Matthew 27
The full text of Matthew 27 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Greek. Free to read.
1 Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed.
2 So they bound him, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate the governor.
3 When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was filled with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders.
4 "I have sinned," he said, "for I have betrayed innocent blood." "What is that to us?" they replied. "That's your responsibility."
5 So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.
6 The chief priests picked up the coins and said, "It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money."
7 So they decided to use the money to buy the potter's field as a burial place for foreigners.
8 That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day.
9 Then what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:
"They took the thirty pieces of silver,
the price set on him by the people of Israel,
10 and they used them to buy the potter's field,
as the Lord commanded me."
11 Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" "You have said so," Jesus replied.
12 When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer.
13 Then Pilate asked him, "Don't you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?"
14 But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.
15 Now it was the governor's custom at the festival to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd.
16 At that time they had a well-known prisoner whose name was Jesus Barabbas.
17 So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, "Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?"
18 For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him.
19 While Pilate was sitting on the judge's seat, his wife sent him this message: "Don't have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him."
20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus put to death.
21 "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" asked the governor. "Barabbas," they answered.
22 "What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?" Pilate asked. They all answered, "Crucify him!"
23 "Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"
24 When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man's blood," he said. "It is your responsibility."
25 All the people answered, "His blood is on us and on our children!"
26 Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
27 Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him.
28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him,
29 and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!" they said.
30 They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again.
31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.
32 As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross.
33 They came to a place called Golgotha (which means "the place of the skull").
34 There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it.
35 When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
36 And sitting down, they kept watch over him there.
37 Above his head they placed the written charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews.
38 Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.
39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads
40 and saying, "You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!"
41 In the same way the chief priests, with the scribes and the elders, mocked him.
42 "He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! He's the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.
43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, 'I am the Son of God.'"
44 In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
45 From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land.
46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice,
"Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?"
(that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?").
47 When some of those standing there heard this, they said, "He's calling Elijah."
48 Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink.
49 The rest said, "Leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to save him."
50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.
51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split,
52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.
53 They came out of the tombs after his resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.
54 When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified and exclaimed, "Surely he was the Son of God!"
55 Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs.
56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee's sons.
57 As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus.
58 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him.
59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,
60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away.
61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.
62 The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate.
63 "Sir," they said, "we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise again.'
64 So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first."
65 "Take a guard," Pilate answered. "Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how."
66 So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.
Translation notes (21)
- Matthew 27:9a Matthew attributes this quotation to Jeremiah, but the wording is drawn mainly from Zechariah 11:12-13, with some elements echoing Jeremiah (for example, 32:6-9; 18:2-3; 19:1-13). A few manuscripts read 'Zechariah' or omit the prophet's name, but the critical Greek text retains 'Jeremiah.' The translation preserves this problem of attribution rather than correcting it.
- Matthew 27:11a The Greek phrase su legeis, meaning 'you say so,' is an idiomatic, indirect affirmation. It places the assertion on the speaker rather than giving a plain 'yes.'
- Matthew 27:16a A number of early manuscripts and ancient versions read 'Jesus Barabbas' here and in verse 17, while many others read simply 'Barabbas.' The fuller name is found in important ancient sources and is increasingly accepted by editors; the parallel with 'Jesus who is called the Messiah' in verse 17 is striking. The first name 'Jesus' is retained in this translation with this note.
- Matthew 27:17a As in verse 16, 'Jesus Barabbas' is the reading found in important ancient sources, though many manuscripts read only 'Barabbas.' The deliberate contrast between the two men named Jesus is heightened by the longer reading.
- Matthew 27:25a The Greek phrase to haima autou eph' hemas kai epi ta tekna hemon is an oath-like idiom for assuming legal responsibility for a death (compare Joshua 2:19 and 2 Samuel 1:16). This single Gospel sentence has a long and tragic history of being misused to justify antisemitism; it records the response of a particular crowd at one moment, not a verdict on a people. The translation renders it plainly and does not soften or expand it.
- Matthew 27:34a This verse echoes Psalm 69:21 ('they gave me gall for my food'). The Greek word choles means 'gall,' which is a bitter substance; some manuscripts read 'mixed with myrrh' (compare Mark 15:23).
- Matthew 27:35a This verse echoes Psalm 22:18 ('they divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment'). Some later manuscripts add an explicit quotation of Psalm 22:18 as a fulfillment, which was imported from John 19:24; however, this addition is absent from the earliest ancient sources and is not part of the critical Greek text.
- Matthew 27:37a The Greek phrase ten aitian autou gegrammenen means 'the written charge against him.' This refers to the titulus, a sign stating the crime for which he was executed. The wording of this charge differs slightly among the four Gospels.
- Matthew 27:38a The Greek word lestai means 'bandits' or 'insurrectionists.' This is the same word used of those who 'robbed by violence,' and it often denotes armed rebels rather than petty thieves.
- Matthew 27:39a The phrase 'Shaking their heads' echoes Psalm 22:7 and Lamentations 2:15, and it is a gesture of scorn.
- Matthew 27:43a This taunt closely echoes Psalm 22:8, which says, 'He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him.'
- Matthew 27:45a The Greek way of reckoning time from sunrise means 'the sixth hour' is about noon, and 'the ninth hour' is about three p.m. The Greek phrase pasan ten gen, meaning 'all the land,' can refer to the land of Judea or the whole earth; the text leaves the scope open.
- Matthew 27:46a This verse quotes Psalm 22:1, transliterated from Aramaic or Hebrew. Matthew's 'Eli' is closer to the Hebrew, while Mark 15:34 has the Aramaic 'Eloi.' This cry opens a psalm that moves from deep suffering to ultimate triumph; the translation preserves the raw cry without deciding its theological meaning.
- Matthew 27:47a This refers to a misunderstanding or mockery of Jesus's cry 'Eli' as a call to Elijah (Greek Elian), because the names sound similar.
- Matthew 27:48a The 'wine vinegar' (Greek oxos) was a cheap, sour wine. This act echoes Psalm 69:21.
- Matthew 27:49a Some early manuscripts, including Sinaiticus and Vaticanus, add the phrase, 'And another took a spear and pierced his side, and out came water and blood.' This addition is similar to John 19:34. Most Bible editors consider it an early insertion from John's Gospel and do not include it in the main text; it is mentioned here but not printed.
- Matthew 27:50a The Greek phrase apheken to pneuma literally means 'released the spirit / breath.' This is a dignified way of speaking about death, presenting it as something Jesus willingly gives up rather than simply endures.
- Matthew 27:51a The 'curtain' (Greek katapetasma) refers to the veil that separated the Most Holy Place in the Temple. The phrase 'was torn' uses a grammatical form that does not state who or what did the tearing; the text does not specify whether it was torn by God or by the earthquake, and this openness is preserved.
- Matthew 27:53a The phrase 'after his resurrection' is grammatically unusual when compared to verse 52, which describes people being raised at the moment of Jesus's death. This has been discussed for a long time; the translation presents the sequence exactly as the Greek text has it, without trying to make it fit perfectly.
- Matthew 27:54a The Greek phrase theou huios en houtos does not include the word 'the' before 'Son,' so it can be translated as 'this man was the Son of God,' 'a son of God,' or 'a divine man.' The centurion's exact meaning, whether a full confession of faith or simply pagan awe, is left open.
- Matthew 27:65a The Greek phrase echete koustodian can be understood either as a command, 'Take a guard,' or as a statement, 'You have a guard.' The text preserves this openness.
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