Luke 23:33-49

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.