At length, weary of the mockery, they took off his imperial robes, clothed him again in his own garments, spat upon him, smote him on the head with the reed, and led him away to crucify him. A heavy wooden cross was placed upon the shoulders of Jesus, which he was to bear outside of the walls of the city, where it was to be planted, and he was to be nailed to it. Exhausted by the sufferings which he had already endured, he soon sank fainting beneath the load. The soldiers met a stranger from Cyrene, and compelled him to bear the cross. Thus they proceeded, followed by an immense crowd of people, men and women, many of the women weeping bitterly. Jesus turned to them, and said,―― “Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For, behold, the days are coming in which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us. For, if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry.”[71] They came to a small eminence, a short distance from the city, and beyond its walls, which was called Mount Calvary, sometimes Golgotha. The place of the execution of Jesus is not now known. He was nailed by his hands and his feet to the cross, and the cross was planted in the ground. By his side two thieves suffered the same punishment. Jesus, as in this hour of terrible agony he looked down from the cross upon his foes, was heard to breathe the prayer, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Pilate wrote the inscription, “JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” This, in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, was nailed over the cross. The Jews wished to have it changed to “_He said_ I am the King of the Jews;” but Pilate refused to make the alteration. Of the two thieves who were crucified with Jesus, one was obdurate. Even in that hour of suffering and death he could revile Jesus, saying, “If thou be the Christ, save thyself and us.” The other, in the spirit of true penitence, rebuked the companion of his crimes, saying,―― “Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this man hath done nothing amiss.” Then, turning his eyes to Jesus, he said, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” Jesus replied, “Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” As Jesus hung upon the cross, his sufferings excited no pity on the part of his foes. They reviled him, saying, “If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. He saved others: himself he cannot save. He trusted in God: let him deliver him now, if he will have him; for he said, I am the Son of God.”