Jesus Is Nailed to a Cross^(A)

³² The soldiers were going out of the city with Jesus. They saw a man from Cyrene named Simon, and they forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. ³³ They came to the place called Golgotha. (Golgotha means “The Place of the Skull.”) ³⁴ There the soldiers gave Jesus some wine mixed with gall.^[a] But when he tasted it, he refused to drink it.

³⁵ The soldiers nailed Jesus to a cross. Then they threw dice to divide his clothes between them. ³⁶ The soldiers stayed there to guard him. ³⁷ They put a sign above his head with the charge against him written on it: “ this is jesus, the king of the jews.”

³⁸ Two criminals were nailed to crosses beside Jesus—one on the right and the other on the left. ³⁹ People walked by and shouted insults at Jesus. They shook their heads ⁴⁰ and said, “You said you could destroy the Temple and build it again in three days. So save yourself! Come down from that cross if you really are the Son of God!”

⁴¹ The leading priests, the teachers of the law, and the older Jewish leaders were also there. They made fun of Jesus the same as the other people did. ⁴² They said, “He saved others, but he can’t save himself! People say he is the king of Israel. If he is the king, he should come down now from the cross. Then we will believe in him. ⁴³ He trusted God. So let God save him now, if God really wants him. He himself said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” ⁴⁴ And in the same way, the criminals on the crosses beside Jesus also insulted him.

Jesus Is Nailed to a Cross^(A)

²¹ There was a man from Cyrene named Simon walking into the city from the fields. He was the father of Alexander and Rufus. The soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. ²² They led Jesus to the place called Golgotha. (Golgotha means “The Place of the Skull.”) ²³ There they gave him some wine mixed with myrrh, but he refused to drink it. ²⁴ The soldiers nailed Jesus to a cross. Then they divided his clothes among themselves, throwing dice to see who would get what.

²⁵ It was nine o’clock in the morning when they nailed Jesus to the cross. ²⁶ There was a sign with the charge against him written on it. It said, “ the king of the jews.” ²⁷ They also nailed two criminals to crosses beside Jesus—one on the right and the other on the left. ^28 [a]

²⁹ People walked by and said bad things to Jesus. They shook their heads and said, “You said you could destroy the Temple and build it again in three days. ³⁰ So save yourself! Come down from that cross!”

³¹ The leading priests and the teachers of the law were also there. They made fun of Jesus the same as the other people did. They said to each other, “He saved others, but he can’t save himself! ³² If he is really the Messiah, the king of Israel, he should come down from the cross now. When we see this, then we will believe in him.” The criminals on the crosses beside Jesus also said bad things to him.

¹⁷ He carried his own cross to a place called “The Place of the Skull.” (In Aramaic the name of this place is “Golgotha.”) ¹⁸ There they nailed Jesus to the cross. They also nailed two other men to crosses. They put them on each side of Jesus with him in the middle.

¹⁹ Pilate told them to write a sign and put it on the cross. The sign said, “ jesus of nazareth, the king of the jews.”