Matthew · 66 verses

Matthew 27

Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.

The chapter

What happens here

Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.

The strangest procession in Matthew 27 begins after Jesus has yielded up His spirit: tombs split open, many sleeping saints rise, and then—without a word about introductions, astonishment, or subsequent arrangements—they enter the holy city and appear to many people.

Silver, silence, and a choice nobody improvesvv. 1–26

Morning brings a conspiracy, a binding, and a handover to Pilate. Judas returns the thirty pieces of silver, calls the blood innocent, and receives the briskest possible reply: responsibility is passed back to him. The priests will not put the money into the treasury because it is blood money, though they do use it to buy a field for burials. The field acquires a name, and the chapter gives Jeremiah a word in the margin. Before Pilate, Jesus answers one question and none of the charges. The crowd chooses Barabbas, asks for Jesus to be crucified, and turns a water-washing into a public declaration that changes nothing.

The King with a staff, a crown, and a posted chargevv. 27–54

The soldiers dress Jesus as a king for the purpose of mocking kingship, then find Simon of Cyrene to carry the cross. At Golgotha, Jesus refuses the gall-mixed wine. His garments are divided, a charge is posted above Him, and passers-by, priests, elders, scribes, and even the robbers join the chorus. Darkness covers the land. When Jesus cries out, some hear Elijah’s name in it; one man brings sour wine, while the others wait to see whether Elijah will come. Then the veil tears, the earth quakes, rocks split, and tombs open. Many saints rise and appear in the holy city. The centurion and his companions, who have been guarding Jesus through all this, conclude that He was the Son of God. It is a remarkable amount of scenery for a single afternoon.

A tomb secured against the futurevv. 55–66

Many women watch from a distance, having followed Jesus from Galilee to minister to Him. Joseph of Arimathea asks Pilate for the body, wraps it, lays it in his own new rock-cut tomb, and rolls a great stone across the entrance. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary remain opposite it. On the next day, the chief priests and Pharisees remember Jesus’s saying about rising after three days and ask for a guard, lest the disciples steal the body and announce a resurrection. Pilate gives them the guard and tells them to secure the tomb as well as they know how. They seal the stone and post the guard—a tidy arrangement at the end of a chapter that has just made tidiness look rather optimistic.

The text

Read it

Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.

