Chapter 19

The Crown of Thorns

1 Pilate then took Jesus and 1ascourged Him.

2 aAnd the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and put a purple robe on Him;

3 and they began to come up to Him and say, “aHail, King of the Jews!” and to bgive Him slaps in the face.

4 Pilate acame out again and * said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you so that you may know that bI find no guilt in Him.”

5 Jesus then came out, awearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate * said to them, “Behold, the Man!”

6 So when the chief priests and the aofficers saw Him, they cried out saying, “Crucify, crucify!” Pilate * said to them, “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for bI find no guilt in Him.”

7 The Jews answered him, “aWe have a law, and by that law He ought to die because He bmade Himself out to be the Son of God.”

8 Therefore when Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid;

9 and he aentered into the 1Praetorium again and * said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But bJesus gave him no answer.

10 So Pilate * said to Him, “You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?”

11 Jesus answered, “aYou would have no authority 1over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason bhe who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”

12 As a result of this Pilate 1made efforts to release Him, but the Jews cried out saying, “aIf you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself out to be a king 2opposes Caesar.”

13 Therefore when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and asat down on the judgment seat at a place called 1The Pavement, but bin 2Hebrew, Gabbatha.

14 Now it was athe day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the 1bsixth hour. And he * said to the Jews, “Behold, cyour King!”

15 So they cried out, “aAway with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!” Pilate * said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”

The Crucifixion

16 So he then ahanded Him over to them to be crucified.

17 aThey took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, 1bbearing His own cross, to the place called cthe Place of a Skull, which is called din 2Hebrew, Golgotha.

18 There they crucified Him, and with Him atwo other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between.

19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written, “aJESUS THE NAZARENE, bTHE KING OF THE JEWS.”

20 Therefore many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written ain 1Hebrew, Latin and in Greek.

21 So the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘aThe King of the Jews’; but that He said, ‘I am aKing of the Jews.’ ”

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

23 Then athe soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His outer garments and made bfour parts, a part to every soldier and also the 1tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven 2in one piece.

24 So they said to one another, “aLet us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be”; bthis was to fulfill the Scripture: “They cdivided My outer garments among them, and for My clothing they cast 1lots.”

25 Therefore the soldiers did these things.

aBut standing by the cross of Jesus were bHis mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and cMary Magdalene.

26 When Jesus then saw His mother, and athe disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He * said to His mother, “bWoman, behold, your son!”

27 Then He * said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour the disciple took her into ahis own household.

28 After this, Jesus, aknowing that all things had already been accomplished, bto fulfill the Scripture, * said, “cI am thirsty.”

29 A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so athey put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth.

30 Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “aIt is finished!” And He bowed His head and bgave up His spirit.

Care of the Body of Jesus

31 Then the Jews, because it was athe day of preparation, so that bthe bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (1for that Sabbath was a chigh day), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

32 So the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first man and of the other who was acrucified with Him;

33 but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.

34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately ablood and water came out.

35 And he who has seen has atestified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe.

36 For these things came to pass ato fulfill the Scripture, “bNot a bone of Him shall be 1broken.”

37 And again another Scripture says, “aThey shall look on Him whom they pierced.”

38 aAfter these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a bsecret one for cfear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away His body.

39 aNicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bbringing a 1mixture of cmyrrh and aloes, about a dhundred 2pounds weight.

40 So they took the body of Jesus and abound it in blinen 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 a anew tomb bin which no one had yet been laid.

42 Therefore because of the Jewish day of apreparation, since the tomb was bnearby, they laid Jesus there.