John the Baptist Beheaded

14 ^(A)At that ^[a]time ^(B)Herod the tetrarch heard the news about Jesus, ² and said to his servants, “^(C)This is John the Baptist; ^[b]he has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

³ For when ^(D)Herod had John arrested, he bound him and put him ^(E)in prison because of ^(F)Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. ⁴ For John had been saying to him, “^(G)It is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁵ And although Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they were regarding ^[c]John as ^(H)a prophet.

⁶ But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of ^(I)Herodias danced ^[d]before them and pleased ^(J)Herod, ⁷ so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. ⁸ Now having been prompted by her mother, she *said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” ⁹ And although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths, and because of ^[e]his dinner guests. ¹⁰ And he sent and had John beheaded in the prison. ¹¹ And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. ¹² And his disciples came and took away the body and buried ^[f]it; and they went and reported to Jesus.

The Death of John the Baptist

^14 (A)And King Herod heard it, for His name had become well known; and people were saying, “^(B)John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him.” ¹⁵ But others were saying, “He is ^(C)Elijah.” And others were saying, “He is ^(D)a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” ¹⁶ But when Herod heard it, he kept saying, “John, whom I beheaded, has risen!”

¹⁷ For Herod himself had sent and had John arrested and bound in prison on account of ^(E)Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because he had married her. ¹⁸ For John had been saying to Herod, “^(F)It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” ^19 (G)Now Herodias was holding a grudge against him and was wanting to put him to death and was not able; ²⁰ for ^(H)Herod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he was keeping him safe. And when he heard him, he was very perplexed; ^[a]but he ^[b]used to enjoy listening to him. ²¹ And a strategic day came when Herod on his birthday ^(I)gave a banquet for his great men and ^[c]military commanders and the leading men ^(J)of Galilee; ²² and when the daughter of ^(K)Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and ^[d]his dinner guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you want and I will give it to you.” ²³ And he swore to her, “Whatever you ask of me, I will give it to you; up to ^(L)half of my kingdom.” ²⁴ And she went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” ²⁵ And immediately she came in a hurry to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” ²⁶ And although the king was very sorry, yet because of his oaths and because of ^[e]his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. ²⁷ And immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded him to bring back his head. And he went and beheaded him in the prison, ²⁸ and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹ And when his disciples heard this, they came and took away his body and laid it in a tomb.

¹⁵ And He was giving orders to them, saying, “^(A)Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of ^(B)Herod.”

The Preaching of John the Baptist

3 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when ^(A)Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and ^(B)Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene,

¹⁹ But when ^(A)Herod the tetrarch was reproved by him because of ^(B)Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the wicked things which ^(C)Herod had done,

³ and Joanna the wife of Chuza, ^(A)Herod’s ^(B)manager, and Susanna, and many others who were ministering to them from their possessions.

Lament over Jerusalem

³¹ Just at that time some Pharisees approached, saying to Him, “Leave and go from here, for ^(A)Herod wants to kill You.”

⁷ And when he learned that He belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him to ^(A)Herod, who himself also was in Jerusalem in those days.

Jesus Before Herod

⁸ Now when Herod saw Jesus, he rejoiced greatly; for ^(B)he had wanted to see Him for a long time, because he had been hearing about Him and was hoping to see some ^[a]sign performed by Him. ⁹ And he questioned Him ^[b]at some length, but ^(C)He answered him nothing. ¹⁰ And the chief priests and the scribes were standing there, vehemently accusing Him. ¹¹ And Herod with his soldiers, after treating Him with contempt and mocking Him, ^(D)dressed Him in a bright robe and sent Him back to Pilate. ¹² Now ^(E)Herod and Pilate became friends with one another that very day; for before they had been enemies with each other.

Pilate Grants the Crowd’s Request

¹³ And Pilate summoned the chief priests and the ^(F)rulers and the people, ¹⁴ and said to them, “You brought this man to me as one who ^[c](G)incites the people to rebellion, and behold, having examined Him before you, I ^(H)have found in this man no guilt of what you are accusing Him. ¹⁵ No, nor has ^(I)Herod, for he sent Him back to us; and behold, nothing deserving death has been done by Him. ¹⁶ Therefore I will ^(J)punish Him and release Him.” ^17 [d][Now he was obliged to release to them at the feast one prisoner.]

¹⁸ But they cried out all together, saying, “^(K)Away with this man, and release for us Barabbas!” ¹⁹ (He had been thrown into prison for an insurrection made in the city and for murder.) ²⁰ But again Pilate addressed them, wanting to release Jesus, ²¹ but they kept on calling out, saying, “Crucify, crucify Him!” ²² And he said to them a third time, “Why, what evil has this man done? I have found in Him no guilt worthy of death; therefore I will ^(L)punish Him and release Him.” ²³ But they were insistent, with loud voices asking that He be crucified. And their voices were prevailing. ²⁴ And Pilate pronounced sentence that their demand be granted. ²⁵ And he released the man they were asking for who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, but he delivered Jesus to their will.

Simon Carries the Cross

^26 (M)And when they led Him away, they took hold of a man, Simon of ^(N)Cyrene, coming in from the country, and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus.

