Luke 23

English Standard Version Anglicised

Jesus Before Pilate

23 ^(A)Then the whole company of them arose and brought him before Pilate. ²And they began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man ^(B)misleading our nation and ^(C)forbidding us to give tribute to ^(D)Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, ^(E)a king.” ³^(F)And Pilate asked him, ^(G)“Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, ^(H)“You have said so.” ⁴Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, ^(I)“I find no guilt in this man.” ⁵But they were urgent, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, ^(J)from Galilee even to this place.”

Jesus Before Herod

⁶When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. ⁷And when he learned that he belonged to ^(K)Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time. ⁸When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, ^(L)for he had long desired to see him, ^(M)because he had heard about him, and he was hoping ^(N)to see some sign done by him. ⁹So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer. ¹⁰The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. ¹¹And Herod with his soldiers ^(O)treated him with contempt and ^(P)mocked him. Then, ^(Q)arraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate. ¹²And ^(R)Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before this they had been at enmity with each other.

¹³Pilate then called together the chief priests and ^(S)the rulers and the people, ¹⁴and said to them, “You brought me this man ^(T)as one who was misleading the people. And ^(U)after examining him before you, behold, I ^(V)did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. ¹⁵Neither did Herod, for ^(W)he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him. ¹⁶^(X)I will therefore punish and release him.”^[a]

Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified

¹⁸^(Y)But they all cried out together, ^(Z)“Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas”— ¹⁹a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and ^(AA)for murder. ²⁰Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus, ²¹but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” ²²A third time he said to them, “Why, ^(AB)what evil has he done? ^(AC)I have found in him no guilt deserving death. ^(AD)I will therefore punish and release him.” ²³But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed. ²⁴So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted. ²⁵He released the man who had been thrown into prison ^(AE)for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, ^(AF)but he delivered Jesus over to their will.

The Crucifixion

²⁶^(AG)And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. ²⁷And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were ^(AH)mourning and lamenting for him. ²⁸But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹For behold, ^(AI)the days are coming when they will say, ^(AJ)‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ ³⁰^(AK)Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us’, and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ ³¹For ^(AL)if they do these things when ^(AM)the wood is green, what will happen ^(AN)when it is dry?”

³²^(AO)Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. ³³^(AP)And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, ^(AQ)one on his right and one on his left. ³⁴And Jesus said, “Father, ^(AR)forgive them, ^(AS)for they know not what they do.”^[b] And they cast lots ^(AT)to divide his garments. ³⁵And ^(AU)the people stood by, watching, ^(AV)but ^(AW)the rulers ^(AX)scoffed at him, saying, ^(AY)“He saved others; ^(AZ)let him save himself, ^(BA)if he is ^(BB)the Christ of God, ^(BC)his Chosen One!” ³⁶The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and ^(BD)offering him sour wine ³⁷and saying, ^(BE)“If you are ^(BF)the King of the Jews, save yourself!” ³⁸^(BG)There was also an inscription over him,^[c] “This is ^(BH)the King of the Jews.”

³⁹^(BI)One of the criminals who were hanged ^(BJ)railed at him,^[d] saying, “Are you not ^(BK)the Christ? Save yourself and us!” ⁴⁰But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? ⁴¹And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴²And he said, “Jesus, remember me ^(BL)when you come into your kingdom.” ⁴³And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in ^(BM)Paradise.”

The Death of Jesus

⁴⁴^(BN)It was now about the sixth hour,^[e] and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour,^[f] ⁴⁵while the sun's light failed. And ^(BO)the curtain of the temple was torn in two. ⁴⁶Then Jesus, ^(BP)calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, ^(BQ)into your hands I ^(BR)commit my spirit!” And having said this ^(BS)he breathed his last. ⁴⁷Now ^(BT)when the centurion saw what had taken place, ^(BU)he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!” ⁴⁸And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home ^(BV)beating their breasts. ⁴⁹And all ^(BW)his acquaintances and ^(BX)the women who had followed him from Galilee ^(BY)stood at a distance watching these things.

Jesus Is Buried

⁵⁰^(BZ)Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, ⁵¹who had not consented to their decision and action; and he ^(CA)was looking for the kingdom of God. ⁵²This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁵³Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and ^(CB)laid him in a tomb cut in stone, ^(CC)where no one had ever yet been laid. ⁵⁴It was the day of ^(CD)Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning.^[g] ⁵⁵^(CE)The women ^(CF)who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. ⁵⁶Then they returned and ^(CG)prepared spices and ointments.

On the Sabbath they rested ^(CH)according to the commandment.

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Footnotes

Luke 23:16 Here, or after verse 19, some manuscripts add verse 17: Now he was obliged to release one man to them at the festival
Luke 23:34 Some manuscripts omit the sentence And Jesus… what they do
Luke 23:38 Some manuscripts add in letters of Greek and Latin and Hebrew
Luke 23:39 Or blasphemed him
Luke 23:44 That is, noon
Luke 23:44 That is, 3 p.m.
Luke 23:54 Greek was dawning

Luke 23

The Message

Pilate

23 ^1-2Then they all took Jesus to Pilate and began to bring up charges against him. They said, “We found this man undermining our law and order, forbidding taxes to be paid to Caesar, setting himself up as Messiah-King.”

