Luke 23

And all of them got up and brought him before Pilate.

And they began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man corrupting our nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ a king.”

And Pilate asked him, saying, “Are you the king of the Jews?” And he answered him and said, “Yes, it is as you say.”

And Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no fault in this man.”

But they kept on insisting, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea; beginning from Galilee and reaching even to this place.”

But when Pilate heard this, he asked if the man was a Galilean.

And when he knew that he was of Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him up to Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem in those days.

Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad, for he had wanted to see him for a long time, because he had heard about him, and he hoped to see some miracle done by him.

And he questioned him at considerable length, but he did not answer him.

And the chief priests and the experts in the law stood, vehemently accusing him.

And Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt, and mocked him, and dressing him in a magnificent robe, sent him back to Pilate.

And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before this they had been hostile toward one another.

And Pilate called the chief priests and the rulers and the People together,

and said to them, “You brought this man to me as one who incites the people, and look, after examining him in your presence, I found no fault in this man regarding those things of which you accuse him.

No, neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us, and See!, nothing worthy of death has been done by him.

Therefore I will punish him and release him.”

[[(For of necessity he must release one unto them at the feast.)]]

But they all cried out together, saying, “Away with this fellow! Release Barabbas for us”

(one who for a certain insurrection made in the city, and for murder, was thrown into prison).

Pilate spoke to them again, wanting to release Jesus,

but they shouted, saying, “Crucify! Crucify him!”

A third time he said to them, “Why, what evil has he done? I have found no basis for the death penalty in him. Therefore I will punish him and release him.”

But they were insistent, asking with loud voices for him to be crucified. And their voices prevailed,

and Pilate pronounced sentence that their demand should be granted.

He released the one whom they were asking for, who had been thrown into prison for rebellion and murder, but he handed Jesus over, just as they wanted.

And as they led him away, they took hold of Simon, a man from Cyrene, who was coming from the countryside, and laid the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.

And a great multitude of the People were following him, and of women who were beating themselves on the chest and lamented him.

But Jesus, turning to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not cry for me, but cry for yourselves, and for your children.

For Look!, the days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’

Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Bury us!’

For if they are doing these things when the wood is green, what will they do when it is dry?”

And there were also two others, criminals, led with him to be put to death.

And when they came to the place that is called the “Skull,” they crucified him there, and the criminals also, one on his right hand and the other on his left.

And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up his clothes among them.

And the people stood by, watching. And the rulers also scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others, let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One.”

And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, offering him wine vinegar,

and saying, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”

And there was also an inscription above him, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

And one of the criminals who was hanged there kept insulting him, saying, “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us.”

But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not fear God, because you are in the same condemnation?

And we indeed rightly so, for we are receiving what we deserve for what we did, but this man has done nothing wrong.”

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

And he said to him, “Truly I say to you today, you will be with me in the Paradise.”

It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour

because the sun’s light failed, and the curtain of the sanctuary was torn down the middle.

And Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” And having said this, he breathed his last.

And when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, “Certainly this was a righteous man.”

And all the crowds that had come together for this spectacle, when they saw what had happened, began to return home, beating their chests.

And all those who knew him, and the women who accompanied him from Galilee, were standing at a distance watching these things.

And Look!, there was a good and righteous man named Joseph, who was a member of the Council

(but he had not consented to their counsel and deed. He was from Arimathea, a city of the Jews), who was waiting for the Kingdom of God.

This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.

And he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth and laid him in a tomb that was cut out of stone, where no one had ever yet been laid.

And it was the day of the Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning.

And the women who had come with him out of Galilee, having followed after Joseph, saw the tomb and how his body was laid.

Then, having returned, they prepared spices and perfumes. And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.