Matthew 26:50–27:50

⁵⁰Jesus said to him, ^e“Friend, ^fdo what you came to do.”⁶ Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him. ⁵¹And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his ^gsword and struck the servant⁷ of the high priest and cut off his ear. ⁵²Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For ^hall who take the sword will perish by the sword. ⁵³ⁱDo you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me ^jmore than twelve ^klegions of angels? ^54lBut how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” ⁵⁵At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day ^mI sat in the temple ⁿteaching, and you did not seize me. ⁵⁶But ^lall this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” ^oThen all the disciples left him and fled.

Jesus Before Caiaphas and the Council

^57pThen ^qthose who had seized Jesus led him to ^rCaiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered. ⁵⁸And ^sPeter was following him at a distance, as far as ^rthe courtyard of the high priest, and going inside he sat with ^tthe guards to see the end. ⁵⁹Now the chief priests and the whole council^{8 u}were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, ⁶⁰but they found none, ^vthough many false witnesses came forward. At last ^wtwo came forward ⁶¹and said, “This man said, ^x‘I am able to ^ydestroy the temple of God, and to rebuild it in three days.’ ” ⁶²And the high priest stood up and said, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?”^{9 63z}But Jesus remained silent. ^aAnd the high priest said to him, ^b“I adjure you by ^cthe living God, ^dtell us if you are ^ethe Christ, ^fthe Son of God.” ⁶⁴Jesus said to him, ^g“You have said so. But I tell you, from now on ^hyou will see the Son of Man ⁱseated at the right hand of Power and ^hcoming on the clouds of heaven.” ⁶⁵Then the high priest ^jtore his robes and said, ^k“He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. ⁶⁶What is your judgment?” They answered, ^l“He deserves death.” ⁶⁷Then ^mthey spit in his face ⁿand ^ostruck him. And some slapped him, ⁶⁸saying, “Prophesy to us, you ^pChrist! Who is it that struck you?”

Peter Denies Jesus

^69qNow Peter was sitting outside ^rin the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” ⁷⁰But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean.” ⁷¹And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus ^sof Nazareth.” ⁷²And again he denied it with an oath: “I do not know the man.” ⁷³After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you too are one of them, for ^tyour accent betrays you.” ⁷⁴Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately the rooster crowed. ⁷⁵And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, ^u“Before the rooster crows, you will ^vdeny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

Jesus Delivered to Pilate

27^wWhen morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people ^xtook counsel against Jesus to put him to death. ²And they bound him and ^yled him away and ^zdelivered him over to ^aPilate the governor.

Judas Hangs Himself

³Then when ^bJudas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus¹ was condemned, ^che changed his mind and brought back ^dthe thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, ⁴saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? ^eSee to it yourself.” ⁵And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, ^fhe departed, and he went and hanged himself. ⁶But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into ^gthe treasury, since it is blood money.” ⁷So they took counsel and bought with them the potter’s field as a burial place for strangers. ⁸Therefore ^hthat field has been called the Field of Blood ⁱto this day. ^9jThen was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, ^k“And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, ¹⁰and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.”

Jesus Before Pilate

^11lNow Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you ^mthe King of the Jews?” Jesus said, ⁿ“You have said so.” ^12oBut when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer. ¹³Then Pilate said to him, ^p“Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?” ¹⁴But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.

The Crowd Chooses Barabbas

^15qNow at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. ¹⁶And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. ¹⁷So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or ^rJesus who is called Christ?” ¹⁸For he knew that it was out ^sof envy that they had delivered him up. ¹⁹Besides, while he was sitting on ^tthe judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with ^uthat righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today ^vin a dream.” ²⁰Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ^wask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. ²¹The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” ²²Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” ^xThey all said, “Let him be crucified!” ²³And he said, “Why? ^yWhat evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”

Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified

²⁴So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that ^za riot was beginning, he took water and ^awashed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of ^bthis man’s blood;^{2 c}see to it yourselves.” ²⁵And all the people answered, ^d“His blood be on us and ^eon our children!” ²⁶Then he released for them Barabbas, and having ^fscourged³ Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.

Jesus Is Mocked

^27gThen the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the ^hgovernor’s headquarters,⁴ and they gathered the whole ⁱbattalion⁵ before him. ²⁸And they stripped him and put ^ja scarlet robe on him, ²⁹and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they ^kmocked him, saying, “Hail, ^lKing of the Jews!” ³⁰And ^mthey spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. ³¹And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and ⁿled him away to crucify him.

The Crucifixion

^32opAs they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to ^ocarry his cross. ^33qAnd when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), ^34rthey offered him wine to drink, mixed with ^sgall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. ³⁵And when they had crucified him, ^tthey divided his garments among them by casting lots. ³⁶Then they sat down and ^ukept watch over him there. ³⁷And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, ^vthe King of the Jews.” ³⁸Then two ^wrobbers were crucified with him, ^xone on the right and one on the left. ³⁹And ^ythose who passed by ^zderided him, ^awagging their heads ⁴⁰and saying, ^b“You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! ^cIf you are ^dthe Son of God, come down from the cross.” ⁴¹So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, ^42e“He saved others; ^fhe cannot save himself. ^gHe is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. ^43hHe trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” ⁴⁴ⁱAnd the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.

The Death of Jesus

⁴⁵Now from the sixth hour⁶ there was darkness over all the land⁷ until the ninth hour.^{8 46}And about the ninth hour Jesus ^jcried out with a loud voice, saying, ^k“Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” ⁴⁷And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” ⁴⁸And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with ^lsour wine, and put it on a reed and ^mgave it to him to drink. ⁴⁹But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” ⁵⁰And Jesus ⁿcried out again with a loud voice and ^oyielded up his spirit.