Contrast of the Upright and the Wicked

The Impartiality of God

2 Therefore you have ^(A)no excuse, ^[a]you foolish person, ^(B)everyone of you who passes judgment; for ^[b]in that matter in which ^(C)you judge someone else, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. ² And we know that the judgment of God ^[c]rightly falls upon those who practice such things. ³ But do you suppose this, ^[d](D)you foolish person who passes judgment on those who practice such things, and yet does them as well, that you will escape the judgment of God? ⁴ Or do you think lightly of ^(E)the riches of His ^(F)kindness and ^[e](G)restraint and ^(H)patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? ⁵ But ^[f]because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart ^(I)you are storing up wrath for yourself ^(J)on the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, ^6 (K)who will repay each person according to his deeds: ⁷ to those who by ^(L)perseverance in doing good seek ^(M)glory, honor, and ^(N)immortality, He will give ^(O)eternal life; ⁸ but to those who are ^(P)self-serving and ^(Q)do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, He will give wrath and indignation. ⁹ There will be ^(R)tribulation and distress ^[g]for every soul of mankind who does evil, ^[h]for the Jew ^(S)first and also ^[i]for the Greek, ¹⁰ but ^(T)glory, honor, and peace to everyone who does what is good, to the Jew ^(U)first and also to the Greek. ¹¹ For ^(V)there is no partiality with God.

¹² For all who have sinned ^[j](W)without the Law will also perish ^[k]without the Law, and all who have sinned ^[l]under the Law will be judged ^[m]by the Law; ¹³ for it is ^(X)not the hearers ^[n]of the Law who are ^[o]righteous before God, but the doers ^[p]of the Law who will be justified. ¹⁴ For when Gentiles who do not have ^[q]the Law ^[r](Y)instinctively perform the requirements of the Law, these, though not having ^[s]the Law, are a law to themselves, ¹⁵ in that they show ^(Z)the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience testifying and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, ¹⁶ on the day when, ^(AA)according to my gospel, ^(AB)God will judge the secrets of mankind through Christ Jesus.

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.