Mattityahu (Mat) 27
27
1Early in the morning, all the head cohanim and elders met to plan how to bring about Yeshua’s death. 2Then they put him in chains, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor.
3When Y’hudah, who had betrayed him, saw that Yeshua had been condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the head cohanim and elders, 4saying, “I sinned in betraying an innocent man to death.” “What is that to us?” they answered. “That’s your problem.” 5Hurling the pieces of silver into the sanctuary, he left; then he went off and hanged himself.
6The head cohanim took the silver coins and said, “It is prohibited to put this into the Temple treasury, because it is blood money.” 7So they decided to use it to buy the potter’s field as a cemetery for foreigners. 8This is how it came to be called the Field of Blood, a name it still bears. 9Then what Yirmeyahu the prophet spoke was fulfilled, “And they took the thirty silver coins, which was the price the people of Isra’el had agreed to pay for him, 10and used them to buy the potter’s field, just as the Lord directed me.”
11Meanwhile, Yeshua was brought before the governor, and the governor put this question to him: “Are you the King of the Jews?” Yeshua answered, “The words are yours.” 12But when he was accused by the head cohanim and elders, he gave no answer. 13Then Pilate said to him, “Don’t you hear all these charges they are making against you?” 14But to the governor’s great amazement, he did not say a single word in reply to the accusations.
15It was the governor’s custom during a festival to set free one prisoner, whomever the crowd asked for. 16There was at that time a notorious prisoner being held, named Yeshua Bar-Abba. 17So when a crowd had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to set free for you? Bar-Abba? or Yeshua, called ‘the Messiah’?” 18For he understood that it was out of jealousy that they had handed him over. 19While he was sitting in court, his wife sent him a message, “Leave that innocent man alone. Today in a dream I suffered terribly because of him.” 20But the head cohanim persuaded the crowd to ask for Bar-Abba’s release and to have Yeshua executed on the stake. 21“Which of the two do you want me to set free for you?” asked the governor. “Bar-Abba!” they answered. 22Pilate said to them, “Then what should I do with Yeshua, called ‘the Messiah’?” They all said, “Put him to death on the stake! Put him to death on the stake!” 23When he asked, “Why? What crime has he committed?” they shouted all the louder, “Put him to death on the stake!” 24When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water, washed his hands in front of the crowd, and said, “My hands are clean of this man’s blood; it’s your responsibility.” 25All the people answered, “His blood is on us and on our children!” 26Then he released to them Bar-Abba; but Yeshua, after having him whipped, he handed over to be executed on a stake.
27The governor’s soldiers took Yeshua into the headquarters building, and the whole battalion gathered around him. 28They stripped off his clothes and put on him a scarlet robe, 29wove thorn-branches into a crown and put it on his head, and put a stick in his right hand. Then they kneeled down in front of him and made fun of him: “Hail to the King of the Jews!” 30They spit on him and used the stick to beat him about the head. 31When they had finished ridiculing him, they took off the robe, put his own clothes back on him and led him away to be nailed to the execution-stake.
32As they were leaving, they met a man from Cyrene named Shim‘on; and they forced him to carry Yeshua’s execution-stake. 33When they arrived at a place called Gulgolta (which means “place of a skull”), 34they gave him wine mixed with bitter gall to drink; but after tasting it, he would not drink it. 35After they had nailed him to the stake, they divided his clothes among them by throwing dice. 36Then they sat down to keep watch over him there. 37Above his head they placed the written notice stating the charge against him,
THIS IS YESHUA
THE KING OF THE JEWS
38Then two robbers were placed on execution-stakes with him, one on the right and one on the left. 39People passing by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40and saying, “So you can destroy the Temple, can you, and rebuild it in three days? Save yourself, if you are the Son of God, and come down from the stake!” 41Likewise, the head cohanim jeered at him, along with the Torah-teachers and elders, 42“He saved others, but he can’t save himself!” “So he’s King of Isra’el, is he? Let him come down now from the stake! Then we’ll believe him!” 43“He trusted God? So, let him rescue him if he wants him! After all, he did say, ‘I’m the Son of God’!” 44Even the robbers nailed up with him insulted him in the same way.
