N : Jesus left with his disciples
And crossed the Kedron valley.
There was a garden there,
And he went into it with his disciples.
Judas the traitor knew the place well,
Since Jesus had often
Met his disciples there,
And he brought the cohort to this place
Together with a detachment of guards
Sent by the chief priests
And the Pharisees,
All with lanterns and torches
And weapons.
Knowing everything
That was going to happen to him,
Jesus then came forward and said :
CHOIR : « Jesus, Jesus,
Jesus the Nazarene ! »
N : Now Judas the traitor
Was standing among them.
When Jesus said, « I am he »,
They moved back
And fell to the ground.
He asked them a second time :
CHOIR : « Jesus, Jesus,
Jesus the Nazarene. »
+ : « I have told you that I am he.
If I am the one you are looking for,
Let these others go. »
N : This was to fulfil the words
He had spoken,
« Not one of those
You gave me have I lost. »
Simon Peter, who carried a sword,
Drew it and wounded
The high priest’s servant,
Cutting off his right ear.
The servant’s name was Malchus.
Jesus said to Peter :
Jesus said to Peter :
+ : « Put your sword back in its scabbard ;
Am I not to drink the cup
That the Father has given me ? »
N : The cohort and its captain
And the Jewish guards
Seized Jesus and bound him.
They took him first to Annas,
Because Annas was
The father-in-law of Caiaphas,
Who was high priest that year.
It was Caiaphas
Who had suggested to the Jews,
« It is better for one man
To die for the people. »
Simon Peter, with another disciple,
Followed Jesus.
This disciple,
Who was known to the high priest,
Went with Jesus
Into the high priest’s palace,
But Peter stayed outside the door.
So the other disciple,
The one known to the high priest,
Went out, spoke to the woman
Who was keeping the door
And brought Peter in.
The maid on duty at the door
Said to Peter :
O : « Aren’t you another
Of that man’s disciples ? »
N : Now it was cold,
And the servants and guards
Had lit a charcoal fire
And were standing there
Warming themselves ;
So Peter stood there too,
Warming himself with the others.
The high priest questioned Jesus
About his disciples and his teaching.
Jesus answered :
+ : « I have spoken openly
For all the world to hear ;
I have always taught in the synagogue
And in the Temple
Where all the Jews meet together :
I have said nothing in secret.
But why ask me ?
Ask my hearers what I taught :
They know what I said. »
N : At these words,
One of the guards standing by
Gave Jesus a slap in the face, saying :
O : « Is that the way
To answer the high priest ? »
+ : « If there is something wrong
In what I said, point it out ;
But if there is no offence in it,
Why do you strike me? »
N : Then Annas sent him, still bound,
To Caiaphas, the high priest.
As Simon Peter stood there
Warming himself,
Someone said to him :
N : One of the high priest’s servants,
A relation of the man
Whose ear Peter had cut off, said,
O : « Didn’t I see you
In the garden with him ? »
N : Again Peter denied it ;
And at once a cock crew.
They then led Jesus
From the house of Caiaphas
To the Praetorium.
It was now morning.
They did not go
Into the Praetorium themselves
Or they would be defiled
And unable to eat the Passover.
So Pilate came outside to them and said,
O : « What charge do you bring
Against this man ? »
CHOIR : « If he were not a criminal,
If he were not a criminal,
We should not be
Handing him over to you. »
O : « Take him yourselves,
And try him by your own Law. »
CHOIR : « We are not allowed
To put a man to death. »
N : This was to fulfil the words
Jesus had spoken
Indicating the way he was going to die.
So Pilate went back into the Praetorium
And called Jesus to him, and asked :
+ : « Do you ask this of your own accord,
Or have others spoken to you about me ? »
O : « Am I a Jew ?
It is your own people and the chief priests
Who have handed you over to me :
What have you done ? »
+ : « Mine is not a kingdom of this world ;
If my kingdom were of this world,
My men would have fought to prevent me
Being surrendered to the Jews.
But my kingdom is not of this kind. »
+ : « It is you who say it.
Yes, I am a king.
I was born for this,
I came into the world for this ;
To bear witness to the truth,
And all who are on the side of truth
Listen to my voice. »
N : And with that he went out again
To the Jews and said,
O : « I find no case against him.
But according to a custom of yours
I should release one prisoner
At the Passover ;
Would you like me, then,
To release the king of the Jews ? »
CHOIR : « Not this man, not this man,
Not this man but Barabbas ! »
N : Barabbas was a brigand.
Pilate then had Jesus taken away
And scourged ; and after this,
The soldiers twisted
Some thorns into a crown
And put it on his head,
And dressed him in a purple robe.
They kept coming up to him and saying,
N : And they slapped him in the face.
