Jesus Is Crucified^(A)

²⁶ As they led Jesus away, Simon, a man from Cyrene [^Ca port city in North Africa (modern Libya)], was coming in from the ·fields [countryside; country; ^CSimon may be a Jewish pilgrim visiting Jerusalem for Passover or an immigrant living there]. They forced him to carry Jesus’ cross and to walk behind him.

²⁷ A large crowd of people was following Jesus, including some women who were ·sad [mourning] and ·crying [wailing; lamenting] for him. ²⁸ But Jesus turned and said to them, “·Women [^LDaughters] of Jerusalem, don’t ·cry [weep] for me. ·Cry [Weep] for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹ [^LFor look/^Tbehold] The ·time is [days are] coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are ·the women who cannot have children [^Lthe barren women and the wombs that never gave birth] and ·who have no babies to nurse [^Lthe breasts that have never nursed].’ ³⁰ Then people will say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ And they will say to the hills, ‘·Cover [Bury] us [Hos. 10:8]!’ ³¹ If they act like this now when ·life is good [^Lthe tree is green], what will happen when ·bad times come [^Lit is dry; ^Cprobably an allusion to the siege and destruction of Jerusalem in ad 70]?”