Mark 15
New American Standard Bible
Jesus before Pilate
15 (A)Early in the morning the chief priests with the elders, scribes, and the entire [a](B)Council immediately held a consultation; and they bound Jesus and led Him away, and turned Him over to Pilate. 2 (C)Pilate questioned Him: “So You are the King of the Jews?” And He answered him, “It is as you say.” 3 And the chief priests started accusing Him [b]of many things. 4 But Pilate questioned Him again, saying, “Do You offer nothing in answer? See how many charges they are bringing against You!” 5 But Jesus (D)said nothing further in answer, so Pilate was amazed.
6 (E)Now at the Passover Feast he used to release for them any one prisoner whom they requested. 7 And the one named Barabbas had been imprisoned with the rebels who had committed murder in the revolt. 8 And the crowd went up and began asking Pilate 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 (F)to ask him to release Barabbas for them instead. 12 And responding again, Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” 13 They shouted [c]back, “Crucify Him!” 14 But Pilate said to them, “Why, what [d]evil has He done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify Him!” 15 Intent on satisfying the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus (G)flogged, he handed Him over to be crucified.
Jesus Is Mocked
16 (H)Now the soldiers took Him away into (I)the [e]palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they *called together the whole Roman [f](J)cohort. 17 And they *dressed Him in [g]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 [h]reed and spit on Him, and kneeling, they bowed down before Him. 20 And after they had mocked Him, they took the [i]purple cloak off Him and put His own garments on Him. And they *led Him out to crucify Him.
21 (K)And they *compelled a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and (L)Rufus), to carry His cross.
The Crucifixion
22 (M)Then they *brought Him to the place (N)Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. 23 And they tried to give Him (O)wine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it. 24 And they *crucified Him, and *(P)divided up His garments among themselves, casting [j]lots for them to decide [k]what each man would take. 25 Now it was the [l](Q)third hour [m]when they crucified Him. 26 The inscription of the charge against Him [n]read, “(R)THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
27 And they *crucified two [o]rebels with Him, one on His right and one on His left.[p] 29 Those passing by were [q]hurling abuse at Him, (S)shaking their heads and saying, “Ha! You who are going to (T)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, “(U)He saved others; [r]He cannot save Himself! 32 Let this Christ, (V)the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, so that we may see and believe!” (W)Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.
33 (X)When the [s](Y)sixth hour came, darkness [t]fell over the whole land until the [u](Z)ninth hour. 34 At the [v](AA)ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “(AB)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, “[w]Let us see if Elijah comes to take Him down.” 37 (AC)But Jesus let out a loud cry, and [x]died. 38 (AD)And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 (AE)And when the centurion, who was standing [y]right in front of Him, saw that He [z]died in this way, he said, “Truly this Man was [aa]the Son of God!”
40 (AF)Now there were also some women watching from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of [ab]James (AG)the [ac]Less and Joses, and (AH)Salome. 41 When He was in Galilee, they used to follow Him and (AI)serve Him; and there were many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.
Jesus Is Buried
42 (AJ)When evening had already come, since it was (AK)the preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43 Joseph of Arimathea came, a (AL)prominent member of the Council, who was himself also (AM)waiting for the kingdom of God; and he (AN)gathered up courage and went in before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Now Pilate wondered if He was dead by this time, and summoning the centurion, he questioned him as to whether He was already dead. 45 And after learning this from (AO)the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. 46 Joseph bought a linen cloth, took Him down, wrapped Him in the linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb which had been cut out in the rock; and he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47 (AP)Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were watching to see where He was laid.
Footnotes
- Mark 15:1 Or Sanhedrin
- Mark 15:3 Or harshly
- Mark 15:13 Or again
- Mark 15:14 Or crime has He committed
- 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 15:40 Or Jacob
- Mark 15:40 Lit little (either in stature or age)
Mark 15
New Living Translation
Jesus’ Trial before Pilate
15 Very early in the morning the leading priests, the elders, and the teachers of religious law—the entire high council[a]—met to discuss their next step. They bound Jesus, led him away, and took him to Pilate, the Roman governor.
2 Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
Jesus replied, “You have said it.”
3 Then the leading priests kept accusing him of many crimes, 4 and Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer them? What about all these charges they are bringing against you?” 5 But Jesus said nothing, much to Pilate’s surprise.
6 Now it was the governor’s custom each year during the Passover celebration to release one prisoner—anyone the people requested. 7 One of the prisoners at that time was Barabbas, a revolutionary who had committed murder in an uprising. 8 The crowd went to Pilate and asked him to release a prisoner as usual.
9 “Would you like me to release to you this ‘King of the Jews’?” Pilate asked. 10 (For he realized by now that the leading priests had arrested Jesus out of envy.) 11 But at this point the leading priests stirred up the crowd to demand the release of Barabbas instead of Jesus. 12 Pilate asked them, “Then what should I do with this man you call the king of the Jews?”
13 They shouted back, “Crucify him!”
14 “Why?” Pilate demanded. “What crime has he committed?”
But the mob roared even louder, “Crucify him!”
