John the Baptist Beheaded

14 ^[a](A)At that time ^[b](B)Herod ^[c]the tetrarch heard the news about Jesus, ² and said to his servants, “^(C)This is John the Baptist; he himself has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

³ For when ^(D)Herod had John arrested, he bound him and put him ^(E)in prison because of ^(F)Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. ⁴ For John had been saying to him, “^(G)It is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁵ Although Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded ^[d]John as ^(H)a prophet.

⁶ But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of ^(I)Herodias danced ^[e]before them and pleased ^(J)Herod, ⁷ so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. ⁸ And after being prompted by her mother, she *said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” ⁹ And although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths and ^[f]his dinner guests. ¹⁰ He sent word and had John beheaded in the prison. ¹¹ And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. ^12 [g]John’s disciples came and took away the body and buried ^[h]it; and they went and reported to Jesus.

John’s Fate Recalled

^14 (A)And King Herod heard about it, for His name had become well known; and people were saying, “^(B)John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him.” ¹⁵ But others were saying, “He is ^(C)Elijah.” And others were saying, “He is ^(D)a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” ¹⁶ But when Herod heard about it, he kept saying, “John, whom I beheaded, has risen!”

¹⁷ For Herod himself had sent men and had John arrested and bound in prison on account of ^(E)Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because he had married her. ¹⁸ For John had been saying to Herod, “^(F)It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” ¹⁹ And ^(G)Herodias held a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death, and could not do so; ²⁰ for ^(H)Herod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he had been protecting him. And when he heard him, he was very perplexed; and yet he ^[a]used to enjoy listening to him. ²¹ An opportune day came when Herod, on his birthday, ^(I)held a banquet for his nobles and military commanders, and the leading people ^(J)of Galilee; ²² and when the daughter of ^(K)Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and ^[b]his dinner guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you want, and I will give it to you.” ²³ And he swore to her, “Whatever you ask of me, I will give it to you, up to ^(L)half of my kingdom.” ²⁴ And she went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” ²⁵ Immediately she came in a hurry to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” ²⁶ And although the king was very sorry, because of his oaths and ^[c]his dinner guests, he was unwilling to refuse her. ²⁷ Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded him to bring back his head. And he went and beheaded him in the prison, ²⁸ and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹ When his disciples heard about this, they came and carried away his body, and laid it in a tomb.

¹⁵ And He was giving orders to them, saying, “^(A)Watch out! Beware of the ^[a]leaven of the Pharisees, and the leaven of ^(B)Herod.”

John the Baptist Preaches

3 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when ^(A)Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and ^(B)Herod was tetrarch of Galilee and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene,

¹⁹ But when ^(A)Herod the tetrarch was reprimanded by him regarding ^(B)Herodias, his brother’s wife, and regarding all the evil things which ^(C)Herod had done,

³ and Joanna the wife of Chuza, ^(A)Herod’s ^(B)steward, and Susanna, and many others who were contributing to their support out of their private means.

³¹ At that very time some Pharisees approached, saying to Him, “Go away and leave this place, because ^(A)Herod wants to kill You.”

⁷ And when he learned that He belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him to ^(A)Herod, ^[a]since he also was in Jerusalem ^[b]at this time.

Jesus before Herod

⁸ Now Herod was overjoyed when he saw Jesus; for ^(B)he had wanted to see Him for a long time, because he had been hearing about Him and was hoping to see some ^[c]sign performed by Him. ⁹ And he questioned Him ^[d]at some length; but ^(C)He offered him no answer at all. ¹⁰ Now the chief priests and the scribes stood there, vehemently charging Him. ¹¹ And Herod, together with his soldiers, treated Him with contempt and mocked Him, ^(D)dressing Him in a brightly shining robe, and sent Him back to Pilate. ¹² And so ^(E)Herod and Pilate became friends with one another that very day; for previously, they had been enemies toward each other.

Pilate Seeks Jesus’ Release

¹³ Now Pilate summoned to himself the chief priests, the ^[e](F)rulers, and the people, ¹⁴ and he said to them, “You brought this man to me on the ground that ^(G)he is inciting the people to revolt; and behold, after examining Him before you, I ^(H)have found no basis at all in the case of this man for the charges which you are bringing against Him. ¹⁵ No, nor has ^(I)Herod, for he sent Him back to us; and behold, nothing deserving death has been done by Him. ¹⁶ Therefore I will ^[f](J)punish Him and release Him.” ¹⁷ [^[g]Now he was obligated to release to them at the feast one prisoner.]

¹⁸ But they cried out all together, saying, “^(K)Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas!” ¹⁹ (He was one who had been thrown into prison for a revolt that took place in the city, and for murder.) ²⁰ But Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again, ²¹ but they kept on crying out, saying, “Crucify, crucify Him!” ²² And he said to them a third time, “Why, what has this man done wrong? I have found ^[h]in His case no grounds for a sentence of death; therefore I will ^[i](L)punish Him and release Him.” ²³ But they were insistent, with loud voices, demanding that He be crucified. And their voices began to prevail. ²⁴ And so Pilate decided to have their demand carried out. ²⁵ And he released the man for whom they were asking, who had been thrown into prison for a revolt and murder; but he handed Jesus over to their will.

