John 19

New American Standard Bible

The Crown of Thorns

19 So Pilate then took Jesus and ^[a](A)had Him flogged. ^2 (B)And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and placed it on His head, and put a purple ^[b]cloak on Him; ³ and they repeatedly came up to Him and said, “^(C)Hail, King of the Jews!” and ^(D)slapped Him in the face again and again. ⁴ And then Pilate ^(E)came out again and *said to them, “See, I am bringing Him out to you so that you will know that ^(F)I find no grounds at all for charges in ^[c]His case.” ⁵ Jesus then came out, ^(G)wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate *said to them, “Behold, the Man!” ⁶ So when the chief priests and the ^(H)officers saw Him, they shouted, saying, “Crucify, crucify!” Pilate *said to them, “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him; for ^(I)I find no grounds for charges in ^[d]His case!” ⁷ The Jews answered him, “^(J)We have a law, and by that law He ought to die, because He ^(K)made Himself out to be the Son of God!”

⁸ Therefore when Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid; ⁹ and he ^(L)entered the ^[e]Praetorium again and *said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But ^(M)Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰ So Pilate *said to Him, “Are you not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?” ¹¹ Jesus answered him, “^(N)You would have no authority ^[f]over Me at all, if it had not been given to you from above; for this reason ^(O)the one who handed Me over to you has the greater sin.” ¹² As a result of this, Pilate ^[g]made efforts to release Him; but the Jews shouted, saying, “^(P)If you release this Man, you are not a friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself out to be a king ^[h]opposes Caesar!”

¹³ Therefore when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and ^(Q)sat down on the judgment seat at a place called ^[i]The Pavement—but ^(R)in ^[j]Hebrew, Gabbatha. ¹⁴ Now it was ^(S)the day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the ^[k](T)sixth hour. And he *said to the Jews, “Look, ^(U)your King!” ¹⁵ So they shouted, “^(V)Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!” Pilate *said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king except Caesar.”

The Crucifixion

¹⁶ So he then ^(W)handed Him over to them to be crucified.

^17 (X)They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, ^[l](Y)carrying His own cross, to the place called ^(Z)the Place of a Skull, which ^(AA)in ^[m]Hebrew is called, Golgotha. ¹⁸ There they crucified Him, and with Him ^(AB)two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between. ¹⁹ Now Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written: “^(AC)JESUS THE NAZARENE, ^(AD)THE KING OF THE JEWS.” ²⁰ Therefore many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written ^(AE)in ^[n]Hebrew, Latin, and in Greek. ²¹ So the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘^(AF)The King of the Jews’; rather, write that He said, ‘I am ^(AG)King of the Jews.’” ²² Pilate answered, “^(AH)What I have written, I have written.”

²³ Then ^(AI)the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His outer garments and made ^(AJ)four parts: a part to each soldier, and the ^[o]tunic also; but the tunic was seamless, woven ^[p]in one piece. ²⁴ So they said to one another, “^(AK)Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be.” ^(AL)This happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: “They ^(AM)divided My garments among themselves, and they cast ^[q]lots for My clothing.” Therefore the soldiers did these things.

^25 (AN)Now beside the cross of Jesus stood ^(AO)His mother, His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and ^(AP)Mary Magdalene. ²⁶ So when Jesus saw His mother, and ^(AQ)the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He *said to His mother, “^(AR)Woman, behold, your son!” ²⁷ Then He *said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her into ^(AS)his own household.

²⁸ After this, Jesus, ^(AT)knowing that all things had already been accomplished, ^(AU)in order that the Scripture would be fulfilled, *said, “^(AV)I am thirsty.” ²⁹ A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so ^(AW)they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth. ³⁰ Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “^(AX)It is finished!” And He bowed His head and ^(AY)gave up His spirit.

Care of the Body of Jesus

³¹ Now then, since it was ^(AZ)the day of preparation, to prevent ^(BA)the bodies from remaining on the cross on the Sabbath (^[r]for that Sabbath was a ^(BB)high day), the Jews requested of Pilate that their legs be broken, and the bodies be taken away. ³² So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man, and of the other who was ^(BC)crucified with Him; ³³ but after they came to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. ³⁴ Yet one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately ^(BD)blood and water came out. ³⁵ And he who has seen has ^(BE)testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe. ³⁶ For these things took place ^(BF)so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: “^(BG)Not a bone of Him shall be ^[s]broken.” ³⁷ And again another Scripture says, “^(BH)They will look at Him whom they pierced.”

³⁸ Now ^(BI)after these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a ^(BJ)secret one for ^(BK)fear of the ^[t]Jews, requested of Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away His body. ^39 (BL)Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, ^(BM)bringing a ^[u]mixture of ^(BN)myrrh and aloes, about a ^[v](BO)hundred litras weight. ⁴⁰ So they took the body of Jesus and ^(BP)bound it in ^(BQ)linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. ⁴¹ Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden was a ^(BR)new tomb ^(BS)in which no one had yet been laid. ⁴² Therefore because of the Jewish day of ^(BT)preparation, since the tomb was ^(BU)nearby, they laid Jesus there.