Mark 15

Lexham English Bible

Jesus Taken to Pilate

15 And as soon as morning came, after^[a] formulating a plan, the chief priests, with the elders and scribes and the whole Sanhedrin, tied up Jesus, led him^[b] away, and handed him^[c] over to Pilate. ² And Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” And he answered him and^[d] said, “You say so.” ³ And the chief priests began to accuse^[e] him of many things. ⁴ So Pilate asked him again, saying, “Do you not answer anything? See how many charges^[f] they are bringing against you!” ⁵ But Jesus did not answer anything further, so that Pilate was astonished.

Pilate Releases Barabbas

⁶ Now at each feast he customarily released^[g] for them one prisoner whom they requested. ⁷ And the one named Barabbas^[h] was imprisoned with the rebels who had committed murder in the rebellion. ⁸ And the crowd came up and^[i] began to ask him to do as he customarily did^[j] for them. ⁹ So Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the king of the Jews?” ¹⁰ (For he realized that the chief priests had handed him over because of envy.) ¹¹ But the chief priests incited the crowd so that he would release for them Barabbas^[k] instead. ¹² So Pilate answered and said to them again, “Then what do you want me to do with the one whom you call the king of the Jews?” ¹³ And they shouted again, “Crucify him!” ¹⁴ And Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted even louder, “Crucify him!”

¹⁵ So Pilate, because he^[l] wanted to satisfy^[m] the crowd, released for them Barabbas. And after^[n] he had Jesus flogged, he handed him^[o] over so that he could be crucified.

Jesus Is Mocked

¹⁶ So the soldiers led him away into the palace (that is, the governor’s residence) and called together the whole cohort. ¹⁷ And they put a purple cloak on him, and after^[p] weaving a crown of thorns they placed it^[q] on him. ¹⁸ And they began to greet him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” ¹⁹ And they repeatedly struck^[r] him on the head with a reed, and were spitting on him, and they knelt down^[s] and^[t] did obeisance to him. ²⁰ And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes^[u] on him, and they led him out so that they could crucify him.

Jesus Is Crucified

²¹ And they forced a certain man who was passing by, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), who was coming from the country, to carry his cross. ²² And they brought him to the place Golgotha (which is translated “Place of a Skull”). ²³ And they attempted to give^[v] him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. ²⁴ And they crucified him and divided his clothes among themselves^[w] by^[x] casting lots for them to see who should take what. ²⁵ Now it was the third hour when they crucified him. ²⁶ And the inscription of the charge against him was written, “The king of the Jews.” ²⁷ And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left.^{[y] 29} And those who passed by reviled him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! The one who would destroy the temple and rebuild it^[z] in three days, ³⁰ save yourself by^[aa] coming down from the cross!” ³¹ In the same way also the chief priests, along with the scribes, were mocking him^[ab] to one another, saying, “He saved others; he is not able to save himself! ³² Let the Christ, the king of Israel, come down now from the cross, so that we may see and believe! Even those who were crucified with him were reviling him.

Jesus Dies on the Cross

³³ And when^[ac] the sixth hour came, darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. ³⁴ And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which is translated, “My God, my God, why^[ad] have you forsaken me?”)^{[ae] 35} And some of the bystanders, when they^[af] heard it,^[ag] said, “Behold, he is summoning Elijah!” ³⁶ And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it^[ah] on a reed, and^[ai] gave it^[aj] to him to drink, saying, “Leave him^[ak] alone! Let us see if Elijah is coming to take him down.” ³⁷ But Jesus uttered a loud cry and^[al] expired. ³⁸ And the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. ³⁹ And when^[am] the centurion who was standing opposite him saw that he expired like this, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!” ⁴⁰ And there were also women observing from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger^[an] and Joses,^[ao] and Salome, ⁴¹ who used to follow^[ap] him and serve him when he was in Galilee, and many other women who went up with him to Jerusalem.

Jesus Is Buried

⁴² And when it^[aq] was already evening, since it was the day of preparation (that is, the day before the Sabbath), ⁴³ Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the council who was also himself looking forward to^[ar] the kingdom of God, came acting courageously and^[as] went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁴⁴ And Pilate was surprised that he was already dead, and summoning the centurion, asked him whether he had died already. ⁴⁵ And when he^[at] learned of it^[au] from the centurion, he granted the corpse to Joseph. ⁴⁶ And after^[av] purchasing a linen cloth and^[aw] taking him down, he wrapped him^[ax] in the linen cloth and placed him in a tomb that had been cut from the rock. And he rolled a stone over the entrance of the tomb. ⁴⁷ Now Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was placed.