19. (Barabbas was a man who was in jail for starting a riot in the city and for murder.)
20. Pilate wanted to let Jesus go free. So again Pilate told them that he would let him go.
21. But they shouted again, “Kill him! Kill him on a cross!”
22. A third time Pilate said to the people, “Why? What wrong has he done? He is not guilty. I can find no reason to kill him. So I will let him go free after I punish him a little.”
23. But the people continued to shout. They demanded that Jesus be killed on a cross. Their shouting got so loud that
24. Pilate decided to give them what they wanted.
25. They wanted Barabbas to go free—the one who was in jail for starting a riot and for murder. Pilate let Barabbas go free. And he handed Jesus over to be killed. This is what the people wanted.
26. The soldiers led Jesus away. At that same time there was a man from Cyrene named Simon coming into the city from the fields. The soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross and walk behind him.
27. A large crowd followed Jesus. Some of the women were sad and crying. They felt sorry for him.
28. But Jesus turned and said to the women, “Women of Jerusalem, don’t cry for me. Cry for yourselves and for your children too.
29. The time is coming when people will say, ‘The women who cannot have babies are the ones God has blessed. It’s really a blessing that they have no children to care for.’
30. Then the people will say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ They will say to the hills, ‘Cover us!’