15Mark 15

Jesus before Pilate

1Early in the morning the chief priests met hurriedly with the elders, the teachers of the Law, and the whole Council, and made their plans. They put Jesus in chains, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate.Select Mark 15:1

2Pilate questioned him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “So you say.”Select Mark 15:2

3The chief priests were accusing Jesus of many things,Select Mark 15:3

4so Pilate questioned him again, “Aren't you going to answer? Listen to all their accusations!”Select Mark 15:4

5Again Jesus refused to say a word, and Pilate was amazed.Select Mark 15:5

Jesus Is Sentenced to Death

6At every Passover Festival Pilate was in the habit of setting free any one prisoner the people asked for.Select Mark 15:6

7At that time a man named Barabbas was in prison with the rebels who had committed murder in the riot.Select Mark 15:7

8When the crowd gathered and began to ask Pilate for the usual favor,Select Mark 15:8

9he asked them, “Do you want me to set free for you the king of the Jews?”Select Mark 15:9

10He knew very well that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him because they were jealous.Select Mark 15:10

11But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask, instead, that Pilate set Barabbas free for them.Select Mark 15:11

12Pilate spoke again to the crowd, “What, then, do you want me to do with the one you call the king of the Jews?”Select Mark 15:12

13They shouted back, “Crucify him!”Select Mark 15:13

14“But what crime has he committed?” Pilate asked. They shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”Select Mark 15:14

15Pilate wanted to please the crowd, so he set Barabbas free for them. Then he had Jesus whipped and handed him over to be crucified.Select Mark 15:15

The Soldiers Make Fun of Jesus

16The soldiers took Jesus inside to the courtyard of the governor's palace and called together the rest of the company.Select Mark 15:16

17They put a purple robe on Jesus, made a crown out of thorny branches, and put it on his head.Select Mark 15:17

18Then they began to salute him: “Long live the King of the Jews!”Select Mark 15:18

19They beat him over the head with a stick, spat on him, fell on their knees, and bowed down to him.Select Mark 15:19

20When they had finished making fun of him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes back on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.Select Mark 15:20

Jesus Is Crucified

21On the way they met a man named Simon, who was coming into the city from the country, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus' cross. (Simon was from Cyrene and was the father of Alexander and Rufus.)Select Mark 15:21

22They took Jesus to a place called Golgotha, which means “The Place of the Skull.”Select Mark 15:22

23There they tried to give him wine mixed with a drug called myrrh, but Jesus would not drink it.Select Mark 15:23

24Then they crucified him and divided his clothes among themselves, throwing dice to see who would get which piece of clothing.Select Mark 15:24

25It was nine o'clock in the morning when they crucified him.Select Mark 15:25

26The notice of the accusation against him said: “The King of the Jews.”Select Mark 15:26

27They also crucified two bandits with Jesus, one on his right and the other on his left.Select Mark 15:27

29People passing by shook their heads and hurled insults at Jesus: “Aha! You were going to tear down the Temple and build it back up in three days!Select Mark 15:29

30Now come down from the cross and save yourself!”Select Mark 15:30

31In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the Law made fun of Jesus, saying to one another, “He saved others, but he cannot save himself!Select Mark 15:31

32Let us see the Messiah, the king of Israel, come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him!” And the two who were crucified with Jesus insulted him also.Select Mark 15:32

The Death of Jesus

33At noon the whole country was covered with darkness, which lasted for three hours.Select Mark 15:33

34At three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud shout, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why did you abandon me?”Select Mark 15:34

35Some of the people there heard him and said, “Listen, he is calling for Elijah!”Select Mark 15:35

36One of them ran up with a sponge, soaked it in cheap wine, and put it on the end of a stick. Then he held it up to Jesus' lips and said, “Wait! Let us see if Elijah is coming to bring him down from the cross!”Select Mark 15:36

37With a loud cry Jesus died.Select Mark 15:37

38The curtain hanging in the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.Select Mark 15:38

39The army officer who was standing there in front of the cross saw how Jesus had died. “This man was really the Son of God!” he said.Select Mark 15:39

40Some women were there, looking on from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of the younger James and of Joseph, and Salome.Select Mark 15:40

41They had followed Jesus while he was in Galilee and had helped him. Many other women who had come to Jerusalem with him were there also.Select Mark 15:41

The Burial of Jesus

43It was toward evening when Joseph of Arimathea arrived. He was a respected member of the Council, who was waiting for the coming of the Kingdom of God. It was Preparation day (that is, the day before the Sabbath), so Joseph went boldly into the presence of Pilate and asked him for the body of Jesus.Select Mark 15:43

44Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus was already dead. He called the army officer and asked him if Jesus had been dead a long time.Select Mark 15:44

45After hearing the officer's report, Pilate told Joseph he could have the body.Select Mark 15:45

46Joseph bought a linen sheet, took the body down, wrapped it in the sheet, and placed it in a tomb which had been dug out of solid rock. Then he rolled a large stone across the entrance to the tomb.Select Mark 15:46

47Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph were watching and saw where the body of Jesus was placed.Select Mark 15:47