Mark - Chapter 15

Passage

And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the ancients and the scribes and the whole council, and binding Jesus, they led him away and handed him over to Pilate. And Pilate asked him: Are you the king of the Jews? And he answered him: You say it. And the chief priests accused him of many things. And Pilate asked him again: Have you no answer? Look how many things they accuse you of. But Jesus still answered nothing, so that Pilate was amazed. Now on the festival day he used to release to them one prisoner, whomever they asked for. And there was one called Barabbas, who was in prison with some rebels who had committed murder in the rebellion. And when the crowd came up, they began to ask him to do as he had always done for them. And Pilate answered them: Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews? For he knew that the chief priests had handed him over out of envy. But the chief priests stirred up the people to have him release Barabbas to them instead. And Pilate again said to them: Then what do you want me to do with the king of the Jews? But they again cried out: Crucify him. And Pilate says to them: Why, what evil has he done? But they cried out the more: Crucify him. And so Pilate, wanting to satisfy the people, released Barabbas to them; and after he had scourged Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified. And the soldiers led him away into the courtyard of the palace, and they called together the whole cohort. And they clothed him in purple, and weaving a crown of thorns, they put it on him. And they began to salute him: Hail, king of the Jews! And they struck his head with a reed, and spat on him; and bending their knees, they adored him. And after they had mocked him, they took the purple off him and put his own garments on him; and they led him out to crucify him. And they forced a passer-by, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. And they bring him to the place called Golgotha, which means: The place of Calvary. And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh to drink, but he did not take it. And crucifying him, they divided his garments, casting lots for them to decide what each should take. And it was the third hour: and they crucified him. And the inscription of the charge against him was written above: THE KING OF THE JEWS. And with him they crucify two thieves, one at his right hand and the other at his left. And the scripture was fulfilled which says: And he was counted among the wicked. And those who passed by blasphemed him, shaking their heads and saying: Vah! You who destroy the temple of God and build it up again in three days, Save yourself by coming down from the cross. Likewise the chief priests, mocking him with the scribes, said to one another: He saved others; himself he cannot save. Let the Christ, the king of Israel, come down now from the cross, so that we may see and believe. And those who were crucified with him also reviled him. And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole earth until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying: Eloi, Eloi, lamma sabacthani? Which means: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And some of those standing by heard it and said: Behold, he is calling Elias. And one ran and filled a sponge with vinegar, put it on a reed, and gave him a drink, saying: Wait, let us see if Elias comes to take him down. And Jesus, having cried out with a loud voice, breathed his last. And the veil of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the centurion who stood facing him, seeing that he had cried out like this and breathed his last, said: Truly this man was the Son of God. And there were also women looking on from far away, among them Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joseph, and Salome, Who had followed him and ministered to him when he was in Galilee, and many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem. And when evening had come (because it was the Parasceve, that is, the day before the sabbath), Joseph of Arimathea, a noble councilor, who was himself also waiting for the kingdom of God, came and boldly went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. But Pilate was surprised that he was already dead. And sending for the centurion, he asked him whether he had been dead long. And when he learned it from the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph. And Joseph bought fine linen, took him down, wrapped him in the fine linen, and laid him in a tomb cut out of rock. And he rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where he was laid.