John 19:4–15

⁴Once more Pilate came out. He said to the Jews, “Look, I am bringing Jesus out to you. I want to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.”

⁵Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Then Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”

⁶As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. I myself find no basis for a charge against him.”

⁷The Jews replied, “We have a law. That law says he must die. He claimed to be the Son of God.”

⁸When Pilate heard that, he was even more afraid. ⁹He went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus.

But Jesus did not answer him.

¹⁰“Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you understand? I have the power to set you free or to nail you to a cross.”

¹¹Jesus answered, “You were given power from heaven. If you weren’t, you would have no power over me. So the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

¹²From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free. But the Jews kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are not Caesar’s friend! Anyone who claims to be a king is against Caesar!”

¹³When Pilate heard that, he brought Jesus out. Pilate sat down on the judge’s seat. It was at a place called The Stone Walkway. In the Aramaic language it was called Gabbatha. ¹⁴It was about noon on Preparation Day in Passover Week.

“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.

¹⁵But they shouted, “Kill him! Kill him! Crucify him!”

“Should I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.

“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.