1 Then the whole assembly of them got up and brought him before Pilate.
2 They began to bring charges against him: "We found this man leading our nation astray, forbidding people to pay tribute to Caesar, and claiming that he himself is Christ, a king."
3 Pilate questioned him: "Are you the King of the Jews?" He answered him, "It is as you say."
4 Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, "I find no ground for a charge against this man."
5 But they kept insisting all the more: "He is stirring up the people, teaching all over Judea, starting from Galilee and right up to here."
6 When Pilate heard the word Galilee, he asked whether the man was a Galilean.
7 On learning that he came under Herod's authority, he sent him over to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time.
8 Herod was very pleased to see Jesus. He had been wanting to see him for a long time, because he had heard a great deal about him, and he was hoping to see some sign performed by him.
9 He put many questions to him, but Jesus gave him no answer at all.
10 Meanwhile the chief priests and scribes stood by, accusing him fiercely.
11 Herod and his troops treated him with scorn and ridiculed him; then he dressed him in a splendid robe and sent him back to Pilate.
12 On that same day Herod and Pilate became friends, though 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 as one who turns the people away. Now look, I have examined him in front of you and have found in this man no basis for the charges you bring against him.
15 Neither has Herod, for I sent you back to him; and you see, he has done nothing that deserves death.
16 So I will have him flogged and let him go."
17 (He was obliged to release one prisoner to them at the feast.)
18 But they all shouted out together, "Do away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!"
19 Barabbas had been put in prison for a riot that had taken place in the city, and for murder.
20 Wanting to set Jesus free, Pilate called out to them once more.
21 But they kept yelling, "Crucify, crucify him!"
22 A third time he said to them, "Why? What wrong has he done? I have found no ground for the death penalty in him. So I will have him flogged and let him go."
23 But they kept pressing with loud shouts, demanding that he be crucified, and their shouts and those of the chief priests won out.
24 So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted.
25 He released the man they were asking for, who had been thrown into prison for riot and murder; but Jesus he handed over to their will.
26 As they led him off, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the countryside, and put the cross on him to carry behind Jesus.
27 A great number of people followed him, including women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him.
28 Jesus turned to them and said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for me; weep instead for yourselves and for your children.
29 For look, days are coming when people will say, 'Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never gave birth, and the breasts that never fed a child!'
30 Then they will start saying to the mountains, 'Fall on us,' and to the hills, 'Cover us.'
31 For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?"
32 Two others as well, who were criminals, were being led away with him to be executed.
33 When they reached the place called The Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals, one on his right and the other on his left.
34 Jesus was saying, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
35 The people stood there watching. Even the leaders joined them in scoffing: "He saved others; let him save himself, if this is the Christ, God's chosen one."
36 The soldiers too made fun of him; they came up and offered him sour wine
37 and said, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!"
38 There was also an inscription above him, written in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew letters: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
39 One of the criminals hanging there kept insulting him: "If you are the Christ, save yourself and us!"
40 But the other answered with a rebuke: "Do you not fear God at all, when you are under the same sentence?
41 For us it is just, because we are getting what our deeds deserve; but this man has done nothing out of place."
42 And he said to Jesus, "Remember me, Lord, when you come in your kingdom."
43 Jesus said to him, "Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."
44 It was by now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour.
45 The sun was darkened, and the curtain of the temple was split down the middle.
46 Calling out with a loud voice, Jesus said, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." With these words he breathed his last.
47 When the centurion saw what had taken place, he gave glory to God and said, "Surely this man was righteous."
48 All the crowds who had gathered for this spectacle, when they saw what had happened, went home beating their breasts.
49 But all who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood far off and watched these things.
50 There was a man named Joseph, a member of the council, a good and just man,
51 who had not agreed with their plan and action. He came from Arimathea, a Jewish town, and he too was waiting for the kingdom of God.
52 He went to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body.
53 He took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and placed it in a tomb cut into the rock, in which no one had yet been laid.
54 It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was about to begin.
55 The women who had come with him from Galilee followed along and saw the tomb and how his body was placed.
56 Then they went back and prepared spices and perfumes. On the Sabbath they rested, as the commandment required.