Luke 23
1 Then the whole assembly rose and led him to Pilate.
2 They began accusing him, saying, “We found this man turning our nation against us, forbidding us to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that he himself is the Christ, a king.”
3 Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” He answered him, “You say so.”
4 Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no fault in this man.”
5 But they kept insisting, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, starting in Galilee and coming all the way here.”
6 When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean.
7 When he learned that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem in those days.
8 When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had wanted to see him for a long time, having heard about him, and he hoped to see him perform some sign.
9 He questioned him at length, but Jesus gave him no answer.
10 The chief priests and the scribes were standing there, vehemently accusing him.
11 Herod and his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. They dressed him in a splendid robe and sent him back to Pilate.
12 That very day Herod and Pilate became friends with each other; before that, they had been enemies.
13 Pilate called together the chief priests, the authorities, and the people.
14 He said to them, “You brought this man to me as someone who was leading the people astray. I have questioned him in your presence, and I have found no fault in this man in the charges you bring against him.
15 Herod found none either, for he sent him back to us. And look, he has done nothing to deserve death.
16 So I will have him punished and release him.”
18 But they all shouted together, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!”
19 He had been thrown into prison for an uprising that had taken place in the city and for murder.
20 Pilate spoke to them again, wanting to release Jesus.
21 But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
22 For the third time he said to them, “But what wrong has he done? I have found no fault in him that deserves death. So I will have him punished and release him.”
23 But they kept pressing him with loud shouts, demanding that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed.
24 Pilate decided that their demand should be granted.
25 He released the man they had asked for, who had been thrown into prison for uprising and murder, and handed Jesus over to their will.
26 As they led him away, they seized a man named Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the countryside, and laid the cross on him to carry behind Jesus.
27 A large crowd of people followed him, including women who were mourning and weeping for him.
28 Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children.
29 For look, days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore children, and the breasts that never nursed.’
30 Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’
31 For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
32 Two other criminals were also being led away with him to be put to death.
33 When they came to the place called The Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.
34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots to divide his clothes.
35 The people stood watching. The authorities also sneered at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.”
36 The soldiers also mocked him. They came up and offered him sour wine,
37 saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself.”
38 There was also an inscription over him: “This is the King of the Jews.”
39 One of the criminals hanging there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
40 But the other answered, rebuking him: “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence?
41 And we are rightly condemned, for we are receiving what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
43 He said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
44 It was already about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.
45 The sun was darkened, and the curtain of the sanctuary was torn down the middle.
46 Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.” After saying this, he breathed his last.
47 When the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, “Surely this man was righteous.”
48 All the crowds who had gathered for this spectacle, when they saw what had happened, returned home beating their chests.
49 All his acquaintances stood at a distance, as did the women who had followed him from Galilee, watching these things.
50 There was a man named Joseph, a member of the council, a good and righteous man.
51 He had not agreed with their decision and action. He was from Arimathea, a Jewish town, and was waiting for the Kingdom of God.
52 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
53 He took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid it in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever been laid.
54 It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning.
55 The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body had been laid.
56 Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes. On the Sabbath they rested, according to the commandment.
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