45From noon until three o’clock in the afternoon, all the Land was covered with darkness. 46At about three, Yeshua uttered a loud cry, “Eli! Eli! L’mah sh’vaktani? (My God! My God! Why have you deserted me?)” 47On hearing this, some of the bystanders said, “He’s calling for Eliyahu.” 48Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, soaked it in vinegar, put it on a stick and gave it to him to drink. 49The rest said, “Wait! Let’s see if Eliyahu comes and rescues him.” 50But Yeshua, again crying out in a loud voice, yielded up his spirit.
51At that moment the parokhet in the Temple was ripped in two from top to bottom; and there was an earthquake, with rocks splitting apart. 52Also the graves were opened, and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life; 53and after Yeshua rose, they came out of the graves and went into the holy city, where many people saw them. 54When the Roman officer and those with him who were keeping watch over Yeshua saw the earthquake and what was happening, they were awestruck and said, “He really was a son of God.”
55There were many women there, looking on from a distance; they had followed Yeshua from the Galil, helping him. 56Among them were Miryam from Magdala, Miryam the mother of Ya‘akov and Yosef, and the mother of Zavdai’s sons.
57Towards evening, there came a wealthy man from Ramatayim named Yosef, who was himself a talmid of Yeshua. 58He approached Pilate and asked for Yeshua’s body, and Pilate ordered it to be given to him. 59Yosef took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen sheet, 60and laid it in his own tomb, which he had recently had cut out of the rock. After rolling a large stone in front of the entrance to the tomb, he went away. 61Miryam of Magdala and the other Miryam stayed there, sitting opposite the grave.
62Next day, after the preparation, the head cohanim and the P’rushim went together to Pilate 63and said, “Sir, we remember that that deceiver said while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will be raised.’ 64Therefore, order that the grave be made secure till the third day; otherwise the talmidim may come, steal him away and say to the people, ‘He was raised from the dead’; and the last deception will be worse than the first.” 65Pilate said to them, “You may have your guard. Go and make the grave as secure as you know how.” 66So they went and made the grave secure by sealing the stone and putting the guard on watch.
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Mattityahu (Mat) 27: CJB
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Learn More About Complete Jewish BibleMatthew 27
27
Thirty Silver Coins
1-2In the first light of dawn, all the high priests and religious leaders met and put the finishing touches on their plot to kill Jesus. Then they tied him up and paraded him to Pilate, the governor.
3-4Judas, the one who betrayed him, realized that Jesus was doomed. Overcome with remorse, he gave back the thirty silver coins to the high priests, saying, “I’ve sinned. I’ve betrayed an innocent man.”
They said, “What do we care? That’s your problem!”
5Judas threw the silver coins into the Temple and left. Then he went out and hung himself.
6-10The high priests picked up the silver pieces, but then didn’t know what to do with them. “It wouldn’t be right to give this—a payment for murder!—as an offering in the Temple.” They decided to get rid of it by buying the “Potter’s Field” and use it as a burial place for the homeless. That’s how the field got called “Murder Meadow,” a name that has stuck to this day. Then Jeremiah’s words became history:
They took the thirty silver pieces,
The price of the one priced by some sons of Israel,
And they purchased the potter’s field.
And so they unwittingly followed the divine instructions to the letter.
Pilate
11Jesus was placed before the governor, who questioned him: “Are you the ‘King of the Jews’?”
Jesus said, “If you say so.”
12-14But when the accusations rained down hot and heavy from the high priests and religious leaders, he said nothing. Pilate asked him, “Do you hear that long list of accusations? Aren’t you going to say something?” Jesus kept silence—not a word from his mouth. The governor was impressed, really impressed.
15-18It was an old custom during the Feast for the governor to pardon a single prisoner named by the crowd. At the time, they had the infamous Jesus Barabbas in prison. With the crowd before him, Pilate said, “Which prisoner do you want me to pardon: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus the so-called Christ?” He knew it was through sheer spite that they had turned Jesus over to him.
19While court was still in session, Pilate’s wife sent him a message: “Don’t get mixed up in judging this noble man. I’ve just been through a long and troubled night because of a dream about him.”
