Matthew 27 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

Judas Hangs Himself

(Mar 15:1; Luk 23:1; Jhn 18:28 )

Mat 27:1Very early in the morning the leading priests and the elders of the people met again to lay plans for putting Jesus to death.

Mat 27:2

Mat 27:2Then they bound him, led him away, and took him to Pilate, the Roman governor.

(Act 1:18, 19 )

Mat 27:3

Mat 27:3When Judas, who had betrayed him, realized that Jesus had been condemned to die, he was filled with remorse. So he took the thirty pieces of silver back to the leading priests and the elders.

Mat 27:4

Mat 27:4“I have sinned,” he declared, “for I have betrayed an innocent man.”
“What do we care?” they retorted. “That’s your problem.”

Mat 27:5

Mat 27:5Then Judas threw the silver coins down in the Temple and went out and hanged himself.

Mat 27:6

Mat 27:6The leading priests picked up the coins. “It wouldn’t be right to put this money in the Temple treasury,” they said, “since it was payment for murder.”[fn]

Mat 27:7

Mat 27:7After some discussion they finally decided to buy the potter’s field, and they made it into a cemetery for foreigners.

Mat 27:8

Mat 27:8That is why the field is still called the Field of Blood.

Mat 27:9

Mat 27:9This fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah that says,
“They took[fn] the thirty pieces of silver—
the price at which he was valued by the people of Israel,

Mat 27:10

Mat 27:10and purchased the potter’s field,
as the LORD directed.[fn]”

Jesus’ Trial before Pilate

(Mar 15:2–5; Luk 23:2–5; Jhn 18:29–38 )

Mat 27:11

Mat 27:11Now Jesus was standing before Pilate, the Roman governor. “Are you the king of the Jews?” the governor asked him.
Jesus replied, “You have said it.”

Mat 27:12

Mat 27:12But when the leading priests and the elders made their accusations against him, Jesus remained silent.

Mat 27:13

Mat 27:13“Don’t you hear all these charges they are bringing against you?” Pilate demanded.

Mat 27:14

Mat 27:14But Jesus made no response to any of the charges, much to the governor’s surprise.

(Mar 15:6–15; Luk 23:13–25; Jhn 18:39, 40 )

Mat 27:15

Mat 27:15Now it was the governor’s custom each year during the Passover celebration to release one prisoner to the crowd—anyone they wanted.

Mat 27:16

Mat 27:16This year there was a notorious prisoner, a man named Barabbas.[fn]

Mat 27:17

Mat 27:17As the crowds gathered before Pilate’s house that morning, he asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you—Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?”

Mat 27:18

Mat 27:18(He knew very well that the religious leaders had arrested Jesus out of envy.)

Mat 27:19

Mat 27:19Just then, as Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him this message: “Leave that innocent man alone. I suffered through a terrible nightmare about him last night.”

Mat 27:20

Mat 27:20Meanwhile, the leading priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas to be released and for Jesus to be put to death.

Mat 27:21

Mat 27:21So the governor asked again, “Which of these two do you want me to release to you?”
The crowd shouted back, “Barabbas!”

Mat 27:22

Mat 27:22Pilate responded, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?”
They shouted back, “Crucify him!”

Mat 27:23

Mat 27:23“Why?” Pilate demanded. “What crime has he committed?”
But the mob roared even louder, “Crucify him!”

Mat 27:24

Mat 27:24Pilate saw that he wasn’t getting anywhere and that a riot was developing. So he sent for a bowl of water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. The responsibility is yours!”

Mat 27:25

Mat 27:25And all the people yelled back, “We will take responsibility for his death—we and our children!”[fn]

Mat 27:26

Mat 27:26So Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified.

The Soldiers Mock Jesus

(Mar 15:16–20 )

Mat 27:27

Mat 27:27Some of the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into their headquarters[fn] and called out the entire regiment.

Mat 27:28

Mat 27:28They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him.

Mat 27:29

Mat 27:29They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head, and they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!”

Mat 27:30

Mat 27:30And they spit on him and grabbed the stick and struck him on the head with it.

Mat 27:31

Mat 27:31When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified.

The Crucifixion

(Mar 15:21–32; Luk 23:26–43; Jhn 19:17–27 )

Mat 27:32

Mat 27:32Along the way, they came across a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene,[fn] and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross.

Mat 27:33

Mat 27:33And they went out to a place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”).