15 So to pacify the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified.
The Soldiers Mock Jesus
16 The soldiers took Jesus into the courtyard of the governor’s headquarters (called the Praetorium) and called out the entire regiment. 17 They dressed him in a purple robe, and they wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head. 18 Then they saluted him and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” 19 And they struck him on the head with a reed stick, spit on him, and dropped to their knees in mock worship. 20 When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified.
The Crucifixion
21 A passerby named Simon, who was from Cyrene,[b] was coming in from the countryside just then, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. (Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus.) 22 And they brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”). 23 They offered him wine drugged with myrrh, but he refused it.
24 Then the soldiers nailed him to the cross. They divided his clothes and threw dice[c] to decide who would get each piece. 25 It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. 26 A sign announced the charge against him. It read, “The King of the Jews.” 27 Two revolutionaries[d] were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.[e]
29 The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. “Ha! Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. 30 Well then, save yourself and come down from the cross!”
31 The leading priests and teachers of religious law also mocked Jesus. “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! 32 Let this Messiah, this King of Israel, come down from the cross so we can see it and believe him!” Even the men who were crucified with Jesus ridiculed him.
The Death of Jesus
33 At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. 34 Then at three o’clock Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”[f]
35 Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah. 36 One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he could drink. “Wait!” he said. “Let’s see whether Elijah comes to take him down!”
37 Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.
39 When the Roman officer[g] who stood facing him[h] saw how he had died, he exclaimed, “This man truly was the Son of God!”
40 Some women were there, watching from a distance, including Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James the younger and of Joseph[i]), and Salome. 41 They had been followers of Jesus and had cared for him while he was in Galilee. Many other women who had come with him to Jerusalem were also there.
The Burial of Jesus
42 This all happened on Friday, the day of preparation,[j] the day before the Sabbath. As evening approached, 43 Joseph of Arimathea took a risk and went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. (Joseph was an honored member of the high council, and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God to come.) 44 Pilate couldn’t believe that Jesus was already dead, so he called for the Roman officer and asked if he had died yet. 45 The officer confirmed that Jesus was dead, so Pilate told Joseph he could have the body. 46 Joseph bought a long sheet of linen cloth. Then he took Jesus’ body down from the cross, wrapped it in the cloth, and laid it in a tomb that had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a stone in front of the entrance. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where Jesus’ body was laid.
Footnotes
- 15:1 Greek the Sanhedrin; also in 15:43.
- 15:21 Cyrene was a city in northern Africa.
- 15:24 Greek cast lots. See Ps 22:18.
- 15:27a Or Two criminals.
- 15:27b Some manuscripts add verse 28, And the Scripture was fulfilled that said, “He was counted among those who were rebels.” See Isa 53:12; also compare Luke 22:37.
- 15:34 Ps 22:1.
- 15:39a Greek the centurion; similarly in 15:44, 45.
- 15:39b Some manuscripts add heard his cry and.
- 15:40 Greek Joses; also in 15:47. See Matt 27:56.
- 15:42 Greek It was the day of preparation.
Mark 15
Living Bible
15 Early in the morning the chief priests, elders and teachers of religion—the entire Supreme Court—met to discuss their next steps. Their decision was to send Jesus under armed guard to Pilate, the Roman governor.[a]
2 Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”
“Yes,” Jesus replied, “it is as you say.”
3-4 Then the chief priests accused him of many crimes, and Pilate asked him, “Why don’t you say something? What about all these charges against you?”
5 But Jesus said no more, much to Pilate’s amazement.
6 Now, it was Pilate’s custom to release one Jewish prisoner each year at Passover time—any prisoner the people requested. 7 One of the prisoners at that time was Barabbas, convicted along with others for murder during an insurrection.
8 Now a mob began to crowd in toward Pilate, asking him to release a prisoner as usual.
9 “How about giving you the ‘King of Jews’?” Pilate asked. “Is he the one you want released?” 10 (For he realized by now that this was a frameup, backed by the chief priests because they envied Jesus’ popularity.)
11 But at this point the chief priests whipped up the mob to demand the release of Barabbas instead of Jesus.
12 “But if I release Barabbas,” Pilate asked them, “what shall I do with this man you call your king?”
13 They shouted back, “Crucify him!”
14 “But why?” Pilate demanded. “What has he done wrong?” They only roared the louder, “Crucify him!”
15 Then Pilate, afraid of a riot and anxious to please the people, released Barabbas to them. And he ordered Jesus flogged with a leaded whip, and handed him over to be crucified.
16-17 Then the Roman soldiers took him into the barracks of the palace, called out the entire palace guard, dressed him in a purple robe, and made a crown of long, sharp thorns and put it on his head. 18 Then they saluted, yelling, “Yea! King of the Jews!” 19 And they beat him on the head with a cane, and spat on him, and went down on their knees to “worship” him.
20 When they finally tired of their sport, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him again, and led him away to be crucified.
21 Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country just then, was pressed into service to carry Jesus’ cross. (Simon is the father of Alexander and Rufus.)
22 And they brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha. (Golgotha means skull.) 23 Wine drugged with bitter herbs was offered to him there, but he refused it. 24 And then they crucified him—and threw dice for his clothes.
