Luke 23

₁All the people of the Jewish_Council got up and they took Jesus to Pilate. ₂They started to accuse Jesus and they said: ‘We found out that this Man wants our people to rebel and to stop paying taxes to Caesar. He also says that He is the Christ our King.’

₃Pilate asked Jesus: ‘Are you the King_of_the_Jews?’ Jesus answered Pilate: ‘Yes, it is as you say.’

₄Pilate said to the chief_priests and the people: ‘I do not think this Man has done anything wrong.’ ₅But the chief_priests said: ‘He makes the people angry and ready to fight. He taught things that are wrong in Galilee and now He has come to Judea.’

₆When Pilate heard this, he asked: ‘Does this Man come from Galilee?’ ₇When they told him that Jesus came from Galilee where Herod was king, he sent Jesus to King Herod. King Herod was in Jerusalem for the time of the Passover. ₈King Herod was happy to see Jesus. He wanted to meet Him because they had told him a lot about Jesus. Herod hoped that Jesus would do a miracle for him. ₉King Herod asked Jesus a lot of questions but Jesus did not answer him. ₁₀The chief_priests and the teachers_of_the_Laws were there and they said a lot of bad things and accused Jesus. ₁₁Then King Herod and his soldiers started to humiliate Jesus and mock Him. They put a beautiful robe on Him and then King Herod sent Jesus back to Pilate. ₁₂On that day King Herod and Pilate became friends. Before that day, they were enemies.

₁₃Then Pilate called the chief_priests and the leaders and all the people together. ₁₄He said to them: ‘You told me that this Man makes a lot of trouble and that He wants the people to rebel. I have asked Him some questions and I have listened to what He said, but I can not say He is guilty of the things that you said. ₁₅King Herod could not find anything wrong that He had done. That is why he sent Jesus back to me. Jesus has done nothing wrong. He must not die. _16-17So I will tell the soldiers to beat Jesus with a whip and then I will let Him go free.’

₁₈But then all the people shouted: ‘Kill this Man. We want you to free Barabbas and let him go out of jail.’

₁₉Barabbas was in jail because he was the leader of a group of people who had rebelled_against the Roman government in Jerusalem and he had killed a man. ₂₀Pilate wanted to free Jesus from jail and he talked to the people again. ₂₁But the people kept on shouting: ‘You must crucify Jesus, you must crucify Him.’

₂₂Pilate talked to them a 3rd time and he asked them: ‘Tell me what this Man has done wrong? He is not guilty. I can not let Him die. I will tell the soldiers to beat Him and then I will let Him go free.’

₂₃But the people kept on shouting that Pilate must crucify Jesus. They shouted so loudly ₂₄that Pilate decided to do what they asked. ₂₅He let Barabbas out of jail. Barabbas was in jail because he was the leader of the people who had rebelled_against the Roman government and had killed a man. Pilate did what the people asked. He said that Jesus must die, because that was what the people wanted.

₂₆The soldiers took Jesus away. At that same time there was a man from the town of Cyrene coming into the city. His name was Simon. The soldiers told him to carry the cross of Jesus and to walk behind Him. ₂₇A lot of people followed Jesus and walked behind Him. There were also some women who cried and showed how sad they were. ₂₈Then Jesus turned_around and He said: ‘Women of Jerusalem, don't cry for Me. Cry for yourselves and for your children. ₂₉There will come a time when people will say that women who have never had children are happy people. ₃₀Then people will say to the mountains and hills: “You must fall on us. Please hide us so that God can not see us.” ₃₁I say this because I am not guilty, and look what has happened to Me. Can you think what will happen to Jerusalem? And Jerusalem is guilty.’

₃₂The soldiers also crucified 2 other men with Jesus. They were thieves. ₃₃When they came to the place named The Skull, they crucified Jesus and the 2 thieves, one on his right hand side and the other on his left hand side. ₃₄Then Jesus said: ‘Father, forgive them because they do not know what they are doing.’

The soldiers who crucified Jesus took his clothes. They drew_lots to see what piece of the clothes each one would get. ₃₅All the people stood there and they saw what happened. The Jewish_leaders mocked Jesus and said: ‘He saved other people. Now He must save Himself if He is the Christ of God, and if God chose Him to be King.’

₃₆The soldiers also mocked Jesus. They wanted Him to drink sour wine. ₃₇They said: ‘If You are the King_of_the_Jews, then You must save Yourself.’

₃₈At the top of the cross they wrote why they had crucified Jesus. They wrote: ‘This is the King_of_the_Jews.’

₃₉One of the thieves on the cross next to Jesus also humiliated Jesus and he said to Him: ‘You say You are the Christ. If You are the Christ, save Yourself and save us.’ ₄₀But the other thief told him not to say that. He said: ‘Are you not afraid of God? They punish you the same way as they punish Jesus. ₄₁We have done bad things, and they must punish us, but Jesus has done nothing wrong.’

₄₂And then he said to Jesus: ‘Jesus, please remember me when God makes You King.’ ₄₃Then Jesus said to him: ‘I tell you this and it is sure: Today you will be with Me in Paradise.’

₄₄About the 6th hour (12 o'clock) it became dark in the whole land and it was dark for 3 hours. ₄₅The sun stopped shining and the curtain in the temple tore into 2 pieces from the top down to the bottom. ₄₆Jesus said loudly: ‘Father, I give Myself to You.’

After Jesus said that, He died. ₄₇The captain of the Roman soldiers saw what happened. He praised God and said: ‘This was a good Man. He was innocent.’

₄₈A lot of people came to see what had happened. They cried and showed that they felt sorry that it had happened and they went back to their homes. ₄₉The friends of Jesus and the women who came with Him from Galilee stood far away and watched what happened.

_50-51There was a man named Joseph. He came from the town of Arimathea. He was one of the Jews on the Jewish_Council and he was a good and righteous man who obeyed all the laws of Moses. He was also waiting for the time to come when God will be King over all. Joseph said the council had done wrong when they said Jesus must die. ₅₂Joseph went to Pilate and he asked Pilate if he could have the body of Jesus. ₅₃Then Joseph took Jesus' body off the cross and he put the body in a cloth and he put the body into a tomb that was cut into a big rock. There had never been anyone buried in that tomb. ₅₄It was late that Friday, not long before the sun went down and the Sabbath day started. ₅₅The women who came with Jesus from Galilee saw where Joseph put Jesus' body in the tomb. ₅₆Then the women went back to the town. They bought sweet-smelling spices to put onto Jesus' body. Then the Sabbath day started and they rested, like the laws of Moses say.