Matthew

¹In the morning, all the chief priests and the presbyters of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death; ²they bound him, led him away, and delivered him up to Pontius Pilate, the governor. ³When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he felt remorse and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and presbyters, ⁴saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent³⁷¹ blood.”

But they answered, “What is that to us? You see to it.”

⁵He threw the pieces of silver in the sanctuary, and departed. He then went away and hanged himself.^{372 6}The chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is the price of blood.” ⁷They took counsel and bought the potter’s field with the money, [as a place] to bury strangers. ⁸Therefore, that field was called “The Field of Blood” even to this day. ⁹Thus, what was spoken through Jeremiah³⁷³ the prophet was fulfilled:

They took the thirty pieces of silver,

the price of him upon whom a price had been set,

whom some of the children of Israel priced,

¹⁰and they gave them for the potter’s field,

as the Lord commanded me.³⁷⁴

Pilate questions the Lord—The Lord condemned to be crucified

¹¹Now Jesus stood before the governor and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”

Jesus said to him, “So you say.”

¹²But when he was accused by the chief priests and the presbyters, he answered nothing. ¹³Pilate then said to him, “Do you not hear how many charges they present against you?”

¹⁴Jesus gave him no answer, not even one word, so that the governor was astonished. ¹⁵Now on the [occasion of the] feast, the governor had the custom to release one prisoner to the crowd, whoever they desired. ¹⁶At that time, they had a notable prisoner called Barabbas.^{375 17}When they were gathered, Pilate asked them, “Who do you want me to release to you? Barabbas,³⁷⁶ or Jesus, who is called Christ?” ¹⁸For he perceived that it was because of envy that they had arrested him.

¹⁹While Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent a note to him that said, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man! Today, I have suffered many things in a dream because of him.” ²⁰Now the chief priests and the presbyters convinced the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus done away with. ²¹But the governor asked them, “Which one of the two do you want me to release to you?”

They said, “Barabbas!”

²²Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do to Jesus, who is called Christ?”

They all replied, “Let him be crucified!”

²³The governor asked, “Why? What evil has he done?”

But they cried out loudly, saying, “Let him be crucified!”

²⁴And so, when Pilate saw that nothing was being gained, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this righteous³⁷⁷ man. You see to it.”

²⁵All the people answered, “May his blood be on us, and on our children!”

²⁶At this, Pilate³⁷⁸ released Barabbas to them, but had Jesus flogged and delivered to be crucified.

Roman soldiers mock the Lord—The crown of thorns

²⁷Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the praetorium and gathered the whole garrison against him. ²⁸They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. ²⁹They made a crown of thorns and placed it on his head, and a reed in his right hand. They knelt down before him and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” ³⁰They also spat on him, took the reed and struck him on the head. ³¹When they had mocked him, they removed the robe from him, put his [own] clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.

Simon of Cyrene—The way to Golgotha—The crucifixion of the Lord

³²As they were coming out, the soldiers³⁷⁹ found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, and they compelled³⁸⁰ him to go with them and to carry the cross. ³³They arrived at a place called “Golgotha,” which means, “The place of a skull.” ³⁴They gave him sour wine³⁸¹ mixed with gall to drink, but having tasted it, he would not drink. ³⁵After crucifying him, they divided his clothing among them, ’casting lots.^{382 36}Then the soldiers³⁸³ sat and watched him. ³⁷They placed above his head the accusation against him in these words, “THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

³⁸Two rebels were also crucified with him, one on his right hand and one on the left. ³⁹Those who passed by blasphemed him, shaking their heads ⁴⁰and saying, “You who [would] destroy the sanctuary and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”

⁴¹Likewise the chief priests also mocked him, with the scribes, the presbyters and the Pharisees,³⁸⁴ saying, ⁴²”He saved others, but he cannot save himself! If he is the King of Israel, let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him! ⁴³He trusts in God! Let God deliver him now, if he wants him; for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”^{385 44}The rebels who were crucified with him reviled him as well [and] in the same way.

