Luke 23  New American Standard Bible

Jesus before Pilate

23 Then the entire assembly of them set out and ^(A)brought Him before Pilate. ^2 (B)And they began to bring charges against Him, saying, “We found this Man ^(C)misleading our nation and ^(D)forbidding us to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is ^[a]Christ, a King.” ³ Now Pilate asked Him, saying, “So You are the King of the Jews?” And He answered him and said, “^(E)It is as you say.” ⁴ But Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “^(F)I find no grounds for charges in the case of this Man.” ⁵ But they kept on insisting, saying, “He is stirring up the people, teaching all over Judea, ^(G)starting from Galilee, as far as this place!”

⁶ Now when Pilate heard this, he asked whether the Man was a Galilean. ⁷ And when he learned that He belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him to ^(H)Herod, ^[b]since he also was in Jerusalem ^[c]at this time.

Jesus before Herod

⁸ Now Herod was overjoyed when he saw Jesus; for ^(I)he had wanted to see Him for a long time, because he had been hearing about Him and was hoping to see some ^[d]sign performed by Him. ⁹ And he questioned Him ^[e]at some length; but ^(J)He offered him no answer at all. ¹⁰ Now the chief priests and the scribes stood there, vehemently charging Him. ¹¹ And Herod, together with his soldiers, treated Him with contempt and mocked Him, ^(K)dressing Him in a brightly shining robe, and sent Him back to Pilate. ¹² And so ^(L)Herod and Pilate became friends with one another that very day; for previously, they had been enemies toward each other.

Pilate Seeks Jesus’ Release

¹³ Now Pilate summoned to himself the chief priests, the ^[f](M)rulers, and the people, ¹⁴ and he said to them, “You brought this Man to me on the ground that ^(N)He is inciting the people to revolt; and behold, after examining Him before you, I ^(O)have found no basis at all in the case of this Man for the charges which you are bringing against Him. ¹⁵ No, nor has ^(P)Herod, for he sent Him back to us; and behold, nothing deserving death has been done by Him. ¹⁶ Therefore I will ^[g](Q)punish Him and release Him.” ¹⁷ [^[h]Now he was obligated to release to them at the feast one prisoner.]

¹⁸ But they cried out all together, saying, “^(R)Away with this Man, and release to us Barabbas!” ¹⁹ (He was one who had been thrown into prison for a revolt that took place in the city, and for murder.) ²⁰ But Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again, ²¹ but they kept on crying out, saying, “Crucify, crucify Him!” ²² And he said to them a third time, “Why, what has this Man done wrong? I have found ^[i]in His case no grounds for a sentence of death; therefore I will ^[j](S)punish Him and release Him.” ²³ But they were insistent, with loud voices, demanding that He be crucified. And their voices began to prevail. ²⁴ And so Pilate decided to have their demand carried out. ²⁵ And he released the man for whom they were asking, who had been thrown into prison for a revolt and murder; but he handed Jesus over to their will.

Simon Carries the Cross

^26 (T)And when they led Him away, they seized a man, Simon of ^(U)Cyrene, as he was coming in from the country, and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus.

²⁷ Now following Him was a large crowd of the people, and of women who were ^[k](V)mourning and grieving for Him. ²⁸ But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹ For behold, days are coming when they will say, ‘^(W)Blessed are those who cannot bear, and the wombs that have not given birth, and the breasts that have not nursed.’ ³⁰ Then they will begin to ^(X)say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ ³¹ For if they do these things ^[l]when the tree is green, what will happen ^[m]when it is dry?”

^32 (Y)Now two others, who were criminals, were also being led away to be put to death with Him.

The Crucifixion

^33 (Z)And when they came to the place called ^[n]The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. ³⁴ [^[o]But Jesus was saying, “^(AA)Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”] ^(AB)And they cast lots, dividing His garments among themselves. ³⁵ And the people stood by, watching. And even the ^(AC)rulers were sneering at Him, saying, “He saved others; ^(AD)let Him save Himself if this is the ^[p]Christ of God, His Chosen One.” ³⁶ The soldiers also ridiculed Him, coming up to Him, ^(AE)offering Him sour wine, ³⁷ and saying, “^(AF)If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!” ³⁸ Now there was also an inscription above Him, “^(AG)THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

^39 (AH)One of the criminals who were hanged there was ^[q]hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the ^[r]Christ? ^(AI)Save Yourself and us!” ⁴⁰ But the other responded, and rebuking him, said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? ⁴¹ And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving ^[s]what we deserve for our crimes; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴² And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!” ⁴³ And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in ^(AJ)Paradise.”

^44 (AK)It was now about ^[t](AL)the sixth hour, and darkness came over the entire land until ^[u]the ninth hour, ^45 [v]because the sun stopped shining; and ^(AM)the veil of the temple was torn ^[w]in two. ⁴⁶ And Jesus, ^(AN)crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, ^(AO)into Your hands I entrust My spirit.” And having said this, He ^[x]died. ^47 (AP)Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he began ^(AQ)praising God, saying, “This Man was in fact ^[y]innocent.” ⁴⁸ And all the crowds who came together for this spectacle, after watching what had happened, began to return home, ^[z](AR)beating their chests. ^49 (AS)And all His acquaintances and ^(AT)the women who accompanied Him from Galilee were standing at a distance, seeing these things.

Jesus Is Buried

^50 (AU)And a man named Joseph, who was a ^(AV)member of the Council, a good and righteous man ⁵¹ (he had not consented to their plan and action), a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was ^(AW)waiting for the kingdom of God— ⁵² this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁵³ And he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain. ⁵⁴ It was a ^[aa](AX)preparation day, and a Sabbath was about to ^[ab]begin. ⁵⁵ Now ^(AY)the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how His body was laid. ⁵⁶ And then they returned and ^(AZ)prepared spices and perfumes.

And ^(BA)on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.