20Meanwhile, the high priests and religious leaders had talked the crowd into asking for the pardon of Barabbas and the execution of Jesus.
21The governor asked, “Which of the two do you want me to pardon?”
They said, “Barabbas!”
22“Then what do I do with Jesus, the so-called Christ?”
They all shouted, “Nail him to a cross!”
23He objected, “But for what crime?”
But they yelled all the louder, “Nail him to a cross!”
24When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere and that a riot was imminent, he took a basin of water and washed his hands in full sight of the crowd, saying, “I’m washing my hands of responsibility for this man’s death. From now on, it’s in your hands. You’re judge and jury.”
25The crowd answered, “We’ll take the blame, we and our children after us.”
26Then he pardoned Barabbas. But he had Jesus whipped, and then handed over for crucifixion.
The Crucifixion
27-31The soldiers assigned to the governor took Jesus into the governor’s palace and got the entire brigade together for some fun. They stripped him and dressed him in a red robe. They plaited a crown from branches of a thornbush and set it on his head. They put a stick in his right hand for a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mocking reverence: “Bravo, King of the Jews!” they said. “Bravo!” Then they spit on him and hit him on the head with the stick. When they had had their fun, they took off the robe and put his own clothes back on him. Then they proceeded out to the crucifixion.
32-34Along the way they came on a man from Cyrene named Simon and made him carry Jesus’ cross. Arriving at Golgotha, the place they call “Skull Hill,” they offered him a mild painkiller (a mixture of wine and myrrh), but when he tasted it he wouldn’t drink it.
35-40After they had finished nailing him to the cross and were waiting for him to die, they killed time by throwing dice for his clothes. Above his head they had posted the criminal charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews. Along with him, they also crucified two criminals, one to his right, the other to his left. People passing along the road jeered, shaking their heads in mock lament: “You bragged that you could tear down the Temple and then rebuild it in three days—so show us your stuff! Save yourself! If you’re really God’s Son, come down from that cross!”
41-44The high priests, along with the religion scholars and leaders, were right there mixing it up with the rest of them, having a great time poking fun at him: “He saved others—he can’t save himself! King of Israel, is he? Then let him get down from that cross. We’ll all become believers then! He was so sure of God—well, let him rescue his ‘Son’ now—if he wants him! He did claim to be God’s Son, didn’t he?” Even the two criminals crucified next to him joined in the mockery.
45-46From noon to three, the whole earth was dark. Around mid-afternoon Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
47-49Some bystanders who heard him said, “He’s calling for Elijah.” One of them ran and got a sponge soaked in sour wine and lifted it on a stick so he could drink. The others joked, “Don’t be in such a hurry. Let’s see if Elijah comes and saves him.”
50But Jesus, again crying out loudly, breathed his last.
51-53At that moment, the Temple curtain was ripped in two, top to bottom. There was an earthquake, and rocks were split in pieces. What’s more, tombs were opened up, and many bodies of believers asleep in their graves were raised. (After Jesus’ resurrection, they left the tombs, entered the holy city, and appeared to many.)
54The captain of the guard and those with him, when they saw the earthquake and everything else that was happening, were scared to death. They said, “This has to be the Son of God!”
55-56There were also quite a few women watching from a distance, women who had followed Jesus from Galilee in order to serve him. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the Zebedee brothers.
The Tomb
57-61Late in the afternoon a wealthy man from Arimathea, a disciple of Jesus, arrived. His name was Joseph. He went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. Pilate granted his request. Joseph took the body and wrapped it in clean linens, put it in his own tomb, a new tomb only recently cut into the rock, and rolled a large stone across the entrance. Then he went off. But Mary Magdalene and the other Mary stayed, sitting in plain view of the tomb.
62-64After sundown, the high priests and Pharisees arranged a meeting with Pilate. They said, “Sir, we just remembered that that liar announced while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will be raised.’ We’ve got to get that tomb sealed until the third day. There’s a good chance his disciples will come and steal the corpse and then go around saying, ‘He’s risen from the dead.’ Then we’ll be worse off than before, the final deceit surpassing the first.”
65-66Pilate told them, “You will have a guard. Go ahead and secure it the best you can.” So they went out and secured the tomb, sealing the stone and posting guards.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.