18. Then they began shouting, “Welcome, king of the Jews!”
19. They kept on beating his head with a stick and spitting on him. Then they bowed down on their knees and pretended to honor him as a king.
20. After they finished making fun of him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him out of the palace to be killed on a cross.
21. There was a man from Cyrene named Simon walking into the city from the fields. He was the father of Alexander and Rufus. The soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross.
22. They led Jesus to the place called Golgotha. (Golgotha means “The Place of the Skull.”)
23. There they gave him some wine mixed with myrrh, but he refused to drink it.
24. The soldiers nailed Jesus to a cross. Then they divided his clothes among themselves, throwing dice to see who would get what.
25. It was nine o’clock in the morning when they nailed Jesus to the cross.
26. There was a sign with the charge against him written on it. It said, “the king of the jews.”
27. They also nailed two criminals to crosses beside Jesus—one on the right and the other on the left.
29. People walked by and said bad things to Jesus. They shook their heads and said, “You said you could destroy the Temple and build it again in three days.
30. So save yourself! Come down from that cross!”
31. The leading priests and the teachers of the law were also there. They made fun of Jesus the same as the other people did. They said to each other, “He saved others, but he can’t save himself!