UST LUKE chapter 23

23 Then the whole group got up and took Jesus to Pilate, the Roman governor. 2 They accused him in front of Pilate. They said, “We have seen this man causing trouble by misleading our people. He has been telling them to not pay the taxes that Caesar, the Roman emperor, has imposed. Also, he has been saying that he is the Messiah, a king!” 3 Pilate then asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus replied, “Yes, it is just as you have asked me.” 4 Then Pilate said to the chief priests and to the crowd, “This man is not guilty of any crime.” 5 But the group from the Jewish ruling council kept accusing Jesus. They said, “He is trying to get the people to riot! He has been teaching his ideas throughout all of the region of Judea. He started doing that in the region of Galilee, and now he is doing it here as well!”

6 When Pilate heard what they said, he asked, “Does this man come from the region of Galilee?” 7 When Pilate found out that Jesus was from Galilee, where Herod Antipas ruled, he sent Jesus to him. Herod was also in Jerusalem at that time. 8 When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, because he had wanted to see Jesus for a long time. This was because Herod had heard many things about Jesus, and he wanted to see him perform a miracle. 9 So he asked Jesus many questions, but Jesus did not reply to any of them. 10 And the chief priests and some experts in the Jewish laws stood near Jesus, accusing him very strongly of committing many crimes. 11 Then Herod and his soldiers insulted Jesus and made fun of him. They put expensive clothes on him to pretend that he was a king. Then Herod sent him back to Pilate. 12 Until that time the two men had been very hostile to each other, but on that day Herod and Pilate became friends.

13 Pilate then gathered together the chief priests and other Jewish leaders and the crowd that was still there. 14 He said to them, “You brought this man to me, saying that he has been leading the people to revolt. But I want you to know that after examining him while you were listening, I conclude that he is not guilty of doing any of the things you said he did. 15 Also, Herod sent him back to us without punishing him. That means that he too concluded that he was not guilty. So it is clear that this man has not done anything for which he deserves to die. 16 So I will tell my soldiers to whip him and then set him free.” 17 [fn] [Pilate said this because he had to set one prisoner free at every Passover celebration.] 18 But the whole crowd shouted together, “Put this man to death! Set Barabbas free for us instead!” 19 Now Barabbas was a man who had led some people in the city of Jerusalem to rebel against the Roman government. He was also a murderer. He was in prison because of these crimes. 20 But Pilate wanted very much to set Jesus free, so he tried to speak to the crowd again. 21 But they kept on shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” 22 Pilate then spoke to the crowd a third time. “No! He has not committed any crime! He has not done anything for which he deserves to die. So I will have my soldiers whip him, and then I will set him free.” 23 But the people in the crowd kept shouting to insist that Pilate execute Jesus on a cross. Finally, because they continued to shout so loudly, they persuaded Pilate. 24 So Pilate declared that he would do what they wanted. 25 Then Pilate set free the man whom the crowd was asking him to release. That man was in prison because he had fought against the government and murdered people! Pilate then commanded the soldiers to take Jesus and do what the crowd wanted.

26 Now there was a man named Simon, who was from the city of Cyrene in Africa. He was coming into Jerusalem from the countryside. As the soldiers were leading Jesus away, they grabbed hold of Simon. They took from Jesus the cross that they had made him carry, and they put it on Simon’s shoulders. They told him to carry it and follow behind Jesus. 27 Now a large crowd was walking behind Jesus. In the crowd were many women who were beating on their chests to show their grief and wailing sorrowfully for him. 28 But instead of accepting their sympathy, Jesus turned to these women and said, “You women of Jerusalem, do not weep for me! Instead, weep over the terrible things that are going to happen to you and your children! 29 For I want you to know that there will soon be a time when people will say, ‘How fortunate are the women who have never given birth to children or nursed babies!’ 30 Then the people in this city will say, ‘We wish that the mountains would fall on top of us and that the hills would cover us up!’ 31 Right now it is difficult for people to do bad things to others, just as it is difficult to set fire to fresh wood. But later, people will easily be able to do terrible things to others, just as it is easy to set fire to dry wood.”

32 Two other men, who were criminals, were also walking with Jesus to the place where the Romans would execute them. 33 When they got to the place whose name was The Skull, there the soldiers crucified Jesus, nailing him to a cross. They did the same thing to the two criminals. They put one of them at the right side of Jesus and the other at his left side. 34 [fn] [But Jesus said, “Father, please forgive these people. They do not realize what they are doing.”] Then the soldiers divided his clothes and gambled with something like dice to determine which piece of clothing each one would get. 35 Many people stood nearby, watching. They were making fun of Jesus. The Jewish leaders did the same thing. They said, “He saved other people! If God has really chosen him to be the Messiah, he should save himself!” 36 The soldiers also mocked him. They came up to him and offered him some sour wine. 37 They said to him, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 On the cross above his head, the soldiers also fastened a sign that stated, “This is the King of the Jews.”

39 One of the criminals who was hanging on a cross next to Jesus also insulted him. He said, “If you really were the Messiah, you would save yourself, and you would save us too!” 40 But the other criminal scolded him for saying that. He told him, “You should be afraid of God punishing you! You are also dying on a cross, and soon God will judge you. 41 The two of us deserve to die. They are punishing us as we deserve for the evil things that we did. But the man you are insulting did nothing wrong!” 42 Then he said to Jesus, “Jesus, please think about me and treat me well when you begin to rule as king!” 43 Jesus replied, “I want you to know that today you will be with me in paradise!”

44 By then it was about noontime. But it became dark throughout that whole area until three o’clock in the afternoon. 45 There was no light from the sun. And the thick curtain that closed off the Most Holy Place in the temple split into two pieces. 46 When that happened, Jesus shouted loudly, “Father, I put my spirit into your care!” After he said that, he stopped breathing and died.

47 When the centurion who was commanding the soldiers saw what happened, he said, “Indeed, this man did nothing wrong!” What he said honored God. 48 When the crowd of people who had gathered to see these men die saw what had actually happened, they went back to their homes, hitting their chests to show that they were sorrowful. 49 But when the rest of the crowd left, all of Jesus’ acquaintances, including the women who had come with him from the region of Galilee, kept watching what happened from where they were standing, some distance away.

50 There was a man named Joseph who lived in Jerusalem. He was a good and righteous man who was a member of the Jewish Council. 51 But he had not agreed with the other Council members when they decided to kill Jesus and when they planned how to do it. He was from the town of Arimathea in Judea. He was waiting expectantly for the time when God would send his king to begin to rule. 52 Joseph went to Pilate and asked Pilate to permit him to take Jesus’ body and bury it. Pilate gave him permission, 53 So Joseph took Jesus’ body down from the cross. He wrapped it in a linen cloth. Then he put Jesus’ body in a burial chamber that someone had cut into a rock cliff. No one had ever put a body in that chamber before. 54 This happened on the day when the Jewish people got ready for their day of rest. It was soon going to be sunset, the start of the Sabbath. 55 The women who had come with Jesus from the district of Galilee followed Joseph and the men who were with him. They saw the burial chamber, and they saw how the men laid Jesus’ body inside it. 56 Then the women went back to where they were staying in order to prepare spices and ointments to put on Jesus’ body. However, they stopped working when the Sabbath began, just as the Jewish law required.

Some ancient manuscripts include verse 17.

Some ancient manuscripts include the first part of verse 34.

Demonstration version—prototype quality only—still in development

UST LUKE Chapter 23