Chronological Plan

¹When it was morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court) conferred together against Jesus, [plotting how] to put Him to death [since under Roman rule they had no power to execute anyone];

²so they bound Him, and led Him away and handed Him over to Pilate the governor [of Judea, who had the authority to condemn prisoners to death].

³When Judas, His betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was gripped with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders,

⁴saying, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood." They replied, "What is that to us? See to that yourself!"

⁵And throwing the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary, he left; and went away and hanged himself.

⁶The chief priests, picking up the pieces of silver, said, "It is not lawful to put these in the treasury [of the temple], because it is the price of blood."

⁷So after consultation they used the money to buy the Potter's Field as a burial place for strangers.

⁸Therefore that piece of ground has been called the Field of Blood to this day.

⁹Then the words spoken by Jeremiah the prophet were fulfilled: "And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of Him on whom a price had been set by the sons of Israel;

¹⁰and they gave them for the Potter's Field, as the Lord directed me."

¹¹Now Jesus stood before [Pilate] the governor, and the governor asked Him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" [In affirmation] Jesus said to him, "It is as you say."

¹²But when the charges were brought against Him by the chief priests and elders, He did not answer.

¹³Then Pilate said to Him, "Do You not hear how many things they are testifying against You?"

¹⁴But Jesus did not reply to him, not even to a single accusation, so that the governor was greatly astonished.

¹⁵Now at the feast [of the Passover] the governor was in the habit of setting free any one prisoner whom the people chose.

¹⁶And at that time they were holding a notorious prisoner [guilty of insurrection and murder], called Barabbas.

¹⁷So when they had assembled [for this purpose], Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to set free for you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?"

¹⁸For Pilate knew that it was because of jealousy that the chief priests and elders had handed Jesus over to him.

¹⁹While he was seated on the judgment seat, his wife sent him a message, saying, "Have nothing to do with that righteous and innocent Man; for last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of Him."

²⁰But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to put Jesus to death.

²¹The governor said to them, "Which of the two do you wish me to set free for you?" And they said, "Barabbas."

²²Pilate said to them, "Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?" They all replied, "Let Him be crucified!"

²³And he said, "Why, what has He done that is evil?" But they continued shouting all the louder, "Let Him be crucified!"

²⁴So when Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but rather that a riot was breaking out, he took water and washed his hands [to ceremonially cleanse himself of guilt] in the presence of the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this [righteous] Man's blood; see to that yourselves."

²⁵And all the people answered, "Let [the responsibility for] His blood be on us and on our children!"

²⁶So he set Barabbas free for them; but after having Jesus severely whipped (scourged), he handed Him over to be crucified.

²⁷Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium, and they gathered the whole Roman cohort around Him.

²⁸They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on Him [as a king's robe].

²⁹And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and put a reed in His right hand [as a scepter]. Kneeling before Him, they ridiculed Him, saying, "Hail (rejoice), King of the Jews!"

³⁰They spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him repeatedly on the head.

³¹After they finished ridiculing Him, they stripped Him of the scarlet robe and put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.

³²Now as they were coming out, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon, whom they forced into service to carry the cross of Jesus.

³³And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull,

³⁴they offered Him wine mixed with gall (myrrh, a bitter-tasting narcotic) to drink; but after tasting it, He refused to drink it.

³⁵And when they had crucified Him, they divided His clothes among them by casting lots.

³⁶Then sitting down there, they began to keep watch over Him [to guard against any rescue attempt].

³⁷And above His head they put the accusation against Him which read, " THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS."

³⁸At the same time two robbers were crucified with Jesus, one on the right and one on the left.

³⁹Those who passed by were hurling abuse at Him and jeering at Him, wagging their heads [in scorn and ridicule],

⁴⁰and they said [tauntingly], "You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself [from death]! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."

⁴¹In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, mocked Him, saying,

⁴²"He saved others [from death]; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him and acknowledge Him.

⁴³He trusts in God; let God rescue Him now, if He delights in Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"

⁴⁴The robbers who had been crucified with Him also began to insult Him in the same way.

⁴⁵Now from the sixth hour (noon) there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour (3:00 p.m.).

⁴⁶About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud [agonized] voice, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"

⁴⁷When some of the bystanders there heard it, they began saying, "This man is calling for Elijah."

⁴⁸Immediately one of them ran, and took a sponge, soaked it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink.

⁴⁹But the rest said, "Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him [from death]."

⁵⁰And Jesus cried out again with a loud [agonized] voice, and gave up His spirit [voluntarily, sovereignly dismissing and releasing His spirit from His body in submission to His Father's plan].

⁵¹And [at once] the veil [of the Holy of Holies] of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; the earth shook and the rocks were split apart.

⁵²The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints (God's people) who had fallen asleep [in death] were raised [to life];

⁵³and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection, they entered the holy city (Jerusalem) and appeared to many people.

⁵⁴Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, they were terribly frightened and filled with awe, and said, "Truly this was the Son of God!"

⁵⁵There were also many women there looking on from a distance, who had accompanied Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him.

⁵⁶Among them was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and [Salome] the mother of Zebedee's sons [James and John].

⁵⁷When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus.

⁵⁸He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus [so that he might bury Him], and Pilate ordered that it be given to him.