Simon Carries the Cross

^26 (M)And when they led Him away, they seized a man, Simon of ^(N)Cyrene, as he was coming in from the country, and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus.

²⁷ Now following Him was a large crowd of the people, and of women who were ^[j](O)mourning and grieving for Him. ²⁸ But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹ For behold, days are coming when they will say, ‘^(P)Blessed are those who cannot bear, and the wombs that have not given birth, and the breasts that have not nursed.’ ³⁰ Then they will begin to ^(Q)say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ ³¹ For if they do these things ^[k]when the tree is green, what will happen ^[l]when it is dry?”

^32 (R)Now two others, who were criminals, were also being led away to be put to death with Him.

The Crucifixion

^33 (S)And when they came to the place called ^[m]The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. ³⁴ [^[n]But Jesus was saying, “^(T)Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”] ^(U)And they cast lots, dividing His garments among themselves. ³⁵ And the people stood by, watching. And even the ^(V)rulers were sneering at Him, saying, “He saved others; ^(W)let Him save Himself if this is the ^[o]Christ of God, His Chosen One.” ³⁶ The soldiers also ridiculed Him, coming up to Him, ^(X)offering Him sour wine, ³⁷ and saying, “^(Y)If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!” ³⁸ Now there was also an inscription above Him, “^(Z)THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

^39 (AA)One of the criminals who were hanged there was ^[p]hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the ^[q]Christ? ^(AB)Save Yourself and us!” ⁴⁰ But the other responded, and rebuking him, said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? ⁴¹ And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving ^[r]what we deserve for our crimes; but this man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴² And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!” ⁴³ And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in ^(AC)Paradise.”

^44 (AD)It was now about ^[s](AE)the sixth hour, and darkness came over the entire land until ^[t]the ninth hour, ^45 [u]because the sun stopped shining; and ^(AF)the veil of the temple was torn ^[v]in two. ⁴⁶ And Jesus, ^(AG)crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, ^(AH)into Your hands I entrust My spirit.” And having said this, He ^[w]died. ^47 (AI)Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he began ^(AJ)praising God, saying, “This man was in fact ^[x]innocent.” ⁴⁸ And all the crowds who came together for this spectacle, after watching what had happened, began to return home, ^[y](AK)beating their chests. ^49 (AL)And all His acquaintances and ^(AM)the women who accompanied Him from Galilee were standing at a distance, seeing these things.

Jesus Is Buried

^50 (AN)And a man named Joseph, who was a ^(AO)member of the Council, a good and righteous man ⁵¹ (he had not consented to their plan and action), a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was ^(AP)waiting for the kingdom of God— ⁵² this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁵³ And he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain. ⁵⁴ It was a ^[z](AQ)preparation day, and a Sabbath was about to ^[aa]begin. ⁵⁵ Now ^(AR)the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how His body was laid. ⁵⁶ And then they returned and ^(AS)prepared spices and perfumes.

And ^(AT)on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

¹¹ And Herod, together with his soldiers, treated Him with contempt and mocked Him, ^(A)dressing Him in a brightly shining robe, and sent Him back to Pilate. ¹² And so ^(B)Herod and Pilate became friends with one another that very day; for previously, they had been enemies toward each other.

Pilate Seeks Jesus’ Release

¹³ Now Pilate summoned to himself the chief priests, the ^[a](C)rulers, and the people, ¹⁴ and he said to them, “You brought this man to me on the ground that ^(D)he is inciting the people to revolt; and behold, after examining Him before you, I ^(E)have found no basis at all in the case of this man for the charges which you are bringing against Him. ¹⁵ No, nor has ^(F)Herod, for he sent Him back to us; and behold, nothing deserving death has been done by Him. ¹⁶ Therefore I will ^[b](G)punish Him and release Him.” ¹⁷ [^[c]Now he was obligated to release to them at the feast one prisoner.]

¹⁸ But they cried out all together, saying, “^(H)Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas!” ¹⁹ (He was one who had been thrown into prison for a revolt that took place in the city, and for murder.) ²⁰ But Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again, ²¹ but they kept on crying out, saying, “Crucify, crucify Him!” ²² And he said to them a third time, “Why, what has this man done wrong? I have found ^[d]in His case no grounds for a sentence of death; therefore I will ^[e](I)punish Him and release Him.” ²³ But they were insistent, with loud voices, demanding that He be crucified. And their voices began to prevail. ²⁴ And so Pilate decided to have their demand carried out. ²⁵ And he released the man for whom they were asking, who had been thrown into prison for a revolt and murder; but he handed Jesus over to their will.