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23:1  Then their whole assembly rose up and brought him before Pilate.
23:2  They began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation, opposing payment of taxes to Caesar, and saying that he himself is the Messiah, a king.”
23:3  So Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” He answered him, “You say so.”
23:4  Pilate then told the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no grounds for charging this man.”
23:5  But they kept insisting, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee where he started even to here.”
23:6  When Pilate heard this, he asked if the man was a Galilean.
23:7  Finding that he was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem during those days.
23:8  Herod was very glad to see Jesus; for a long time he had wanted to see him because he had heard about him and was hoping to see some miracle performed by him.
23:9  So he kept asking him questions, but Jesus did not answer him.
23:10  The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him.
23:11  Then Herod, with his soldiers, treated him with contempt, mocked him, dressed him in bright clothing, and sent him back to Pilate.
23:12  That very day Herod and Pilate became friends. Previously, they had been enemies.
23:13  Pilate called together the chief priests, the leaders, and the people,
23:14  and said to them, “You have brought me this man as one who misleads the people. But in fact, after examining him in your presence, I have found no grounds to charge this man with those things you accuse him of.
23:15  Neither has Herod, because he sent him back to us. Clearly, he has done nothing to deserve death.
23:16  Therefore, I will have him whipped and then release him.”
23:18  Then they all cried out together, “Take this man away! Release Barabbas to us!”
23:19  (He had been thrown into prison for a rebellion that had taken place in the city, and for murder.)
23:20  Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate addressed them again,
23:21  but they kept shouting, “Crucify! Crucify him!”
23:22  A third time he said to them, “Why? What has this man done wrong? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore, I will have him whipped and then release him.”
23:23  But they kept up the pressure, demanding with loud voices that he be crucified, and their voices won out.
23:24  So Pilate decided to grant their demand
23:25  and 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.
23:26  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.
23:27  A large crowd of people followed him, including women who were mourning and lamenting him.
23:28  But turning to them, Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and your children.
23:29  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!’
23:30  Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’
23:31  For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
23:32  Two others—criminals—were also led away to be executed with him.
23:33  When they arrived at the place called The Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals, one on the right and one on the left.
23:34  Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided his clothes and cast lots.
23:35  The people stood watching, and even the leaders were scoffing: “He saved others; let him save himself if this is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One!”
23:36  The soldiers also mocked him. They came offering him sour wine
23:37  and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself!”
23:38  An inscription was above him: This Is the King of the Jews.
23:39  Then one of the criminals hanging there began to yell insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”
23:40  But the other answered, rebuking him: “Don’t you even fear God, since you are undergoing the same punishment?
23:41  We are punished justly, because we’re getting back what we deserve for the things we did, but this man has done nothing wrong.”
23:42  Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
23:43  And he said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
23:44  It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three,
23:45  because the sun’s light failed. The curtain of the sanctuary was split down the middle.
23:46  And Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.” Saying this, he breathed his last.
23:47  When the centurion saw what happened, he began to glorify God, saying, “This man really was righteous!”
23:48  All the crowds that had gathered for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, went home, striking their chests.
23:49  But all who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
23:50  There was a good and righteous man named Joseph, a member of the Sanhedrin,
23:51  who had not agreed with their plan and action. He was from Arimathea, a Judean town, and was looking forward to the kingdom of God.
23:52  He approached Pilate and asked for Jesus’s body.
23:53  Taking it down, he wrapped it in fine linen and placed it in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever been placed.
23:54  It was the preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.
23:55  The women who had come with him from Galilee followed along and observed the tomb and how his body was placed.
23:56  Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.