Mark 14 - 15 — Legacy Standard Bible

The Plot to Kill Jesus

14^aNow ^bthe Passover and Unleavened Bread were two days away; and the chief priests and the scribes ^cwere seeking how, after seizing Him in secret, they might kill Him; ²for they were saying, “Not during the festival, lest there be a riot of the people.”

The Costly Perfume

³^aAnd while He was in ^bBethany at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at the table, there came a woman with an alabaster jar of perfume of very ^ccostly pure ¹nard; and she broke the jar and poured it over His head. ⁴But some were indignantly remarking to one another, “Why has this perfume been wasted? ⁵“For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred ¹denarii and given to the poor.” And they were scolding her. ⁶But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you bother her? She did a good work to Me. ⁷“For you always have ^athe poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me. ⁸“She has done what she could; ^ashe anointed My body beforehand for the burial. ⁹“And truly I say to you, ^awherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what this woman did will also be spoken of in memory of her.”

¹⁰^aThen Judas Iscariot, ^bwho was one of the twelve, went away to the chief priests in order to ¹betray Him to them. ¹¹And when they heard this, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he began seeking how to betray Him at an opportune time.

The Passover Meal

¹²^aAnd on the first day of ^bUnleavened Bread, when ¹the Passover lamb was being ^csacrificed, His disciples *said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare for You to eat the Passover?” ¹³And He *sent two of His disciples and *said to them, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him; ¹⁴and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is My ^aguest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’ ¹⁵“And he himself will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; prepare for us there.” ¹⁶And the disciples went out and came to the city, and found it just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover.

¹⁷^aAnd when it was evening He *came with the twelve. ¹⁸And as they were reclining at the table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly I say to you that one of you will ¹betray Me—the one who is eating with Me.” ¹⁹They began to be grieved and to say to Him one by one, “Surely not I?” ²⁰And He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, the one who dips with Me in the bowl. ²¹“For the Son of Man is to go just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man ¹by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good ²for that man if he had not been born.”

The Lord’s Supper

²²^aAnd while they were eating, He took some bread, and ¹after a ^bblessing, He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is My body.” ²³And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. ²⁴And He said to them, “This is My ^ablood of the ^bcovenant, which is poured out for many. ²⁵“Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

²⁶^aAnd after singing a hymn, they went out to ^bthe Mount of Olives.

²⁷^aAnd Jesus *said to them, “You will all ¹fall away, because it is written, ‘^bI will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.’ ²⁸“But after I have been raised, ^aI will go ahead of you to Galilee.” ²⁹But Peter said to Him, “Even though all may ¹fall away, yet I will not.” ³⁰And Jesus *said to him, “Truly I say to you, that ^atoday, this very night, before ^ba rooster crows twice, you yourself will deny Me three times.” ³¹But Peter kept saying insistently, “If I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” And they all were saying the same thing also.

Jesus Prays in Gethsemane

³²^aThen they *came to a place named Gethsemane; and He *said to His disciples, “Sit here until I have prayed.” ³³And He *took with Him Peter and James and John, and began to be very ^adistressed and troubled. ³⁴And He *said to them, “^aMy soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch.” ³⁵And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, ^athe hour might pass from Him. ³⁶And He was saying, “^aAbba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; ^byet not what I will, but what You will.” ³⁷And He *came and *found them sleeping, and *said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not keep watch for one hour? ³⁸“^aKeep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” ³⁹And again He went away and prayed, saying the same ¹words. ⁴⁰And again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him. ⁴¹And He *came the third time, and *said to them, “¹Are you still sleeping and resting? It is enough; ^athe hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being ²betrayed into the hands of sinners. ⁴²“Get up, let us go; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!”

The Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus

⁴³^aAnd immediately while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, *came up, and with him was a crowd with swords and clubs, who were from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. ⁴⁴Now he who was betraying Him had given them a signal, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the one; seize Him and lead Him away ¹under guard.” ⁴⁵And after coming, Judas, having immediately gone to Him, *said, “^aRabbi!” and kissed Him. ⁴⁶And they laid hands on Him and seized Him. ⁴⁷But one of those who stood by drew his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest and ¹cut off his ear. ⁴⁸And Jesus answered and said to them, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me, as you would against a robber? ⁴⁹“Every day I was with you ^ain the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me; but this has taken place in order that the Scriptures would be fulfilled.” ⁵⁰And they all left Him and fled.

⁵¹And a young man was following Him, wearing nothing but a linen sheet over his naked body; and they *seized him. ⁵²But he ¹pulled free of the linen sheet and escaped naked.

Jesus Before His Accusers

⁵³^aThen they led Jesus away to the high priest; and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes *gathered together. ⁵⁴And Peter followed Him at a distance, ^aright into ^bthe courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the ¹officers and ^cwarming himself at the ²fire. ⁵⁵Now the chief priests and the whole ¹^,^aSanhedrin were seeking to obtain testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, and they were not finding any. ⁵⁶For many were giving false testimony against Him, but their testimony was not consistent. ⁵⁷And some, standing up, were giving false testimony against Him, saying, ⁵⁸“We ourselves heard Him say, ‘^aI will destroy this ¹sanctuary made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.’” ⁵⁹And not even in this way was their testimony consistent. ⁶⁰And the high priest stood up in their midst and questioned Jesus, saying, “You answer nothing? What are these men testifying against You?” ⁶¹^aBut He kept silent and did not answer. ^bAgain the high priest was questioning Him and *said to Him, “Are You the ¹Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” ⁶²And Jesus said, “I am; and you shall see ^athe Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and ^bcoming with the clouds of heaven.” ⁶³^aAnd tearing his tunics, the high priest *said, “What further need do we have of witnesses? ⁶⁴“You have heard the ^ablasphemy; how does it seem to you?” And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death. ⁶⁵And some began to ^aspit at Him, and ¹^,^bto blindfold Him, and to beat Him with their fists, and to say to Him, “^cProphesy!” And the officers ²received Him with ³slaps in the face.