Mat 27:34

Mat 27:34The soldiers gave him wine mixed with bitter gall, but when he had tasted it, he refused to drink it.

Mat 27:35

Mat 27:35After they had nailed him to the cross, the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice.[fn]

Mat 27:36

Mat 27:36Then they sat around and kept guard as he hung there.

Mat 27:37

Mat 27:37A sign was fastened above Jesus’ head, announcing the charge against him. It read: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”

Mat 27:38

Mat 27:38Two revolutionaries[fn] were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.

Mat 27:39

Mat 27:39The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery.

Mat 27:40

Mat 27:40“Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Well then, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross!”

Mat 27:41

Mat 27:41The leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders also mocked Jesus.

Mat 27:42

Mat 27:42“He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! So he is the King of Israel, is he? Let him come down from the cross right now, and we will believe in him!

Mat 27:43

Mat 27:43He trusted God, so let God rescue him now if he wants him! For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

Mat 27:44

Mat 27:44Even the revolutionaries who were crucified with him ridiculed him in the same way.

The Death of Jesus

(Mar 15:33–41; Luk 23:44–49; Jhn 19:28–30 )

Mat 27:45

Mat 27:45At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock.

Mat 27:46

Mat 27:46At about three o’clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli,[fn] lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”[fn]

Mat 27:47

Mat 27:47Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah.

Mat 27:48

Mat 27:48One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he could drink.

Mat 27:49

Mat 27:49But the rest said, “Wait! Let’s see whether Elijah comes to save him.”[fn]

Mat 27:50

Mat 27:50Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit.

Mat 27:51

Mat 27:51At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart,

Mat 27:52

Mat 27:52and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead.

Mat 27:53

Mat 27:53They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people.

Mat 27:54

Mat 27:54The Roman officer[fn] and the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened. They said, “This man truly was the Son of God!”

Mat 27:55

Mat 27:55And many women who had come from Galilee with Jesus to care for him were watching from a distance.

Mat 27:56

Mat 27:56Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James and Joseph), and the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee.

The Burial of Jesus

(Mar 15:42–47; Luk 23:50–56; Jhn 19:38–42 )

Mat 27:57

Mat 27:57As evening approached, Joseph, a rich man from Arimathea who had become a follower of Jesus,

Mat 27:58

Mat 27:58went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. And Pilate issued an order to release it to him.

Mat 27:59

Mat 27:59Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a long sheet of clean linen cloth.

Mat 27:60

Mat 27:60He placed it in his own new tomb, which had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance and left.

Mat 27:61

Mat 27:61Both Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting across from the tomb and watching.

The Guard at the Tomb

Mat 27:62

Mat 27:62The next day, on the Sabbath,[fn] the leading priests and Pharisees went to see Pilate.

Mat 27:63

Mat 27:63They told him, “Sir, we remember what that deceiver once said while he was still alive: ‘After three days I will rise from the dead.’

Mat 27:64

Mat 27:64So we request that you seal the tomb until the third day. This will prevent his disciples from coming and stealing his body and then telling everyone he was raised from the dead! If that happens, we’ll be worse off than we were at first.”

Mat 27:65

Mat 27:65Pilate replied, “Take guards and secure it the best you can.”

Mat 27:66

Mat 27:66So they sealed the tomb and posted guards to protect it.

See the NLT Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NLT Footnotes

(27:6)

Greek since it is the price for blood.

(27:9)

Or I took.

(27:9)

Greek as the LORD directed me. Zech 11:12-13; Jer 32:6-9.

(27:10)

Greek as the LORD directed me. Zech 11:12-13; Jer 32:6-9.

(27:16)

Some manuscripts read Jesus Barabbas; also in 27:17.

(27:25)

Greek “His blood be on us and on our children.”

(27:27)

Or into the Praetorium.

(27:32)

Cyrene was a city in northern Africa.

(27:35)

Greek by casting lots. A few late manuscripts add This fulfilled the word of the prophet: “They divided my garments among themselves and cast lots for my robe.” See Ps 22:18.

(27:38)

Or criminals; also in 27:44.

(27:46)

Some manuscripts read Eloi, Eloi.

(27:46)

Ps 22:1.

(27:49)

Some manuscripts add And another took a spear and pierced his side, and out flowed water and blood. Compare John 19:34.

(27:54)

Greek The centurion.

(27:62)

Or On the next day, which is after the Preparation.

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For more information on this translation, see the NLT Preface.