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15:1 As soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. 15:2 Pilate asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" He answered him, "You say so." 15:3 Then the chief priests accused him of many things. 15:4 Pilate asked him again, "Have you no answer? See how many charges they bring against you." 15:5 But Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed. 15:6 Now at the festival he used to release a prisoner for them, anyone for whom they asked. 15:7 Now a man called Barabbas was in prison with the rebels who had committed murder during the insurrection. 15:8 So the crowd came and began to ask Pilate to do for them according to his custom. 15:9 Then he answered them, "Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?" 15:10 For he realized that it was out of jealousy that the chief priests had handed him over. 15:11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead. 15:12 Pilate spoke to them again, "Then what do you wish me to do with the man you call the King of the Jews?" 15:13 They shouted back, "Crucify him!" 15:14 Pilate asked them, "Why, what evil has he done?" But they shouted all the more, "Crucify him!" 15:15 So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified. 15:16 Then the soldiers led him into the courtyard of the palace (that is, the governor's headquarters ); and they called together the whole cohort. 15:17 And they clothed him in a purple cloak; and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on him. 15:18 And they began saluting him, "Hail, King of the Jews!" 15:19 They struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, and knelt down in homage to him. 15:20 After mocking him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him. 15:21 They compelled a passer-by, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross; it was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus. 15:22 Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull). 15:23 And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it. 15:24 And they crucified him, and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take. 15:25 It was nine o'clock in the morning when they crucified him. 15:26 The inscription of the charge against him read, "The King of the Jews." 15:27 And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left. 15:28 15:29 Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, "Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, 15:30 save yourself, and come down from the cross!" 15:31 In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, "He saved others; he cannot save himself. 15:32 Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe." Those who were crucified with him also taunted him. 15:33 When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 15:34 At three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" 15:35 When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, "Listen, he is calling for Elijah." 15:36 And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, "Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down." 15:37 Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. 15:38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 15:39 Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, "Truly this man was God's Son!" 15:40 There were also women looking on from a distance; among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. 15:41 These used to follow him and provided for him when he was in Galilee; and there were many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem. 15:42 When evening had come, and since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath, 15:43 Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 15:44 Then Pilate wondered if he were already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he had been dead for some time. 15:45 When he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the body to Joseph. 15:46 Then Joseph bought a linen cloth, and taking down the body, wrapped it in the linen cloth, and laid it in a tomb that had been hewn out of the rock. He then rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. 15:47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where the body was laid.