(Mark 15:1 NIV) Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, reached a decision. They bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate.
(Mark 15:2 NIV) "Are you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate. "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied.
(Mark 15:3 NIV) The chief priests accused him of many things.
(Mark 15:4 NIV) So again Pilate asked him, "Aren't you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of."
(Mark 15:5 NIV) But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.
(Mark 15:6 NIV) Now it was the custom at the Feast to release a prisoner whom the people requested.
(Mark 15:7 NIV) A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising.
(Mark 15:8 NIV) The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.
(Mark 15:9 NIV) "Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate,
(Mark 15:10 NIV) knowing it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him.
(Mark 15:11 NIV) But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.
(Mark 15:12 NIV) "What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?" Pilate asked them.
(Mark 15:13 NIV) "Crucify him!" they shouted.
(Mark 15:14 NIV) "Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"
(Mark 15:15 NIV) Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
(Mark 15:16 NIV) The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers.
(Mark 15:17 NIV) They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him.
(Mark 15:18 NIV) And they began to call out to him, "Hail, king of the Jews!"
(Mark 15:19 NIV) Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him.
(Mark 15:20 NIV) And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.
(Mark 15:21 NIV) A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross.
(Mark 15:22 NIV) They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull).
(Mark 15:23 NIV) Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.
(Mark 15:24 NIV) And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.
(Mark 15:25 NIV) It was the third hour when they crucified him.
(Mark 15:26 NIV) The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS.
(Mark 15:27 NIV) They crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left.
(Mark 15:28 NIV)
(Mark 15:29 NIV) Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, "So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days,
(Mark 15:30 NIV) come down from the cross and save yourself!"
(Mark 15:31 NIV) In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. "He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself!
(Mark 15:32 NIV) Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe." Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
(Mark 15:33 NIV) At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour.
(Mark 15:34 NIV) And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"--which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
(Mark 15:35 NIV) When some of those standing near heard this, they said, "Listen, he's calling Elijah."
(Mark 15:36 NIV) One man ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. "Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to take him down," he said.
(Mark 15:37 NIV) With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.
(Mark 15:38 NIV) The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
(Mark 15:39 NIV) And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, "Surely this man was the Son of God!"
(Mark 15:40 NIV) Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome.
(Mark 15:41 NIV) In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.
(Mark 15:42 NIV) It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached,
(Mark 15:43 NIV) Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body.
(Mark 15:44 NIV) Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died.
(Mark 15:45 NIV) When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph.
(Mark 15:46 NIV) So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.
(Mark 15:47 NIV) Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.
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