John 18:28-19:40

English Standard Version

Jesus Before Pilate

^28 (A)Then they led Jesus ^(B)from the house of Caiaphas to ^(C)the governor's headquarters.^[a] It was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor's headquarters, ^(D)so that they would not be defiled, ^(E)but could eat the Passover. ^29 (F)So Pilate went outside to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” ³⁰ They answered him, “If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.” ³¹ Pilate said to them, ^(G)“Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” The Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.” ^32 (H)This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken ^(I)to show by what kind of death he was going to die.

My Kingdom Is Not of This World

^33 (J)So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, ^(K)“Are you the King of the Jews?” ³⁴ Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” ³⁵ Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” ³⁶ Jesus answered, ^(L)“My kingdom ^(M)is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, ^(N)my servants would have been fighting, that ^(O)I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” ³⁷ Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, ^(P)“You say that I am a king. ^(Q)For this purpose I was born and for this purpose ^(R)I have come into the world—^(S)to bear witness to the truth. ^(T)Everyone who is ^(U)of the truth ^(V)listens to my voice.” ³⁸ Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

After he had said this, ^(W)he went back outside to the Jews and told them, ^(X)“I find no guilt in him. ^39 (Y)But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” ⁴⁰ They cried out again, ^(Z)“Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.^[b]

Jesus Delivered to Be Crucified

19 Then Pilate took Jesus and ^(AA)flogged him. ^2 (AB)And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. ³ They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. ⁴ Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that ^(AC)I find no guilt in him.” ⁵ So Jesus came out, wearing ^(AD)the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, ^(AE)“Behold the man!” ⁶ When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, ^(AF)“Take him yourselves and crucify him, for ^(AG)I find no guilt in him.” ⁷ The Jews^[c] answered him, “We have a law, and ^(AH)according to that law he ought to die because ^(AI)he has made himself the Son of God.” ⁸ When Pilate heard this statement, ^(AJ)he was even more afraid. ^9 (AK)He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, ^(AL)“Where are you from?” But ^(AM)Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰ So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” ¹¹ Jesus answered him, ^(AN)“You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore ^(AO)he who delivered me over to you ^(AP)has the greater sin.”

¹² From then on ^(AQ)Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. ^(AR)Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” ¹³ So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on ^(AS)the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic^[d] Gabbatha. ¹⁴ Now it was ^(AT)the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour.^[e] He said to the Jews, ^(AU)“Behold your King!” ¹⁵ They cried out, ^(AV)“Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” ^16 (AW)So he ^(AX)delivered him over to them to be crucified.

The Crucifixion

So they took Jesus, ¹⁷ and ^(AY)he went out, ^(AZ)bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. ^18 (BA)There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. ¹⁹ Pilate ^(BB)also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” ²⁰ Many of the Jews read this inscription, for ^(BC)the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. ²¹ So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” ²² Pilate answered, ^(BD)“What I have written I have written.”

^23 (BE)When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic.^[f] But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, ²⁴ so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” ^(BF)This was to fulfill the Scripture which says,

So the soldiers did these things, ^25 (BH)but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶ When Jesus saw his mother and ^(BI)the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, ^(BJ)“Woman, behold, your son!” ²⁷ Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to ^(BK)his own home.

The Death of Jesus

²⁸ After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now ^(BL)finished, said (^(BM)to fulfill the Scripture), ^(BN)“I thirst.” ²⁹ A jar full of sour wine stood there, ^(BO)so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. ³⁰ When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ^(BP)“It is finished,” and he bowed his head and ^(BQ)gave up his spirit.

Jesus' Side Is Pierced

³¹ Since it was ^(BR)the day of Preparation, and ^(BS)so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was ^(BT)a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. ³² So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other ^(BU)who had been crucified with him. ³³ But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. ³⁴ But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out ^(BV)blood and water. ^35 (BW)He who saw it has borne witness—^(BX)his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—^(BY)that you also may believe. ^36 (BZ)For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: ^(CA)“Not one of his bones ^(CB)will be broken.” ³⁷ And again another Scripture says, ^(CC)“They will look on him whom they have pierced.”

Jesus Is Buried

^38 (CD)After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly ^(CE)for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. ^39 (CF)Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus^[g] by night, came ^(CG)bringing a mixture of ^(CH)myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds^[h] in weight. ⁴⁰ So they took the body of Jesus and ^(CI)bound it in ^(CJ)linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.