Matthew 27:15-46

Tree of Life Version

¹⁵ Now during the feast, the governor was accustomed to release to the crowd one prisoner, anyone they wanted. ¹⁶ At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Yeshua Bar-Abba. ¹⁷ So when they were gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Which one do you want me to release for you? Yeshua who is Bar-Abba, or Yeshua who is called Messiah?” ^{[a] 18} For he knew that they had handed Him over out of envy.

¹⁹ While Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him a message, saying, “Don’t have anything to do with that righteous Man, for today I’ve suffered many things in a dream because of Him.”

²⁰ Now the ruling kohanim and elders persuaded the crowds that they should ask for Bar-Abba and destroy Yeshua. ²¹ But the governor responded, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?”

And they said, “Bar-Abba!”

²² Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do with Yeshua, who is called Messiah?”

“Execute Him!” all of them say.

²³ But Pilate said, “Why? What evil has He done?”

But they kept shouting all the more, saying, “Let Him be executed!”

²⁴ When Pilate saw he was accomplishing nothing, but instead a riot was starting, he took some water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this blood,”^[b] he said. “You see to it yourselves!”

²⁵ All the people answered and said, “His blood be on us and on our children!”^[c]

²⁶ Then he released to them Bar-Abba. And after he had Yeshua scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified.

Nailed to a Stake

²⁷ Then the governor’s soldiers took Yeshua into the Praetorium and gathered the whole cohort around Him. ²⁸ They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe around Him. ²⁹ And after braiding a crown of thorns, they placed it on His head and put a staff in His right hand. And falling on their knees before Him, they mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” ³⁰ They spat on Him, and they took the staff and beat Him over and over on the head. ³¹ When they finished mocking Him, they stripped the robe off Him and put His own clothes back on Him. And they led Him away to crucify Him.

³² As they came out, they found a man from Cyrene, Simon by name. They forced him into service, to carry Yeshua’s cross-beam. ^{[d] 33} And when they came to a place called Golgotha (that is to say, Place of a Skull), ³⁴ they offered Him wine mixed with gall to drink;^[e] but after tasting, He was unwilling to drink it. ³⁵ And when they had crucified Him, they divided His clothing among themselves by casting lots. ^{[f] 36} And they sat down and kept guard over Him there. ³⁷ Over His head they put the charge against Him, which read: “THIS IS YESHUA, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

³⁸ Then two outlaws were executed with Him, one on the right and one on the left. ³⁹ Those passing by were jeering at Him,^[g] shaking their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, “You who are going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If you are Ben-Elohim, come down from the stake!”

⁴¹ Likewise the ruling kohanim, along with the Torah scholars and elders, were also mocking Him. ⁴² “He saved others,” they were saying, “but He can’t save Himself? He’s the King of Israel! Let Him come down now from the stake, and we’ll believe in Him! ⁴³ He trusts in God; let God rescue Him now, if He wants Him.^[h] For He said, ‘I am Ben-Elohim.’” ⁴⁴ Even the outlaws who were executed with Him were ridiculing Him in the same way.^[i]

Yeshua Lays Down His Life

⁴⁵ Now from the sixth hour, darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour. ^{[j] 46} About the ninth hour Yeshua cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?”^[k] that is, “My God, My God, why have You abandoned Me?”