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John 19:1-22
The Message
John 19:1-22
The Message
The Thorn Crown of the King
19 1-3 So Pilate took Jesus and had him whipped. The soldiers, having braided a crown from thorns, set it on his head, threw a purple robe over him, and approached him with, “Hail, King of the Jews!” Then they greeted him with slaps in the face.
4-5 Pilate went back out again and said to them, “I present him to you, but I want you to know that I do not find him guilty of any crime.” Just then Jesus came out wearing the thorn crown and purple robe.
Pilate announced, “Here he is: the Man.”
6 When the high priests and police saw him, they shouted in a frenzy, “Crucify! Crucify!”
Pilate told them, “You take him. You crucify him. I find nothing wrong with him.”
7 The Jews answered, “We have a law, and by that law he must die because he claimed to be the Son of God.”
8-9 When Pilate heard this, he became even more scared. He went back into the palace and said to Jesus, “Where did you come from?”
Jesus gave no answer.
10 Pilate said, “You won’t talk? Don’t you know that I have the authority to pardon you, and the authority to—crucify you?”
11 Jesus said, “You haven’t a shred of authority over me except what has been given you from heaven. That’s why the one who betrayed me to you has committed a far greater fault.”
12 At this, Pilate tried his best to pardon him, but the Jews shouted him down: “If you pardon this man, you’re no friend of Caesar’s. Anyone setting himself up as ‘king’ defies Caesar.”
13-14 When Pilate heard those words, he led Jesus outside. He sat down at the judgment seat in the area designated Stone Court (in Hebrew, Gabbatha). It was the preparation day for Passover. The hour was noon. Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is your king.”
15 They shouted back, “Kill him! Kill him! Crucify him!”
Pilate said, “I am to crucify your king?”
The high priests answered, “We have no king except Caesar.”
16-19 Pilate caved in to their demand. He turned him over to be crucified.
The Crucifixion
They took Jesus away. Carrying his cross, Jesus went out to the place called Skull Hill (the name in Hebrew is Golgotha), where they crucified him, and with him two others, one on each side, Jesus in the middle. Pilate wrote a sign and had it placed on the cross. It read:
jesus the nazarene
the king of the jews.
20-21 Many of the Jews read the sign because the place where Jesus was crucified was right next to the city. It was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. The Jewish high priests objected. “Don’t write,” they said to Pilate, “‘The King of the Jews.’ Make it, ‘This man said, “I am the King of the Jews.”’”
22 Pilate said, “What I’ve written, I’ve written.”
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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.”
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
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