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 Be Crucified

19 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him whipped. The soldiers twisted thorns together to make a crown. They put it on Jesus’ head. Then they put a purple robe on him. They went up to him again and again. They kept saying, “We honor you, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face.

Once more Pilate came out. He said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing Jesus out to you. I want to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Then Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”

As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. I myself find no basis for a charge against him.”

The Jewish leaders replied, “We have a law. That law says he must die. He claimed to be the Son of God.”

When Pilate heard that, he was even more afraid. He went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus. But Jesus did not answer him. 10 “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you understand? I have the power to set you free or to nail you to a cross.”

11 Jesus answered, “You were given power from heaven. If you weren’t, you would have no power over me. So the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free. But the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are not Caesar’s friend! Anyone who claims to be a king is against Caesar!”

13 When Pilate heard that, he brought Jesus out. Pilate sat down on the judge’s seat. It was at a place called the Stone Walkway. In the Aramaic language it was called Gabbatha. 14 It was about noon on Preparation Day in Passover Week.

“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.

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

“Should I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.

“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.

16 Finally, Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be nailed to a cross.

Jesus Is Nailed to a Cross

So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. 17 He had to carry his own cross. He went out to a place called the Skull. In the Aramaic language it was called Golgotha. 18 There they nailed Jesus to the cross. Two other men were crucified with him. One was on each side of him. Jesus was in the middle.

19 Pilate had a notice prepared. It was fastened to the cross. It read,

Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.

20 Many of the Jews read the sign. That’s because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. And the sign was written in the Aramaic, Latin and Greek languages. 21 The chief priests of the Jews argued with Pilate. They said, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews.’ Write that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”

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

23 When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes. They divided them into four parts. Each soldier got one part. All that was left was Jesus’ long, inner robe. It did not have any seams. It was made out of one piece of cloth from top to bottom.

24 “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s cast lots to see who will get it.”

This happened so that Scripture would come true. It says,

“They divided up my clothes among them.
    They cast lots for what I was wearing.” (Psalm 22:18)

So that is what the soldiers did.

25 Jesus’ mother stood near his cross. So did his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 Jesus saw his mother there. He also saw the disciple he loved standing nearby. Jesus said to his mother, “Dear woman, here is your son.” 27 He said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, the disciple took her into his home.

Jesus Dies

28 Later, Jesus knew that everything had now been finished. He also knew that what Scripture said must come true. So he said, “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar of wine vinegar was there. So they soaked a sponge in it. They put the sponge on the stem of a hyssop plant. Then they lifted it up to Jesus’ lips. 30 After Jesus drank he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and died.

31 It was Preparation Day. The next day would be a special Sabbath day. The Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath day. So they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. 32 The soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus. Then they broke the legs of the other man. 33 But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead. So they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers stuck his spear into Jesus’ side. Right away, blood and water flowed out. 35 The man who saw it has been a witness about it. And what he has said is true. He knows that he tells the truth. He is a witness so that you also may believe. 36 These things happened in order that Scripture would come true. It says, “Not one of his bones will be broken.” (Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12; Psalm 34:20) 37 Scripture also says, “They will look to the one they have pierced.” (Zechariah 12:10)

Jesus Is Buried

38 Later Joseph asked Pilate for Jesus’ body. Joseph was from the town of Arimathea. He was a follower of Jesus. But he followed Jesus secretly because he was afraid of the Jewish leaders. After Pilate gave him permission, Joseph came and took the body away. 39 Nicodemus went with Joseph. He was the man who had earlier visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought some mixed spices that weighed about 75 pounds. 40 The two men took Jesus’ body. They wrapped it in strips of linen cloth, along with the spices. That was the way the Jews buried people. 41 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden. A new tomb was there. No one had ever been put in it before. 42 That day was the Jewish Preparation Day, and the tomb was nearby. So they placed Jesus there.