^23:26As⁶³ they led him away, they seized Simon of Cyrene,⁶⁴ who was coming in from the country.⁶⁵ They placed the cross on his back and made him carry it behind Jesus.⁶⁶^23:27A great number of the people followed him, among them women⁶⁷ who were mourning⁶⁸ and wailing for him. ^23:28But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem,⁶⁹ do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves⁷⁰ and for your children. ^23:29For this is certain:⁷¹ The days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore children, and the breasts that never nursed!’⁷²^23:30Then they will begin to say to the mountains,⁷³ ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’⁷⁴^23:31For if such things are done⁷⁵ when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”⁷⁶

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Luke 23:26: And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus.

Footnotes

63 Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
64 Jesus was beaten severely with a whip before this (the prelude to crucifixion, known to the Romans as verberatio, mentioned in Matt 27:26; Mark 15:15; John 19:1), so he would have been weak from trauma and loss of blood. Apparently he was unable to bear the cross himself, so Simon was conscripted to help. Cyrene was located in North Africa where Tripoli is today. Nothing more is known about this Simon. Mark 15:21 names him as father of two people apparently known to Mark’s audience.
65 Or perhaps, “was coming in from his field” outside the city ( ἀγρός 1).
66 Grk “they placed the cross on him to carry behind Jesus.”
67 The background of these women is disputed. Are they “official” mourners of Jesus’ death, appointed by custom to mourn death? If so, the mourning here would be more pro forma. However, the text seems to treat the mourning as sincere, so their tears and lamenting would have been genuine.
68 Or “who were beating their breasts,” implying a ritualized form of mourning employed in Jewish funerals. See the note on the term “women” earlier in this verse.
69 The title Daughters of Jerusalem portrays these women mourning as representatives of the nation. For the location of Jerusalem see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
70 Do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves. Judgment now comes on the nation (see Luke 19:41–44) for this judgment of Jesus. Ironically, they mourn the wrong person—they should be mourning for themselves.
71 Grk “For behold.”
72 Grk “Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that have not borne, and the breasts that have not nursed!” Normally barrenness is a sign of judgment, because birth would be seen as a sign of blessing. The reversal of imagery indicates that something was badly wrong.
73 The figure of crying out to the mountains ‘Fall on us!’ (appealing to creation itself to hide them from God’s wrath), means that a time will come when people will feel they are better off dead (Hos 10:8).
74 An allusion to Hos 10:8 (cf. Rev 6:16).
75 Grk “if they do such things.” The plural subject here is indefinite, so the active voice has been translated as a passive (see ).
76 The figure of the green wood and the dry has been variously understood. Most likely the picture compares the judgment on Jesus as the green (living) wood to the worse judgment that will surely come for the dry (dead) wood of the nation.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when 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, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

NIVNew International Version (2011)

As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then

“ ‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”

and to the hills, “Cover us!” ’

For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

CSBChristian Standard Bible

As they led him away, they seized Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country, and laid the cross on him to carry behind Jesus. A large crowd of people followed him, including women who were mourning and lamenting him. But turning to them, Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and your children. Look, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the women without children, 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, ‘Cover us!’ For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

NLTNew Living Translation

As they led Jesus away, a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, happened to be coming in from the countryside. The soldiers seized him and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. A large crowd trailed behind, including many grief-stricken women. But Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For the days are coming when they will say, ‘Fortunate indeed are the women who are childless, the wombs that have not borne a child and the breasts that have never nursed.’ People will beg the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and plead with the hills, ‘Bury us.’ For if these things are done when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And as they led him away, they seized Simon, a certain man of Cyrene, who was coming from the country, and placed the cross on him, to carry it behind Jesus. And a great crowd of the people were following him, and of women who were mourning and lamenting him. But turning to them, Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children! For behold, days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that did not give birth, and the breasts that did not nurse!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’ For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

KJV 1900King James Version

And as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus. And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us. For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?

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