Matthew 26:50–27:50

⁵⁰Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you are here to do.”^e Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and arrested him.^{* 51}Suddenly one of those with Jesus put his hand on his sword, drew it, and struck the slave of the high priest, cutting off his ear. ⁵²Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place, for all who take the sword will die by the sword.^{* 53}Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?^{* 54}But how then would the scriptures be fulfilled, which say it must happen in this way?”^{* 55}At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as though I were a rebel? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not arrest me. ⁵⁶But all this has taken place, so that the scriptures of the prophets may be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.^*

Jesus before the High Priest

⁵⁷Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered. ⁵⁸But Peter was following him at a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and going inside he sat with the guards in order to see how this would end.^{* 59}Now the chief priests and the whole council were looking for false testimony against Jesus so that they might put him to death, ⁶⁰but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward^{* 61}and said, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.’ ”^{* 62}The high priest stood up and said, “Have you no answer? What is it that they testify against you?” ⁶³But Jesus was silent. Then the high priest said to him, “I put you under oath before the living God, tell us if you are the Messiah,^f the Son of God.”^{* 64}Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you,

From now on you will see the Son of Man

seated at the right hand of Power

and coming on the clouds of heaven.”^*

⁶⁵Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has blasphemed! Why do we still need witnesses? You have now heard his blasphemy.^{* 66}What do you think?” They answered, “He deserves death.”^{* 67}Then they spat in his face and struck him, and some slapped him,^{* 68}saying, “Prophesy to us, you Messiah!^g Who is it that struck you?”

Peter’s Denial of Jesus

⁶⁹Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A female servant came to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” ⁷⁰But he denied it before all of them, saying, “I do not know what you are talking about.” ⁷¹When he went out to the porch, another female servant saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus the Nazarene.”^{h 72}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 are also one of them, for your accent betrays you.” ⁷⁴Then he began to curse, and he swore an oath, “I do not know the man!” At that moment the cock crowed. ⁷⁵Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said: “Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.^*

Jesus Brought before Pilate

²⁷When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred together against Jesus in order to bring about his death. ²They bound him, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate the governor.^*

The Suicide of Judas

³When Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesusⁱ was condemned, he repented and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders.^{* 4}He said, “I have sinned by betraying innocent^j blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.”^{* 5}Throwing down the pieces of silver in the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself.^{* 6}But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since they are blood money.” ⁷After conferring together, they used them to buy the potter’s field as a place to bury foreigners. ⁸For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day.^{* 9}Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah,^k “And they took^l the thirty pieces of silver, the price of the one on whom a price had been set,^m on whom some of the people of Israel had set a price,^{* 10}and they gaveⁿ them for the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”

Pilate Questions Jesus

¹¹Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You say so.” ¹²But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he did not answer.^{* 13}Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many accusations they make against you?”^{* 14}But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.^*

Barabbas or Jesus?

¹⁵Now at the festival the governor was accustomed to release a prisoner for the crowd, anyone whom they wanted. ¹⁶At that time they had a notorious prisoner called Jesus^o Barabbas. ¹⁷So after they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you, Jesus^p Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?”^{q 18}For he realized that it was out of jealousy that they had handed him over. ¹⁹While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for today I have suffered a great deal because of a dream about him.”^{* 20}Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus killed.^{* 21}The 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 should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?”^r All of them said, “Let him be crucified!” ²³Then he asked, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”

Pilate Hands Jesus Over to Be Crucified

²⁴So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood;^s see to it yourselves.”^{* 25}Then the people as a whole answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”^{* 26}So he released Barabbas for them, and after flogging Jesus he handed him over to be crucified.^*

The Soldiers Mock Jesus

²⁷Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters,^t and they gathered the whole cohort around him.^{* 28}They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, ²⁹and after twisting some thorns into a crown they put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”^{* 30}They spat on him and took the reed and struck him on the head.^{* 31}After mocking him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.^*

The Crucifixion of Jesus

³²As they went out, they came upon a man from Cyrene named Simon; they compelled this man to carry his cross.^{* 33}And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), ³⁴they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it.^{* 35}And when they had crucified him, they divided his clothes among themselves by casting lots;^{u* 36}then they sat down there and kept watch over him.^{* 37}Over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”

³⁸Then two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.^{* 39}Those who passed by derided^v him, shaking their heads^{* 40}and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”^{* 41}In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking him, saying, ⁴²“He saved others; he cannot save himself.^w He is the King of Israel; let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him.^{* 43}He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he wants to, for he said, ‘I am God’s Son.’ ”^{* 44}The rebels who were crucified with him also taunted him in the same way.

The Death of Jesus

⁴⁵From noon on, darkness came over the whole land^x until three in the afternoon.^{* 46}And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”^{* 47}When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “This man is calling for Elijah.” ⁴⁸At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink.^{* 49}But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.”^{y 50}Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last.^z