New Testament in a Year
27 Jesus Is Crowned with Thorns.[a] Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus inside the praetorium and gathered the whole cohort around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they placed it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. Then, bending the knee before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30 They also spat upon him and, taking the reed, used it to strike him on the head. 31 And when they had finished mocking him, they stripped him of the robe, dressed him in his own clothes, and led him away to crucify him.
32 The Way of the Cross. As they went out, they encountered a man from Cyrene,[b] named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross.
33 Jesus Is Crucified on Calvary. When they came to a place called Golgotha, which means the Place of the Skull,[c] 34 they offered him some wine to drink that had been mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink the mixture.[d] 35 And after they had crucified him,[e] they divided his garments among them by casting lots. 36 Then they sat down there to keep guard over him. 37 Above his head was inscribed the charge against him: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” 38 Two thieves were crucified with him, one on his right and the other on his left.[f]
39 Those people who passed by jeered at him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “You who claimed you could destroy the temple and rebuild it within three days, save yourself! If you truly are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”
41 In much the same way, the chief priests, together with the scribes and the elders, joined in the mockery, saying, 42 “He saved others, but he cannot save himself. If he is the king of Israel, let him come down from the cross right now, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusted in God; now let God deliver him if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” 44 The thieves who were crucified with him also taunted him in the same way.
45 Jesus Dies on the Cross.[g] Beginning at midday, there was darkness over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 46 And about three o’clock[h] Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?”—that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
47 On hearing this, some of the bystanders said, “This man is calling for Elijah.” 48 One of them immediately ran off to get a sponge, which he soaked in vinegar, put on a stick, and gave to him to drink. 49 But the others said, “Wait! Let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” 50 Then Jesus again cried out in a loud voice and gave up his spirit.
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