John 19
Contemporary English Version
19 Pilate gave orders for Jesus to be beaten with a whip. 2 The soldiers made a crown out of thorn branches and put it on Jesus. Then they put a purple robe on him. 3 They came up to him and said, “Hey, you king of the Jews!” They also hit him with their fists.
4 Once again Pilate went out. This time he said, “I will have Jesus brought out to you again. Then you can see for yourselves that I have not found him guilty.”
5 Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said, “Here is the man!”[a]
6 When the chief priests and the temple police saw him, they yelled, “Nail him to a cross! Nail him to a cross!”
Pilate told them, “You take him and nail him to a cross! I don't find him guilty of anything.”
7 The crowd replied, “He claimed to be the Son of God! Our law says that he must be put to death.”
8 When Pilate heard this, he was terrified. 9 He went back inside and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus did not answer.
10 “Why won't you answer my question?” Pilate asked. “Don't you know I have the power to let you go free or to nail you to a cross?”
11 (A) Jesus replied, “If God had not given you the power, you couldn't do anything at all to me. But the one who handed me over to you did something even worse.”
12 Then Pilate wanted to set Jesus free. But the crowd again yelled, “If you set this man free, you are no friend of the Emperor! Anyone who claims to be a king is an enemy of the Emperor.”
13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out. Then he sat down on the judge's bench at the place known as “The Stone Pavement.” In Aramaic this pavement is called “Gabbatha.” 14 It was about noon on the day before Passover, and Pilate said to the crowd, “Look at your king!”
15 “Kill him! Kill him!” they yelled. “Nail him to a cross!”
“So you want me to nail your king to a cross?” Pilate asked.
The chief priests replied, “The Emperor is our king!” 16 Then Pilate handed Jesus over to be nailed to a cross.
Jesus Is Nailed to a Cross
(Matthew 27.32-44; Mark 15.21-32; Luke 23.26-43)
Jesus was taken away, 17 and he carried his cross to a place known as “The Skull.”[b] In Aramaic this place is called “Golgotha.” 18 There Jesus was nailed to the cross, and on each side of him a man was also nailed to a cross.
19 Pilate ordered the charge against Jesus to be written on a board and put above the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” 20 The words were written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.
The place where Jesus was taken wasn't far from the city, and many of the people read the charge against him. 21 So the chief priests went to Pilate and said, “Why did you write that he is King of the Jews? You should have written, ‘He claimed to be King of the Jews.’ ”
22 But Pilate told them, “What is written will not be changed!”
23 After the soldiers had nailed Jesus to the cross, they divided up his clothes into four parts, one for each of them. But his outer garment was made from a single piece of cloth, and it did not have any seams. 24 (B) The soldiers said to each other, “Let's not rip it apart. We will gamble to see who gets it.” This happened so the Scriptures would come true, which say,
“They divided up my clothes
and gambled
for my garments.”
The soldiers then did what they had decided.
25 Jesus' mother stood beside his cross with her sister and Mary the wife of Clopas. Mary Magdalene was standing there too.[c] 26 When Jesus saw his mother and his favorite disciple with her, he said to his mother, “This man is now your son.” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “She is now your mother.” From then on, that disciple took her into his own home.
The Death of Jesus
(Matthew 27.45-56; Mark 15.33-41; Luke 23.44-49)
28 (C) Jesus knew that he had now finished his work. And in order to make the Scriptures come true, he said, “I am thirsty!” 29 A jar of cheap wine was there. Someone then soaked a sponge with the wine and held it up to Jesus' mouth on the stem of a hyssop plant. 30 After Jesus drank the wine, he said, “Everything is done!” He bowed his head and died.
A Spear Is Stuck in Jesus' Side
31 The next day would be both a Sabbath and the Passover. It was a special day for the Jewish people,[d] and they did not want the bodies to stay on the crosses during this day. So they asked Pilate to break the men's legs[e] and take their bodies down. 32 The soldiers first broke the legs of the other two men who were nailed there. 33 But when they came to Jesus, they saw he was already dead, and they did not break his legs.
