A Warning Against Hypocrisy
23:1-7pp — Mk 12:38, 39; Lk 20:45, 46
1Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2“The teachers of the lawa and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.b Jewish Sects
5“Everything they do is done for people to see:c They make their phylacteries1,d wide and the tassels on their garmentse long; 6they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues;f 7they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.g
8“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father,h and he is in heaven. 10Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. 11The greatest among you will be your servant.i 12For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.j
Seven Woes on the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees
13“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!k You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.l [14]2
15“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert,m and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of helln as you are.
16“Woe to you, blind guides!o You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’p 17You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred?q 18You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’ 19You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?r 20Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwellss in it. 22And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.t
23“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenthu of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness.v You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24You blind guides!w You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
25“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish,x but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.y 26Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
27“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs,z which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
29“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophetsa and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.b 32Go ahead, then, and completec what your ancestors started!d
33“You snakes! You brood of vipers!e How will you escape being condemned to hell?f 34Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify;g others you will flog in your synagoguesh and pursue from town to town.i 35And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abelj to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah,k whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.l 36Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.m
37“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,n how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,o and you were not willing. 38Look, your house is left to you desolate.p 39For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’3”q
The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times
24:1-51pp — Mk 13:1–37; Lk 21:5–36
1Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2“Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another;a every one will be thrown down.”
3As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives,b the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your comingc and of the end of the age?”d
4Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you.e 5For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.f 6You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.g There will be faminesh and earthquakes in various places. 8All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9“Then you will be handed over to be persecutedi and put to death,j and you will be hated by all nations because of me.k 10At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11and many false prophetsl will appear and deceive many people.m 12Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.n 14And this gospel of the kingdomo will be preached in the whole worldp as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
15“So when you see standing in the holy placeq ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’1,r spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17Let no one on the housetops go down to take anything out of the house. 18Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!t 20Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.u
22“If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the electv those days will be shortened. 23At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it.w 24For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wondersx to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25See, I have told you ahead of time.
26“So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27For as lightningy that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the comingz of the Son of Man.a 28Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.b
29“Immediately after the distress of those days
“ ‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
30“Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth3 will mournd when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven,e with power and great glory.4 31And he will send his angelsf with a loud trumpet call,g and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
32“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it5 is near, right at the door.h 34Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.i 35Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.j
The Day and Hour Unknown
24:45-51pp — Lk 12:42–46
36“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,6 but only the Father.k 37As it was in the days of Noah,l so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage,m up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.n 40Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.o 41Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.p
42“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.q 43But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming,r he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44So you also must be ready,s because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
45“Who then is the faithful and wise servant,t whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.u 47Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.v 48But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards.w 50The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.x
The Parable of the Ten Virgins
1“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be likea ten virgins who took their lampsb and went out to meet the bridegroom.c 2Five of them were foolish and five were wise.d 3The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.e One Arrangement of the Life of Christ
6“At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
7“Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’f
9“ ‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
10“But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet.g And the door was shut.
11“Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’
12“But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’h
13“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.i
The Parable of the Bags of Gold
25:14-30Ref — Lk 19:12–27
14“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey,j who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,1 each according to his ability.k Then he went on his journey. 16The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
19“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.l 20The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’
21“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.m Come and share your master’s happiness!’
22“The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’
23“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.n Come and share your master’s happiness!’
24“Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
26“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
28“ ‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.o 30And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’p
The Sheep and the Goats
31“When the Son of Man comesq in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.r 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separates the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.t 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdomu prepared for you since the creation of the world.v 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,w 36I needed clothes and you clothed me,x I was sick and you looked after me,y I was in prison and you came to visit me.’z
37“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’a
41“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me,b you who are cursed, into the eternal firec prepared for the devil and his angels.d 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’e
46“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.f”g
The Plot Against Jesus
26:2-5pp — Mk 14:1, 2; Lk 22:1, 2
1When Jesus had finished saying all these things,a he said to his disciples, 2“As you know, the Passoverb is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”
3Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembledc in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas,d 4and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him.e 5“But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riotf among the people.”
Jesus Anointed at Bethany
26:6-13pp — Mk 14:3–9
26:6-13Ref — Lk 7:37, 38; Jn 12:1–8
6While Jesus was in Bethanyg in the home of Simon the Leper, 7a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.
8When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. 9“This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”
10Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 11The poor you will always have with you,1,h but you will not always have me. 12When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial.i 13Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus
26:14-16pp — Mk 14:10, 11; Lk 22:3–6
14Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariotj—went to the chief priests 15and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver.k 16From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.
The Last Supper
26:17-19pp — Mk 14:12–16; Lk 22:7–13
26:20-24pp — Mk 14:17–21
26:26-29pp — Mk 14:22–25; Lk 22:17–20; 1Co 11:23–25
17On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread,l the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”m
18He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed timen is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’ ” 19So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.
20When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. 21And while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.”o
22They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?”
23Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me.p 24The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him.q But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”
25Then Judas, the one who would betray him,r said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?”s
Jesus answered, “You have said so.”
26While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke itt and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
27Then he took a cup,u and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28This is my blood of the2 covenant,v which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.w 29I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with youx in my Father’s kingdom.”
30When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.y
Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial
26:31-35pp — Mk 14:27–31; Lk 22:31–34
31Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me,z for it is written:
32But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”b
33Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.”
34“Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”c
35But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you,d I will never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same.
