The Crown of Thorns

19 So Pilate then took Jesus and [a](A)had Him flogged. (B)And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and placed it on His head, and put a purple [b]cloak on Him; and they repeatedly came up to Him and said, “(C)Hail, King of the Jews!” and (D)slapped Him in the face again and again. And then Pilate (E)came out again and *said to them, “See, I am bringing Him out to you so that you will know that (F)I find no grounds at all for charges in [c]His case.” Jesus then came out, (G)wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate *said to them, “Behold, the Man!” So when the chief priests and the (H)officers saw Him, they shouted, saying, “Crucify, crucify!” Pilate *said to them, “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him; for (I)I find no grounds for charges in [d]His case!” The Jews answered him, “(J)We have a law, and by that law He ought to die, because He (K)made Himself out to be the Son of God!”

Therefore when Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid; and he (L)entered the [e]Praetorium again and *said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But (M)Jesus gave him no answer. 10 So Pilate *said to Him, “Are you not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?” 11 Jesus answered him, (N)You would have no authority [f]over Me at all, if it had not been given to you from above; for this reason (O)the one who handed Me over to you has the greater sin.” 12 As a result of this, Pilate [g]made efforts to release Him; but the Jews shouted, saying, “(P)If you release this Man, you are not a friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself out to be a king [h]opposes Caesar!”

13 Therefore when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and (Q)sat down on the judgment seat at a place called [i]The Pavement—but (R)in [j]Hebrew, Gabbatha. 14 Now it was (S)the day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the [k](T)sixth hour. And he *said to the Jews, “Look, (U)your King!” 15 So they shouted, “(V)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 except Caesar.”

The Crucifixion

16 So he then (W)handed Him over to them to be crucified.

17 (X)They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, [l](Y)carrying His own cross, to the place called (Z)the Place of a Skull, which (AA)in [m]Hebrew is called, Golgotha. 18 There they crucified Him, and with Him (AB)two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between. 19 Now Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written: “(AC)JESUS THE NAZARENE, (AD)THE KING OF THE JEWS.” 20 Therefore many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written (AE)in [n]Hebrew, Latin, and in Greek. 21 So the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘(AF)The King of the Jews’; rather, write that He said, ‘I am (AG)King of the Jews.’” 22 Pilate answered, “(AH)What I have written, I have written.”

23 Then (AI)the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His outer garments and made (AJ)four parts: a part to each soldier, and the [o]tunic also; but the tunic was seamless, woven [p]in one piece. 24 So they said to one another, “(AK)Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be.” (AL)This happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: “They (AM)divided My garments among themselves, and they cast [q]lots for My clothing.” Therefore the soldiers did these things.

25 (AN)Now beside the cross of Jesus stood (AO)His mother, His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and (AP)Mary Magdalene. 26 So when Jesus saw His mother, and (AQ)the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He *said to His mother, (AR)Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then He *said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her into (AS)his own household.

28 After this, Jesus, (AT)knowing that all things had already been accomplished, (AU)in order that the Scripture would be fulfilled, *said, (AV)I am thirsty.” 29 A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so (AW)they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth. 30 Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, (AX)It is finished!” And He bowed His head and (AY)gave up His spirit.

Care of the Body of Jesus

31 Now then, since it was (AZ)the day of preparation, to prevent (BA)the bodies from remaining on the cross on the Sabbath ([r]for that Sabbath was a (BB)high day), the Jews requested of Pilate that their legs be broken, and the bodies be taken away. 32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man, and of the other who was (BC)crucified with Him; 33 but after they came to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. 34 Yet one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately (BD)blood and water came out. 35 And he who has seen has (BE)testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe. 36 For these things took place (BF)so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: “(BG)Not a bone of Him shall be [s]broken.” 37 And again another Scripture says, “(BH)They will look at Him whom they pierced.”

38 Now (BI)after these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a (BJ)secret one for (BK)fear of the [t]Jews, requested of Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away His body. 39 (BL)Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, (BM)bringing a [u]mixture of (BN)myrrh and aloes, about a [v](BO)hundred litras weight. 40 So they took the body of Jesus and (BP)bound it in (BQ)linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 41 Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden was a (BR)new tomb (BS)in which no one had yet been laid. 42 Therefore because of the Jewish day of (BT)preparation, since the tomb was (BU)nearby, they laid Jesus there.

Footnotes

  1. John 19:1 Lit flogged Him
  2. John 19:2 I.e., a Roman soldier’s cloak
  3. John 19:4 Lit Him
  4. John 19:6 Lit Him
  5. John 19:9 I.e., governor’s official residence
  6. John 19:11 Lit against
  7. John 19:12 Lit was seeking to
  8. John 19:12 Or speaks against
  9. John 19:13 Gr Lithostrotos
  10. John 19:13 I.e., Jewish Aramaic
  11. John 19:14 I.e., about noon
  12. John 19:17 Or carrying the cross by Himself
  13. John 19:17 I.e., Jewish Aramaic
  14. John 19:20 I.e., Jewish Aramaic
  15. John 19:23 A long shirt worn next to the skin
  16. John 19:23 Lit from the upper part through the whole
  17. John 19:24 Lit a lot
  18. John 19:31 Lit for the day of that Sabbath was great
  19. John 19:36 Or crushed; or shattered
  20. John 19:38 I.e., the Jewish leaders
  21. John 19:39 Two early mss package of
  22. John 19:39 I.e., Roman libras (about 75 lb. or 34 kg)

Jesus is Sentenced to Death(A)

19 Then Pilate had Jesus taken away and whipped. The soldiers twisted some thorns into a victor’s crown, put it on his head, and threw a purple robe on him. They kept coming up to him and saying, “Long live the king of the Jews!” Then they began to slap him on the face.

