Beginning

Jesus is Sentenced to Death^(A)

19 Then Pilate had Jesus taken away and whipped. ² The soldiers twisted some thorns into a victor’s crown, put it on his head, and threw a purple robe on him. ³ They kept coming up to him and saying, “Long live the king of the Jews!” Then they began to slap him on the face.

⁴ 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.” ⁵ Then Jesus came outside, wearing the victor’s crown of thorns and the purple robe.

Pilate told them, “Here is the man!”

⁶ 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.”

⁷ 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.”

⁸ When Pilate heard this, he became even more afraid. ⁹ 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,

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:

³⁷ In addition, another passage of Scripture says,

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.

Jesus is Raised from the Dead^(E)

20 On the first day of the week,^[t] early in the morning and while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene^[u] went to the tomb and noticed that the stone had been removed from the tomb. ² So she ran off and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, whom Jesus kept loving. She told them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” ³ So Peter and the other disciple took off for the tomb. ⁴ The two of them were running together, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and came to the tomb first. ⁵ Bending over to look inside, he noticed the linen cloths lying there, but didn’t go in. ⁶ At this point Simon Peter arrived, following him, and went straight into the tomb. He observed that the linen cloths were lying there, ⁷ and that the handkerchief that had been on Jesus’ head was not lying with the linen cloths but was rolled up in a separate place. ⁸ Then the other disciple, who arrived at the tomb first, went inside, looked, and believed. ⁹ For they did not yet understand the Scripture that said^[v] that Jesus^[w] had to rise from the dead. ¹⁰ So the disciples went back to their homes.

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene^(F)

¹¹ Meanwhile, Mary^[x] stood crying outside the tomb. As she cried, she bent over and looked^[y] into the tomb. ¹² She saw two angels in white clothes who were sitting down, one at the head and the other at the foot of the place where Jesus’ body had been lying. ¹³ They asked her, “Lady,^[z] why are you crying?”

She told them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they have put him.”

¹⁴ After she had said this, she turned around and noticed Jesus standing there, without realizing that it was Jesus.

¹⁵ Jesus asked her, “Dear lady,^[aa] why are you crying? Who are you looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she told him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will take him away.”

¹⁶ Jesus told her, “Mary!”

She turned around and told him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means “Teacher”).

¹⁷ Jesus told her, “Don’t hold on to me, because I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I’m ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

¹⁸ So Mary Magdalene^[ab] went and announced to the disciples, “I’ve seen the Lord!” She also told them what he had told her.

Jesus Appears to the Disciples^(G)

¹⁹ It was the evening of the first day of the week,^[ac] and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders.^[ad] Jesus came and stood among them. He told them, “Peace be with you.” ²⁰ After saying this, he showed them his hands and his side, and when they saw the Lord, the disciples were overjoyed. ²¹ Jesus told them again, “Peace be with you. Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” ²² When he had said this, he breathed on them and told them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive people’s sins, they are forgiven. If you retain people’s sins, they are retained.”

Jesus Appears to Thomas

²⁴ Thomas, one of the Twelve (called the Twin),^[ae] wasn’t with them when Jesus came. ²⁵ So the other disciples kept telling him, “We’ve seen the Lord!” But he told them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, put my finger into them,^[af] and put my hand into his side, I’ll never believe!”

²⁶ A week later, his disciples were again inside, and Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were shut, Jesus came, stood among them, and said, “Peace be with you.” ²⁷ Then he told Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Take your hand, and put it into my side. Stop doubting, but believe.”

²⁸ Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”

²⁹ Jesus told him, “Is it because you’ve seen me that you have believed? How blessed are those who have never seen me and yet have believed!”

The Purpose of the Book

³⁰ Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his^[ag] disciples that are not recorded in this book. ³¹ But these have been recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah,^[ah] the Son of God, and so that through believing you may have life in his name.

Jesus Appears to Seven of His Disciples

21 Later on, Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. This is what happened: ² Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin),^[ai] Nathaniel from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two of his other disciples were together. ³ Simon Peter told them, “I’m going fishing.”

They all told him, “We’ll go with you, too.” So they went out and got into the boat but didn’t catch a thing that night.

⁴ Just as dawn was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore. The disciples didn’t realize it was Jesus. ⁵ Jesus asked them, “Children, you don’t have any fish, do you?”

They answered him, “No.”

⁶ He told them, “Throw the net on the right hand side of the boat, and you’ll catch^[aj] some.” So they threw it out and were unable to haul it in because it was so full of fish.

⁷ That disciple whom Jesus kept loving told Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put his clothes back on, because he was practically naked, and jumped into the sea. ⁸ But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish. They were only about 200 cubits^[ak] away from the shore.

⁹ When they arrived at the shore, they saw a charcoal fire with fish lying on it, and some bread. ¹⁰ Jesus told them, “Bring me some of the fish you’ve just caught.” ¹¹ So Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish—153 of them. And although there were so many of them, the net was not torn.

¹² Then Jesus told them, “Come, have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?”, because they knew it was the Lord. ¹³ Jesus took the bread, gave it to them, and did^[al] the same with the fish. ¹⁴ This was now the third time that Jesus revealed himself to the disciples after he had been raised from the dead.

Jesus Speaks with Peter

¹⁵ When they had finished breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”

Peter^[am] told him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus^[an] told him, “Feed my lambs.”

¹⁶ Then he asked him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”

Peter^[ao] told him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus^[ap] told him, “Take care of my sheep.” ¹⁷ He asked him a third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was deeply hurt that he had asked him a third time, “Do you love me?” So he told him, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you!”

Jesus told him, “Feed my sheep. ¹⁸ “Truly, I tell you^[aq] emphatically, when you were young, you would fasten your belt and go wherever you liked. But when you get old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten your belt and take you where you don’t want to go.” ¹⁹ Now he said this to show by what kind of death he would glorify God.

After saying this, Jesus^[ar] told him, “Keep following me.”

Jesus and the Beloved Disciple

²⁰ Peter turned around and noticed the disciple whom Jesus kept loving following them. He was the one who had put his head on Jesus’ chest at the supper and had asked, “Lord, who is the one who is going to betray you?”

²¹ When Peter saw him, he said, “Lord, what about him?”

²² Jesus told him, “If it’s my will for him to remain until I come back, how does that concern you? You must keep following me!” ²³ So the rumor spread among the brothers^[as] that this disciple wasn’t going to die. Yet Jesus didn’t say to Peter^[at] that he wasn’t going to die, but, “If it’s my will for him to remain until I come back, how does that concern you?”

²⁴ This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them down. We know that his testimony is true.

²⁵ Of course, Jesus also did many other things, and I suppose that if every one of them were written down, the world couldn’t contain the books that would be written.