23:1 Then the whole assembly rose and brought him before Pilate.
23:2 And they were accusing him, saying, “We find this man has misled our people, and forbids the paying of taxes to Caesar. He says that he has authority as the Anointed of God [Messiah, Christ].”
23:3 So Pilate asked him, “Are you the leader of the Jews?” Jesus answered him, “You have said this.”
23:4 Then Pilate told the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no guilt in this man.”
23:5 But they insisted, “He has stirred up the people with his teachings throughout Judea, as far as Galilee.
23:6 When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was Galilean.
23:7 When he determined that he was from Herod’s region, he sent him to Herod – who was also in Jerusalem at the time.
23:8 Herod was pleased when he saw Jesus. He had wanted to see him for a long time because he had heard so much about him and hoped to see him perform a miracle.
23:9 So he questioned him at length. Yet Jesus didn’t reply.
23:10 And the chief priests and scribes stood there vehemently accusing him.
23:11 Then Herod and his soldiers treated him offensively. They mocked him and dressed him in an extravagant robe and sent him back to Pilate.
23:12 On this day Herod and Pilate became friends with one another. For they were enemies with each other before.
23:13 Pilate summoned the chief priests and the elders, and the people.
23:14 He told them, “You brought this man to me as one who is inciting the people to riot. Look, I have examined him before you and I find this man not guilty of the charges you are making against him.
23:15 Nor has Herod, because he sent him back to us. Look, he hasn’t done anything that deserves death.
23:16 Therefore, I am punishing him, and then will release him.”
23:171
23:18 But they all shouted out, “Away with this man, and release Barabbas to us!”
23:19 For Barabbas had been thrown in prison for insurrection and murder within the city.
23:20 Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, appealed to them again.
23:21 But they kept chanting, “Crucify him, crucify him!”
23:22 Then he asked them for the third time, “What wrong has this man done? I have found in him no guilt worthy of death, so I will punish him and release him.”
23:23 But they pressed on with their shouting – demanding that he be crucified. Then their shouting succeeded.
23:24 And Pilate sentenced him according to their demands.
23:25 Then he released the man they asked for who had been put in prison for insurrection and murder. He handed Jesus over according to their demands.
23:26 As they led him off, they grabbed a man – Simon of Cyrene, who had come in from the country. They put the stake on him to carry behind Jesus.
23:27 Following him was a large crowd of people, including women who were grieving and mourning for him.
23:28 Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me. Weep for yourselves and your children.
23:29 For just consider, the time will come when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed.’
23:30 Then they will start saying to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.”
23:31 Because if they do this when the trees are green, what will happen when they are dry?”
23:32 Two other men – who were criminals – were also being taken to be killed with him.
23:33 When they arrived at the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, with one of the criminals on the right and the other on the left.
23:34 Yet Jesus said, “LORD, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” Then they cast lots to divide up his clothing among them.
23:35 And the crowd just stood there, watching. And even the rulers were insulting him, saying, “He saved others – let him save himself if this is the Anointed of God [Messiah, Christ], His Chosen One.
23:36 The soldiers also insulted him, approaching to offer him vinegar –
23:37 and saying, “If you are the leader of the Jews, save yourself.”
23:38 For above him was an inscription: “Here is the leader of the Jews.”
23:39 One of the criminals who was being hanged hurled insults at him, saying, “Are you not the Anointed [Messiah, Christ]? Save yourself and us.”
23:40 But the other criminal answered and rebuked him: “Don’t you even fear God? You are in fact condemned with the same sentence.
23:41 Our punishments are justified, because we are receiving the consequences of our actions. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
23:42 Then he said to Jesus, “Remember me when you have arrived at your sanctuary.”
23:43 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, this very day you will be with me in paradise.”
23:44 It was now about the sixth hour.2 Darkness fell over the entire region until the ninth hour.3
23:45 For the sun become obscured. The Temple curtain was ripped in two.
23:46 Then Jesus cried out loudly and said, “LORD, into Your Hands I commit my spirit.”4 Having said this, he breathed his last.
23:47 When a centurion saw this take place, he began glorifying God. He said, “Surely this man was innocent.”
23:48 Then all the crowds who gathered for this spectacle – after they saw what happened – returned, beating their chests.
23:49 And everyone who knew him – and the women who followed him from Galilee – stood at a distance, watching.
23:50 There was a man named Joseph, who was a member of the council – an honorable and devoted fellow –
23:51 who hadn’t approved of their decision and plan. He was a man from Arimathea, a Jewish village. He had accepted the sanctuary of God.
23:52 This man went to Pilate and asked for the physical body of Jesus.
23:53 So he took it down and wrapped it in linen cloth. He laid it in a tomb cut into the rock – a place where no body had been previously lain.
23:54 It was preparation day and the Sabbath was about to begin.
23:55 Now the women who accompanied him in Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid.
23:56 Then they returned and prepared essential oils and ointments. Then on the Sabbath they rested, in accordance with the commandment.
Footnotes:
1. Verse 23:17. Earliest manuscripts do not contain this verse.
2. Verse 23:44. Sixth hour = Noon. Ninth = Three o’clock in the afternoon.
3. Verse 23:46. Jesus’ final prayer references David’s prayer to God in Psalm 31:
23:2 And they were accusing him, saying, “We find this man has misled our people, and forbids the paying of taxes to Caesar. He says that he has authority as the Anointed of God [Messiah, Christ].”