Peter’s Denials

⁶⁶^aAnd as Peter was below in ^bthe courtyard, one of the servant-girls of the high priest *came, ⁶⁷and seeing Peter ^awarming himself, she looked at him and *said, “You also were with the ^bNazarene, Jesus.” ⁶⁸But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you are talking about.” And he ^awent out into the entryway.¹ ⁶⁹And when the servant-girl saw him, she began once more to say to the bystanders, “This is one of them!” ⁷⁰But again ^ahe was denying it. And after a little while the bystanders were again saying to Peter, “Surely you are one of them, ^bfor you are also a Galilean.” ⁷¹But he began to ¹curse and swear, “I do not know this man you are talking about!” ⁷²And immediately a rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said the statement to him, “Before ^aa rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” ¹And throwing himself down, he began to cry.

Jesus Before Pilate

15^aAnd early in the morning the chief priests with the elders and scribes and the whole ^bSanhedrin, immediately held council; and binding Jesus, led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate. ²^aAnd Pilate questioned Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And He answered him and *said, “You yourself say it.” ³And the chief priests began to accuse Him of many things. ⁴Then Pilate was questioning Him again, saying, “You answer nothing? See how many accusations they bring against You!” ⁵But Jesus ^amade no further answer; so Pilate marveled.

⁶^aNow at the feast he used to release for them any one prisoner whom they requested. ⁷And the man named Barabbas had been imprisoned with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the insurrection. ⁸And the crowd went up and began asking him to do as he had been accustomed to do for them. ⁹And Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” ¹⁰For he was aware that the chief priests had delivered Him over because of envy. ¹¹But the chief priests stirred up the crowd ^ato ask him to release Barabbas for them instead. ¹²And answering again, Pilate was saying to them, “Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” ¹³And they shouted again, “Crucify Him!” ¹⁴But Pilate was saying to them, “Why? What evil did He do?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify Him!” ¹⁵And wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus ^ascourged, he delivered Him over to be crucified.

Jesus Is Mocked

¹⁶^aSo the soldiers took Him away into ^bthe ¹palace (that is, the ²Praetorium), and they *called together the whole Roman ³^,^ccohort. ¹⁷And they *dressed Him up in purple, and after twisting a crown of thorns, they *put it on Him; ¹⁸and they began to greet Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” ¹⁹And they kept beating His head with a ¹reed, and spitting on Him; and kneeling, they were bowing down before Him. ²⁰And 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^aAnd they *pressed into service a passer-by coming from the countryside, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and ^bRufus), to ¹carry His cross.

The Crucifixion

²²^aThen they *brought Him to the place ^bGolgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. ²³And they tried to give Him ^awine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it. ²⁴And they *crucified Him, and *^adivided up His garments among themselves, casting ¹lots for them to decide who should take what. ²⁵Now it was the ¹^,^athird hour, and they crucified Him. ²⁶And the inscription of the charge against Him ¹read, “^aTHE KING OF THE JEWS.”

²⁷And they *crucified two robbers with Him, one on His right and one on His left. ²⁸¹[And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was numbered with transgressors.”] ²⁹And those passing by were blaspheming Him, ^ashaking their heads, and saying, “Ha! You who are going to ^bdestroy the ¹sanctuary and rebuild it in three days, ³⁰save Yourself by coming down from the cross!” ³¹In the same way, mocking Him to one another, the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were saying, “^aHe saved others; ¹He cannot save Himself. ³²“Let this ¹Christ, ^athe King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!” ^bThose who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.

³³^aAnd when the ¹^,^bsixth hour came, darkness ²fell over the whole land until the ³^,^cninth hour. ³⁴And at the ^aninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “^bEloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” ³⁵And when some of the bystanders heard it, they began saying, “Look, He is calling for Elijah.” ³⁶And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink, saying, “¹Let us see whether Elijah will come to take Him down.” ³⁷^aAnd Jesus, uttering a loud cry, breathed His last. ³⁸^aAnd the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. ³⁹^aAnd when the centurion, who was standing ¹right in front of Him, saw ²the way He breathed His last, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”

⁴⁰^aAnd there were also some women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James ^bthe ¹Less and Joses, and ^cSalome, ⁴¹who, when He was in Galilee, were following Him and ¹^,^aserving Him; and there were many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.

Jesus Is Buried

⁴²^aAnd when evening had already come, because it was ¹^,^bPreparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, ⁴³Joseph of Arimathea came, a ^aprominent ¹Council member, who himself was ^bwaiting for the kingdom of God; and he ^cgathered up courage and went in before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁴⁴And Pilate wondered if He had died by this time, and summoning the centurion, he questioned him as to whether He already died. ⁴⁵And ascertaining this from ^athe centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. ⁴⁶And 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^aAnd Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were looking on to see where He had been laid.