25. Everyone answered, “We and our own families will take the blame for his death!”
26. Pilate set Barabbas free. Then he ordered his soldiers to beat Jesus with a whip and nail him to a cross.
27. The governor's soldiers led Jesus into the fortress and brought together the rest of the troops.
28. They stripped off Jesus' clothes and put a scarlet robe on him.
29. They made a crown out of thorn branches and placed it on his head, and they put a stick in his right hand. The soldiers knelt down and pretended to worship him. They made fun of him and shouted, “Hey, you king of the Jews!”
30. Then they spat on him. They took the stick from him and beat him on the head with it.
31. When the soldiers had finished making fun of Jesus, they took off the robe. They put his own clothes back on him and led him off to be nailed to a cross.
32. On the way they met a man from Cyrene named Simon, and they forced him to carry Jesus' cross.
33. They came to a place named Golgotha, which means “Place of a Skull”.
34. There they gave Jesus some wine mixed with a drug to ease the pain. But when Jesus tasted what it was, he refused to drink it.
35. The soldiers nailed Jesus to a cross and gambled to see who would get his clothes.
36. Then they sat down to guard him.
37. Above his head they put a sign that told why he was nailed there. It read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”