Matthew 27
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- 1At dawn, all the chief priests and elders of the people met together and made plans to have Jesus put to death.
- 2They bound him, led him away, and handed him over to Pontius Pilate, the governor.
- 3When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that he was condemned, he repented and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders.
- 4"I have sinned," he said, "by betraying innocent blood." But they replied, "What is that to us? You see to it."
- 5Judas threw the silver coins in the temple, left, and went and hanged himself.
- 6The chief priests picked up the silver and said, "We can't put this in the temple treasury — it's blood money."
- 7So after discussing it, they used the money to buy the potter's field as a burial place for foreigners.
- 8That's why it's been called "The Field of Blood" ever since.
- 9This fulfilled what the prophet Jeremiah had spoken: "They took the 30 pieces of silver — the price set on him by the people of Israel —
- 10and used them to buy the potter's field, just as the Lord directed me."
- 11Jesus stood before the governor, and Pilate asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus answered, "You have said so."
- 12When the chief priests and elders brought their accusations against him, Jesus said nothing.
- 13Pilate asked him, "Don't you hear all these charges they're making against you?"
- 14But Jesus didn't answer — not a single word. The governor was amazed.
- 15Now it was the governor's custom during the festival to release one prisoner — whichever one the crowd chose.
- 16At that time, they had a notorious prisoner named Barabbas.
- 17So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, "Who do you want me to release — Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?"
- 18He knew that they had handed him over out of envy.
- 19While Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him a message: "Don't have anything to do with that righteous man. I had a terrible dream about him today."
- 20But the chief priests and elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to demand that Jesus be killed.
- 21The governor asked again, "Which of the two do you want me to release?" They shouted, "Barabbas!"
- 22Pilate asked, "Then what should I do with Jesus who is called Christ?" They all shouted, "Crucify him!"
- 23"Why?" the governor asked. "What crime has he committed?" But they just screamed louder, "Crucify him!"
- 24When Pilate saw that he could accomplish nothing, but rather that an uproar was made, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this just person. You deal with it.”
- 25The whole crowd answered, "Let his blood be on us and on our children!"
- 26So Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged and then handed him over to be crucified.
- 27The governor's soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and assembled the entire garrison around him.
- 28They stripped him and draped a scarlet robe over him.
- 29They twisted together a crown of thorns and shoved it onto his head, then placed a reed in his right hand. They knelt in front of him and mocked him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!"
- 30They spit on him, grabbed the reed, and struck him on the head with it.
- 31After they finished mocking him, they pulled off the robe, put his own clothes back on him, and led him away to be crucified.
- 32As they went out, they found a man from Cyrene named Simon, and they forced him to carry Jesus' cross.
- 33They arrived at a place called Golgotha, which means "The Place of the Skull."
- 34There they offered him wine mixed with gall to drink, but after tasting it, he refused it.
- 35They crucified him and divided his clothes by casting lots, so that what was spoken by the prophet might be fulfilled: 'They parted my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.'
- 36Then they sat down and kept watch over him.
- 37Above his head they posted the charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
- 38Two thieves were crucified alongside him, one on his right and one on his left.
- 39People passing by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads
- 40and saying, "You who were going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in 3 days — save yourself! If you're the Son of God, come down from the cross!"
- 41The chief priests, along with the scribes and elders, mocked him the same way.
- 42"He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! If he's the King of Israel, let him come down from the cross right now, and we'll believe in him."
- 43“He trusted in God. Let God rescue him now, if God wants him, because he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”
- 44Even the thieves crucified beside him threw the same insults at him.
- 45From noon until 3 in the afternoon, darkness covered the entire land.
- 46Around 3 in the afternoon, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" — which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
- 47Some of the people standing nearby heard this and said, "He's calling for Elijah."
- 48Immediately one of them ran and grabbed a sponge, soaked it in sour wine, stuck it on a reed, and held it up for him to drink.
- 49But the others said, "Leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to save him."
- 50Jesus cried out once more in a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.
- 51At that moment, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and rocks split apart.
- 52And the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints who slept arose,
- 53After Jesus' resurrection, they came out of the tombs, went into the holy city, and appeared to many people.
- 54When the centurion and the soldiers guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and everything that happened, they were terrified and said, "This truly was the Son of God."
- 55Many women who had followed Jesus from Galilee and cared for his needs were watching from a distance.
- 56Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's sons.
- 57That evening, a wealthy man from Arimathaea named Joseph arrived. He was a disciple of Jesus.
- 58He went to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body. Pilate ordered that it be given to him.
- 59Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth.
- 60He placed it in his own new tomb, which had been carved out of rock. Then he rolled a large stone across the entrance and left.
- 61Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there across from the tomb.
- 62The next day — the day after Preparation Day — the chief priests and Pharisees went together to Pilate.
- 63"Sir," they said, "we remember that while he was still alive, that deceiver claimed, 'After 3 days I will rise again.'
- 64So give the order to secure the tomb until the 3rd day. Otherwise, his disciples might come at night, steal the body, and tell the people, 'He has risen from the dead.' That deception would be even worse than the first."
- 65Pilate told them, "You have a guard. Go and make the tomb as secure as you can."
- 66So they went, sealed the stone, and posted the guard to secure the tomb.