19 Then Pilate ordered that Jesus be taken away and whipped. ² The soldiers used some thorny branches to make a crown. They put this crown on Jesus’ head and put a purple robe around him. ³ Then they came to Jesus many times and said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They hit Jesus in the face.

⁴ Again Pilate came out and said to them, “Look! I am bringing Jesus out to you. I want you to know that I find nothing I can charge against him.” ⁵ Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is the man!”

⁶ When the leading priests and the guards saw Jesus they shouted, “Kill him on a cross! Kill him on a cross!”

But Pilate answered, “Take him and nail him to a cross yourselves. I find nothing I can charge against him.”

⁷ The Jews answered, “We have a law that says he should die, because he said he is the Son of God.”

⁸ When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid. ⁹ He went back inside the palace and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus did not answer him. ¹⁰ Pilate said, “You refuse to speak to me? Don’t you know that I have power to set you free and power to have you killed on a cross?”

¹¹ Jesus answered, “The only power you have over me is the power given to you by God. The man who gave me to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

¹² After this, Pilate tried to let Jesus go free. But the Jews cried out, “Anyone who makes himself king is against Caesar. If you let this man go free, you are not Caesar’s friend.”

¹³ Pilate heard what the Jews were saying. So he brought Jesus out to the place called The Stone Pavement. (In the Jewish language^[a] the name is Gabbatha.) Pilate sat down on the judge’s seat there. ¹⁴ It was about six o’clock in the morning on Preparation Day of Passover week. Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is your king!”

¹⁵ They shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Kill him on a cross!”

Pilate asked them, “Do you want me to kill your king on a cross?”

The leading priests answered, “The only king we have is Caesar!”

¹⁶ So Pilate gave Jesus to them to be killed on a cross.

Jesus Is Killed on a Cross

The soldiers took charge of Jesus. ¹⁷ Carrying his own cross, Jesus went out to a place called The Place of the Skull. (In the Jewish language^[b] this place is called Golgotha.) ¹⁸ There they nailed Jesus to the cross. They also put two other men on crosses, one on each side of Jesus with Jesus in the middle. ¹⁹ Pilate wrote a sign and put it on the cross. It read: “JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” ²⁰ The sign was written in the Jewish language, in Latin, and in Greek. Many of the Jews read the sign, because this place where Jesus was killed was near the city. ²¹ The leading Jewish priests said to Pilate, “Don’t write, ‘The King of the Jews.’ But write, ‘This man said, I am the King of the Jews.’”

²² Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written!”

²³ After the soldiers nailed Jesus to the cross, they took his clothes. They divided them into four parts. Each soldier got one part. They also took his long shirt. It was all one piece of cloth, woven from top to bottom. ²⁴ So the soldiers said to each other, “We should not tear this into parts. We should throw lots to see who will get it.” This happened to give full meaning to the Scripture:

So the soldiers did this.

²⁵ Jesus’ mother stood near his cross. His mother’s sister was also standing there, with Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶ Jesus saw his mother. He also saw the follower he loved standing there. He said to his mother, “Dear woman, here is your son.” ²⁷ Then he said to the follower, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this follower took her to live in his home.

Jesus Dies

²⁸ After this, Jesus knew that everything had been done. To make the Scripture come true, he said, “I am thirsty.”^{[c] 29} There was a jar full of vinegar there, so the soldiers soaked a sponge in it. Then they put the sponge on a branch of a hyssop plant and lifted it to Jesus’ mouth. ³⁰ Jesus tasted the vinegar. Then he said, “It is finished.” He bowed his head and died.

³¹ This day was Preparation Day. The next day was a special Sabbath day. The Jews did not want the bodies to stay on the cross on the Sabbath day. So they asked Pilate to order that the legs of the men be broken^[d] and the bodies be taken away. ³² So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man on the cross beside Jesus. Then they broke the legs of the man on the other cross beside Jesus. ³³ But when the soldiers came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead. So they did not break his legs. ³⁴ But one of the soldiers stuck his spear into Jesus’ side. At once blood and water came out. ³⁵ (The one who saw this happen has told about it. The things he says are true. He knows that he tells the truth. He told about it so that you also can believe.) ³⁶ These things happened to make the Scripture come true: “Not one of his bones will be broken.”^{[e] 37} And another Scripture said, “They will look at the one they have stabbed.”^[f]

Jesus Is Buried

³⁸ Later, a man named Joseph from Arimathea asked Pilate if he could take the body of Jesus. (Joseph was a secret follower of Jesus, because he was afraid of the Jews.) Pilate gave his permission. So Joseph came and took Jesus’ body away. ³⁹ Nicodemus went with Joseph. Nicodemus was the man who earlier had come to Jesus at night. He brought about 75 pounds of spices. This was a mixture of myrrh and aloes. ⁴⁰ These two men took Jesus’ body and wrapped it with the spices in pieces of linen cloth. (This is how the Jews bury people.) ⁴¹ In the place where Jesus was killed, there was a garden. In the garden was a new tomb where no one had ever been buried. ⁴² The men laid Jesus in that tomb because it was near, and the Jews were preparing to start their Sabbath day.