Luke - Chapter 23 | Good News Translation

  • 1. The whole group rose up and took Jesus before Pilate,
  • 2. where they began to accuse him: "We caught this man misleading our people, telling them not to pay taxes to the Emperor and claiming that he himself is the Messiah, a king."
  • 3. Pilate asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" "So you say," answered Jesus.
  • 4. Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, "I find no reason to condemn this man."
  • 5. But they insisted even more strongly, "With his teaching he is starting a riot among the people all through Judea. He began in Galilee and now has come here."
  • 6. When Pilate heard this, he asked, "Is this man a Galilean?"
  • 7. When he learned that Jesus was from the region ruled by Herod, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.
  • 8. Herod was very pleased when he saw Jesus, because he had heard about him and had been wanting to see him for a long time. He was hoping to see Jesus perform some miracle.
  • 9. So Herod asked Jesus many questions, but Jesus made no answer.
  • 10. The chief priests and the teachers of the Law stepped forward and made strong accusations against Jesus.
  • 11. Herod and his soldiers made fun of Jesus and treated him with contempt; then they put a fine robe on him and sent him back to Pilate.
  • 12. On that very day Herod and Pilate became friends; before this they had been enemies.
  • 13. Pilate called together the chief priests, the leaders, and the people,
  • 14. and said to them, "You brought this man to me and said that he was misleading the people. Now, I have examined him here in your presence, and I have not found him guilty of any of the crimes you accuse him of.
  • 15. Nor did Herod find him guilty, for he sent him back to us. There is nothing this man has done to deserve death.
  • 16. So I will have him whipped and let him go."
  • 17. {cf15I OMITTED TEXT}
  • 18. The whole crowd cried out, "Kill him! Set Barabbas free for us!"
  • 19. (Barabbas had been put in prison for a riot that had taken place in the city, and for murder.)
  • 20. Pilate wanted to set Jesus free, so he appealed to the crowd again.
  • 21. But they shouted back, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"
  • 22. Pilate said to them the third time, "But what crime has he committed? I cannot find anything he has done to deserve death! I will have him whipped and set him free."
  • 23. But they kept on shouting at the top of their voices that Jesus should be crucified, and finally their shouting succeeded.
  • 24. So Pilate passed the sentence on Jesus that they were asking for.
  • 25. He set free the man they wanted, the one who had been put in prison for riot and murder, and he handed Jesus over for them to do as they wished.
  • 26. The soldiers led Jesus away, and as they were going, they met a man from Cyrene named Simon who was coming into the city from the country. They seized him, put the cross on him, and made him carry it behind Jesus.
  • 27. A large crowd of people followed him; among them were some women who were weeping and wailing for him.
  • 28. Jesus turned to them and said, "Women of Jerusalem! Don't cry for me, but for yourselves and your children.
  • 29. For the days are coming when people will say, 'How lucky are the women who never had children, who never bore babies, who never nursed them!'
  • 30. That will be the time when people will say to the mountains, 'Fall on us!' and to the hills, 'Hide us!'
  • 31. For if such things as these are done when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?"
  • 32. Two other men, both of them criminals, were also led out to be put to death with Jesus.
  • 33. When they came to the place called "The Skull," they crucified Jesus there, and the two criminals, one on his right and the other on his left.
  • 34. Jesus said, "Forgive them, Father! They don't know what they are doing." They divided his clothes among themselves by throwing dice.
  • 35. The people stood there watching while the Jewish leaders made fun of him: "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah whom God has chosen!"
  • 36. The soldiers also made fun of him: they came up to him and offered him cheap wine,
  • 37. and said, "Save yourself if you are the king of the Jews!"
  • 38. Above him were written these words: "This is the King of the Jews."
  • 39. One of the criminals hanging there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!"
  • 40. The other one, however, rebuked him, saying, "Don't you fear God? You received the same sentence he did.
  • 41. Ours, however, is only right, because we are getting what we deserve for what we did; but he has done no wrong."
  • 42. And he said to Jesus, "Remember me, Jesus, when you come as King!"
  • 43. Jesus said to him, "I promise you that today you will be in Paradise with me."
  • 44. It was about twelve o'clock when the sun stopped shining and darkness covered the whole country until three o'clock; and the curtain hanging in the Temple was torn in two.
  • 45. {cf15I (SEE 23:44)}
  • 46. Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Father! In your hands I place my spirit!" He said this and died.
  • 47. The army officer saw what had happened, and he praised God, saying, "Certainly he was a good man!"
  • 48. When the people who had gathered there to watch the spectacle saw what happened, they all went back home, beating their breasts in sorrow.
  • 49. All those who knew Jesus personally, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance to watch.
  • 50. There was a man named Joseph from Arimathea, a town in Judea. He was a good and honorable man, who was waiting for the coming of the Kingdom of God. Although he was a member of the Council, he had not agreed with their decision and action.
  • 51. {cf15I (SEE 23:50)}
  • 52. He went into the presence of Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
  • 53. Then he took the body down, wrapped it in a linen sheet, and placed it in a tomb which had been dug out of solid rock and which had never been used.
  • 54. It was Friday, and the Sabbath was about to begin.
  • 55. The women who had followed Jesus from Galilee went with Joseph and saw the tomb and how Jesus' body was placed in it.
  • 56. Then they went back home and prepared the spices and perfumes for the body. On the Sabbath they rested, as the Law commanded.
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