19 Then Pilate ordered that Jesus be taken away and ·whipped [flogged]. ² The soldiers ·made [wove; twisted together] a crown ·from some thorny branches [^Tof thorns] and put it on Jesus’ head and put a purple robe [^Cpurple was the color of royalty] around him. ³ Then they came to him many times and said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and ·hit him in the face [slapped/struck him].

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 [no case; no basis for a charge] against him.” ⁵ So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “·Here is the man [^TBehold the man]!”

⁶ When the ·leading [^Tchief] priests and the ·guards [officials; temple police] saw Jesus, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

But Pilate answered them, “Crucify him yourselves, because I find ·nothing [no case; no basis for a charge] against him.”

⁷ The ·leaders [Jewish leaders; ^LJews] answered [^Lhim], “We have a law [Lev. 24:16] that says he should die, because he ·said he is [made himself; claimed to be] the Son of God.”

⁸ When Pilate heard this [^Lstatement; word], he was even more afraid. ⁹ He went back inside the ·palace [headquarters; ^LPraetorium] and asked Jesus, “Where do you come from?” But Jesus did not answer him. ¹⁰ Pilate said [^Lto him], “You refuse to speak to me? Don’t you know I have ·power [authority] to ·set you free [release you] and ·power [authority] to have you crucified?”

¹¹ Jesus answered [him], “The only ·power [authority] you have over me is the ·power [authority] given to you ·by God [^Lfrom above]. The man who ·turned me in to you [betrayed me; ^CCaiaphas or perhaps Judas] is guilty of a greater sin.”

¹² ·After this [or For this reason], Pilate tried to let Jesus go. But ·some in the crowd [^Lthe Jews] ·cried out [shouted], “Anyone who makes himself king ·is against [opposes] Caesar [^Cthe Roman emperor]. If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar.”

¹³ When Pilate heard ·what they were saying [^Lthese words], he brought Jesus out and ·sat down [or seated him] on the judge’s seat at the place called The Stone Pavement. (In the ·Hebrew language [^Cmore specifically, Aramaic, the native language of the Jews at the time] the name is Gabbatha.) ¹⁴ It was about ·noon [^Lthe sixth hour; ^Chours were counted from dawn, about 6 AM] on Preparation Day of Passover week. Pilate said to ·the crowd [^Lthe Jews], “·Here is your king! [^LLook, your king! or Look at your king!]”

¹⁵ They shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

Pilate asked them, “Do you want me to crucify your king?”

The ·leading [^Tchief] priests answered, “The only king we have is Caesar.”

¹⁶ So Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be crucified.

Jesus Is Crucified^(A)

The soldiers took charge of Jesus. ¹⁷ Carrying his own cross, Jesus went out to a place called The Place of the Skull, which in the Hebrew [^CAramaic; see v. 13] language is called Golgotha. ¹⁸ There they crucified Jesus. They also crucified two other men, one on each side, with Jesus in the middle. ¹⁹ Pilate wrote a ·sign [title; notice; inscription] and ·put [fastened] it on the cross. It read: jesus ·of nazareth [^Lthe Nazarene], the king of the jews. ²⁰ The ·sign [title; notice; inscription] was written in Hebrew [^CAramaic; 19:13], in Latin, and in Greek [^Cthe languages spoken in Jerusalem at the time]. Many of the people read the sign, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. ²¹ The ·leading [^Tchief] priests [^Lof the Jews] said to Pilate, “Don’t write, ‘The King of the Jews.’ But write, ‘This man ·said [claimed], “I am the King of the Jews.”’”

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

²³ After the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, with each soldier getting one part [^Cit was a custom that the executioners would get the victim’s clothes]. They also took his ·long shirt [tunic; undergarment], which was ·all one piece of cloth [seamless], woven from top to bottom. ²⁴ So the soldiers said to each other, “We should not tear this into parts. Let’s throw lots [^Csimilar to dice] to see who will get it.” This happened so that this Scripture would come true:

So the soldiers did this.

²⁵ [^LNow] Standing near his cross were Jesus’ mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. [^CIt is unclear whether Mary the wife of Clopas is the same as Jesus’ mother’s sister or someone else.] ²⁶ When Jesus [^Ltherefore] saw his mother and the ·follower [disciple] he loved [^Cprobably John himself] standing nearby, he said to his mother, “·Dear woman [^LWoman; see 2:4], ·here is [^Tbehold] your son.” ²⁷ Then he said to the ·follower [disciple], “·Here is [^TBehold] your mother.” From that time on, the ·follower [disciple] took her to live in his home.

Jesus Dies^(B)

²⁸ After this, Jesus knew that everything had been ·done [finished; completed]. So that the Scripture would ·come true [be fulfilled], he said, “I ·am thirsty [^Tthirst; Ps. 22:15; 69:21].” ²⁹ There was a jar full of ·vinegar [sour wine] there, so the soldiers soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a ·branch [stalk] of a hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ mouth. ³⁰ When Jesus ·tasted [^Lreceived] the ·vinegar [sour wine], he said, “It is ·finished [completed; accomplished].” Then he bowed his head and ·died [^Lgave up/yielded his spirit].

³¹ This day was Preparation Day [^Cfor the celebration of Passover; 12:12], and the next day was a ·special [high; ^Lgreat] Sabbath day [^Cspecial because it occurred during Passover]. Since the ·religious leaders [^LJews] did not want the bodies to stay on the cross on the Sabbath day, they asked Pilate to order that the legs of the men be broken [^Cso they would die quicker] and the bodies be taken away [Deut. 21:22–23]. 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 and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. ³⁴ But one of the soldiers ·stuck [pierced] his ·spear [lance; javelin] into Jesus’ side, and at once blood and water came out [^Cindicating his death as a human being]. ³⁵ (The one who saw this happen is the one who ·told us this [witnesses; testifies; ^Cagain probably an allusion to the disciple John], and ·whatever he says [his witness/testimony] is true. And he knows that he tells the truth, and he tells it so that you might believe [see 21:24].) ³⁶ [^LFor] These things happened to ·make the Scripture come true [fulfill the Scripture]: “Not one of his bones will be broken [Ps. 34:20; see Ex. 12:46; Num. 9:12].” ³⁷ And [^Lagain] another Scripture says, “They will look at the one they ·stabbed [pierced; Zech. 12:10].”

Jesus Is Buried^(C)

³⁸ ·Later [^LAfter these things], Joseph from Arimathea asked Pilate if he could take the body of Jesus. (Joseph was a secret ·follower [disciple] of Jesus, because he was afraid of ·some of the leaders [the Jewish leaders; ^Lthe Jews].) Pilate gave his permission, so Joseph came and took Jesus’ body away. ³⁹ Nicodemus, who earlier had come to Jesus at night [3:1–15; 7:50–52], went with Joseph. He brought about seventy-five pounds [^CGreek: a hundred litrai; a litra was about 12 ounces] of [a mixture of] myrrh and aloes [^Cused to cover a decomposing body to prevent the stench]. ⁴⁰ These two men took Jesus’ body and wrapped it with the spices in pieces of linen cloth, ·which is how they bury the dead [^Laccording to the burial custom of the Jews]. ⁴¹ In the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden. In the garden was a new tomb that had never been used before. ⁴² The men laid Jesus in that tomb because it was nearby, and ·they were preparing to start their Sabbath day [^Lbecause it was the Jewish Day of Preparation].