Luke 23 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

Then the whole assembly got up and brought him to Pilate.

They started accusing him: "We found this man undermining our nation, telling people not to pay taxes to Caesar, and claiming to be The One — a king."

So Pilate asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" Jesus answered, "Those are your words."

Pilate told the chief priests and the crowd, "I find nothing criminal about this man."

But they kept pressing harder: "He's stirring up the people with his teaching all over Judea. He started in Galilee and now he's made his way here!"

When Pilate heard "Galilee," he asked whether the man was a Galilean.

Once he confirmed that Jesus fell under Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at the time.

Herod was thrilled to see Jesus. He'd been wanting to meet him for a long time because he'd heard so much about him, and he was hoping to see him do some kind of miracle.

He peppered Jesus with questions, but Jesus didn't give him a single answer.

Meanwhile, the chief priests and the legal experts stood there making their accusations with intense hostility.

Then Herod and his soldiers treated him with contempt, mocking him. They dressed him up in an elegant robe and sent him back to Pilate.

That very day, Herod and Pilate became friends—before that, they'd been enemies.

Pilate then called together the chief priests, the leaders, and the people.

He said to them, "You brought this man to me, claiming he was leading the people into rebellion. Look — I've examined him right in front of you and I haven't found him guilty of any of your charges.

And neither did Herod—he sent him back to us. Clearly, he's done nothing that deserves death.

So I'll have him flogged and then release him."

For it was necessary for him to release one prisoner to them at each festival.

But the whole crowd shouted together, "Get rid of him! Release Barabbas to us!"

Barabbas had been thrown in prison for starting a violent uprising in the city and for murder.

Pilate called out to them again, wanting to release Jesus.

But they kept screaming, "Execute him! Nail him to the stake!"

For the third time, Pilate said to them, "Why? What crime has he committed? I've found no reason to execute him. So I'll have him flogged and release him."

But they kept up the pressure with loud shouts, demanding that he be executed on a stake. And their voices won out.

So Pilate gave his ruling—he granted their demand.

He released the man who had been thrown in prison for violent uprising and murder—the one they'd asked for—and handed Jesus over to whatever they wanted to do with him.

As they led him away, they grabbed a man named Simon from Cyrene who was coming in from the countryside, and they forced him to carry the execution stake behind Jesus.

A huge crowd followed him, including women who were beating their chests and crying for him.

Jesus turned to them and said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, don't cry for me. Cry for yourselves and for your children.

Because a time is coming when people will say, 'Life is good for the women who are childless — the wombs that never bore children and the breasts that never nursed!'

Then they'll start saying to the mountains, 'Fall on us!' and to the hills, 'Bury us!'

Because if they do these things when the wood is green, what's going to happen when it's dry?"

Two other men—both criminals—were also led out to be executed with him.

When they arrived at the place called The Skull, they nailed him to the stake there, along with the criminals — one on his right, one on his left.

Jesus said, "Father, forgive them — they don't know what they're doing." And they divided up his clothes by rolling dice for them.

The people stood watching. The leaders sneered at him: "He rescued others — let him rescue himself if he's really The One, God's chosen."

The soldiers also came up to mock him, offering him cheap wine.

They said, "If you're the king of the Jews, rescue yourself!"

There was also an inscription above him: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

One of the criminals hanging there kept insulting him: "Aren't you The One? Rescue yourself—and us while you're at it!"

But the other one shut him down: "Don't you have any fear of God? You're getting the same sentence he is.

We're getting what we deserve for what we did, but this man hasn't done anything wrong."

Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you step into your kingdom."

Jesus told him, "I'm telling you the truth — today you'll be with me in paradise."

By now it was about noon, and darkness fell over the whole land until three in the afternoon.

The sun stopped shining. And the curtain in the temple was torn right down the middle.

Jesus called out in a loud voice, "Father, I place my life in your hands!" And with that, he took his last breath.

When the Roman officer saw what happened, he praised God and said, "There's no question — this man was innocent."

When all the people who had gathered to watch this spectacle saw what took place, they went home beating their chests in grief.

But all those who knew him—including the women who had followed him from Galilee—stood at a distance, watching everything.

Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the council. He was a good and just man.