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23:2 - .... and began their accusation in these words, "Here is this man whom we found corrupting our people, and telling them that it is wrong to pay taxes to Caesar, claiming that he himself is Christ, a king."
23:3 - But Pilate addressed his question to Jesus, "Are you the king of the Jews?"
"Yes, I am," he replied.
23:4 - Then Pilate spoke to the chief priests and the crowd, "I find nothing criminal about this man."
23:5 - But they pressed their charge, saying, "He's a trouble-maker among the people. He teaches through the whole of Judea, all the way from Galilee to this place."
23:6-12 - When Pilate heard this, he enquired whether the man were a Galilean, and when he discovered that he came under Herod's jurisdiction, he passed him on to Herod who happened to be in Jerusalem at that time. When Herod saw Jesus, he was delighted, for he had been wanting to see him for a long time. He had heard a lot about Jesus and was hoping to see him perform a miracle. He questioned him very thoroughly, but Jesus gave him absolutely no reply, though the chief priests and scribes stood there making the most violent accusations. So Herod joined his own soldiers in scoffing and jeering at Jesus. Finally, they dressed him up in a gorgeous cloak, and sent him back to Pilate. On that day Herod and Pilate became firm friends, though previously they had been at daggers drawn.
Pilate declares Jesus' innocence
23:13-16 - Then Pilate summoned the chief priests, the officials and the people and addressed them in these words. "You have brought this man to me as a mischief-maker among the people, and I want you to realise that, after examining him in your presence, I have found nothing criminal about him, in spite of all your accusations. And neither has Herod, for he has sent him back to us. Obviously, then, he has done nothing to deserve the death penalty. I propose, therefore, to teach him a sharp lesson and let him go."
23:17-21 - But they all yelled as one man, "Take this man away! We want Barabbas set free!" (Barabbas was a man who had been put in prison for causing a riot in the city and for murder.) But Pilate wanted to set Jesus free and he called out to them again, but they shouted back at him, "Crucify, crucify him!"
23:22 - Then he spoke to them, for a third time, "What is his crime, then? I have found nothing in him that deserves execution; I am going to teach him a lesson and let him go."
23:23 - But they shouted him down, yelling their demand that he should be crucified.
23:24-25 - Their shouting won the day, and Pilate pronounced the official decision that their request should be granted. He released the man for whom they asked, the man who had been imprisoned for rioting and murder, and surrendered Jesus to their demands.
23:26 - And as they were marching him away, they caught hold of Simon, a native of Cyrene in Africa, who was on his way home from the fields, and put the cross on his back for him to carry behind Jesus.
On the way to the cross
23:27-31 - A huge crowd of people followed him, including women who wrung their hands and wept for him. But Jesus turned to them and said, "Women of Jerusalem, do not shed your tears for me, but for yourselves and for your children! For the days are coming when men will say, 'Lucky are the women who are childless - the bodies which have never borne, and the breasts which have never given nourishment.' Then men will begin 'to say
