The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark 14:1-15:47
N. It was two days before the Passover and the
feast of Unleavened
Bread. And the
chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest Jesus by stealth, and
kill him; for they said,
S. “Not during the feast, lest there be a
tumult of the people.”
N. And while he was at Bethany in the house of
Simon the leper, as he sat at table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of
ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the jar and poured it over
his head. But there were some who said to themselves indignantly,
S. “Why was the ointment thus wasted? For
this ointment might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and
given to the poor.”
N. And they reproached her. But Jesus said,
+ “Let her alone; why do you trouble her?
She has done a beautiful thing to me.
For you always have
the poor with you, and whenever you will, you can do good to them; but you will
not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body
beforehand for burying.
And truly, I say to
you, wherever the Gospel is preached in the whole world, what she has done will
be told in memory of her.”
N. Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the
Twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. And when they
heard it they were glad, and promised to give him money. And he sought an
opportunity to betray him.
And on the first
day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover Lamb, his disciples
said to him,
S. “Where will you have us go and prepare for
you to eat the Passover?”
N. And he sent two of his disciples, and said
to them,
+ “Go
into the city, and a man carrying ajar of water will meet you; follow him, and
wherever he enters, say to the householder, ‘The Teacher says, Where is my
guest room, where I am to eat the Passover with my disciples?’ And he will show
you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.”
N. And the disciples set out and went to the
city, and found it as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover. And
when it was evening he came with the Twelve. And as they were at table eating,
Jesus said,
+ “Truly, I say to you, one of you will
betray me, one who is eating with me.”
N. They began to be sorrowful, and to say to
him one after another,
S. “Is it I?”
N. He said to them,
+ “It is one of the Twelve, one who is
dipping bread in the same dish with me. For the Son of man goes as it is
written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It
would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”
N. And as they were eating, he took bread, and
blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them, and said,
+ “Take; this is my
body.”
N. And he took a chalice, and when he had
given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them,
+ “This is my blood of the covenant, which
is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I shall not drink again of the
fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
N. And when they had sung a hymn, they went
out to the Mount of Olives. And Jesus said to them,
+ “You will all fall away; for it is
written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ But
after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”
N. Peter said to him,
S. “Even though they all fall away, I will
not.”
N. And Jesus said to him,
+ “Truly, I say to you, this very
night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.”
N. But he said vehemently,
S. “If I must die with you, I will not deny
you.”
N. And they all said the same.
And they went to a
place which was called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples,
+ “Sit here, while I
pray.”
N. And he took with him Peter and James and John,
and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them,
+ “My soul is very sorrowful even to
death; remain here, and watch.”
N. And
going a little farther he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible,
the hour might pass from him. And he said,
+
“Abba, Father, all things are possible to you; remove this chalice from me; yet
not what I will, but what you will.”
N. And he came and found them sleeping, and he
said to Peter,
+ “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not
watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the
spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
N. And again he went away and prayed, saying
the same words.
And again he came
and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know
what to answer him. And he came the third time, and said to them,
+ “Are you still sleeping and taking your
rest? It is enough; the hour has come; the Son of man is betrayed into the
hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”
N. And immediately, while he was still
speaking, Judas came, one of the Twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and
clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. Now the betrayer
had given them a sign, saying,
S. “The one I shall kiss is the man; seize
him and lead him away safely.”
N. And when he came, he went up to him at
once, and said,
S. “Master!”
N. And he kissed him. And they laid hands on
him and seized him. But one of those who stood by drew his sword, and struck
the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear. And Jesus said to them,
+ “Have you come out as against a
robber, with swords and clubs to capture me?
Day after day I was
with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the Scriptures
be fulfilled.”
N. And they all deserted him and fled.
And a young man
followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body; and they seized
him, but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked.
And they led Jesus
to the high priest; and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes
were assembled. And Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the
courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the guards, and warming
himself at the fire. Now the chief priests and the whole council sought
testimony against Jesus to put him to death; but they found none. For many bore
false witness against him, and their witness did not agree. And some stood up
and bore false witness against him, saying,
S. “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this
temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not
made with hands.’”
