Matthew 27

₁Early the next morning the chief_priests and family leaders made plans to kill Jesus. ₂They tied his hands and they took Him away to the governor Pilate to punish Him.

₃Judas, who had betrayed Jesus, heard that the Jewish_Council had decided that Jesus was guilty and that He must die. Judas felt sorry and he took the 30 silver_coins back to the chief_priests and family leaders. ₄He said to them: ‘I have sinned. I have betrayed an innocent Man and now He is going to die.’

But the chief_priests and family leaders said to him: ‘It is not our problem. This is your problem.’ ₅Judas took the money and he threw it into the temple and he went and killed himself.

₆The chief_priests took the money and said: ‘We can not put this money into the offering-box of the temple. No, we used this money to have a person killed.’

₇They decided to take the money and buy a field from the potter to bury strangers there. ₈So the people gave a name to that field. Today the people still say that is ‘The field of blood.’

₉That happened because the prophet Jeremiah wrote:

₁₁Jesus was standing before Pilate, the governor. He asked Jesus: ‘Are You the King_of_the_Jews?’ Jesus answered him: ‘Yes, it is as you say.’

₁₂The chief_priests and family leaders accused Jesus of many things, but Jesus did not say anything. ₁₃Pilate asked Jesus again: ‘Do You hear what they are saying against You? Why don't You say something?’ ₁₄But Jesus did not answer him and the governor was surprised.

₁₅Every year on Passover, Pilate took one prisoner from jail and he let him go free. The people could choose which prisoner they wanted to let free. ₁₆There was a bad man in jail. His name was Barabbas. ₁₇There was a big crowd of people who came together. Pilate asked them: ‘Whom do you want me to let free from jail, Barabbas or Jesus, the Christ?’

₁₈Pilate knew that the chief_priests had brought Jesus to him because they were jealous. ₁₉The governor was sitting on the chair where he always sat when he judged people. Then his wife sent someone to go and say to Pilate: ‘Don't do anything bad to that Man because when I was asleep last night, I dreamt of Him.’

₂₀The chief_priests told the crowd of people to ask Pilate to let Barabbas go free and to kill Jesus. ₂₁The governor asked the people again: ‘Whom must I free from jail? Which one of these 2 people?’ And they said: ‘Barabbas.’

₂₂Then Pilate asked them: ‘What do you want me to do with Jesus, who some people say is the Christ?’ The people shouted: ‘You must crucify Him.’

₂₃Pilate asked them: ‘What has He done wrong?’ But the people shouted_more_loudly: ‘You must crucify Him.’

₂₄Pilate saw that the words he said did not help. The people got more angry and they started to rebel. Then Pilate took water and he washed his hands so that everyone could see it and he said: ‘I am not guilty if this Man dies. It is you who have decided that He must die.’

₂₅All the people answered Pilate and said: ‘We say He must die. We and our children will be guilty because He dies.’

₂₆Pilate let Barabbas go free out of jail. He said the soldiers must beat Jesus with a whip and crucify Him.

₂₇The soldiers took Jesus to Pilate's house. They called all the other soldiers to come with them. ₂₈They took off Jesus' clothes and they put a purple_robe over his shoulders. ₂₉They made a crown of thorn_branches and put it on his head. They put a stick in his right hand. The soldiers knelt before Jesus and mocked Him and said: ‘King_of_the_Jews, we bow before You.’

₃₀They continued to spit on Him and to beat Jesus on his head with a stick. ₃₁After they had mocked Jesus, they took off the purple_robe and they put on his own clothes. The soldiers took Jesus away to crucify Him.

₃₂They went out of Jerusalem and they saw a man from the city of Cyrene. His name was Simon. The soldiers told Simon to carry the cross of Jesus. ₃₃They came to the place that people named Golgotha. The name means ‘Place of the Skull’.

₃₄They tried to give Jesus wine and myrrh but He did not drink it. ₃₅Then they crucified Jesus and they took his clothes for themselves. They drew_lots to see what piece of the clothes each one would get. ₃₆Then they sat down to guard Him there. ₃₇Above his head they wrote why they had crucified Him. They wrote: ‘This is Jesus, the King_of_the_Jews’.

₃₈The soldiers also crucified 2 thieves with Jesus, one on his right hand side and the other one on his left hand side. ₃₉The people who walked past the cross wanted to humiliate Jesus. They showed that they were glad about what happened to Him ₄₀and they said: ‘You said You would break down the temple and build it again in 3 days. Save Yourself and come down from the cross.’

₄₁The chief_priests and the teachers_of_the_Laws also mocked Jesus. They said: ₄₂‘He saved other people, but He can not save Himself. If He is the King_of_Israel, He must come down from the cross. If we see that, we will believe in Him.

₄₃He said He believes in God. Let God come now and save Him if God loves Him, because Jesus said that He is the Son of God.’

₄₄The 2 thieves on the crosses next to Jesus also said bad things to Him.

₄₅About the 6th hour, at noon, it became dark in the whole land and it was dark for 3 hours. ₄₆About the 9th hour (3 o'clock) Jesus shouted: ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ These words mean: ‘My God, my God, why have You left Me?’

₄₇Some of the people who were standing there heard what Jesus said and they said: ‘He is calling for Elijah.’

₄₈One of the soldiers ran and grabbed a sponge. He put it in vinegar wine and he put it on a stick and held it up to Jesus. ₄₉The other soldier said: ‘We must wait and see if Elijah will come and take Him down from the cross.’

₅₀Jesus shouted_loudly and then He died.

₅₁The curtain in the temple tore from the top down to the bottom. Then there were 2 pieces. God made the earth shake and He made some big rocks break up. ₅₂God opened the graves and many believers who had been dead started to live again. ₅₃They came out of their graves and after Jesus had risen from the dead, they went into Jerusalem, the Holy City, and many people saw them.

₅₄The Roman officer, and the soldiers who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and everything that happened. They were afraid and they said: ‘This Man was really the Son of God.’

₅₅There were many women who were standing a little further away and looking on. They had come from Galilee with Jesus to help Him. ₅₆They were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of James and John.

₅₇There was a rich man from the town of Arimathea who was also a follower of Jesus. When evening came ₅₈he went to Pilate and he asked if he could take the body of Jesus. Pilate told the soldiers to give Jesus' body to Joseph. ₅₉Joseph took Jesus' body and he put a clean linen cloth around his body. ₆₀He put Jesus' body in his own new tomb which he had cut in a rock. Then he rolled a big stone in front of the door of the tomb. ₆₁Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there near the tomb.

₆₂The next day was the Sabbath day, the day after the Friday. The chief_priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. ₆₃They said to Pilate: ‘Sir, we remember that when Jesus lived, He told a lie and said that after 3 days He would live again. ₆₄You must send soldiers to guard the tomb for 3 days. If you don't do it, his disciples will come and steal his body and tell the people that He lives again. This new lie will be worse than the first lie when He said that He is the Christ.’

₆₅Pilate said to them: ‘Take a group of soldiers and tell them to guard the tomb. You know how to do it.’

₆₆The Jewish_leaders went and they told the soldiers to guard the tomb, and they sealed the stone in front of the door of the tomb so that no one could open it.