John 18:39–19:6

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

⁴⁰They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising.^a

Jesus Sentenced to Be Crucified

19:1–16pp—Mt 27:27–31; Mk 15:16–20

19Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.^{b 2}The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe ³and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!”^c And they slapped him in the face.^d

⁴Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out^e to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.”^{f 5}When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe,^g Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”

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

But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him.^h As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”ⁱ