17 Carrying the pole[fn] himself, Yeshua arrived at the Place of the Skull (called Golgotha in Hebrew) just out of the city 18 where they secured him to a stake along with two others—one stake on each side and with Yeshua on the middle one. 19 Pilate wrote out a title and put it on the stake: Yeshua from Nazareth, the king of the Jews. 20 Many Jews read this title because the place where Yeshua was executed was near the city, and it had been written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. 21 But the Jewish chief priests complained to Pilate, “Don’t write ‘The king of the Jews’, but rather ‘The one who said he was king of the Jews’.”

22 However Pilate answered, “What I’ve written, I’ve written.”

23 After the soldiers had fastened Yeshua to the stake, they took his clothes and placed in four piles, one for each of them. This left his robe, which had been woven from top to bottom in one piece. 24 So they said to each other, “Rather than tearing this, let’s throw a dice to see who will get it.” (This fulfilled what was written in the scriptures[ref] that said: they divided my garments among themselves and threw a dice for my clothes.) So they went ahead and did that.

25 Meanwhile a group of women had stayed standing near Yeshua on the stake: his mother and his aunt, Maria the wife of Clopas, and Maria from Magdala. 26 When Yeshua saw his mother and also the intern that he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Look, he’ll be your son.” 27 And to the intern he said, “Look, she’ll be your mother.” And that intern took her into his own home from then on.

32 When they got out onto the street, they grabbed a man who turned out to be Simon from Cyrene, and they forced him to carry the stake. 33 When they arrived at the place called Golgotha (which means ‘Place of the skull’), 34 [ref]they gave Yeshua some wine mixed with something bitter, but when he tasted it, he didn’t want to drink any.

35 [ref]Then they executed him on the stake and divided his clothes out by throwing dice 36 as they sat there guarding him. 37 They put a sign above his head that said, ‘This is Yeshua, the king of the Jews.’ 38 Two robbers were also executed on stakes—one on his right and one on his left.[fn]

39 [ref]Many of the people passing by bad-mouthed him, shaking their heads 40 [ref]and saying, “Ha, you reckoned you could demolish the temple and rebuild it in three days so save yourself now—if you’re really God’s son, just step down off that stake.”

41 Similarly, the chief priests and the religious teachers and the elders mocked him saying, 42 “Ha, he saved others but he can’t even save himself. If he’s Israel’s king, let him come down now from the stake and then we’ll believe in him. 43 [ref]He put his trust in God, so let God rescue him now if he wants him, because he did claim to be God’s son.”

44 Even the robbers who were being executed beside him derided him.

21 [ref]As they walked out of the city, they came across a man coming in from the country. He was Simon from Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus, and the soldiers forced him to carry the execution pole, 22 and so they all arrived at Golgotha (which means “Place of the skull”). 23 There the soldiers went to give some spiced wine to Yeshua, but he declined it. 24 [ref]So they carried out the execution, taking Yeshua’s clothes and drawing straws to see who would get what. 25 By now it was 9am, and they affixed Yeshua to the pole. 26 The charge had been written out and attached at the top: “The King of the Jews.” 27 That morning, two thieves were also executed there—one on each side of Yeshua.

28 ◘ 29 [ref]As people passed by on the path, they insulted Yeshua, shaking their heads and shouting, “Hoy there! You who reckoned you could demolish the temple and rebuild it in three days. 30 Come down from that pole and save yourself.”

31 Similarly the chief priests and the religious teachers laughed together and mocked, “He did miracles for others, but he can’t even save himself. 32 The so-called ‘chosen one’ or ‘King of Israel’. Now, if he’d just come down from there, then we’d be able to believe him.”

Even the other two being executed with him were deriding him.

26 As the Roman soldiers led Yeshua out of the city, they grabbed a man that was coming in from the countryside. He was Simon from Cyrene, and they forced him to carry the stake and follow along behind Yeshua.

27 Following along behind them, was a large crowd of people including women who were wailing for Yeshua and chanting sad songs, 28 but he turned to them and spoke, “Women of Yerushalem, don’t weep for me. Weep for yourselves and for your children, 29 because the time is coming when they’ll say, ‘Blessed are the childless couples and the women who never bore or raised a child.’ 30 [ref]Then they’ll start being the mountains to fall on top of them and begging the hills to smother them, 31 because if this what happens while we’re still a nation, what will happen when the country is gone?”

32 There were also two other criminals being led along to be executed with Yeshua.

33 When they got to the place named ‘The Skull’, they attached Yeshua onto a stake[fn] and the same for the two criminals, one on each side of him, 34 [ref]but when they divided his clothes, the soldiers threw dice to divide them up.

35 [ref]The people observing were standing there, and some of the Jewish leaders were there too, sneering at him and saying, “He saved others, so now if he’s God’s son, the chosen messiah, let him save himself.”

36 The soldiers also mocked him, going up and offering cheap wine to him, 37 saying, “If you’re the king of the Jews, then save yourself,” 38 as an inscription had been placed above him that said, “This is the king of the Jews.”

39 One of the criminals that was hanging there insulted him, saying, “Aren’t you the messiah? Save yourself and us too.”

40 But the other criminal told him off, saying, “Don’t you even respect God when you too have been sentenced to death. 41 At least we deserve our punishment that fits what we’ve done, but in contrast, this man did nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Yeshua, remember me when you enter your kingdom.”

43 “I can assure you,” he replied, “that you’ll be with me in paradise today.”