⁵⁹And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth (burial wrapping),

⁶⁰and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock; and he rolled a large stone over the entrance of the tomb and went away.

⁶¹And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the tomb.

⁶²The next day, that is, the day after the [day of] preparation [for the Sabbath], the chief priests and the Pharisees assembled before Pilate,

⁶³and said, "Sir, we have remembered that when He was still alive that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise [from the dead].'

⁶⁴Therefore, give orders to have the tomb made secure and safeguarded until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and tell the people, 'He has risen from the dead,' and the last deception [the reporting of His resurrection] will be worse than the first [the reporting that He is the Messiah]."

⁶⁵Pilate said to them, "You have a guard [of soldiers]; go [with them], make the tomb as secure as you know how."

⁶⁶So they went and made the tomb secure, and along with [stationing] a guard of soldiers [to be on watch] they set a seal on the stone.

¹Early in the morning the chief priests, with the elders and scribes and the whole Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court), immediately consulted together; and they bound Jesus, they took Him away [violently] and handed Him over to Pilate.

²Pilate questioned Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?" And He replied to him, "It is as you say."

³The chief priests began accusing Him of many things.

⁴Then Pilate again asked Him, "Have You no answer [to give]? See how many charges they are bringing against You!"

⁵But Jesus gave no further answer; so Pilate was perplexed.

⁶Now at the [Passover] feast Pilate used to set free for them any one prisoner whom they requested.

⁷The man called Barabbas was imprisoned with the insurrectionists (revolutionaries) who had committed murder in the civil rebellion.

⁸The crowd came up and began asking Pilate to do as he usually did for them.

⁹Pilate answered them, saying, "Do you want me to set free for you the King of the Jews?"

¹⁰For he was aware that the chief priests had turned Jesus over to him because of envy and resentment.

¹¹But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to get him to release Barabbas for them instead.

¹²Again Pilate answered, "Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?"

¹³They screamed back, "Crucify Him!"

¹⁴But Pilate asked them, "Why, what has He done that is evil?" But they screamed all the more, "Crucify Him!"

¹⁵So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, set Barabbas free for them; and after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over [to his soldiers] to be crucified.

¹⁶The soldiers led Him away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they called together the entire [Roman] battalion [of 600 soldiers].

¹⁷They dressed Him up in [a ranking Roman officer's robe of] purple, and after twisting [together] a crown of thorns, they placed it on Him;

¹⁸and they began saluting and mocking Him: "Hail, King of the Jews!"

¹⁹They kept beating Him on the head with a reed and spitting on Him, and kneeling and bowing in [mock] homage to Him.

²⁰After they had mocked Him, they took off the purple robe and put His own clothes on Him. And they led Him out [of the city] to crucify Him.

²¹They forced into service a passer-by coming in from the countryside, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to carry His cross.

²²Then they brought Him to the place [called] Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull.

²³They tried to give Him wine mixed with myrrh [to dull the pain], but He would not take it.

²⁴And they crucified Him, and divided up His clothes among themselves, casting lots for them to see who should take what.

²⁵It was the third hour (9:00 a.m.) when they crucified Him.

²⁶The inscription of the accusation against Him had been written [above Him]: "THE KING OF THE JEWS."

²⁷They crucified two robbers with Him, one on His right and one on His left.

²⁸[And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "He was counted with the transgressors."]

²⁹Those who were passing by were insulting Him with abusive and insolent language, wagging their heads [as a sign of contempt], and saying, "Ha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in [only] three days,

³⁰save Yourself by coming down from the cross!"

³¹In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were ridiculing and mocking Him among themselves and saying, "He saved others [from death]; He cannot save Himself!

³²Let the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe and trust [in Him]!" Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.

³³When the sixth hour (noon) came, darkness covered the whole land until the ninth hour (3:00 p.m.).

³⁴And 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?"

³⁵Some of the bystanders heard Him and said, "Look! He is calling for Elijah!"

³⁶Someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave Him a drink, saying, "Let us see whether Elijah is coming to take Him down."

³⁷But Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed out His last [voluntarily, sovereignly dismissing and releasing His spirit from His body in submission to His Father's plan].

³⁸And the veil [of the Holy of Holies] of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

³⁹When the centurion, who was standing opposite Him, saw the way He breathed His last [being fully in control], he said, "Truly this man was the Son of God!"

⁴⁰Now some women also were watching from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome.

⁴¹When Jesus was in Galilee, they used to accompany him and minister to Him; and there were also many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.

⁴²When evening had already come, because it was the preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath,

⁴³Joseph of Arimathea came, a prominent and respected member of the Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court), who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God—and he courageously dared to go in before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus.

⁴⁴Pilate wondered if He was dead by this time [only six hours after being crucified], and he summoned the centurion and asked him whether He was already dead.

⁴⁵And when he learned from the centurion [that Jesus was in fact dead], he gave the body to Joseph [by granting him permission to remove it].

⁴⁶So Joseph purchased a [fine] linen cloth [for wrapping the body], and after taking Jesus down [from the cross], he wrapped Him in the linen cloth and placed Him in a tomb which had been cut out of rock. Then he rolled a [large, wheel-shaped] stone against the entrance of the tomb.

⁴⁷Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were [carefully] watching to see where He was laid.