Page 653 - Четворојеванђеље

Chapter 23 (653) GOSPEL OF LUKE
them, “Why? What evil has this man done? I have found nothing worthy of death in him. I will therefore chastise him and release him.” But they were insistent with loud voices, demanding that Jesus be crucified. And their shouts and the shouts of the chief priests prevailed. So Pilate decreed that what they were asking for should be done. He released Barabbas, who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, as the people had requested. But Jesus, he delivered up to their will. As the soldiers were leading Jesus away, they seized Simon, a Cyrenian, coming from the coun- tryside. They laid the cross on him, to carry it after Jesus. A great multitude of the people fol- lowed him, including women who also mourned and lamented him. But Jesus, turning to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me! Instead, weep for yourselves and for your children! For behold, the days are coming in which peopIe will say, blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed. Then, people will begin to tell the moun- tains, fall on us, and to tell the hills, cover us. For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will be done when it is dry?”