23
But the crowd pressured Pilate. They shouted that Jesus had to be crucified, and they finally won.
24
Pilate decided to give in to their demand.
25
He freed Barabbas, who had been put in prison for rioting and murdering, because that's what they wanted. But he let them do what they wanted to Jesus.
26
As the soldiers led Jesus away, they grabbed a man named Simon, who was from the city of Cyrene. Simon was coming into Jerusalem. They laid the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.
27
A large crowd followed Jesus. The women in the crowd cried and sang funeral songs for him.
28
Jesus turned to them and said, "You women of Jerusalem, don't cry for me! Rather, cry for yourselves and your children!
29
The time is coming when people will say, 'Blessed are the women who couldn't get pregnant, who couldn't give birth, and who couldn't nurse a child.'
30
Then people will say to the mountains, 'Fall on us!' and to the hills, 'Cover us!'
31
If people do this to a green tree, what will happen to a dry one?"
32
Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be executed with him.
33
When they came to the place called The Skull, they crucified him. The criminals were also crucified, one on his right and the other on his left.