Pilate went outside again and told the Jews,[a] “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” Then Jesus came outside, wearing the victor’s crown of thorns and the purple robe.

Pilate told them, “Here is the man!”

When the high priests and the officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

Pilate told them, “You take him and crucify him. I find no basis for a charge against him.”

The Jewish leaders[b] answered Pilate,[c] “We have a law, and according to that Law he must die because he made himself out to be the Son of God.”

When Pilate heard this, he became even more afraid. Returning to his headquarters,[d] he asked Jesus, “Where are you from?”

But Jesus did not answer him.

10 So Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to speak to me? You realize, don’t you, that I have the authority to release you and the authority to crucify you?”

11 Jesus answered him, “You have no authority over me at all, except what was given to you from above. That’s why the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

12 From then on, Pilate tried to release him, but the Jewish leaders[e] kept shouting, “If you release this fellow, you’re not a friend of Caesar! Anyone who claims to be a king is defying Caesar!”

13 When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat down on the judgment seat in a place called The Pavement, which in Hebrew is called Gabbatha. 14 Now it was the Preparation Day for the Passover, about noon.[f] He told the Jewish leaders,[g] “Here is your king!”

15 Then they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

Pilate asked them, “Should I crucify your king?”

The high priests responded, “We have no king but Caesar!” 16 Then Pilate[h] handed him over to be crucified, and they took Jesus away.

Jesus is Crucified(B)

17 Carrying the cross all by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of a Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him, along with two others, one on each side of him with Jesus in the middle. 19 Pilate wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus from Nazareth,[i] the King of the Jews.” 20 Many Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. It was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.

21 Then the Jewish high priests told Pilate, “Don’t write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this fellow said, ‘I am the King of the Jews.’

22 Pilate replied, “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, and took his cloak[j] as well. The cloak was seamless, woven in one piece from the top down. 24 So they told each other, “Let’s not tear it. Instead, let’s throw dice to see who gets it.” This was to fulfill the Scripture that says,

“They divided my clothes among themselves,
    and for my clothing they threw dice.”[k]

So that is what the soldiers did.

25 Meanwhile, standing near Jesus’ cross were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.[l] 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he kept loving standing there, he told his mother, “Dear lady,[m] here is your son.” 27 Then he told the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

Jesus Dies on the Cross(C)

28 After this, when Jesus realized that everything was now completed, he said (in order to fulfill the Scripture), “I’m thirsty.” 29 A jar 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 After Jesus had taken the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and released his spirit.

Jesus’ Side is Pierced

31 Since it was the Preparation Day, the Jewish leaders[n] did not want to leave the bodies on the crosses during the Sabbath, because that was a particularly important Sabbath. So they asked Pilate to have the men’s legs broken and the bodies[o] removed. 32 So the soldiers went and broke the legs of the first man and then of the other man 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 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and blood and water immediately came out. 35 The one who saw this has testified, and his testimony is true. He knows he is telling the truth so that you, too, may believe, 36 because these things happened so that the Scripture might be fulfilled:

“None of his bones will be broken.”[p]

37 In addition, another passage of Scripture says,

“They will look on the one whom they pierced.”[q]

Jesus is Buried(D)

38 Later on, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus (though a secret one because he was afraid of the Jewish leaders),[r] asked Pilate to let him remove the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission, and he came and removed his body. 39 Nicodemus, the man who had first come to Jesus at night, also arrived, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about 100 litra.[s] 40 They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in linen cloths along with spices, according to the burial custom of the Jews. 41 A garden was located in the place where he was crucified, and in that garden was a new tomb in which no one had yet been placed. 42 Because it was the Jewish Preparation Day, and because the tomb was nearby, they put Jesus there.

Footnotes

  1. John 19:4 Lit. them
  2. John 19:7 I.e. Judean leaders; lit. The Jews
  3. John 19:7 Lit. him
  4. John 19:9 Lit. to the praetorium
  5. John 19:12 I.e. Judean leaders; lit. the Jews
  6. John 19:14 Lit. about the sixth hour
  7. John 19:14 I.e. Judean leaders; lit. the Jews
  8. John 19:16 Lit. he
  9. John 19:19 Or Jesus the Nazarene; the Gk. Nazoraios may be a word play between Heb. netser, meaning branch (see Isa 11:1), and the name Nazareth.
  10. John 19:23 Lit. and his tunic
  11. John 19:24 Cf. Ps 22:18
  12. John 19:25 Or Mary of Magdala
  13. John 19:26 Or Woman
  14. John 19:31 I.e. Judean leaders; lit. the Jews
  15. John 19:31 The Gk. lacks the bodies
  16. John 19:36 Cf. Exod 12:46; Num 9:12; Ps 34:20
  17. John 19:37 Cf. Zech 12:10
  18. John 19:38 I.e. Judean leaders; lit. the Jews
  19. John 19:39 I.e. about 75 pounds; the Gk. litron weighed about 12 ounces