Israel's holy God and savior says to the one who is deeply despised, who is hated by the nations and is the servant of rulers: "Kings will see you released and will rise to show their respect; princes also will see it, and they will bow low to honor you." This will happen because the LORD has chosen his servant; the holy God of Israel keeps his promises.

I bared my back to those who beat me. I did not stop them when they insulted me, when they pulled out the hairs of my beard and spit in my face.

But I am no longer a human being; I am a worm, despised and scorned by everyone!

"You relied on the LORD," they say. "Why doesn't he save you? If the LORD likes you, why doesn't he help you?"

I humble myself by fasting, and people insult me;

They talk about me in the streets, and drunkards make up songs about me.

People of Jerusalem, gather your forces! We are besieged! They are attacking the leader of Israel!

I lost patience with three other shepherds, who hated me, and I got rid of them all in a single month.

I said to them, "If you are willing, give me my wages. But if not, keep them." So they paid me thirty pieces of silver as my wages.

The LORD said to me, "Put them in the Temple treasury." So I took the thirty pieces of silver---the magnificent sum they thought I was worth---and put them in the Temple treasury.

Then they spat in his face and beat him; and those who slapped him

People passing by shook their heads and hurled insults at Jesus:

In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the Law and the elders made fun of him:

He trusts in God and claims to be God's Son. Well, then, let us see if God wants to save him now!"

His answer was, "Elijah is indeed coming first in order to get everything ready. Yet why do the Scriptures say that the Son of Man will suffer much and be rejected?

They beat him over the head with a stick, spat on him, fell on their knees, and bowed down to him.

They all made fun of him, because they knew that she was dead.

He also told them, "The Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law. He will be put to death, but three days later he will be raised to life."

When the Pharisees heard all this, they made fun of Jesus, because they loved money.

The whole crowd cried out, "Kill him! Set Barabbas free for us!"

Pilate wanted to set Jesus free, so he appealed to the crowd again.

Pilate said to them the third time, "But what crime has he committed? I cannot find anything he has done to deserve death! I will have him whipped and set him free."

So Pilate passed the sentence on Jesus that they were asking for.

They asked Jesus, "Were we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon in you?"

Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end. He did not give up because of the cross! On the contrary, because of the joy that was waiting for him, he thought nothing of the disgrace of dying on the cross, and he is now seated at the right side of God's throne.

Think of what he went through; how he put up with so much hatred from sinners! So do not let yourselves become discouraged and give up.

"But he endured the suffering that should have been ours, the pain that we should have borne. All the while we thought that his suffering was punishment sent by God.

The LORD says, "It was my will that he should suffer; his death was a sacrifice to bring forgiveness. And so he will see his descendants; he will live a long life, and through him my purpose will succeed.

But I am in pain and despair; lift me up, O God, and save me!

He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee. Grief and anguish came over him,

and he said to them, "The sorrow in my heart is so great that it almost crushes me. Stay here and keep watch with me."

and he said to them, "The sorrow in my heart is so great that it almost crushes me. Stay here and keep watch."

He came closer to the city, and when he saw it, he wept over it,

Jesus wept.

and in this way set free those who were slaves all their lives because of their fear of death.

This means that he had to become like his people in every way, in order to be their faithful and merciful High Priest in his service to God, so that the people's sins would be forgiven.

Our High Priest is not one who cannot feel sympathy for our weaknesses. On the contrary, we have a High Priest who was tempted in every way that we are, but did not sin.

In his life on earth Jesus made his prayers and requests with loud cries and tears to God, who could save him from death. Because he was humble and devoted, God heard him.

"The LORD's people grew rich, but rebellious; they were fat and stuffed with food. They abandoned God their Creator and rejected their mighty savior.

The LORD said to me, "Put them in the Temple treasury." So I took the thirty pieces of silver---the magnificent sum they thought I was worth---and put them in the Temple treasury.

Then what the prophet Jeremiah had said came true: "They took the thirty silver coins, the amount the people of Israel had agreed to pay for him,

and used the money to buy the potter's field, as the Lord had commanded me."

The Word was in the world, and though God made the world through him, yet the world did not recognize him.

He came to his own country, but his own people did not receive him.

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has given divine glory to his Servant Jesus. But you handed him over to the authorities, and you rejected him in Pilate's presence, even after Pilate had decided to set him free.

You killed the one who leads to life, but God raised him from death---and we are witnesses to this.