Matthew:27

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* When it was morning , all the chief priests and the leaders of the people made a plan against Jesus . They wanted to kill him . * They tied him and took him away . They took him to Pilate , the ruler . * Judas was the man who helped them take Jesus . He saw that they had judged Jesus and were going to kill him . He was sorry for what he had done , so he brought the thirty pieces of silver money back to the chief priests and leaders . * He said , I have done wrong . I have helped you take a good man who should not be killed . They said , What do we care ? You look after that ! * Judas threw the silver money into the temple . He went away and hanged himself . * The chief priests took the money . They said , It is not right to put this money in the money box of the temple . It has been used to buy a mans death . * They talked the matter over and bought a field that belonged to a man who made pots . They bought it for a place in which to bury strangers . * That is why that field has been called The field of blood until now . * What Jeremiah the prophet said long ago , then came true at that time . He said , They took thirty pieces of silver money . That is what the people of Israel said he was worth . * They paid for the potters field . That is what the Lord told me to do . * Jesus stood before the ruler . The ruler asked him , Are you the King of the Jews ? Jesus said , Yes , I am . * When the chief priests and leaders brought their complaints , Jesus said nothing . * Then Pilate said to him , Do you not hear what these people say against you ? * But Jesus did not answer him , not even one word . Pilate was very much surprised about this . * At the feast Pilate used to let one prisoner free . He let the people choose the man they wanted to go free . * In the prison at that time was a very bad man named Barabbas . * So while the people were there Pilate asked them , Which one do you want me to let free for you , Barabbas or Jesus who is called Christ ? * Pilate knew that the chief priests did not like Jesus . He knew that was why they had brought Jesus to him . * While Pilate was sitting in the court to judge the case , his wife sent a message to him . She said , Do nothing to that good man . I have been troubled very much in a dream about him today . * The chief priests and leaders talked to the people . They told them to ask Pilate to let Barabbas go free , but to kill Jesus . * The ruler said to the people , Which of these two do you want me to let go free for you ? They said , Barabbas . * Pilate said to them , Then what shall I do with Jesus , who is called Christ ? They all said , Nail him to a cross ! * The ruler said , What wrong thing has he done ? But they shouted even more , Nail him to a cross ! * Pilate saw that he was not doing any good . And the people were making a lot of loud noise . So he washed his hands in water in front of the people . Then he said , I will not say this man must be killed . You must do that . * Then all the people answered , We and our children will do that . * Then Pilate let Barabbas go free . He told the soldiers to beat Jesus and nail him to a cross . * Then Pilates soldiers took Jesus to a room . They called all the soldiers together . * They took off his clothes , and they put a red gown on him . * They made a big ring of thorns like a crown and put it on his head . They put a stick in his right hand . Then they kneeled down in front of him and made fun of him . They shouted , Greetings , King of the Jews ! * They spat on him . And they took the stick and hit him on the head with it . * After they had made fun of him , they took off the red gown . They put his own clothes on him . Then they took him away to nail him to a cross . * As they were going , they met a man named Simon . He was born in the country of Cyrene . They made him carry Jesus cross . * They came to a place called Golgotha . That means , The place of a head bone . * They wanted Jesus to drink wine mixed with something bitter . Jesus tasted it but he would not drink it . * Then they nailed him to a cross . They gambled to see how they should divide Jesus clothes . * Then the soldiers sat down on the ground and watched him there . * They put the complaint against Jesus above his head . These words were written there : This is Jesus the King of the Jews . * Two bad men were also nailed to crosses . They had stolen money . One man was put on the right side of Jesus and one was put on the left side of him . * The people who passed by said bad things about him . They shook their heads . * They said , You are the man who said you could break down the temple and build it again in three days . Save yourself ! If you are really Gods Son , come down from the cross . * The chief priests , the scribes , and the leaders also made fun of him . * They said , He saved other people but he cannot save himself ! If he is the King of the people of Israel , he should come down from the cross now . Then we will believe in him . * He trusted in God . If God wants him , he can save him now . He said , "I am Gods Son ." * The bad men who were also nailed to crosses with him said the same things to him . * About midday , the whole land became dark and stayed dark for three hours . * About three oclock , Jesus called out loud , Eli , Eli , lama sabachthani ? That means , My God , my God , why have you left me alone ? * Some of the people standing there heard what Jesus said . They said This man is calling for Elijah . * Right away , one of them 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 . * The other people said , Wait . We will see if Elijah will come and save him . * Jesus called out loud again . Then he died . * At that time the thick cloth that hung in the temple was torn into two pieces . It was torn from the top down to the bottom . The earth shook and big rocks broke . * The graves opened . Many of Gods people who had died rose from death . * They came out of their graves after Jesus rose from death . They went into Jerusalem . Many people saw them there . * The Roman captain and some of his soldiers were guarding Jesus on the cross . When they saw the earth shake and the other things happen , they were very much afraid . They said , Surely this man was Gods Son . * Many women were there watching from far away . They had come with Jesus from Galilee and had helped him . * Among these women were Mary Magdalene , Mary the mother of James and Joseph , and the mother of Zebedees sons . * In the evening , a rich man came . He was Joseph from the town of Arimathea . He also believed in Jesus . * He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus . Pilate said that it should be given to him . * Joseph took the body and wrapped a clean linen cloth around it . * He put the body in his own new grave which had been cut in a rock . He rolled a very big stone to close the grave . Then he went away . * Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there . They sat where they could see the grave . * The next day was the Sabbath day . The chief priests and Pharisees went to Pilate together . * They said , Sir , that man fooled people . We remember what he said when he was still living . He said that he would rise after three days . * So give orders that the grave must be guarded for three days . Then his disciples cannot come in the night to carry away his body , and tell people he rose from death . This last trick would be worse than the first . * Pilate said to them , Take soldiers . Go and guard the grave as well as you can . * So they went and shut the grave tight . They put a government mark on the big stone . And the soldiers stayed to guard it . This was to make sure the grave would stay shut .

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