Mark 15 - Legacy Standard Bible

Mark 15

Jesus Before Pilate

And early in the morning the chief priests with the elders and scribes and the whole Sanhedrin, immediately held council; and binding Jesus, led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate. 2 And Pilate questioned Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And He answered him and *said, “You yourself say it.” 3 And the chief priests began to accuse Him of many things. 4 Then Pilate was questioning Him again, saying, “You answer nothing? See how many accusations they bring against You!” 5 But Jesus made no further answer; so Pilate marveled. 6 Now at the feast he used to release for them any one prisoner whom they requested. 7 And the man named Barabbas had been imprisoned with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the insurrection. 8 And the crowd went up and began asking him to do as he had been accustomed to do for them. 9 And Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” 10 For he was aware that the chief priests had delivered Him over because of envy. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask him to release Barabbas for them instead. 12 And answering again, Pilate was saying to them, “Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” 13 And they shouted again, “Crucify Him!” 14 But Pilate was saying to them, “Why? What evil did He do?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify Him!” 15 And wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he delivered Him over to be crucified.

Jesus Is Mocked

16 So the soldiers took Him away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they *called together the whole Roman cohort. 17 And they *dressed Him up in purple, and after twisting a crown of thorns, they *put it on Him; 18 and they began to greet Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 And they kept beating His head with a reed, and spitting on Him; and kneeling, they were bowing down before Him. 20 And after they had mocked Him, they took the purple robe off Him and put His own garments on Him. And they *led Him out to crucify Him. 21 And they *pressed into service a passer-by coming from the countryside, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to carry His cross.

The Crucifixion

22 Then they *brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. 23 And they tried to give Him wine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it. 24 And they *crucified Him, and *divided up His garments among themselves, casting lots for them to decide who should take what. 25 Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him. 26 And the inscription of the charge against Him read, “THE KING OF THE JEWS.” 27 And they *crucified two robbers with Him, one on His right and one on His left. 28 [And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was numbered with transgressors.”] 29 And those passing by were blaspheming Him, shaking their heads, and saying, “Ha! You who are going to destroy the sanctuary and rebuild it in three days, 30 save Yourself by coming down from the cross!” 31 In the same way, mocking Him to one another, the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself. 32 Let this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!” Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him. 33 And when the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” 35 And when some of the bystanders heard it, they began saying, “Look, He is calling for Elijah.” 36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink, saying, “Let us see whether Elijah will come to take Him down.” 37 And Jesus, uttering a loud cry, breathed His last. 38 And the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!” 40 And there were also some women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the Less and Joses, and Salome, 41 who, when He was in Galilee, were following Him and serving Him; and there were many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.

Jesus Is Buried

42 And when evening had already come, because it was Preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43 Joseph of Arimathea came, a prominent Council member, who himself was waiting for the kingdom of God; and he gathered up courage and went in before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 And Pilate wondered if He had died by this time, and summoning the centurion, he questioned him as to whether He already died. 45 And ascertaining this from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. 46 And when Joseph had bought a linen cloth and took Him down, he wrapped Him in the linen cloth and laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out in the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47 And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were looking on to see where He had been laid.