36. Even the soldiers laughed at Jesus and made fun of him. They came and offered him some sour wine.
37. They said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself!”
38. (At the top of the cross these words were written: “this is the king of the jews.”)
39. One of the criminals hanging there began to shout insults at Jesus: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Then save yourself, and save us too!”
40. But the other criminal stopped him. He said, “You should fear God. All of us will die soon.
41. You and I are guilty. We deserve to die because we did wrong. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
42. Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you begin ruling as king!”
43. Then Jesus said to him, “I promise you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
44. It was about noon, but it turned dark throughout the land until three o’clock in the afternoon,
45. because the sun stopped shining. The curtain in the Temple was torn into two pieces.
46. Jesus shouted, “Father, I put my life in your hands!” After Jesus said this, he died.
47. The army officer there saw what happened. He praised God, saying, “I know this man was a good man!”
48. Many people had come out of the city to see all this. When they saw it, they felt very sorry and left.
49. The people who were close friends of Jesus were there. Also, there were some women who had followed Jesus from Galilee. They all stood far away from the cross and watched these things.