Luke 23:13–34

Jesus or Barabbas

¹³Pilate called together the chief priests, the leaders, and the people, ⁱ¹⁴and said to them, “You have brought me this man as one who subverts the people. ^jBut in fact, after examining Him in your presence, I have found no grounds ^kto charge this man with those things you accuse Him of. ¹⁵Neither has Herod, because he sent Him back to us. Clearly, He has done nothing to deserve death. ¹⁶Therefore, I will have Him whipped ^lmand then release Him.” [¹⁷For according to the festival he had to release someone to them.] ^no

¹⁸Then ^pthey all cried out together, “Take this man away! ^qRelease Barabbas to us!” ¹⁹(He had been thrown into prison for a rebellion that had taken place in the city, and for murder.)

²⁰Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, ^raddressed them again, ²¹but they kept shouting, “Crucify! Crucify Him!”

²²A third time he said to them, “Why? What has this man done wrong? ^sI have found in Him no grounds ^tfor the death penalty. Therefore, I will have Him whipped and then release Him.”

²³But they kept up the pressure, demanding with loud voices that He be crucified. And their voices ^uwon out. ²⁴So ^vPilate decided to grant their demand ^w25and released the one they were asking for, who had been thrown into prison for rebellion and murder. But he handed Jesus over to their will. ^x

The Way to the Cross

²⁶As ^ythey led Him away, they seized Simon, a Cyrenian, ^zwho was coming in from the country, and laid the cross ^aon him to carry behind Jesus. ²⁷A large crowd of people followed Him, including women who were mourning and lamenting Him. ^b28But turning to them, Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, ^cdo not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and your children. ²⁹Look, the days are coming ^dwhen they will say, ‘The women without children, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed, are fortunate!’ ^e30Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’ ^fg31For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?” ^h

Crucified between Two Criminals

³²Two others—criminals ⁱ—were also led away to be executed with Him. ³³When ^jthey arrived at the place called The Skull, they crucified Him there, along with the criminals, one on the right and one on the left. [³⁴Then Jesus said, “Father, ^kforgive ^lthem, because they do not know what they are doing.” ^m] ⁿAnd they divided His clothes and cast lots. ^o