25 It was about nine o’clock in the morning when the crucifixion took place.
26 A signboard was fastened to the cross above his head, announcing his crime. It read, “The King of the Jews.”
27 Two robbers were also crucified that morning, their crosses on either side of his. 28 [b]And so the Scripture was fulfilled that said, “He was counted among evil men.”
29-30 The people jeered at him as they walked by, and wagged their heads in mockery.
“Ha! Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “Sure, you can destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days! If you’re so wonderful, save yourself and come down from the cross.”
31 The chief priests and religious leaders were also standing around joking about Jesus.
“He’s quite clever at ‘saving’ others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself!”
32 “Hey there, Messiah!” they yelled at him. “You ‘King of Israel’! Come on down from the cross and we’ll believe you!”
And even the two robbers dying with him cursed him.
33 About noon, darkness fell across the entire land,[c] lasting until three o’clock that afternoon.
34 Then Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?”[d] (“My God, my God, why have you deserted me?”)
35 Some of the people standing there thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah. 36 So one man ran and got a sponge and filled it with sour wine and held it up to him on a stick.
“Let’s see if Elijah will come and take him down!” he said.
37 Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and dismissed his spirit.
38 And the curtain[e] in the Temple was split apart from top to bottom.
39 When the Roman officer standing beside his cross saw how he dismissed his spirit, he exclaimed, “Truly, this was the Son of God!”
40 Some women were there watching from a distance—Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James the Younger and of Joses), Salome, and others. 41 They and many other Galilean women who were his followers had ministered to him when he was up in Galilee, and had come with him to Jerusalem.
42-43 This all happened the day before the Sabbath. Late that afternoon Joseph from Arimathea, an honored member of the Jewish Supreme Court (who personally was eagerly expecting the arrival of God’s Kingdom), gathered his courage and went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body.
44 Pilate couldn’t believe that Jesus was already dead so he called for the Roman officer in charge and asked him. 45 The officer confirmed the fact, and Pilate told Joseph he could have the body.
46 Joseph bought a long sheet of linen cloth and, taking Jesus’ body down from the cross, wound it in the cloth and laid it in a rock-hewn tomb, and rolled a stone in front of the entrance.
47 (Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were watching as Jesus was laid away.)
Footnotes
- Mark 15:1 the Roman governor, implied.
- Mark 15:28 This verse is omitted in some of the ancient manuscripts. The quotation is from Isaiah 53:12.
- Mark 15:33 across the entire land, or “over the entire world.”
- Mark 15:34 Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani. He spoke here in Aramaic. The onlookers, who spoke Greek and Latin, misunderstood his first two words (“Eli, Eli”) and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah.
- Mark 15:38 And the curtain. A heavy veil hung in front of the room in the Temple called “The Holy of Holies,” a place reserved by God for himself; the veil separated him from sinful mankind. Now this veil was split from above, showing that Christ’s death for man’s sin had opened up access to the holy God.
Mark 15
New International Version
Jesus Before Pilate(A)
15 Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law(B) and the whole Sanhedrin,(C) made their plans. So they bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate.(D)
2 “Are you the king of the Jews?”(E) asked Pilate.
“You have said so,” Jesus replied.
3 The chief priests accused him of many things. 4 So again Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.”
5 But Jesus still made no reply,(F) and Pilate was amazed.
6 Now it was the custom at the festival to release a prisoner whom the people requested. 7 A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. 8 The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.
9 “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?”(G) asked Pilate, 10 knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas(H) instead.
12 “What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them.
13 “Crucify him!” they shouted.
14 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
15 Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged,(I) and handed him over to be crucified.
The Soldiers Mock Jesus(J)
16 The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace(K) (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. 17 They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. 18 And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!”(L) 19 Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out(M) to crucify him.
The Crucifixion of Jesus(N)
21 A certain man from Cyrene,(O) Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus,(P) was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross.(Q) 22 They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). 23 Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh,(R) but he did not take it. 24 And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots(S) to see what each would get.
25 It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. 26 The written notice of the charge against him read: the king of the jews.(T)
27 They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right and one on his left. [28] [a] 29 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads(U) and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days,(V) 30 come down from the cross and save yourself!” 31 In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him(W) among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! 32 Let this Messiah,(X) this king of Israel,(Y) come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
The Death of Jesus(Z)
33 At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.(AA) 34 And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).[b](AB)
35 When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”
36 Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar,(AC) put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said.
37 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.(AD)
38 The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.(AE) 39 And when the centurion,(AF) who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died,[c] he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”(AG)
40 Some women were watching from a distance.(AH) Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph,[d] and Salome.(AI) 41 In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.(AJ)
The Burial of Jesus(AK)
42 It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath).(AL) So as evening approached, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council,(AM) who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God,(AN) went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. 45 When he learned from the centurion(AO) that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. 46 So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.(AP) 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph(AQ) saw where he was laid.
Footnotes
- Mark 15:28 Some manuscripts include here words similar to Luke 22:37.
- Mark 15:34 Psalm 22:1
- Mark 15:39 Some manuscripts saw that he died with such a cry
- Mark 15:40 Greek Joses, a variant of Joseph; also in verse 47
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