John 18–19

Jesus Is Betrayed and Arrested

18When^* Jesus had said these things, he went out with his disciples to the other side of the ravine of the Kidron, where there was a garden into which he and his disciples entered. ²(Now Judas, the one who betrayed him, also knew about the place, because Jesus often gathered there with his disciples.) ³So Judas, taking the cohort and officers from the chief priests and from the Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. ⁴Then Jesus, because he^* knew all the things that were coming upon him, went out and said to them, “Who are you looking for?” ⁵They replied to him, “Jesus the Nazarene.” He said to them, “I am he.”^* (Now Judas, the one who betrayed him, was also standing with them.) ⁶So when he said to them, “I am he,”^* they drew back^a and fell to the ground. ⁷Then he asked them again, “Who are you looking for?” And they said, “Jesus the Nazarene.” ⁸Jesus replied, “I said to you that I am he!^* So if you are looking for me, let these men go,” ⁹in order that the word that he had spoken would be fulfilled: “Those whom you have given to me—I have not lost anyone of them.”^b

¹⁰Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear. (Now the name of the slave was Malchus.) ¹¹So Jesus said to Peter, “Put the sword into its^* sheath! The cup that the Father has given me—shall I not drink it?”

Jesus Taken to Annas

¹²Then the cohort and the military tribune and the officers of the Jews seized Jesus and tied him up, ¹³and brought him^* to Annas first, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. ¹⁴(Now it was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it was better that one man die for the people.)

Peter Denies Jesus the First Time

¹⁵So Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. (Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest.) ¹⁶But Peter was standing by the door outside. So the other disciple who was known to the high priest went out and spoke to the doorkeeper and brought Peter in. ¹⁷Then the female slave who was the doorkeeper said to Peter, “You are not also one of the disciples of this man, are you?”^* He said, “I am not!” ¹⁸(Now the slaves and the officers were standing there, having made a charcoal fire because it was cold, and they were warming themselves. And Peter was also standing there with them and warming himself.)

Jesus Before Annas

¹⁹So the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching. ²⁰Jesus replied to him, “I have spoken openly to the world. I always taught in the synagogue and in the temple courts^* where all the Jews assemble, and I have said nothing in secret. ²¹Why are you asking me? Ask those who heard what I have said to them! Behold, these people know what I said.” ²²Now when^* he had said these things, one of the officers who was standing by gave a slap in the face to Jesus, saying, “Do you reply to the high priest in this way?” ²³Jesus replied to him, “If I have spoken wrongly, testify about what is wrong! But if I have spoken^* correctly, why do you strike me?” ²⁴Then Annas sent him, tied up, to Caiaphas the high priest.

Peter Denies Jesus the Second and Third Times

²⁵Now Simon Peter was standing there and warming himself. So they said to him, “You are not also one of his disciples, are you?”^* He denied it^* and said, “I am not!” ²⁶One of the slaves of the high priest, who was related to the one whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” ²⁷So Peter denied it^* again, and immediately a rooster crowed.

Jesus Brought Before Pilate

²⁸Then they brought Jesus from Caiaphas to the governor’s residence. Now it was early, and they did not enter into the governor’s residence so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover. ²⁹So Pilate came outside to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” ³⁰They answered and said to him, “If this man were not doing evil, we would not have handed him over to you!” ³¹So Pilate said to them, “You take him and judge him according to your law!” The Jews said to him, “It is not permitted for us to kill anyone,” ³²in order that the word of Jesus would be fulfilled that he had spoken, indicating by what sort of death he was going to die.

Pilate Questions Jesus

³³Then Pilate entered again into the governor’s residence and summoned Jesus and said to him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” ³⁴Jesus replied, “Do you say this from yourself, or have others said this^* to you about me?” ³⁵Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I?^* Your people and the chief priests handed you over to me! What have you done?” ³⁶Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from here.” ³⁷Then Pilate said to him, “So then you are a king!” Jesus replied, “You say that I am a king. For this reason I was born, and for this reason I have come into the world: in order that I can testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.” ³⁸Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

And when he^* had said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, “I find no basis for an accusation against him. ³⁹But it is your custom that I release for you one prisoner^* at the Passover. So do you want me^* to release for you the king of the Jews?” ⁴⁰Then they shouted again, saying, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” (Now Barabbas was a revolutionary.)^c

Pilate Attempts to Release Jesus

19So then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.^{* 2}And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and placed it^* on his head, and put a purple robe on him, ³and were coming up to him and saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” and were giving him slaps in the face.

⁴And Pilate came outside again and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing him outside to you, so that you will know that I find no basis for an accusation against him.” ⁵Then Jesus came outside wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and he said to them, “Behold the man!” ⁶So when they saw him, the chief priests and the officers shouted, saying, “Crucify! Crucify!” Pilate said to them, “You take him and crucify him!^* For I do not find a basis for an accusation against him.” ⁷The Jews replied to him, “We have a law, and according to the law he ought to die, because he made himself out to be the Son of God!”

⁸So when Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid, ⁹and he entered into the governor’s residence again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus did not give him an answer. ¹⁰So Pilate said to him, “Will you not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you, and I have authority to crucify you?” ¹¹Jesus replied to him, “You would not have any authority over me unless it was given to you from above. For this reason the one who handed me over to you has greater sin.”

¹²From this point on Pilate was seeking to release him, but the Jews shouted, saying, “If you release this man, you are not a friend of Caesar! Everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar!” ¹³So Pilate, when he^* heard these words, brought Jesus outside and sat down on the judgment seat, in the place called The Stone Pavement (but Gabbatha in Aramaic). ¹⁴(Now it was the day of preparation of the Passover; it was about the sixth hour.) And he said to the Jews, “Behold your king!”

¹⁵Then those shouted, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your king?” The chief priests replied, “We do not have a king except Caesar!” ¹⁶So then he handed him over to them in order that he could be crucified.

Jesus Is Crucified

So they took Jesus, ¹⁷and carrying for himself the cross, he went out to the place called The Place of a Skull (which is called Golgotha in Aramaic), ¹⁸where they crucified him, and with him two others, one on each side,^a and Jesus in the middle. ¹⁹And Pilate also wrote a notice and placed it^* on the cross, and it was written: “Jesus the Nazarene, the king of the Jews.” ²⁰So many of the Jews read this notice, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. And it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. ²¹Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The king of the Jews,’ but, ‘He said, I am king of the Jews.’ ” ²²Pilate replied, “What I have written, I have written.”

²³Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his clothing and made four shares—for each soldier a share—and the tunic. (Now the tunic was seamless, woven from the top in a single piece.)^{b 24}So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it apart, but cast lots for it, to see whose it will be,” so that the scripture would be fulfilled that says,

“They divided my garments among themselves,

and for my clothing they cast lots.”^c

Thus the soldiers did these things.

²⁵Now his mother and the sister of his mother, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene were standing near the cross of Jesus. ²⁶So Jesus, seeing his^* mother and the disciple whom he loved standing there, said to his^* mother, “Woman, behold your son!” ²⁷Then he said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

Jesus Dies on the Cross

²⁸After this, Jesus, knowing that now at last everything was completed, in order that the scripture would be fulfilled, said, “I am thirsty.” ²⁹A jar full of sour wine was standing there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a branch of hyssop and^* brought it^* to his mouth. ³⁰Then when he had received the sour wine, Jesus said, “It is completed,”^d and bowing his^* head, he gave up his^* spirit.

³¹Then the Jews, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was an important day), asked Pilate that their legs could…