The soldiers took Jesus to a room. They called all the soldiers together.
17They put a red gown on Jesus. They made a big ring of thorns like a crown and put it on his head.
18Then they began to speak to him as if he were a king. They shouted, `Greetings, King of the Jews!'
19They hit him on the head with a stick and spat on him. They kneeled down before him as if to give him great respect.
20When they had made fun of him, they took off the red gown and put his own clothes on him again. Then they took Jesus out of the city to nail him to a cross.
21man was coming in from the farms. His name was Simon. He was born in the country of Cyrene. Alexander and Rufus were his sons. The soldiers caught Simon and made him carry Jesus' cross.
22They took Jesus to Golgotha. That means the place of a head bone.
23They wanted Jesus to drink wine mixed with something bitter. But Jesus would not drink it.
24Then they nailed him to a cross. They gambled to see how they should divide Jesus' clothes.
25It was nine o'clock in the morning when they nailed him on the cross.
26They put the complaint they had against him above Jesus' head. It was, `The King of the Jews.'
27They also nailed two bad men on crosses there. One was put on the right side of Jesus and one was put on the left side of Jesus.
28The holy writings say, `He was counted as one of the bad people.' It came true.
29The people who passed by said wrong things about him. They shook their heads and said, `Ha, ha! You are the man who said you could break down the temple and build it again in three days.
30Save yourself and come down from the cross.'
31The chief priests and the scribes also made fun of him. `He saved other people, but he cannot save himself!
32If he is the Christ, the king of the people of Israel, he should come down from the cross now. We want to see it and believe!' The bad men who were also nailed to crosses said the same things to him.
33About midday the whole land became dark and stayed dark for three hours.
34About three o'clock, Jesus called out loud, `Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?' That means, `My God, my God, why have you left me alone?'
35Some of the people standing there heard what Jesus said. They said, `Listen, he is calling for Elijah!'
36One man ran to get something called a sponge. He made it wet with sour wine and put it on the end of a stick. With it he gave Jesus a drink. He said, `We will see if Elijah will come and take him down!'
37Then Jesus called out loud. Then he died.
38The big cloth that hung in the temple was torn into two pieces. It was torn from the top down to the bottom.
39The captain who stood in front of Jesus saw that he died. He said, `Surely, this man was God's Son.'
40Some women were watching from far away. Among these women were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of the younger James and Joses, and Salome.
41When Jesus was in Galilee, they came with him and helped him. Some other women who had come to Jerusalem with Jesus were also watching.
42It was now evening of the day before the Sabbath.
43Joseph of Arimathaea was a member of the court. He was a good man. He also was looking for the kingdom of God. He was not afraid, but went to Pilate and asked him for Jesus' body.
44Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus was dead already. He called the captain and asked him if Jesus was dead.
45The captain told him that he was. Then Pilate let Joseph take the body.
46Joseph went to buy some cloth. Then he took Jesus down and wrapped him in the cloth. He laid him in a grave that had been cut in a rock. Then he rolled a very big stone to close the grave.
47Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where they laid Jesus.
