New Testament Plan

¹As soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate.

²Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” He answered him, “You say so.”

³Then the chief priests accused him of many things.

⁴Pilate asked him again, “Have you no answer? See how many charges they bring against you.”

⁵But Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed.

⁶Now at the festival he used to release a prisoner for them, anyone for whom they asked.

⁷Now a man called Barabbas was in prison with the rebels who had committed murder during the insurrection.

⁸So the crowd came and began to ask Pilate to do for them according to his custom.

⁹Then he answered them, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?”

¹⁰For he realized that it was out of jealousy that the chief priests had handed him over.

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

¹²Pilate spoke to them again, “Then what do you wish me to do with the man you call the King of the Jews?”

¹³They shouted back, “Crucify him!”

¹⁴Pilate asked them, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him!”

¹⁵So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.

¹⁶Then the soldiers led him into the courtyard of the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters); and they called together the whole cohort.

¹⁷And they clothed him in a purple cloak; and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on him.

¹⁸And they began saluting him, “Hail, King of the Jews!”

¹⁹They struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, and knelt down in homage to him.

²⁰After mocking him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

²¹They compelled a passer-by, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross; it was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus.

²²Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull).

²³And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it.

²⁴And they crucified him, and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take.

²⁵It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him.

²⁶The inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.”

²⁷And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left.

²⁸

²⁹Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days,

³⁰save yourself, and come down from the cross!”

³¹In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself.

³²Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.

³³When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.

³⁴At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

³⁵When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “Listen, he is calling for Elijah.”

³⁶And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.”

³⁷Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last.

³⁸And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.

³⁹Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”

⁴⁰There were also women looking on from a distance; among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome.

⁴¹These used to follow him and provided for him when he was in Galilee; and there were many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem.

⁴²When evening had come, and since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath,

⁴³Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.

⁴⁴Then Pilate wondered if he were already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he had been dead for some time.

⁴⁵When he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the body to Joseph.

⁴⁶Then Joseph bought a linen cloth, and taking down the body, wrapped it in the linen cloth, and laid it in a tomb that had been hewn out of the rock. He then rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.

⁴⁷Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where the body was laid.

¹When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him.

²And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb.

³They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?”

⁴When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back.

⁵As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.

⁶But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him.

⁷But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.”

⁸So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. THE SHORTER ENDING OF MARK [[And all that had been commanded them they told briefly to those around Peter. And afterward Jesus himself sent out through them, from east to west, the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.]]

⁹[[Now after he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons.

¹⁰She went out and told those who had been with him, while they were mourning and weeping.

¹¹But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.

¹²After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country.

¹³And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them.

¹⁴Later he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were sitting at the table; and he upbraided them for their lack of faith and stubbornness, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen.

¹⁵And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.

¹⁶The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned.

¹⁷And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues;

¹⁸they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

¹⁹So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.

²⁰And they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it.]]

¹Since many have undertaken to set down an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us,

²just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word,

³I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,

⁴so that you may know the truth concerning the things about which you have been instructed.

⁵In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife was a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

⁶Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord.

⁷But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were getting on in years.

⁸Once when he was serving as priest before God and his section was on duty,

⁹he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and offer incense.

¹⁰Now at the time of the incense offering, the whole assembly of the people was praying outside.

¹¹Then there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.

¹²When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified; and fear overwhelmed him.

¹³But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John.

¹⁴You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth,

¹⁵for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit.

¹⁶He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God.

¹⁷With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

¹⁸Zechariah said to the angel, “How will I know that this is so? For I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years.”

¹⁹The angel replied, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.

²⁰But now, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will become mute, unable to speak, until the day these things occur.”

²¹Meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah, and wondered at his delay in the sanctuary.

²²When he did come out, he could not speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He kept motioning to them and remained unable to speak.

²³When his time of service was ended, he went to his home.

²⁴After those days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she remained in seclusion. She said,

²⁵“This is what the Lord has done for me when he looked favorably on me and took away the disgrace I have endured among my people.”

²⁶In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,

²⁷to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.

²⁸And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”

²⁹But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.

³⁰The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

³¹And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.

³²He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David.

³³He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

³⁴Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”

³⁵The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.

³⁶And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren.

³⁷For nothing will be impossible with God.”

³⁸Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

³⁹In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country,

⁴⁰where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.

⁴¹When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit

⁴²and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

⁴³And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?

⁴⁴For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy.

⁴⁵And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”

⁴⁶And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord,

⁴⁷and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

⁴⁸for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

⁴⁹for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

⁵⁰His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.

⁵¹He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

⁵²He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly;

⁵³he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.

⁵⁴He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,

⁵⁵according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

⁵⁶And Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.

⁵⁷Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son.

⁵⁸Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.

⁵⁹On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him Zechariah after his father.

⁶⁰But his mother said, “No; he is to be called John.”

⁶¹They said to her, “None of your relatives has this name.”

⁶²Then they began motioning to his father to find out what name he wanted to give him.

⁶³He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And all of them were amazed.

⁶⁴Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began to speak, praising God.

⁶⁵Fear came over all their neighbors, and all these things were talked about throughout the entire hill country of Judea.

⁶⁶All who heard them pondered them and said, “What then will this child become?” For, indeed, the hand of the Lord was with him.

⁶⁷Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke this prophecy:

⁶⁸“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them.

⁶⁹He has raised up a mighty savior for us in the house of his servant David,

⁷⁰as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,

⁷¹that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.

⁷²Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors, and has remembered his holy covenant,

⁷³the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham, to grant us

⁷⁴that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear,

⁷⁵in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

⁷⁶And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,

⁷⁷to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins.

⁷⁸By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us,

⁷⁹to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

⁸⁰The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day he appeared publicly to Israel.