John 18:28–19:16

Jesus Before Pilate

^28aThen they ^*led Jesus from ^bCaiaphas into ^cthe ¹Praetorium, and it was early; and they themselves did not enter into ^dthe ²Praetorium so that ^ethey would not be defiled, but might eat the Passover.

^29aTherefore Pilate went out to them and ^*said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?”

³⁰They answered and said to him, “If this man were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him to you.”

³¹So Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves, and judge Him according to your law.” The Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death,”

³²in order that ^athe word of Jesus which He spoke would be fulfilled, signifying by what kind of death He was about to die.

³³Therefore Pilate ^aentered again into the Praetorium, and summoned Jesus and said to Him, “^bAre You the King of the Jews?”

³⁴Jesus answered, “Are you saying this from yourself, or did others tell you about Me?”

³⁵Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered You to me; what did You do?”

³⁶Jesus answered, “^aMy kingdom ¹is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be delivered over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not ²from here.”

³⁷Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “^aYou yourself said I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, ^bto bear witness to the truth. ^cEveryone who is of the truth hears My voice.”

³⁸Pilate ^*said to Him, “What is truth?”

And when he had said this, he ^awent out again to the Jews and ^*said to them, “^bI find no guilt in Him.

³⁹“^aBut you have a custom that I release someone ¹for you at the Passover; do you wish then that I release ²for you the King of the Jews?”

⁴⁰So they cried out again, saying, “^aNot this man, but Barabbas.” Now Barabbas was a robber.

CHAPTER 19

Jesus Flogged and Rejected as King

¹Pilate then took Jesus and ^1aflogged Him.

^2aAnd when the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and put a purple ¹robe on Him;

³and they were coming to Him and saying, “^aHail, King of the Jews!” and were ^bgiving Him slaps in the face.

⁴And 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.”

⁵Jesus then came out, ^awearing the crown of thorns and the purple ¹robe. Pilate ^*said to them, “Behold, the man!”

⁶So 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.”

⁷The 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.”

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

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

¹⁰So 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?”

¹¹Jesus 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.”

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

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

¹⁴Now it was ^athe day of ¹Preparation for the Passover; it was about the ^2bsixth hour. And he ^*said to the Jews, “Behold, ^cyour King!”

¹⁵So 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

¹⁶So he then ^adelivered Him over to them to be crucified.