

³⁸ The big cloth that hung in the temple was torn into two pieces. It was torn from the top down to the bottom.

³⁹ The captain who stood in front of Jesus saw that he died. He said, `Surely, this man was God's Son.'

⁴⁰ Some women were watching from far away. Among these women were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of the younger James and Joses, and Salome.

⁴¹ When Jesus was in Galilee, they came with him and helped him. Some other women who had come to Jerusalem with Jesus were also watching.

⁴² It was now evening of the day before the Sabbath.

⁴³ Joseph of Arimathaea was a member of the court. He was a good man. He also was looking for the kingdom of God. He was not afraid, but went to Pilate and asked him for Jesus' body.

⁴⁴ Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus was dead already. He called the captain and asked him if Jesus was dead.

⁴⁵ The captain told him that he was. Then Pilate let Joseph take the body.

⁴⁶ Joseph went to buy some cloth. Then he took Jesus down and wrapped him in the cloth. He laid him in a grave that had been cut in a rock. Then he rolled a very big stone to close the grave.

⁴⁷ Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where they laid Jesus.