33 Then Pilate went back into the headquarters, summoned Jesus, and said to him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” (A)

34 Jesus answered, “Are you asking this on your own, or have others told you about me?”

35 “I’m not a Jew, am I?” Pilate replied. “Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?”

36 “My kingdom(B) is not of this world,” said Jesus. “If my kingdom were of this world,(C) my servants(D) would fight, so that I wouldn’t be handed over to the Jews. But as it is,[a] my kingdom is not from here.”(E)

37 “You are a king then?” Pilate asked.

“You say that I’m a king,” Jesus replied. “I was born for this, and I have come into the world(F) for this: to testify(G) to the truth.(H) Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

38 “What is truth?” said Pilate.

Jesus or Barabbas

After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, “I find no grounds(I) for charging him.

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Footnotes

  1. 18:36 Or But now

33 So Pilate went back into the governor’s headquarters,[a] summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

34 Jesus replied, “Are you asking this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about me?”

35 Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? It is your own nation and high priests who have handed you over to me. What have you done?”

36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom belonged to this world, my servants would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders.[b] But for now my kingdom is not from here.”

37 Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?”

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. I was born for this, and I came into the world for this: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is committed to the truth listens to my voice.”

38 Pilate asked him, “What is ‘truth’?” and then he went out to the Jewish leaders[c] again and told them, “I find no basis for a charge against him.

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Footnotes

  1. John 18:33 Lit. into the praetorium
  2. John 18:36 I.e. Judean leaders; lit. the Jews
  3. John 18:38 I.e. Judean leaders; lit. the Jews