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The Blue Letter Bible

Luke 23 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

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Jesus’ Trial before Pilate
(Mat 27:1, 2, 11–14; Mar 15:1–5; Jhn 18:28–38 )
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:1 - Then the entire council took Jesus to Pilate, the Roman governor.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:2 - They began to state their case: “This man has been leading our people astray by telling them not to pay their taxes to the Roman government and by claiming he is the Messiah, a king.”
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:3 - So Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
Jesus replied, “You have said it.”
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:4 - Pilate turned to the leading priests and to the crowd and said, “I find nothing wrong with this man!”
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:5 - Then they became insistent. “But he is causing riots by his teaching wherever he goes—all over Judea, from Galilee to Jerusalem!”
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:6 - “Oh, is he a Galilean?” Pilate asked.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:7 - When they said that he was, Pilate sent him to Herod Antipas, because Galilee was under Herod’s jurisdiction, and Herod happened to be in Jerusalem at the time.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:8 - Herod was delighted at the opportunity to see Jesus, because he had heard about him and had been hoping for a long time to see him perform a miracle.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:9 - He asked Jesus question after question, but Jesus refused to answer.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:10 - Meanwhile, the leading priests and the teachers of religious law stood there shouting their accusations.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:11 - Then Herod and his soldiers began mocking and ridiculing Jesus. Finally, they put a royal robe on him and sent him back to Pilate.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:12 - (Herod and Pilate, who had been enemies before, became friends that day.)
(Mat 27:15–26; Mar 15:6–15; Jhn 18:38—19:16 )
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:13 - Then Pilate called together the leading priests and other religious leaders, along with the people,
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:14 - and he announced his verdict. “You brought this man to me, accusing him of leading a revolt. I have examined him thoroughly on this point in your presence and find him innocent.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:15 - Herod came to the same conclusion and sent him back to us. Nothing this man has done calls for the death penalty.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:16 - So I will have him flogged, and then I will release him.”[fn]
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:18 - Then a mighty roar rose from the crowd, and with one voice they shouted, “Kill him, and release Barabbas to us!”
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:19 - (Barabbas was in prison for taking part in an insurrection in Jerusalem against the government, and for murder.)
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:20 - Pilate argued with them, because he wanted to release Jesus.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:21 - But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:22 - 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.”
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:23 - But the mob shouted louder and louder, demanding that Jesus be crucified, and their voices prevailed.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:24 - So Pilate sentenced Jesus to die as they demanded.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:25 - 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.
The Crucifixion
(Mat 27:32–44; Mar 15:21–32; Jhn 19:17–24 )
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:26 - As they led Jesus away, a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene,[fn] 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.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:27 - A large crowd trailed behind, including many grief-stricken women.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:28 - But Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:29 - 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.’
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:30 - People will beg the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and plead with the hills, ‘Bury us.’[fn]
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:31 - For if these things are done when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?[fn]
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:32 - Two others, both criminals, were led out to be executed with him.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:33 - When they came to a place called The Skull,[fn] they nailed him to the cross. And the criminals were also crucified—one on his right and one on his left.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:34 - Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”[fn] And the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice.[fn]
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:35 - The crowd watched and the leaders scoffed. “He saved others,” they said, “let him save himself if he is really God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:36 - The soldiers mocked him, too, by offering him a drink of sour wine.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:37 - They called out to him, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:38 - A sign was fastened above him with these words: “This is the King of the Jews.”
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:39 - One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!”
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:40 - But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die?
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:41 - We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.”
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:42 - Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:43 - And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
The Death of Jesus
(Mat 27:45–56; Mar 15:33–41; Jhn 19:25–30 )
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:44 - By this time it was about noon, and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:45 - The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn down the middle.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:46 - Then Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!”[fn] And with those words he breathed his last.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:47 - When the Roman officer[fn] overseeing the execution saw what had happened, he worshiped God and said, “Surely this man was innocent.[fn]
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:48 - And when all the crowd that came to see the crucifixion saw what had happened, they went home in deep sorrow.[fn]
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:49 - But Jesus’ friends, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching.
The Burial of Jesus
(Mat 27:57–61; Mar 15:42–47; Jhn 19:38–42 )
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:50 - Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph. He was a member of the Jewish high council,
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:51 - but he had not agreed with the decision and actions of the other religious leaders. He was from the town of Arimathea in Judea, and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God to come.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:52 - He went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:53 - Then he took the body down from the cross and wrapped it in a long sheet of linen cloth and laid it in a new tomb that had been carved out of rock.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:54 - This was done late on Friday afternoon, the day of preparation,[fn] as the Sabbath was about to begin.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:55 - As his body was taken away, the women from Galilee followed and saw the tomb where his body was placed.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 23:56 - Then they went home and prepared spices and ointments to anoint his body. But by the time they were finished the Sabbath had begun, so they rested as required by the law.
NLT Footnotes
Some manuscripts add verse 17, Now it was necessary for him to release one prisoner to them during the Passover celebration. Compare Matt 27:15; Mark 15:6; John 18:39.
Cyrene was a city in northern Africa.
Hos 10:8.
Or If these things are done to me, the living tree, what will happen to you, the dry tree?
Sometimes rendered Calvary, which comes from the Latin word for “skull.”
This sentence is not included in many ancient manuscripts.
Greek by casting lots. See Ps 22:18.
Ps 31:5.
Greek the centurion.
Or righteous.
Greek went home beating their breasts.
Greek It was the day of preparation.
BLB Footnotes
Some Greek manuscripts exclude this verse. The NLT related footnote for 23:16 states:
23:16 Some manuscripts add verse 17, Now it was necessary for him to release one prisoner to them during the Passover celebration. Compare Matt 27:15; Mark 15:6; John 18:39.  
NLT

Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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Luke Chapter 23 — Additional Translations: