Chapter 23

1The whole assembly rose and led Jesus to Pilate.

2They began accusing him: “We found this man misleading our nation, telling people not to pay taxes to Caesar, and claiming that he himself is the Messiah—a king.”

3Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “You are saying it.”

4Pilate told the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”

5But they insisted, “He stirs up the people by teaching throughout Judea. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.”

6When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was from Galilee.

7When he learned that Jesus came from the territory ruled by Herod, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.

8Herod was very glad to see Jesus. He had wanted to see him for a long time because of what he had heard about him, and he hoped to see Jesus perform some miraculous sign.

9Herod questioned him at length, but Jesus gave him no answer.

10Meanwhile, the chief priests and the experts in Jewish law stood there, fiercely accusing Jesus.

11Herod and his soldiers treated Jesus with contempt and mocked him. They dressed him in a splendid robe and sent him back to Pilate.

12That very day Herod and Pilate became friends. Before then, they had been enemies.

13Pilate called together the chief priests, the other leaders, and the people.

14He told them, “You brought me this man and said he was leading the people astray. I questioned him here in front of you, but I found no basis for any of your charges against him.

15“Herod found none either, because he sent Jesus back to us. Clearly, this man has done nothing that deserves death.

16“So I will have him whipped and then release him.”

17But they all shouted together, “Get rid of this man! Release Barabbas for us!”

18Barabbas had been put in prison for taking part in an uprising in the city and for murder.

19Pilate spoke to them again because he wanted to release Jesus.

20But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

21Pilate spoke to them a third time: “Why? What evil has this man done? I have found nothing in him that deserves death. So I will have him whipped and then release him.”

22But they kept pressing him with loud shouts, demanding that Jesus be crucified. Their shouting prevailed.

23Pilate decided to grant their demand.

24He released the man they had asked for, the one imprisoned for rebellion and murder. But he handed Jesus over to their will.

25As the soldiers led Jesus away, they seized a man named Simon from Cyrene, who was coming in from the countryside. They put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.

26A large crowd followed Jesus, including women who were beating their chests in grief and mourning for him.

27Jesus turned to them and said, “Women of Jerusalem, do not weep for me. Weep for yourselves and for your children.

28Jesus continued, “The days are coming when people will say, ‘How fortunate are the women who never had children, never gave birth, and never nursed a baby!’

29“Then they will begin saying to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’

30“If people do these things while the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry and ready to burn?”

31Two other men, both criminals, were also led away with Jesus to be executed.

32When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified Jesus there along with the criminals, one on his right and the other on his left.

33Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing.” The soldiers divided his clothes by drawing lots to decide who would get them.

34The people stood watching. The leaders also sneered at Jesus and said, “He rescued others. Let him rescue himself if he is God’s Messiah, the one God has chosen.”

35The soldiers also mocked him. They came up and offered him sour wine,

36saying, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself!”

37A sign above him read, “This is the king of the Jews.”

38One of the criminals hanging there insulted Jesus: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

39But the other criminal rebuked him: “Don’t you even fear God? You are under the same sentence.

40“Our punishment is just, because we are receiving what our actions deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

41Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom.”

42Jesus told him, “I assure you: today you will be with me in Paradise.”

43It was now about noon, and darkness covered the whole land until about three in the afternoon.

44The sun’s light failed, and the curtain inside the temple was torn down the middle.

45Jesus cried out loudly, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands.” After saying this, he breathed his last.

46When the Roman army officer saw what had happened, he praised God and said, “This man truly was innocent.”

47When all the crowds who had gathered to watch saw what happened, they went home striking their chests in grief.

48Everyone who knew Jesus stood watching from a distance. The women who had accompanied him from Galilee were there too.

49There was a man named Joseph, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He was a good and honorable man.

50Joseph had not agreed with the council’s decision or its actions. He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea and was waiting for God to establish his rule.

51Joseph went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body.

52He took the body down, wrapped it in linen cloth, and placed it in a tomb cut into rock, where no one had ever been laid.

53It was the day for preparing for the Sabbath, and the Sabbath was beginning.

54The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph. They saw the tomb and how Jesus’ body was placed inside.

55Then they returned home and prepared spices and scented oils. On the Sabbath, the Jewish day of rest, they rested as the command required.