Matt 27:1When morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people conspired against Jesus to put Him to death.
Matt 27:2They bound Him, led Him away, and handed Him over to Pilate the governor.
Matt 27:3When 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 elders.
Matt 27:4“I have sinned by betraying innocent blood,” he said. “What is that to us?” they replied. “You bear the responsibility.”
Matt 27:5So Judas threw the silver into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.
Matt 27:6The chief priests picked up the pieces of silver and said, “It is unlawful to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.”
Matt 27:7After conferring together, they used the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners.
Matt 27:8That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day.
Matt 27:9Then 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,
Matt 27:10and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord had commanded me.”
Matt 27:11Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, who questioned Him: “Are You the King of the Jews?” “You have said so,” Jesus replied.
Matt 27:12And when He was accused by the chief priests and elders, He gave no answer.
Matt 27:13Then Pilate asked Him, “Do You not hear how many charges they are bringing against You?”
Matt 27:14But Jesus gave no answer, not even to a single charge, much to the governor’s amazement.
Matt 27:15Now it was the governor’s custom at the feast to release to the crowd a prisoner of their choosing.
Matt 27:16At that time they were holding a notorious prisoner named Barabbas.
Matt 27:17So when the crowd had assembled, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?”
Matt 27:18For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him.
Matt 27:19While Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him this message: “Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered terribly in a dream today because of Him.”
Matt 27:20But the chief priests and elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus put to death.
Matt 27:21“Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor. “Barabbas,” they replied.
Matt 27:22“What then should I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate asked. They all answered, “Crucify Him!”
Matt 27:23“Why?” asked Pilate. “What evil has He done?” But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify Him!”
Matt 27:24When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but that instead a riot was breaking out, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “You bear the responsibility.”
Matt 27:25All the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”
Matt 27:26So Pilate released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed Him over to be crucified.
Matt 27:27Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company around Him.
Matt 27:28They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him.
Matt 27:29And they twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on His head. They put a staff in His right hand, knelt down before Him, and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
Matt 27:30Then they spit on Him and took the staff and struck Him on the head repeatedly.
Matt 27:31After they had mocked Him, they removed the robe and put His own clothes back on Him. Then they led Him away to crucify Him.
Matt 27:32Along the way they found a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross of Jesus.
Matt 27:33And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means The Place of the Skull,
Matt 27:34they offered Him wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, He refused to drink it.
Matt 27:35When they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments by casting lots.
Matt 27:36And sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.
Matt 27:37Above His head they posted the written charge against Him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Matt 27:38Two robbers were crucified with Him, one on His right and the other on His left.
Matt 27:39And those who passed by heaped abuse on Him, shaking their heads
Matt 27:40and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”
Matt 27:41In the same way, the chief priests, scribes, and elders mocked Him, saying,
Matt 27:42“He saved others, but He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel! Let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in Him.
Matt 27:43He trusts in God. Let God deliver Him now if He wants Him. For He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”
Matt 27:44In the same way, even the robbers who were crucified with Him berated Him.
Matt 27:45From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land.
Matt 27:46About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
Matt 27:47When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He is calling Elijah.”
Matt 27:48One of them quickly ran and brought a sponge. He filled it with sour wine, put it on a reed, and held it up for Jesus to drink.
Matt 27:49But the others said, “Leave Him alone. Let us see if Elijah comes to save Him.”
Matt 27:50When Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, He yielded up His spirit.
Matt 27:51At that moment the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked, and the rocks were split.
Matt 27:52The tombs broke open, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised.
Matt 27:53After Jesus’ resurrection, when they had come out of the tombs, they entered the holy city and appeared to many people.
Matt 27:54When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified and said, “Truly this was the Son of God.”
Matt 27:55And many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to minister to Him.
Matt 27:56Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.
Matt 27:57When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who himself was a disciple of Jesus.
Matt 27:58He went to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him.
Matt 27:59So Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,
Matt 27:60and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut into the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance to the tomb and went away.
Matt 27:61Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.
Matt 27:62The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and Pharisees assembled before Pilate.
Matt 27:63“Sir,” they said, “we remember that while He was alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’
Matt 27:64So give the order that the tomb be secured until the third day. Otherwise, His disciples may come and steal Him away and tell the people He has risen from the dead. And this last deception would be worse than the first.”
Matt 27:65“You have a guard,” Pilate said. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.”
Matt 27:66So they went and secured the tomb by sealing the stone and posting the guard.

01 — Also here

Who else the chapter reaches

Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.

Named in the Hebrew or Greek somewhere in this chapter, under a form the English renders differently — the registry's Ludim against the translation's Ludites — so there is no word in the sentence to hang the link on.

Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.

02 — Read alongside

Where this is echoed

Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 552 passages were voted onto 61 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.

46 Psalms 22:1For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Doe of the Dawn.” A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from saving me, so far from my words of groaning?
46 Hebrews 5:7During the days of Jesus’ earthly life, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence.
46 Isaiah 53:10Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush Him and to cause Him to suffer; and when His soul is made a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.
9 Zechariah 11:12–13Then I told them, “If it seems right to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” So they weighed out my wages, thirty pieces of silver.
46 Mark 15:34At the ninth hour, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
35 Psalms 22:18They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.
46 John 19:28–30After this, knowing that everything had now been accomplished, and to fulfill the Scripture, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”
46 Psalms 71:11saying, “God has forsaken him; pursue him and seize him, for there is no one to rescue him.”
52 Isaiah 26:19Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For your dew is like the dew of the morning, and the earth will bring forth her dead.
46 Luke 23:46Then Jesus called out in a loud voice, “Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit.” And when He had said this, He breathed His last.
52 1 Thessalonians 4:14For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, we also believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him.
51 Hebrews 10:19–22Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,
46 Lamentations 1:12Is this nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look around and see! Is there any sorrow like mine, which was inflicted on me, which the LORD made me suffer on the day of His fierce anger?
52 1 Corinthians 15:20But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
52 John 5:25–29Truly, truly, I tell you, the hour is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.
52 Daniel 12:2And many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, but others to shame and everlasting contempt.

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