Gethsemane
26:36-46pp — Mk 14:32–42; Lk 22:40–46
36Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedeee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrowf to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”g Image
39Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cuph be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”i
40Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with mej for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.k The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
42He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”l
43When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
45Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hourm has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. 46Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”
Jesus Arrested
26:47-56pp — Mk 14:43–50; Lk 22:47–53
47While he was still speaking, Judas,n one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. 48Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.” 49Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings, Rabbi!”o and kissed him.
50Jesus replied, “Do what you came for, friend.”4,p
Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him. 51With that, one of Jesus’ companions reached for his sword,q drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.r
52“Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.s 53Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?t 54But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilledu that say it must happen in this way?”
55In that hour Jesus said to the crowd, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching,v and you did not arrest me. 56But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.”w Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.
Jesus Before the Sanhedrin
26:57-68pp — Mk 14:53–65; Jn 18:12, 13, 19–24
57Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphasx the high priest, where the teachers of the law and the elders had assembled. 58But Peter followed him at a distance, right up to the courtyard of the high priest.y He entered and sat down with the guardsz to see the outcome.
59The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrina were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death. 60But they did not find any, though many false witnessesb came forward. Jesus’ Trial
Finally twoc came forward 61and declared, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’ ”d
62Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” 63But Jesus remained silent.e
The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oathf by the living God:g Tell us if you are the Messiah,h the Son of God.”i
64“You have said so,”j Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty Onek and coming on the clouds of heaven.”5,l
65Then the high priest tore his clothesm and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. 66What do you think?”
“He is worthy of death,”n they answered.
67Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists.o Others slapped him 68and said, “Prophesy to us, Messiah. Who hit you?”p
Peter Disowns Jesus
26:69-75pp — Mk 14:66–72; Lk 22:55–62; Jn 18:16–18, 25–27
69Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. “You also were with Jesus of Galilee,” she said.
70But he denied it before them all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.
71Then he went out to the gateway, where another servant girl saw him and said to the people there, “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.”
72He denied it again, with an oath: “I don’t know the man!”
73After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.”
74Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!”
Immediately a rooster crowed. 75Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”q And he went outside and wept bitterly.
Judas Hangs Himself
1Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed.a 2So they bound him, led him away and handed him overb to Pilate the governor.c
3When Judas, who had betrayed him,d saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silvere to the chief priests and the elders. 4“I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”
“What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”f
5So Judas threw the money into the templeg and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.h
6The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.” 7So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. 8That is why it has been called the Field of Bloodi to this day. 9Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:j “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on him by the people of Israel, 10and they used them to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”1,k
Jesus Before Pilate
27:11-26pp — Mk 15:2–15; Lk 23:2, 3, 18–25; Jn 18:29–19:16
11Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”l
“You have said so,” Jesus replied.
12When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer.m 13Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?”n 14But Jesus made no reply,o not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor.
15Now it was the governor’s custom at the festival to release a prisonerp chosen by the crowd. 16At that time they had a well-known prisoner whose name was Jesus2 Barabbas. 17So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?”q 18For he knew it was out of self-interest that they had handed Jesus over to him.
19While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat,r his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocents man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dreamt because of him.”
20But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.u
21“Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor.
“Barabbas,” they answered.
22“What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?”v Pilate asked.
They all answered, “Crucify him!”
23“Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
24When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproarw was starting, he took water and washed his handsx in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,”y he said. “It is your responsibility!”z
25All the people answered, “His blood is on us and on our children!”a
26Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged,b and handed him over to be crucified.
The Soldiers Mock Jesus
27:27-31pp — Mk 15:16–20
27Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetoriumc and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him,d 29and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said.e 30They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again.f 31After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.g
The Crucifixion of Jesus
27:33-44pp — Mk 15:22–32; Lk 23:33–43; Jn 19:17–24
32As they were going out,h they met a man from Cyrene,i named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross.j 33They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”).k 34There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall;l but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. 35When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots.m 36And sitting down, they kept watchn over him there. 37Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
38Two rebels were crucified with him,o one on his right and one on his left. 39Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their headsp 40and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days,q save yourself!r Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!”s 41In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42“He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel!t Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believeu in him. 43He trusts in God. Let God rescue himv now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” 44In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
The Death of Jesus
27:45-56pp — Mk 15:33–41; Lk 23:44–49; Jn 19:29–30
45From noon until three in the afternoon darknessw came over all the land. 46About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli,3 lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).4,x
47When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.”
48Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar,y put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. 49The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”
50And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.z
51At that moment the curtain of the templea was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks splitb 52and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and5 went into the holy cityc and appeared to many people.
54When the centurion and those with him who were guardingd Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”e
55Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs.f 56Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph,6 and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.g
The Burial of Jesus
27:57-61pp — Mk 15:42–47; Lk 23:50–56; Jn 19:38–42
57As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. 58Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. 59Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60and placed it in his own new tombh that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. 61Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb. The Location of Jesus’ Tomb
The Guard at the Tomb
62The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 63“Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’i 64So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the bodyj and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”
65“Take a guard,”k Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” 66So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seall on the stonem and posting the guard.n
Jesus Has Risen
28:1-8pp — Mk 16:1–8; Lk 24:1–10; Jn 20:1–8
1After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalenea and the other Maryb went to look at the tomb.
2There was a violent earthquake,c for an angeld of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stonee and sat on it. 3His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.f 4The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
5The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid,g for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.h Come and see the place where he lay. 7Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee.i There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”
8So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9Suddenly Jesus met them.j “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothersk to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
The Guards’ Report
11While the women were on their way, some of the guardsl went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. 12When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, 13telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him awaym while we were asleep.’ 14If this report gets to the governor,n we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.
The Great Commission
16Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.o 17When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.p 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,q baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,r 20and teachings them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with yout always, to the very end of the age.”u