75 not the man. And immediately the cock crew. And Peter remembered the words of Jesus, who said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.

1

CHAP. XXVII.

WHEN the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. 2 And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor.

3 Then Judas, who had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of 4 silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned, in that I have betrayed the inno cent blood. And they said, What is that to 5 us? see thou to that. And he cast down the • pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, 6 and went and hanged himself. And the chief

priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, be7 cause it is the price of blood. And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's 8 field, to bury strangers in. Wherefore that

field was called, The field of blood, unto this

*This confession of Judas is very important, as it shews and is the conviction of Christ's innocence. He lamented. his own treachery, and bore testimony in favor of Jesus,

9 day.* (Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy† the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the 10 children of Israel did value; and gave them for the potters' field, as the Lord appointed 11 me.) Now Jesus stood before the governor :

ST. MATTHEW.

and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto 12 him, Thou sayest. And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he an13 swered nothing. Then saith Pilate unto him,

Hearest thou not how many things they wit14 ness againt thee? And he answered him

not a word, insomuch that the governor 15 marvelled greatly. Now at that feast, the

governor was wont to release unto the people 16 a prisoner, whom they chose. And they had

then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas. 17 Therefore, when they were gathered together,

Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus who 18 is called Christ? (For he knew that for envy they had delivered him.)||

* That is, at the time Matthew wrote this gospel. † Zachariah iv. 12, 13.

That is, thou sayest the truth.

There was a tradition among the Christians in the early ages of the church, that the other prisoner was named Jesus, the son of Abbas-Bar meaning son.

|| What Pilate says here, is worthy remark. We see it was not because they thought that Christ was the Caesar, or that he would lead the people to sedition and reenemy of bellion, that they conspired his death, but through envy and malice.

When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream 20 because of him. But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should 21 desire Barabbas,* and destroy Jesus. The ⚫ governor answered and said unto them, Whether of the two will ye that I release unto you? 22 They said, Barabbas. Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus who is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be 23 crucified. And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified.

19

24

When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: be ye witnesses. 25 Then answered all the perple, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.†

26 Then he released Barabbas unto them:

and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered 27 him to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of 28 soldiers. And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe.

And when they had platted a crown of

29

The son of Abbas.

A most inconsiderate and awful imprecation! Ther eurse seems yet to rest upon their posterity.

thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand and they bowed the knee before him, and insulted him, saying, "Hail, 30 King of the Jews." And they spit upon him,

and took the reed, and smote him on the head. 31 And after that they had insulted him, they

took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify 32 him. And as they came out, they found a

man of Cyrene, Simon by name him they 33 compelled to bear his cross. And when they

were come unto a place called Golgotha, that 34 is to say, A place of a skull; They gave

""

him vinegar to drink, mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would 35 not drink. And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, "They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. 36 And sitting down, they watched him there : 37 And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS. 38 And there were two thieves crucified with him one on the right hand, and another on the left.

39

And they that passed by reviled him, wag40 ging their heads, and saying, "Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, 41 come down from the cross." The chief priests likewise mocking him, with the scribes and 42 elders, said, He saved others; cannot he save himself? If he be the King of Israel, let him

now come down from the cross, and we will 43 believe him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him for he 44 said, I am the Son of God. The thieves also who were crucified with him cast the same in 45 his teeth.* Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth 46 hour. And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my 47 God, why hast thou forsaken me? Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, 48 said, This man calleth for Elias. And straight

50

way one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and 49 gave him to drink. T The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.‡ Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud 51 voice, yielded up the ghost. And behold, the vail of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom: and the earth did quake, 52 and the rocks rent; and the graves were opened; and many bodies of saints which 53 slept arose, and came out of the graves after

his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and 54 appeared unto many. Now when the centurion, and they who were with him watching

*

Only one of the thieves upbraided him, as appears by St. Luke.

The darkness mentioned in the 45th, and the earthquake in the 51st verse, are also related by Phlegon, a heathen writer of Trallium in Lydia, who lived in the time of the emperor Adrian, the age immediately after the apostles.

Others said, let him alone.