19
(Barabbas was in prison for taking part in an insurrection in Jerusalem against the government, and for murder.)
20
Pilate argued with them, because he wanted to release Jesus.
21
But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
22
For the third time he demanded, “Why? What crime has he committed? I have found no reason to sentence him to death. So I will have him flogged, and then I will release him.”
23
But the mob shouted louder and louder, demanding that Jesus be crucified, and their voices prevailed.
24
So Pilate sentenced Jesus to die as they demanded.
25
As they had requested, he released Barabbas, the man in prison for insurrection and murder. But he turned Jesus over to them to do as they wished.
26
As they led Jesus away, a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, happened to be coming in from the countryside. The soldiers seized him and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.
27
A large crowd trailed behind, including many grief-stricken women.
28
But Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.
29
For the days are coming when they will say, ‘Fortunate indeed are the women who are childless, the wombs that have not borne a child and the breasts that have never nursed.’