Luke 23:18-53

¹⁸But the whole crowd shouted, “Execute this man! Release Barrabas for us (exc)!”

¹⁹Barrabas was a man who had tried to persuade people in the city to rebel against the Roman government. While doing that, he had murdered someone. So he had been put {they had put him} in prison, where he was waiting to be executed.

²⁰Because Pilate wanted to release Jesus, he tried to persuade the crowd again.

²¹But they kept shouting, “ Command your soldiers to kill him by nailing him to a cross!/Have him crucified!”

²²He spoke to them a third time and asked them, “Why? What crime has he committed? I have concluded that he has done nothing for which he deserves to die. So I will have my soldiers flog him and then release him.”

²³But they kept insisting. They shouted loudly that Jesus should be nailed {that Pilate should have his soldiers nail Jesus} to a cross. Finally, because they continued to shout PRS so loudly,

²⁴Pilate decided to do what the crowd requested.

²⁵The man who had been {whom they had} put in prison because he had rebelled against the government and who had murdered someone, he released! That was the man whom the crowd had asked him to release. He handed Jesus over to the soldiers, to do what the crowd wanted.

²⁶As the soldiers were taking Jesus away, they seized a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene city in Africa. He was returning to Jerusalem from out in the countryside. They took from Jesus the cross that he had been carrying. Then they put it on Simon's shoulders, and told him to carry it behind Jesus.

²⁷A large crowd followed Jesus. The crowd included many women who were beating their breasts to show how sad they were, and wailing for him.

²⁸But Jesus turned to them and said, “You women of Jerusalem, do not cry for me! Instead, cry because of what is going to happen to yourselves and your children!

²⁹I want you to know that there will soon be a time when people will say, ‘Women SYN who have never borne children or nursed babies are fortunate!’

³⁰Then, in order that they will not have to suffer greatly when their enemies destroy this city, people who are left in the city will say to the mountains, ‘Fall down on us!’ And people will say to the hills, ‘Cover us!’

³¹I am innocent MET. I am like a living tree that people do not try to burn. But the people of Jerusalem deserve that their enemies punish them. They are like dry wood that is ready to burn. So if they nail me to the cross, ◄ their enemies will certainly do much worse things to them!/what worse things will happen to them?► RHQ”

³²Two other men who were criminals were also being led away { The soldiers also led away two other men who were criminals}. They were going to be executed { The soldiers were going to execute them} with Jesus.

³³When they came to the place which is called ❛The Skull❜, they nailed Jesus to a cross after removing his clothes. They did the same thing to the two criminals. They crucified one at the right side of Jesus and one at his left side.

³⁴Jesus prayed, “ My Father, forgive them, because they do not realize whom they are doing this to!” Then the soldiers divided Jesus' clothing by gambling with something like dice, to decide which piece of clothing each one would get.

³⁵Many people stood nearby, watching. And the Jewish leaders ◄made fun of/ridiculed► Jesus, saying, “He said IRO that he saved other people! If he is the Messiah, the one God has chosen, he should save himself!”

³⁶The soldiers also ridiculed him because he claimed to be a king. They came up to him and offered him some sour wine.

³⁷They said to him, “If you (sg) are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”

³⁸They also fastened on the cross a sign that stated why they were nailing him to the cross. But all it said was, ❛This is the King of the Jews❜.

³⁹One of the criminals who was hanging on a cross began to insult Jesus, saying, “You (sg) said that you are the Messiah, so you must be powerful! So save yourself, and save us, too!”

⁴⁰But the other criminal rebuked him, saying, “◄You (sg) should be afraid of God punishing you!/Are you not afraid of God punishing you?► RHQ They are punishing him and us similarly.

⁴¹They have justly decided that we (inc) two must die. They are punishing us as we deserve for the evil things that we did. But this man has done nothing wrong!”

⁴²Then he said, “Jesus, please remember me and take care of me when you become king!”

⁴³Jesus replied, “I want you (sg) to know that today you (sg) will be with me in the place where everyone is happy!” (OR, that today you will be with me in Paradise!)

⁴⁴Then it was about noontime. It became dark over the whole land, and it stayed dark until three o'clock in the afternoon.

⁴⁵There was no light from the sun. Then the thick curtain that closed off the most holy place in the Temple split into two pieces. That signified that ordinary people could now go into the presence of God.

⁴⁶As that happened, Jesus shouted loudly, “Father, I put my spirit into your care MTY!” When he said that, he EUP died.

⁴⁷When the officer who supervised the soldiers who were executing Jesus saw what happened, he praised God for the way Jesus died, saying, “ I am sure that this man had done nothing wrong!”

⁴⁸When the crowd of people who had gathered to see those events saw what happened, they returned to their homes, beating their chests to show that they were sorrowful.

⁴⁹All of Jesus' friends, including the women who had come with him from Galilee district, stood at a distance and saw everything that happened.

⁵⁰There was a man named Joseph who came there. He was from the town of Arimathea in Judea. He was a good and a righteous man, and he was a member of the Jewish Council.

⁵¹But he had not agreed with the other Council members when they decided to kill Jesus and when they planned how to do it. He was waiting expectantly for the time when God would send his king to begin to rule.

⁵²He went to Pilate and asked Pilate to permit him to take Jesus' body and bury it. After Pilate allowed him to do that,

⁵³he and some others took Jesus' body down from the cross. They wrapped it in a linen cloth. Then they put his body in a tomb that he had hired others to dig out of a rock cliff. No one had ever put a body in it before.