23:3 So Pilate asked him, “Are you the leader of the Jews?” Jesus answered him, “You have said this.”
23:4 Then Pilate told the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no guilt in this man.”
23:5 But they insisted, “He has stirred up the people with his teachings throughout Judea, as far as Galilee.
23:6 When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was Galilean.
23:7 When he determined that he was from Herod’s region, he sent him to Herod – who was also in Jerusalem at the time.
23:8 Herod was pleased when he saw Jesus. He had wanted to see him for a long time because he had heard so much about him and hoped to see him perform a miracle.
23:9 So he questioned him at length. Yet Jesus didn’t reply.
23:10 And the chief priests and scribes stood there vehemently accusing him.
23:11 Then Herod and his soldiers treated him offensively. They mocked him and dressed him in an extravagant robe and sent him back to Pilate.
23:12 On this day Herod and Pilate became friends with one another. For they were enemies with each other before.
23:13 Pilate summoned the chief priests and the elders, and the people.
23:14 He told them, “You brought this man to me as one who is inciting the people to riot. Look, I have examined him before you and I find this man not guilty of the charges you are making against him.
23:15 Nor has Herod, because he sent him back to us. Look, he hasn’t done anything that deserves death.
23:16 Therefore, I am punishing him, and then will release him.”
23:171
23:18 But they all shouted out, “Away with this man, and release Barabbas to us!”
23:19 For Barabbas had been thrown in prison for insurrection and murder within the city.
23:20 Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, appealed to them again.
23:21 But they kept chanting, “Crucify him, crucify him!”
23:22 Then he asked them for the third time, “What wrong has this man done? I have found in him no guilt worthy of death, so I will punish him and release him.”
23:23 But they pressed on with their shouting – demanding that he be crucified. Then their shouting succeeded.
23:24 And Pilate sentenced him according to their demands.
23:25 Then he released the man they asked for who had been put in prison for insurrection and murder. He handed Jesus over according to their demands.
23:26 As they led him off, they grabbed a man – Simon of Cyrene, who had come in from the country. They put the stake on him to carry behind Jesus.
23:27 Following him was a large crowd of people, including women who were grieving and mourning for him.
23:28 Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me. Weep for yourselves and your children.
23:29 For just consider, the time will come when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed.’
23:30 Then they will start saying to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.”
23:31 Because if they do this when the trees are green, what will happen when they are dry?”
23:32 Two other men – who were criminals – were also being taken to be killed with him.
23:33 When they arrived at the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, with one of the criminals on the right and the other on the left.
23:34 Yet Jesus said, “LORD, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” Then they cast lots to divide up his clothing among them.
23:35 And the crowd just stood there, watching. And even the rulers were insulting him, saying, “He saved others – let him save himself if this is the Anointed of God [Messiah, Christ], His Chosen One.
23:36 The soldiers also insulted him, approaching to offer him vinegar –
23:37 and saying, “If you are the leader of the Jews, save yourself.”
23:38 For above him was an inscription: “Here is the leader of the Jews.”
23:39 One of the criminals who was being hanged hurled insults at him, saying, “Are you not the Anointed [Messiah, Christ]? Save yourself and us.”
23:40 But the other criminal answered and rebuked him: “Don’t you even fear God? You are in fact condemned with the same sentence.
23:41 Our punishments are justified, because we are receiving the consequences of our actions. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
23:42 Then he said to Jesus, “Remember me when you have arrived at your sanctuary.”
23:43 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, this very day you will be with me in paradise.”
23:44 It was now about the sixth hour.2 Darkness fell over the entire region until the ninth hour.3
23:45 For the sun become obscured. The Temple curtain was ripped in two.
23:46 Then Jesus cried out loudly and said, “LORD, into Your Hands I commit my spirit.”4 Having said this, he breathed his last.
23:47 When a centurion saw this take place, he began glorifying God. He said, “Surely this man was innocent.”
23:48 Then all the crowds who gathered for this spectacle – after they saw what happened – returned, beating their chests.
23:49 And everyone who knew him – and the women who followed him from Galilee – stood at a distance, watching.
23:50 There was a man named Joseph, who was a member of the council – an honorable and devoted fellow –
23:51 who hadn’t approved of their decision and plan. He was a man from Arimathea, a Jewish village. He had accepted the sanctuary of God.
23:52 This man went to Pilate and asked for the physical body of Jesus.
23:53 So he took it down and wrapped it in linen cloth. He laid it in a tomb cut into the rock – a place where no body had been previously lain.
23:54 It was preparation day and the Sabbath was about to begin.
23:55 Now the women who accompanied him in Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid.
23:56 Then they returned and prepared essential oils and ointments. Then on the Sabbath they rested, in accordance with the commandment.
Footnotes:
1. Verse 23:17. Earliest manuscripts do not contain this verse.
2. Verse 23:44. Sixth hour = Noon. Ninth = Three o’clock in the afternoon.
3. Verse 23:46. Jesus’ final prayer references David’s prayer to God in Psalm 31:
In You, LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in Your righteousness. Turn Your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me. Since You are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of Your name lead and guide me. Keep me free from the trap that is set for me, for You are my refuge. Into Your Hands I commit my spirit; deliver me, LORD, my faithful God. (Psalms 31:1-5, NIV)
