John 19:1-22

New King James Version

The Soldiers Mock Jesus^(A)

19 So then ^(B)Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him. ² And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe. ^3 [a]Then they said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they ^(C)struck Him with their hands.

⁴ Pilate then went out again, and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, ^(D)that you may know that I find no fault in Him.”

Pilate’s Decision

⁵ Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold the Man!”

^6 (E)Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!”

Pilate said to them, “You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him.”

⁷ The Jews answered him, ^(F)“We have a law, and according to ^[b]our law He ought to die, because ^(G)He made Himself the Son of God.”

⁸ Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid, ⁹ and went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” ^(H)But Jesus gave him no answer.

¹⁰ Then Pilate said to Him, “Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have ^[c]power to crucify You, and power to release You?”

¹¹ Jesus answered, ^(I)“You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore ^(J)the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”

¹² From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, “If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar’s friend. ^(K)Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar.”

^13 (L)When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. ¹⁴ Now ^(M)it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”

¹⁵ But they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!”

Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?”

The chief priests answered, ^(N)“We have no king but Caesar!”

^16 (O)Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. Then they took Jesus ^[d]and led Him away.

The King on a Cross^(P)

^17 (Q)And He, bearing His cross, ^(R)went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, ¹⁸ where they crucified Him, and ^(S)two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center. ^19 (T)Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was:

JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

²⁰ Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.

²¹ Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘He said, “I am the King of the Jews.” ’ ”

²² Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”