ουτος εστιν ιησους ο βασιλευς των ιουδαιων

HIC·EST·IESVS·REX·IVDÆORVM ישוע הנצרי היהודים

ο βασιλευς των ιουδαιων

REX·IVDÆORVM

ישוע הנצרי

The death of the Lord—Miraculous signs

⁴⁵From the sixth hour,³⁸⁶ there was darkness over all the land³⁸⁷ until the ninth hour.^{388 46}About the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lima sabachthani?” That is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”³⁸⁹

⁴⁷Some of those who stood there heard it and said, “This man is calling Elias!”

⁴⁸Immediately, one of them ran to take a sponge; he filled it with vinegar, put it on a reed, and gave it to him to drink. ⁴⁹But the others said, “Let him be. Let us see whether Elias comes to save him.”³⁹⁰

⁵⁰Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and yielded up his spirit. ⁵¹Behold, the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from the top to the bottom. The earth quaked and the rocks were split. ⁵²The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised ⁵³and came out of the tombs after his resurrection. (They entered into the holy city and appeared to many). ⁵⁴Now when the centurion and those who were with him watching Jesus saw the earthquake and the things that were taking place, they became extremely fearful and said, “Truly, this was the Son of God!”

⁵⁵Many women who had followed Jesus from Galilee to serve him were there, watching from afar. ⁵⁶Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary³⁹¹ the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

The burial of the Lord—Joseph of Arimathea—Events at the tomb

⁵⁷When evening came, a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who himself was also a disciple of Jesus, arrived. ⁵⁸This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus, and Pilate ordered that the body be delivered [to him]. ⁵⁹Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, ⁶⁰and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had carved out in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and departed. ⁶¹Mary Magdalene was there, and also the other Mary, sitting opposite the tomb. ⁶²On the next day (which was the day after the day of preparation³⁹²) the chief priests and the Pharisees came together to Pilate ⁶³and said, “Lord, we remember what that deceiver said when he was still alive: ‘After three days, I will rise again.’ ⁶⁴Therefore, give orders that the tomb be made secure until the third day, for fear that his disciples may come at night, steal him away, and then tell the people, ‘He is risen from the dead!’ This last deception would be worse than the first.”

⁶⁵Pilate said to them, “You have a guard. Go, make it as secure as you can.” ⁶⁶And so, they went off in order to make the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting a watch.

The Lord’s resurrection

371. A few manuscripts read “righteous blood”
372. See footnote for Acts 1:18
373. A few manuscripts read “Zecharias/Zachariah” or “Isaias/Isaiah”
374. Zechariah 11:12-13; Jeremiah 19:1-13; 32:6-9
375. CT reads “Jesus Barabbas”
376. CT reads “Jesus Barabbas”
377. Or “just”—CT omits this word.
378. Greek “he”
379. Greek “they”
380. See Matthew 5:41
381. Or “vinegar”—CT simply reads “wine”
382. TR adds “so that what had been spoken by the prophet might be fulfilled: ‘They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” [see Psalm 22:18/21 LXX and John 19:24]
383. Greek “they”
384. CT and TR omit “and the Pharisees”
385. Compare Wisdom 2:12-24 (especially verse 18)
386. Noon
387. Or “earth”
388. 3:00 pm
389. This is the phonetic transliteration of the opening verse of Psalm 22:1/21 LXX (ynIT’b.z:[] hm’l’ yliae ylia).
390. Some manuscripts (including א, B, C, L—see table introduction to understand these manuscript abbreviations) add “Another [soldier], taking a spear, pierced his side, and water and blood came out”—(see John 19:34). These manuscripts can be taken as a strong attestation. However, this is omitted in A, D, W, Δ, Θ and in the Byzantine tradition.
391. See Appendix E
392. Greek paraskeuh,n