34 One of the soldiers stuck his spear into Jesus' side, and blood and water came out. 35 We know this is true, because it was told by someone who saw it happen. Now you can have faith too. 36 (D) All this happened so that the Scriptures would come true, which say, “No bone of his body will be broken” 37 (E) and “They will see the one in whose side they stuck a spear.”
Jesus Is Buried
(Matthew 27.57-61; Mark 15.42-47; Luke 23.50-56)
38 Joseph from Arimathea was one of Jesus' disciples. He had kept it secret though, because he was afraid of the Jewish leaders. But now he asked Pilate to let him have Jesus' body. Pilate gave him permission, and Joseph took it down from the cross.
39 (F) Nicodemus also came with about 30 kilograms of spices made from myrrh and aloes. This was the same Nicodemus who had visited Jesus one night.[f] 40 The two men wrapped the body in a linen cloth, together with the spices, which was how the Jewish people buried their dead. 41 In the place where Jesus had been nailed to a cross, there was a garden with a tomb that had never been used. 42 The tomb was nearby, and since it was the time to prepare for the Sabbath, they were in a hurry to put Jesus' body there.
Footnotes
- 19.5 “Here is the man!”: Or “Look at the man!”
- 19.17 The Skull: The place was probably given this name because it was near a large rock in the shape of a human skull.
- 19.25 Jesus' mother stood beside his cross with her sister and Mary the wife of Clopas. Mary Magdalene was standing there too: The Greek text may also be understood to include only three women (“Jesus' mother stood beside the cross with her sister, Mary the mother of Clopas. Mary Magdalene was standing there too.”) or merely two women (“Jesus' mother was standing there with her sister Mary of Clopas, that is, Mary Magdalene.”). “Of Clopas” may mean “daughter of” or “mother of.”
- 19.31 a special day for the Jewish people: Passover could be any day of the week. But according to the Gospel of John, Passover was on a Sabbath in the year that Jesus was nailed to a cross.
- 19.31 break the men's legs: This was the way that the Romans sometimes speeded up the death of a person who had been nailed to a cross.
- 19.39 Nicodemus who had visited Jesus one night: See 3.1-21.
John 19
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
19 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.(A) 2 And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe.(B) 3 They kept coming up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and striking him on the face.(C) 4 Pilate went out again and said to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no case against him.”(D) 5 So Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate[a] said to them, “Behold the man!”(E) 6 When the chief priests and the police saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him; I find no case against him.”(F) 7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God.”(G)
8 Now when Pilate heard this, he was more afraid than ever. 9 He entered his headquarters again and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.(H) 10 Pilate therefore said to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you and power to crucify you?” 11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”(I) 12 From then on Pilate tried to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar. Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against Caesar.”(J)
13 When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat[b] on the judge’s bench at a place called The Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew[c] Gabbatha.(K) 14 Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover, and it was about noon. He said to the Jews, “Here is your King!”(L) 15 They cried out, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate asked them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” 16 Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.
The Crucifixion of Jesus
So they took Jesus,(M) 17 and carrying the cross by himself he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew[d] is called Golgotha.(N) 18 There they crucified him and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. 19 Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth,[e] the King of the Jews.” 20 Many of the Jews read this inscription because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Hebrew,[f] in Latin, and in Greek. 21 Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’ ”(O) 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” 23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. 24 So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it but cast lots for it to see who will get it.” This was to fulfill what the scripture says,
“They divided my clothes among themselves,
and for my clothing they cast lots.”(P)
25 And that is what the soldiers did.
Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.(Q) 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.”(R) 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.
28 After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty.”(S) 29 A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.(T)
Jesus’s Side Is Pierced
31 Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the Sabbath, especially because that Sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed.(U) 32 Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him.(V) 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out.(W) 35 (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows[g] that he tells the truth, so that you also may continue[h] to believe.)(X) 36 These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, “None of his bones shall be broken.”(Y) 37 And again another passage of scripture says, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced.”(Z)
The Burial of Jesus
38 After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission, so he came and removed his body. 39 Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds.(AA) 40 They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews.(AB) 41 Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. 42 And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
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New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.