John 18:39–19:16

³⁹But it is your custom that I free one prisoner to you at Passover time. Do you want me to free the ‘king of the Jews’?”

⁴⁰They shouted back, “No, not him! Let Barabbas go free!” (Barabbas was a robber.)

19Then Pilate ordered that Jesus be taken away and whipped. ²The soldiers made a crown from some thorny branches and put it on Jesus’ head and put a purple robe around him. ³Then they came to him many times and said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and hit him in the face.

⁴Again Pilate came out and said to them, “Look, I am bringing Jesus out to you. I want you to know that I find nothing against him.” ⁵So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”

⁶When the leading priests and the guards saw Jesus, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

But Pilate answered, “Crucify him yourselves, because I find nothing against him.”

⁷The leaders answered, “We have a law that says he should die, because he said he is the Son of God.”

⁸When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid. ⁹He went back inside the palace and asked Jesus, “Where do you come from?” But Jesus did not answer him. ¹⁰Pilate said, “You refuse to speak to me? Don’t you know I have power to set you free and power to have you crucified?”

¹¹Jesus answered, “The only power you have over me is the power given to you by God. The man who turned me in to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

¹²After this, Pilate tried to let Jesus go. But some in the crowd cried out, “Anyone who makes himself king is against Caesar. If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar.”

¹³When Pilate heard what they were saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at the place called The Stone Pavement. (In the Hebrew language ⁿ the name is Gabbatha.) ¹⁴It was about noon on Preparation Day of Passover week. Pilate said to the crowd, “Here is your king!”

¹⁵They shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

Pilate asked them, “Do you want me to crucify your king?”

The leading priests answered, “The only king we have is Caesar.”

¹⁶So Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be crucified.

Jesus Is Crucified

The soldiers took charge of Jesus.