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Luke 23 - Good News Bible bible

Luke 23

¹The whole group rose up and took Jesus before Pilate,

²where they began to accuse him: "We caught this man misleading our people, telling them not to pay taxes to the Emperor and claiming that he himself is the Messiah, a king."

³Pilate asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" "So you say," answered Jesus.

⁴Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, "I find no reason to condemn this man."

⁵But they insisted even more strongly, "With his teaching he is starting a riot among the people all through Judea. He began in Galilee and now has come here."

⁶When Pilate heard this, he asked, "Is this man a Galilean?"

⁷When he learned that Jesus was from the region ruled by Herod, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.

⁸Herod was very pleased when he saw Jesus, because he had heard about him and had been wanting to see him for a long time. He was hoping to see Jesus perform some miracle.

⁹So Herod asked Jesus many questions, but Jesus made no answer.

¹⁰The chief priests and the teachers of the Law stepped forward and made strong accusations against Jesus.

¹¹Herod and his soldiers made fun of Jesus and treated him with contempt; then they put a fine robe on him and sent him back to Pilate.

¹²On that very day Herod and Pilate became friends; before this they had been enemies.

¹³Pilate called together the chief priests, the leaders, and the people,

¹⁴and said to them, "You brought this man to me and said that he was misleading the people. Now, I have examined him here in your presence, and I have not found him guilty of any of the crimes you accuse him of.

¹⁵Nor did Herod find him guilty, for he sent him back to us. There is nothing this man has done to deserve death.

¹⁶So I will have him whipped and let him go."

¹⁷OMITTED TEXT

¹⁸The whole crowd cried out, "Kill him! Set Barabbas free for us!"

¹⁹(Barabbas had been put in prison for a riot that had taken place in the city, and for murder.)

²⁰Pilate wanted to set Jesus free, so he appealed to the crowd again.

²¹But they shouted back, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"

²²Pilate said to them the third time, "But what crime has he committed? I cannot find anything he has done to deserve death! I will have him whipped and set him free."

²³But they kept on shouting at the top of their voices that Jesus should be crucified, and finally their shouting succeeded.

²⁴So Pilate passed the sentence on Jesus that they were asking for.

²⁵He set free the man they wanted, the one who had been put in prison for riot and murder, and he handed Jesus over for them to do as they wished.

²⁶The soldiers led Jesus away, and as they were going, they met a man from Cyrene named Simon who was coming into the city from the country. They seized him, put the cross on him, and made him carry it behind Jesus.

²⁷A large crowd of people followed him; among them were some women who were weeping and wailing for him.

²⁸Jesus turned to them and said, "Women of Jerusalem! Don't cry for me, but for yourselves and your children.

²⁹For the days are coming when people will say, 'How lucky are the women who never had children, who never bore babies, who never nursed them!'

³⁰That will be the time when people will say to the mountains, 'Fall on us!' and to the hills, 'Hide us!'

³¹For if such things as these are done when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?"

³²Two other men, both of them criminals, were also led out to be put to death with Jesus.

³³When they came to the place called "The Skull,"they crucified Jesus there, and the two criminals, one on his right and the other on his left.

³⁴Jesus said, "Forgive them, Father! They don't know what they are doing." They divided his clothes among themselves by throwing dice.

³⁵The people stood there watching while the Jewish leaders made fun of him: "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah whom God has chosen!"

³⁶The soldiers also made fun of him: they came up to him and offered him cheap wine,

³⁷and said, "Save yourself if you are the king of the Jews!"

³⁸Above him were written these words: "This is the King of the Jews."

³⁹One of the criminals hanging there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!"

⁴⁰The other one, however, rebuked him, saying, "Don't you fear God? You received the same sentence he did.

⁴¹Ours, however, is only right, because we are getting what we deserve for what we did; but he has done no wrong."

⁴²And he said to Jesus, "Remember me, Jesus, when you come as King!"

⁴³Jesus said to him, "I promise you that today you will be in Paradise with me."

⁴⁴It was about twelve o'clock when the sun stopped shining and darkness covered the whole country until three o'clock; and the curtain hanging in the Temple was torn in two.

⁴⁵

⁴⁶Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Father! In your hands I place my spirit!" He said this and died.

⁴⁷The army officer saw what had happened, and he praised God, saying, "Certainly he was a good man!"

⁴⁸When the people who had gathered there to watch the spectacle saw what happened, they all went back home, beating their breasts in sorrow.

⁴⁹All those who knew Jesus personally, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance to watch.

⁵⁰There was a man named Joseph from Arimathea, a town in Judea. He was a good and honorable man, who was waiting for the coming of the Kingdom of God. Although he was a member of the Council, he had not agreed with their decision and action.

⁵¹

⁵²He went into the presence of Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.

⁵³Then he took the body down, wrapped it in a linen sheet, and placed it in a tomb which had been dug out of solid rock and which had never been used.

⁵⁴It was Friday, and the Sabbath was about to begin.

⁵⁵The women who had followed Jesus from Galilee went with Joseph and saw the tomb and how Jesus' body was placed in it.

⁵⁶Then they went back home and prepared the spices and perfumes for the body. On the Sabbath they rested, as the Law commanded.