Mark 15:16-41

16The soldiers took Jesus into the courtyard of the governor’s headquarters (called the Praetorium) and called out the entire regiment.

17They dressed him in a purple robe, and they wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head.

18Then they saluted him and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!”

19And they struck him on the head with a reed stick, spit on him, and dropped to their knees in mock worship.

20When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified.

21A passerby named Simon, who was from Cyrene, was coming in from the countryside just then, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. (Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus.)

22And they brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”).

23They offered him wine drugged with myrrh, but he refused it.

24Then the soldiers nailed him to the cross. They divided his clothes and threw dice to decide who would get each piece.

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

26A sign announced the charge against him. It read, “The King of the Jews.”

27Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.

29The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. “Ha! Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days.

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

31The leading priests and teachers of religious law also mocked Jesus. “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself!

32Let this Messiah, this King of Israel, come down from the cross so we can see it and believe him!” Even the men who were crucified with Jesus ridiculed him.

33At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock.

34Then at three o’clock Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

35Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah.

36One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he could drink. “Wait!” he said. “Let’s see whether Elijah comes to take him down!”

37Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last.

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

39When the Roman officer who stood facing him saw how he had died, he exclaimed, “This man truly was the Son of God!”

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

41They had been followers of Jesus and had cared for him while he was in Galilee. Many other women who had come with him to Jerusalem were also there.