Mark 15; Mark 16

1 At daybreak, the chief priests—with the elders, legal experts, and the whole Sanhedrin—formed a plan. They bound Jesus, led him away, and turned him over to Pilate.

2 Pilate questioned him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" Jesus replied, "That's what you say."

3 The chief priests were accusing him of many things.

4 Pilate asked him again, "Aren't you going to answer? What about all these accusations?"

5 But Jesus gave no more answers, so that Pilate marveled.

6 During the festival, Pilate released one prisoner to them, whomever they requested.

7 A man named Barabbas was locked up with the rebels who had committed murder during an uprising.

8 The crowd pushed forward and asked Pilate to release someone, as he regularly did.

9 Pilate answered them, "Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?"

10 He knew that the chief priests had handed him over because of jealousy.

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

12 Pilate replied, "Then what do you want me to do with the one you call king of the Jews?"

13 They shouted back, "Crucify him!"

14 Pilate said to them, "Why? What wrong has he done?" They shouted even louder, "Crucify him!"

15 Pilate wanted to satisfy the crowd, so he released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus whipped, then handed him over to be crucified.

16 The soldiers led Jesus away into the courtyard of the palace known as the governor's headquarters, and they called together the whole company of soldiers.

17 They dressed him up in a purple robe and twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on him.

18 They saluted him, "Hey! King of the Jews!"

19 Again and again, they struck his head with a stick. They spit on him and knelt before him to honor him.

20 When they finished mocking him, they stripped him of the purple robe and put his own clothes back on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

21 Simon, a man from Cyrene, Alexander and Rufus' father, was coming in from the countryside. They forced him to carry his cross.

22 They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha, which means Skull Place.

23 They tried to give him wine mixed with myrrh, but he didn't take it.

24 They crucified him. They divided up his clothes, drawing lots for them to determine who would take what.

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

26 The notice of the formal charge against him was written, "The king of the Jews."

27 They crucified two outlaws with him, one on his right and one on his left.

29 People walking by insulted him, shaking their heads and saying, "Ha! So you were going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, were you?

30 Save yourself and come down from that cross!"

31 In the same way, the chief priests were making fun of him among themselves, together with the legal experts. "He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself.

32 Let the Christ, the king of Israel, come down from the cross. Then we'll see and believe." Even those who had been crucified with Jesus insulted him.

33 From noon until three in the afternoon the whole earth was dark.

34 At three, Jesus cried out with a loud shout, "Eloi, eloi, lama sabachthani," which means, "My God, my God, why have you left me?"

35 After hearing him, some standing there said, "Look! He's calling Elijah!"

36 Someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, and put it on a pole. He offered it to Jesus to drink, saying, "Let's see if Elijah will come to take him down."

37 But Jesus let out a loud cry and died.

38 The curtain of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom.

39 When the centurion, who stood facing Jesus, saw how he died, he said, "This man was certainly God's Son."

40 Some women were watching from a distance, including Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James (the younger one) and Joses, and Salome.

41 When Jesus was in Galilee, these women had followed and supported him, along with many other women who had come to Jerusalem with him.

42 Since it was late in the afternoon on Preparation Day, just before the Sabbath,

43 Joseph from Arimathea dared to approach Pilate and ask for Jesus' body. (Joseph was a prominent council member who also eagerly anticipated the coming of God's kingdom.)

44 Pilate wondered if Jesus was already dead. He called the centurion and asked him whether Jesus had already died.

45 When he learned from the centurion that Jesus was dead, Pilate gave the dead body to Joseph.

46 He bought a linen cloth, took Jesus down from the cross, wrapped him in the cloth, and laid him in a tomb that had been carved out of rock. He rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb.

47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was buried.

1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they could go and anoint Jesus' dead body.

2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they came to the tomb.

3 They were saying to each other, "Who's going to roll the stone away from the entrance for us?"

4 When they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away. (And it was a very large stone!)

5 Going into the tomb, they saw a young man in a white robe seated on the right side; and they were startled.

6 But he said to them, "Don't be alarmed! You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised. He isn't here. Look, here's the place where they laid him.

7 Go, tell his disciples, especially Peter, that he is going ahead of you into Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you."

8 Overcome with terror and dread, they fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

9 [They promptly reported all of the young man's instructions to those who were with Peter. Afterward, through the work of his disciples, Jesus sent out, from the east to the west, the sacred and undying message of eternal salvation. Amen. ][[After Jesus rose up early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons.

10 She went and reported to the ones who had been with him, who were mourning and weeping.

11 But even after they heard the news, they didn't believe that Jesus was alive and that Mary had seen him.

12 After that he appeared in a different form to two of them who were walking along in the countryside.

13 When they returned, they reported it to the others, but they didn't believe them.

14 Finally he appeared to the eleven while they were eating. Jesus criticized their unbelief and stubbornness because they didn't believe those who saw him after he was raised up.

15 He said to them, "Go into the whole world and proclaim the good news to every creature.

16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever doesn't believe will be condemned.

17 These signs will be associated with those who believe: they will throw out demons in my name. They will speak in new languages.

18 They will pick up snakes with their hands. If they drink anything poisonous, it will not hurt them. They will place their hands on the sick, and they will get well."

19 After the Lord Jesus spoke to them, he was lifted up into heaven and sat down on the right side of God.

20 But they went out and proclaimed the message everywhere. The Lord worked with them, confirming the word by the signs associated with them.]]