N. Yet not even so did their testimony agree.
And the high priest stood up in their midst, and asked Jesus,
S. “Have you no answer to make? What is it
that these men testify against you?”
N. But he was silent and made no answer. Again
the high priest asked him,
S. “Are you the Christ, the Son of the
Blessed?”
N. And Jesus said,
+ “I am; and you will see the Son of
man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”
N. And the high priest tore his clothes, and
said,
S. “Why do we still need witnesses? You have
heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?”
N. And they all condemned him as deserving
death. And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to strike him,
saying to him,
S. “Prophesy!”
N. And the guards received him with blows.
And as Peter was
below in the courtyard, one of the maids of the high priest came; and seeing
Peter warming himself, she looked at him, and said,
S. “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.”
N. But he denied it, saying,
S. “I neither know nor understand what you
mean.”
N. And he went out into the gateway.
And the maid saw
him, and began again to say to the bystanders,
S. “This man is one of them.”
N. But again he denied it.
And after a little
while again the bystanders said to Peter,
S. “Certainly you are one of them; for you
are a Galilean.”
N. But he began to invoke a curse on himself
and to swear,
S. “I do not know this man of whom you speak.”
N. And immediately the cock crowed a second
time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the cock crows
twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.
*And as soon as it was morning the chief
priests, with the elders and scribes, and the whole council held a
consultation; and they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him to
Pilate.
S. And Pilate asked him,
S. “Are you the King of the Jews?”
N. And he answered him,
+ “You have said so.”
N. And the chief priests accused him of many
things. And Pilate again asked him,
S. “Have you no answer to make? See how many
charges they bring against you.”
N. But Jesus made no further answer, so that
Pilate wondered.
Now at the feast he
used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. And among the rebels
in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man
called Barabbas. And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he
always did for them.
And he answered
them,
S. “Do you want me to release for you the
King of the Jews?”
N. For he perceived that it was out of envy
that the chief priests had delivered him up. But the chief priests stirred up
the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead. And Pilate again said
to them,
S. “Then what shall I do with the man whom
you call the King of the Jews?”
N. And they cried out again,
S. “Crucify him.”
N. And Pilate said to them,
S. “Why, what evil has he done?”
N. But they shouted all the more,
S. “Crucify him.”
N. So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd,
released for them Barabbas; and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be
crucified.
And the soldiers
led him away inside the palace (that is, the praetorium); and they called
together the whole battalion. And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and
plaiting a crown of thorns they put it on him. And they began to salute him,
S. “Hail, King of the Jews!”
N. And they struck his head with a reed, and
spat upon him, and they knelt down in homage to him. And when they had mocked
him, they stripped him of the purple cloak, and put his own clothes on him. And
they led him out to crucify him.
And they compelled
a passer-by, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of
Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.
And they brought
him to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull). And they
offered him wine mingled with myrrh; but he did not take it.
And they crucified
him, and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what
each should take. And it was the third hour, when they crucified him. And the
inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” And with
him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. And those
who passed by derided him, shaking their heads, and saying,
S. “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and
build it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!”
N. So also the chief priests mocked him to one
another with the scribes, saying,
S. “He saved others; he cannot save himself.
Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come
down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.”
N.
Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.
And when the sixth
hour had come there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And
at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice,
+ “Eloi, Eloi, lama
sabachthani?”
N. which means,
+ “My God, my God, why have you forsaken
me?”
N. And some of the bystanders hearing it said,
S. “Behold, he is calling Elijah.”
N. And one ran and, filling a sponge full of
vinegar, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying,
S. “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come
to take him down.”
N. And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed
his last.
All kneel and pause for a moment.
N. And the curtain of the temple was tom in
two, from top to bottom.
And when the
centurion, who stood facing him, saw that he thus breathed his last, he said,
S. “Truly this man was the Son of God!” *
N. There were also women looking on from afar,
among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of
Joses, and Salome, who, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered
to him; and also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem.
And when evening
had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the
sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also
himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate, and
asked for the body of Jesus. And Pilate wondered if he were already dead; and
summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. And when he
learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the body to Joseph. And
he bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud,
and laid him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a
stone against the door of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses
saw where he was laid.