²⁷ And following Him was a large multitude of the people, and of women who were ^[e](O)mourning and lamenting Him. ²⁸ But Jesus, turning to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop crying for Me, but cry for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹ For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘^(P)Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ ³⁰ Then they will begin to ^(Q)say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ ³¹ For if they do these things ^[f]when the tree is green, what will happen ^[g]when it is dry?”

^32 (R)Now two others also, who were criminals, were being led away to be put to death with Him.

The Crucifixion

^33 (S)And when they came to the place called ^[h]The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. ^34 [i]But Jesus was saying, “^(T)Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” ^(U)And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves. ³⁵ And the people stood by, looking on. And even the ^(V)rulers were scoffing at Him, saying, “He saved others; ^(W)let Him save Himself if this is the ^[j]Christ of God, His Chosen One.” ³⁶ And the soldiers also mocked Him, coming up to Him, ^(X)offering Him sour wine, ³⁷ and saying, “^(Y)If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!” ³⁸ Now there was also an inscription above Him, “^(Z)THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

^39 (AA)And one of the criminals hanging there was blaspheming Him, saying, “Are You not the ^[k]Christ? ^(AB)Save Yourself and us!” ⁴⁰ But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? ⁴¹ And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving ^[l]what we deserve for what we have done; but this man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴² And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come ^[m]in Your kingdom!” ⁴³ And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in ^(AC)Paradise.”

^44 (AD)And it was now about ^[n](AE)the sixth hour, and darkness ^[o]fell over the whole land until ^[p]the ninth hour, ^45 [q]because the sun was obscured. And ^(AF)the veil of the ^[r]sanctuary was torn ^[s]in two. ⁴⁶ And Jesus, ^(AG)crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, ^(AH)into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Having said this, He breathed His last. ^47 (AI)Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he began ^(AJ)praising God, saying, “Certainly this man was righteous.” ⁴⁸ And all the crowds who came together for this spectacle, when they observed what had happened, were returning, ^[t](AK)beating their chests. ^49 (AL)And all His acquaintances and ^(AM)the women who accompanied Him from Galilee were standing at a distance, watching these things.

Jesus Is Buried

^50 (AN)And behold, a man named Joseph, who was a ^(AO)Council member, a good and righteous man ⁵¹ (he had not consented to their counsel and action), a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was ^(AP)waiting for the kingdom of God; ⁵² this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁵³ And he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain. ⁵⁴ It was ^[u](AQ)Preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to ^[v]begin. ⁵⁵ Now ^(AR)the women, who had come with Him from Galilee, followed and beheld the tomb and how His body was laid. ⁵⁶ Then after they returned, they ^(AS)prepared spices and perfumes.

And ^(AT)on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

¹¹ And Herod with his soldiers, after treating Him with contempt and mocking Him, ^(A)dressed Him in a bright robe and sent Him back to Pilate. ¹² Now ^(B)Herod and Pilate became friends with one another that very day; for before they had been enemies with each other.

Pilate Grants the Crowd’s Request

¹³ And Pilate summoned the chief priests and the ^(C)rulers and the people, ¹⁴ and said to them, “You brought this man to me as one who ^[a](D)incites the people to rebellion, and behold, having examined Him before you, I ^(E)have found in this man no guilt of what you are accusing Him. ¹⁵ No, nor has ^(F)Herod, for he sent Him back to us; and behold, nothing deserving death has been done by Him. ¹⁶ Therefore I will ^(G)punish Him and release Him.” ^17 [b][Now he was obliged to release to them at the feast one prisoner.]

¹⁸ But they cried out all together, saying, “^(H)Away with this man, and release for us Barabbas!” ¹⁹ (He had been thrown into prison for an insurrection made in the city and for murder.) ²⁰ But again Pilate addressed them, wanting to release Jesus, ²¹ but they kept on calling out, saying, “Crucify, crucify Him!” ²² And he said to them a third time, “Why, what evil has this man done? I have found in Him no guilt worthy of death; therefore I will ^(I)punish Him and release Him.” ²³ But they were insistent, with loud voices asking that He be crucified. And their voices were prevailing. ²⁴ And Pilate pronounced sentence that their demand be granted. ²⁵ And he released the man they were asking for who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, but he delivered Jesus to their will.

Simon Carries the Cross

^26 (J)And when they led Him away, they took hold of a man, Simon of ^(K)Cyrene, coming in from the country, and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus.

²⁷ And following Him was a large multitude of the people, and of women who were ^[c](L)mourning and lamenting Him. ²⁸ But Jesus, turning to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop crying for Me, but cry for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹ For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘^(M)Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ ³⁰ Then they will begin to ^(N)say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ ³¹ For if they do these things ^[d]when the tree is green, what will happen ^[e]when it is dry?”

^32 (O)Now two others also, who were criminals, were being led away to be put to death with Him.

The Crucifixion

^33 (P)And when they came to the place called ^[f]The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. ^34 [g]But Jesus was saying, “^(Q)Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” ^(R)And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves. ³⁵ And the people stood by, looking on. And even the ^(S)rulers were scoffing at Him, saying, “He saved others; ^(T)let Him save Himself if this is the ^[h]Christ of God, His Chosen One.” ³⁶ And the soldiers also mocked Him, coming up to Him, ^(U)offering Him sour wine, ³⁷ and saying, “^(V)If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!” ³⁸ Now there was also an inscription above Him, “^(W)THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”