Pilate came outside again
And said to them,
O : « Look, I am going to
Bring him out to you
To let you see that I find no case. »
N : Jesus then came out
Wearing the crown of thorns
And the purple robe. Pilate said :
CHOIR : « Crucify, crucify, crucify him !
Crucify him ! »
O : « Take him yourselves and crucify him :
I can find no case against him. »
CHOIR : « We have a Law,
And according to the Law
He ought to die,
Because he has claimed
To be the Son of God. »
N : When Pilate heard them say this
His fears increased.
Reentering the Praetorium,
He said to Jesus :
N : But Jesus made no answer.
Pilate then said to him :
O : « Are you refusing to speak to me ?
Surely you know I have power
To release you
And I have power to crucify you ? »
+ : « You would have no power over me
If it had not been given you from above,
That is why the one
Who handed me over to you
Has the greater guilt. »
N : From that moment
Pilate was anxious to set him free,
But the Jews shouted.
CHOIR : « If you set him free
You are no friend of Caesar’s ;
Anyone who makes himself king
Is defying Caesar. »
N : Hearing these words,
Pilate had Jesus brought out,
And seated himself
On the chair of judgement
At a place called the Pavement,
In Hebrew Gabbatha.
It was Passover Preparation Day,
About the sixth hour.
Pilate said to the Jews :
CHOIR : « Take him away, take him away !
Crucify him ! Crucify him ! »
N : So in the end Pilate
Handed him over to them
To be crucified.
They then took charge of Jesus,
And carrying his own cross
He went out to the place of the skull
Or, as it was called in Hebrew, Golgotha,
Where they crucified him
With two others, one on either side
With Jesus in the middle.
Pilate wrote out a notice
And had it fixed to the cross,
It ran: « Jesus the Nazarene,
King of the Jews. »
This notice was read by many of the Jews,
Because the place where Jesus
Was crucified was not far from the city,
And the writing was in Hebrew,
Latin and Greek.
So the Jewish chief priests said to Pilate :
CHOIR : « You should not write
‘King of the Jews’,
But ‘This man said :
I am King of the Jews’. »
O : « What I have written,
I have written. »
N : When the soldiers
Had finished crucifying Jesus
They took his clothing
And divided it into four shares,
One for each soldier.
His undergarment was seamless,
Woven in one piece from neck to hem ;
So they said to one another,
CHOIR : « Instead of tearing it,
Let’s throw dice to decide
Who is to have it. »
N : In this way
The words of scripture were fulfilled :
‘They shared out my clothing among them.
They cast lots for my clothes.’
This is exactly what the soldiers did.
Near the cross of Jesus
Stood his mother
And his mother’s sister,
Mary the wife of Clopas,
And Mary of Magdala.
Seeing his mother
And the disciple he loved
Standing near her,
Jesus said to his mother :
N : And from that moment
The disciple made a place for her
In his home. After this,
Jesus knew that everything
Had now been completed,
And to fulfil the scripture
Perfectly he said :
N : A jar full of vinegar stood there,
So putting a sponge
Soaked in vinegar on a hyssop stick
They held it up to his mouth.
After Jesus had taken the vinegar
He said,
N : and bowing his head
He gave up the spirit.
N : It was Preparation Day,
And to prevent the bodies
Remaining on the cross
During the Sabbath
-since that Sabbath was a day
Of special solemnity-
The Jews asked Pilate
To have the legs broken
And the bodies taken away.
Consequently, the soldiers came
And broke the legs of the first man
Who had been crucified with him
And then of the other.
When they came to Jesus,
They found he was already dead,
And so instead of breaking his legs
One of the soldiers
Pierced his side with a lance ;
And immediately
There came out blood and water.
This is the evidence
Of one who saw it
– trustworthy evidence,
And he knows he speaks the truth –
And he gives it
So that you may believe as well.
Because all this happened
To fulfil the words of scripture :
‘Not one bone of his will be broken,’
And again,
In another place scripture says :
‘They will look on the one
Whom they have pierced.’
After this, Joseph of Arimathaea,
Who was a disciple of Jesus
– though a secret one
Because he was afraid of the Jews –
Asked Pilate to let him
Remove the body of Jesus.
Pilate gave permission,
So they came and took it away.
Nicodemus came as well
– the same one who had first
Come to Jesus at night-time –
And he brought a mixture
Of myrrh and aloes,
Weighing about a hundred pounds.
They took the body of Jesus
And wrapped it with the spices
In linen cloths,
Following the Jewish burial custom.
At the place where he had been crucified
There was a garden,
And in this garden a new tomb
In which no one had yet been buried.
Since it was the Jewish Day of Preparation
And the tomb was near at hand,
They laid Jesus there.
