Font Size
John 19:1-22
Easy-to-Read Version
John 19:1-22
Easy-to-Read Version
19 Then Pilate ordered that Jesus be taken away and whipped. 2 The soldiers made a crown from thorny branches and put it on his head. Then they put a purple robe around him. 3 They kept coming up to him and saying, “Hail to the king of the Jews!” And they hit him in the face.
4 Again Pilate came out and said to the Jewish leaders, “Look! I am bringing Jesus out to you. I want you to know that I find nothing I can charge him with.” 5 Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is the man!”
6 When the leading priests and the Jewish guards saw Jesus they shouted, “Kill him on a cross! Kill him on a cross!”
But Pilate answered, “You take him and nail him to a cross yourselves. I find nothing I can charge him with.”
7 The Jewish leaders answered, “We have a law that says he must die, because he said he is the Son of God.”
8 When Pilate heard this, he was more afraid. 9 So he went back inside the palace and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus did not answer him. 10 Pilate said, “You refuse to speak to me? Remember, I have the power to make you free or to kill you on a cross.”
11 Jesus answered, “The only power you have over me is the power given to you by God. So the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”
12 After this, Pilate tried to let Jesus go free. But the Jewish leaders shouted, “Anyone who makes himself a king is against Caesar. So if you let this man go free, that means you are not Caesar’s friend.”
13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out to the place called “The Stone Pavement.” (In Aramaic the name is Gabbatha.) Pilate sat down on the judge’s seat there. 14 It was now almost noon on Preparation day of Passover week. Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is your king!”
15 They shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Kill him on a cross!”
Pilate asked them, “Do you want me to kill your king on a cross?”
The leading priests answered, “The only king we have is Caesar!”
16 So Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be killed on a cross.
Jesus Is Nailed to a Cross(A)
The soldiers took Jesus. 17 He carried his own cross to a place called “The Place of the Skull.” (In Aramaic the name of this place is “Golgotha.”) 18 There they nailed Jesus to the cross. They also nailed two other men to crosses. They put them on each side of Jesus with him in the middle.
19 Pilate told them to write a sign and put it on the cross. The sign said, “ jesus of nazareth, the king of the jews.” 20 The sign was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. Many of the Jews read this sign, because the place where Jesus was nailed to the cross was near the city.
21 The leading Jewish priests said to Pilate, “Don’t write, ‘The King of the Jews.’ But write, ‘This man said, I am the King of the Jews.’”
22 Pilate answered, “I will not change what I have written.”
Read full chapter
John 19:1-22
New International Version
John 19:1-22
New International Version
Jesus Sentenced to Be Crucified(A)
19 Then 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 3 and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!”(C) And they slapped him in the face.(D)
4 Once 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!”
6 As 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)
7 The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die,(J) because he claimed to be the Son of God.”(K)
8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, 9 and he went back inside the palace.(L) “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer.(M) 10 “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”
11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.(N) Therefore the one who handed me over to you(O) is guilty of a greater sin.”
12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king(P) opposes Caesar.”
13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat(Q) at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic(R) is Gabbatha). 14 It was the day of Preparation(S) of the Passover; it was about noon.(T)
“Here is your king,”(U) Pilate said to the Jews.
15 But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”
“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.
“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.
16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.(V)
The Crucifixion of Jesus(W)
So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. 17 Carrying his own cross,(X) he went out to the place of the Skull(Y) (which in Aramaic(Z) is called Golgotha). 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others(AA)—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.
19 Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: jesus of nazareth,(AB) the king of the jews.(AC) 20 Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city,(AD) and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. 21 The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”(AE)
22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.