24. The verdict of Pilate was that their demand should be granted.
25. So he released the man who had been imprisoned for rebellion and murder, for whom they asked, and he handed Jesus over to them to deal with as they wished.
26. As they led him away they took hold of a certain Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country; and after laying the cross on him, they made him carry it behind Jesus.
27. A large crowd of people followed Jesus, including many women who mourned and lamented him.
28. Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep instead for yourselves and for your children,
29. for indeed, the days are coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed.’
30. At that time people will say to the mountains, ‘Fall upon us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’