| 章 |
| 15:1 |
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.
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| 15:2 |
"Are you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate. "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied.
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| 15:3 |
The chief priests accused him of many things.
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| 15:4 |
So again Pilate asked him, "Aren't you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of."
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| 15:5 |
But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.
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| 15:6 |
Now it was the custom at the Feast to release a prisoner whom the people requested.
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| 15:7 |
A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising.
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| 15:8 |
The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.
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| 15:9 |
"Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate,
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| 15:10 |
knowing it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him.
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| 15:11 |
But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.
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| 15:12 |
"What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?" Pilate asked them.
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| 15:13 |
"Crucify him!" they shouted.
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| 15:14 |
"Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"
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| 15:15 |
Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
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| 15:16 |
The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers.
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| 15:17 |
They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him.
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| 15:18 |
And they began to call out to him, "Hail, king of the Jews!"
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| 15:19 |
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.
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| 15:20 |
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.
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| 15:21 |
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.
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| 15:22 |
They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull).
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| 15:23 |
Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.
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| 15:24 |
And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.
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| 15:25 |
It was the third hour when they crucified him.
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| 15:26 |
The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS.
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| 15:27 |
They crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left.
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| 15:28 |
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| 15:29 |
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,
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| 15:30 |
come down from the cross and save yourself!"
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| 15:31 |
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!
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| 15:32 |
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.
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| 15:33 |
At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour.
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| 15:34 |
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?"
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| 15:35 |
When some of those standing near heard this, they said, "Listen, he's calling Elijah."
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| 15:36 |
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.
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| 15:37 |
With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.
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| 15:38 |
The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
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| 15:39 |
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!"
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| 15:40 |
Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome.
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| 15:41 |
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.
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| 15:42 |
It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached,
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| 15:43 |
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.
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| 15:44 |
Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died.
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| 15:45 |
When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph.
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| 15:46 |
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.
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| 15:47 |
Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.
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