John 18:28-19:30

New American Standard Bible

Jesus before Pilate

^28 (A)Then they *brought Jesus from ^(B)Caiaphas into ^(C)the ^[a]Praetorium, and it was early; and they themselves did not enter ^(D)the ^[b]Praetorium, so that ^(E)they would not be defiled, but might eat the Passover. ^29 (F)Therefore Pilate came out to them and *said, “What accusation are you bringing against this Man?” ³⁰ They answered and said to him, “If this Man were not ^[c]a criminal, we would not have handed Him over to you.” ³¹ So Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves, and judge Him according to your law.” The Jews said to him, “We are not ^[d]permitted to put anyone to death.” ³² This happened so that ^(G)the word of Jesus which He said, indicating what kind of death He was going to die, would be fulfilled.

³³ Therefore Pilate ^(H)entered the Praetorium again, and summoned Jesus and said to Him, “^(I)You are the King of the Jews?” ³⁴ Jesus answered, “Are you saying this ^[e]on your own, or did others tell you about Me?” ³⁵ Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests handed You over to me; what have You done?” ³⁶ Jesus answered, “^(J)My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not ^[f]of this realm.” ³⁷ Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “^(K)You say correctly that I am a king. For this purpose I have been born, and for this I have come into the world: ^(L)to testify to the truth. ^(M)Everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice.” ³⁸ Pilate *said to Him, “What is truth?”

And after saying this, he ^(N)came out again to the Jews and *said to them, “^(O)I find no grounds at all for charges in ^[g]His case. ^39 (P)However, you have a custom that I release one prisoner ^[h]for you at the Passover; therefore do you wish that I release ^[i]for you the King of the Jews?” ⁴⁰ So they shouted again, saying, “^(Q)Not this Man, but Barabbas.” Now Barabbas was a rebel.

The Crown of Thorns

19 So Pilate then took Jesus and ^[j](R)had Him flogged. ^2 (S)And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and placed it on His head, and put a purple ^[k]cloak on Him; ³ and they repeatedly came up to Him and said, “^(T)Hail, King of the Jews!” and ^(U)slapped Him in the face again and again. ⁴ And then Pilate ^(V)came out again and *said to them, “See, I am bringing Him out to you so that you will know that ^(W)I find no grounds at all for charges in ^[l]His case.” ⁵ Jesus then came out, ^(X)wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate *said to them, “Behold, the Man!” ⁶ So when the chief priests and the ^(Y)officers saw Him, they shouted, saying, “Crucify, crucify!” Pilate *said to them, “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him; for ^(Z)I find no grounds for charges in ^[m]His case!” ⁷ The Jews answered him, “^(AA)We have a law, and by that law He ought to die, because He ^(AB)made Himself out to be the Son of God!”

⁸ Therefore when Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid; ⁹ and he ^(AC)entered the ^[n]Praetorium again and *said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But ^(AD)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, “^(AE)You would have no authority ^[o]over Me at all, if it had not been given to you from above; for this reason ^(AF)the one who handed Me over to you has the greater sin.” ¹² As a result of this, Pilate ^[p]made efforts to release Him; but the Jews shouted, saying, “^(AG)If you release this Man, you are not a friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself out to be a king ^[q]opposes Caesar!”

¹³ Therefore when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and ^(AH)sat down on the judgment seat at a place called ^[r]The Pavement—but ^(AI)in ^[s]Hebrew, Gabbatha. ¹⁴ Now it was ^(AJ)the day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the ^[t](AK)sixth hour. And he *said to the Jews, “Look, ^(AL)your King!” ¹⁵ So they shouted, “^(AM)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 ^(AN)handed Him over to them to be crucified.

^17 (AO)They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, ^[u](AP)carrying His own cross, to the place called ^(AQ)the Place of a Skull, which ^(AR)in ^[v]Hebrew is called, Golgotha. ¹⁸ There they crucified Him, and with Him ^(AS)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: “^(AT)JESUS THE NAZARENE, ^(AU)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 ^(AV)in ^[w]Hebrew, Latin, and in Greek. ²¹ So the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘^(AW)The King of the Jews’; rather, write that He said, ‘I am ^(AX)King of the Jews.’” ²² Pilate answered, “^(AY)What I have written, I have written.”

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

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

²⁸ After this, Jesus, ^(BK)knowing that all things had already been accomplished, ^(BL)in order that the Scripture would be fulfilled, *said, “^(BM)I am thirsty.” ²⁹ A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so ^(BN)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, “^(BO)It is finished!” And He bowed His head and ^(BP)gave up His spirit.