Matthew 27

₁Early in the morning all the chief priests and the elders made their plans against Jesus to put him to death. ₂They put him in chains, led him off, and handed him over to Pilate, the Roman governor.

₃When Judas, the traitor, learnt that Jesus had been condemned, he repented and took back the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. ₄“I have sinned by betraying an innocent man to death!” he said.

“What do we care about that?” they answered. “That is your business!”

₅Judas threw the coins down in the Temple and left; then he went off and hanged himself.

₆The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “This is blood money, and it is against our Law to put it in the temple treasury.” ₇After reaching an agreement about it, they used the money to buy Potter's Field, as a cemetery for foreigners. ₈That is why that field is called “Field of Blood” to this very day.

₉Then what the prophet Jeremiah had said came true: “They took the thirty silver coins, the amount the people of Israel had agreed to pay for him, ₁₀and used the money to buy the potter's field, as the Lord had commanded me.”

₁₁Jesus stood before the Roman governor, who questioned him. “Are you the king of the Jews?” he asked.

“So you say,” answered Jesus. ₁₂But he said nothing in response to the accusations of the chief priests and elders.

₁₃So Pilate said to him, “Don't you hear all these things they accuse you of?”

₁₄But Jesus refused to answer a single word, with the result that the Governor was greatly surprised.

₁₅At every Passover Festival the Roman governor was in the habit of setting free any one prisoner the crowd asked for. ₁₆At that time there was a well-known prisoner named Jesus Barabbas. ₁₇So when the crowd gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to set free for you? Jesus Barabbas or Jesus called the Messiah?” ₁₈He knew very well that the Jewish authorities had handed Jesus over to him because they were jealous.

₁₉While Pilate was sitting in the judgement hall, his wife sent him a message: “Have nothing to do with that innocent man, because in a dream last night I suffered much on account of him.”

₂₀The chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask Pilate to set Barabbas free and have Jesus put to death. ₂₁But Pilate asked the crowd, “Which one of these two do you want me to set free for you?”

“Barabbas!” they answered.

₂₂“What, then, shall I do with Jesus called the Messiah?” Pilate asked them.

“Crucify him!” they all answered.

₂₃But Pilate asked, “What crime has he committed?”

Then they started shouting at the top of their voices: “Crucify him!”

₂₄When Pilate saw that it was no use to go on, but that a riot might break out, he took some water, washed his hands in front of the crowd, and said, “I am not responsible for the death of this man! This is your doing!”

₂₅The whole crowd answered, “Let the responsibility for his death fall on us and our children!”

₂₆Then Pilate set Barabbas free for them; and after he had Jesus whipped, he handed him over to be crucified.

₂₇Then Pilate's soldiers took Jesus into the governor's palace, and the whole company gathered round him. ₂₈They stripped off his clothes and put a scarlet robe on him. ₂₉Then they made a crown out of thorny branches and placed it on his head, and put a stick in his right hand; then they knelt before him and mocked him. “Long live the King of the Jews!” they said. ₃₀They spat on him, and took the stick and hit him over the head. ₃₁When they had finished mocking him, they took the robe off and put his own clothes back on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

₃₂As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene named Simon, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus' cross. ₃₃They came to a place called Golgotha, which means, “The Place of the Skull”. ₃₄There they offered Jesus wine mixed with a bitter substance; but after tasting it, he would not drink it.

₃₅They crucified him and then divided his clothes among them by throwing dice. ₃₆After that they sat there and watched him. ₃₇Above his head they put the written notice of the accusation against him: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” ₃₈Then they crucified two bandits with Jesus, one on his right and the other on his left.

₃₉People passing by shook their heads and hurled insults at Jesus: ₄₀“You were going to tear down the Temple and build it up again in three days! Save yourself if you are God's Son! Come on down from the cross!”

₄₁In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the Law and the elders jeered at him: ₄₂“He saved others, but he cannot save himself! Isn't he the king of Israel? If he comes down off the cross now, we will believe in him! ₄₃He trusts in God and claims to be God's Son. Well, then, let us see if God wants to save him now!”

₄₄Even the bandits who had been crucified with him insulted him in the same way.

₄₅At noon the whole country was covered with darkness, which lasted for three hours. ₄₆At about three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud shout, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why did you abandon me?”

₄₇Some of the people standing there heard him and said, “He is calling for Elijah!” ₄₈One of them ran up at once, took a sponge, soaked it in cheap wine, put it on the end of a stick, and tried to make him drink it.

₄₉But the others said, “Wait, let us see if Elijah is coming to save him!”

₅₀Jesus again gave a loud cry and breathed his last.

₅₁Then the curtain hanging in the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split apart, ₅₂the graves broke open, and many of God's people who had died were raised to life. ₅₃They left the graves, and after Jesus rose from death, they went into the Holy City, where many people saw them.

₅₄When the army officer and the soldiers with him who were watching Jesus saw the earthquake and everything else that happened, they were terrified and said, “He really was the Son of God!”

₅₅There were many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee and helped him. ₅₆Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the wife of Zebedee.

₅₇When it was evening, a rich man from Arimathea arrived; his name was Joseph, and he also was a disciple of Jesus. ₅₈He went into the presence of Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate gave orders for the body to be given to Joseph. ₅₉So Joseph took it, wrapped it in a new linen sheet, ₆₀and placed it in his own tomb, which he had just recently dug out of solid rock. Then he rolled a large stone across the entrance to the tomb and went away. ₆₁Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there, facing the tomb.

₆₂The next day, which was a Sabbath, the chief priests and the Pharisees met with Pilate ₆₃and said, “Sir, we remember that while that liar was still alive he said, ‘I will be raised to life three days later.’ ₆₄Give orders, then, for his tomb to be carefully guarded until the third day, so that his disciples will not be able to go and steal the body, and then tell the people that he was raised from death. This last lie would be even worse than the first one.”

₆₅“Take a guard,” Pilate told them; “go and make the tomb as secure as you can.”

₆₆So they left and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and leaving the guard on watch.