³Pilate asked him, “Is this true that you’re ‘King of the Jews’?”

“Those are your words, not mine,” Jesus replied.

⁴Pilate told the high priests and the accompanying crowd, “I find nothing wrong here. He seems harmless enough to me.”

⁵But they were vehement. “He’s stirring up unrest among the people with his teaching, disturbing the peace everywhere, starting in Galilee and now all through Judea. He’s a dangerous man, endangering the peace.”

^6-7When Pilate heard that, he asked, “So, he’s a Galilean?” Realizing that he properly came under Herod’s jurisdiction, he passed the buck to Herod, who just happened to be in Jerusalem for a few days.

^8-10Herod was delighted when Jesus showed up. He had wanted for a long time to see him, he’d heard so much about him. He hoped to see him do something spectacular. He peppered him with questions. Jesus didn’t answer—not one word. But the high priests and religion scholars were right there, saying their piece, strident and shrill in their accusations.

^11-12Mightily offended, Herod turned on Jesus. His soldiers joined in, taunting and jeering. Then they dressed him up in an elaborate king costume and sent him back to Pilate. That day Herod and Pilate became thick as thieves. Always before they had kept their distance.

^13-16Then Pilate called in the high priests, rulers, and the others and said, “You brought this man to me as a disturber of the peace. I examined him in front of all of you and found there was nothing to your charge. And neither did Herod, for he has sent him back here with a clean bill of health. It’s clear that he’s done nothing wrong, let alone anything deserving death. I’m going to warn him to watch his step and let him go.”

^18-20At that, the crowd went wild: “Kill him! Give us Barabbas!” (Barabbas had been thrown in prison for starting a riot in the city and for murder.) Pilate still wanted to let Jesus go, and so spoke out again.

²¹But they kept shouting back, “Crucify! Crucify him!”

²²He tried a third time. “But for what crime? I’ve found nothing in him deserving death. I’m going to warn him to watch his step and let him go.”

^23-25But they kept at it, a shouting mob, demanding that he be crucified. And finally they shouted him down. Pilate caved in and gave them what they wanted. He released the man thrown in prison for rioting and murder, and gave them Jesus to do whatever they wanted.

Skull Hill

^26-31As they led him off, they made Simon, a man from Cyrene who happened to be coming in from the countryside, carry the cross behind Jesus. A huge crowd of people followed, along with women weeping and carrying on. At one point Jesus turned to the women and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t cry for me. Cry for yourselves and for your children. The time is coming when they’ll say, ‘Lucky the women who never conceived! Lucky the wombs that never gave birth! Lucky the breasts that never gave milk!’ Then they’ll start calling to the mountains, ‘Fall down on us!’ calling to the hills, ‘Cover us up!’ If people do these things to a live, green tree, can you imagine what they’ll do with deadwood?”

³²Two others, both criminals, were taken along with him for execution.

³³When they got to the place called Skull Hill, they crucified him, along with the criminals, one on his right, the other on his left.

^34-35Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them; they don’t know what they’re doing.”

Dividing up his clothes, they threw dice for them. The people stood there staring at Jesus, and the ringleaders made faces, taunting, “He saved others. Let’s see him save himself! The Messiah of God—ha! The Chosen—ha!”

^36-37The soldiers also came up and poked fun at him, making a game of it. They toasted him with sour wine: “So you’re King of the Jews! Save yourself!”

³⁸Printed over him was a sign: this is the king of the jews.

³⁹One of the criminals hanging alongside cursed him: “Some Messiah you are! Save yourself! Save us!”

^40-41But the other one made him shut up: “Have you no fear of God? You’re getting the same as him. We deserve this, but not him—he did nothing to deserve this.”

⁴²Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you enter your kingdom.”

⁴³He said, “Don’t worry, I will. Today you will join me in paradise.”

^44-46By now it was noon. The whole earth became dark, the darkness lasting three hours—a total blackout. The Temple curtain split right down the middle. Jesus called loudly, “Father, I place my life in your hands!” Then he breathed his last.

* * *

⁴⁷When the captain there saw what happened, he honored God: “This man was innocent! A good man, and innocent!”

^48-49All who had come around as spectators to watch the show, when they saw what actually happened, were overcome with grief and headed home. Those who knew Jesus well, along with the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a respectful distance and kept vigil.

^50-54There was a man by the name of Joseph, a member of the Jewish High Council, a man of good heart and good character. He had not gone along with the plans and actions of the council. His hometown was the Jewish village of Arimathea. He lived in alert expectation of the kingdom of God. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Taking him down, he wrapped him in a linen shroud and placed him in a tomb chiseled into the rock, a tomb never yet used. It was the day before Sabbath, the Sabbath just about to begin.

^55-56The women who had been companions of Jesus from Galilee followed along. They saw the tomb where Jesus’ body was placed. Then they went back to prepare burial spices and perfumes. They rested quietly on the Sabbath, as commanded.