1Early in the morning , the chief priests , elders , scribes , and the whole Sanhedrin devised a plan . They bound Jesus , led Him away , and handed Him over to Pilate .

2 So Pilate questioned Him , “ Are You the King of the Jews ?” “ You have said so ,” Jesus replied .

3 And the chief priests began to accuse Him of many things .

4 Then Pilate questioned Him again , “ Have You no answer ? Look how many charges they are bringing against You !”

5 But to Pilate’s amazement , Jesus made no further reply .

6 Now it was Pilate’s custom at the feast to release to the people a prisoner of their choosing .

7 And a man named Barabbas was imprisoned with the rebels who had committed murder during the insurrection .

8 So the crowd went up and began asking Pilate to keep his custom .

9 “ Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews ?” Pilate asked .

10 For he knew it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over .

11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas to them instead .

12 So Pilate asked them again , “ What then do you want me to do with the One you call the King of the Jews ?”

13 And they shouted back , “ Crucify Him !”

14 “ Why ?” asked Pilate . “ What evil has He done ?” But they shouted all the louder , “ Crucify Him !”

15 And wishing to satisfy the crowd , Pilate released Barabbas to them . But he had Jesus flogged , and handed Him over to be crucified .

16 Then the soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is , the Praetorium ) and called the whole company together .

17 They dressed Him in a purple robe , twisted together a crown of thorns , and set it on His head .

18 And they began to salute Him : “ Hail , King of the Jews !”

19 They kept striking His head with a staff and spitting on Him . And they knelt down and bowed before Him .

20 After they had mocked Him , they removed the purple robe and put His own clothes back on Him . Then they led Him out to crucify Him .

 21Now Simon of Cyrene , the father of Alexander and Rufus , was passing by on his way in from the country , and the soldiers forced him to carry the cross of Jesus .

22 They brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha , which means The Place of the Skull .

23 There they offered Him wine mixed with myrrh , but He did not take it .

24 And they crucified Him . They also divided His garments by casting lots to decide what each of them would take .

25 It was the third hour when they crucified Him .

26 And the charge inscribed against Him read : THE KING OF THE JEWS .

27 Along with Jesus , they crucified two robbers , one on His right and one on His left .

29 And those who passed by heaped abuse on Him , shaking their heads and saying , “ Aha ! You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days ,

30 come down from the cross and save Yourself !”

31 In the same way , the chief priests and scribes mocked Him among themselves , saying , “ He saved others , but He cannot save Himself !

32 Let the Christ , the King of Israel , come down now from the cross , so that we may see and believe !” And even those who were crucified with Him berated Him .

33 From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land .

34 At the ninth hour , Jesus cried out in a loud voice , “ Eloi , Eloi , lema sabachthani ?” which means , “ My God , My God , why have You forsaken Me ?”

35 When some of those standing nearby heard this , they said , “ Behold , He is calling Elijah .”

36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine . He put it on a reed and held it up for Jesus to drink , saying , “ Leave Him alone . Let us see if Elijah comes to take Him down .”

37 But Jesus let out a loud cry and breathed His last .

38 And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom .

39 When the centurion standing there in front of Jesus saw how He had breathed His last , he said , “ Truly this man was the Son of God !”

40 And there were also women watching from a distance . Among them were Mary Magdalene , Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses , and Salome .

41 These women had followed Jesus and ministered to Him while He was in Galilee , and there were many other women who had come up to Jerusalem with Him .

 42Now it was already evening . Since it was Preparation Day (that is , the day before the Sabbath ) ,

43 Joseph of Arimathea , a prominent Council member who himself was waiting for the kingdom of God , boldly went to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus .

44 Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus was already dead , so he summoned the centurion to ask if this was so .

45 When Pilate had confirmed it with the centurion , he granted the body to Joseph .

46 So Joseph bought a linen cloth , took down the body of Jesus , wrapped it in the cloth , and placed it in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock . Then he rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb .

47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where His body was placed .