1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 The soldiers twisted thorns into a crown and put it on His head, and they put a purple robe on Him. 3 They kept coming up to Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and slapping Him on the face.

4 Pilate then went out again, and told the Jews, “Look, I’m bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no basis for a charge against Him.” 5 Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and Pilate said to them, “Look! Here is the man!” 6 When the chief priests and officers saw Him, they shouted “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” Pilate told them, “You take Him and crucify Him, because I find no basis for a charge against Him.”

7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He claimed to be God’s Son.”

8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, 9 and went back into the Praetorium, and asked Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus didn’t answer him. 10 Pilate therefore asked him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Don’t you know that I have authority to release you, and authority to crucify you?”

11 Jesus answered, “You would have no authority at all against me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered me to you has the greater sin.”

12 From then on, Pilate tried to release Him, but the Jews shouted, “If you let this man go, you aren’t Caesar’s friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar.”

13 Therefore when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called “The Pavement,” but in Hebrew, “Gabbatha.” 14 Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover. It was about the sixth hour.*The sixth hour since sunrise, about noon. Pilate told the Jews, “Look! Here is your King!”

15 They therefore shouted, “Away with Him! Away with Him! Crucify Him!”

Pilate asked them, “Shall I crucify your King?”

The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!”

16 Then Pilate delivered Jesus to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and led Him away. 17 And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. 18 There they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, with Jesus in the center. 19 Now Pilate wrote a notice, and put it on the cross. The notice said:

“JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

20 Then many of the Jews read this notice, because 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 told Pilate, “Don’t 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.”

23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they split His garments into four parts, to each soldier a part, including the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. 24 Therefore they said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but cast lots to see whose it will be,” that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says:

“They divided my garments among them,

And for my clothing they cast lots.ӠPsalm 22:18

So the soldiers did these things.

25 Now Jesus’ mother, His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene stood by Jesus’ cross. 26 Therefore when Jesus saw His mother, and the disciple who He sincerely loved standing by, He told His mother, “Woman, here is your son!” 27 Then He told the disciple, “Here is your mother!” From that hour, that disciple took her into his own home.

28 After this, Jesus, knowing that everything was now accomplished, so that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I’m thirsty!” 29 A jar full of vinegar‡A sour wine. was standing there, so they put a sponge full of the vinegar on a hyssop stalk, and lifted it up to His mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the vinegar, He said, “It is finished!” Then, He bowed His head, and gave up His spirit.

31 Because it was the Preparation Day,§The Preparation Day is the day before the Sabbath. Preparations for meals and activities are made in advance so that no work has to be done on the Sabbath. the Jews asked Pilate for the prisoners’ legs to be broken, and that they might be taken away, so that the bodies wouldn’t stay on the cross on the Sabbath (because that Sabbath was a special one). 32 Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man and of the other man who was crucified with Jesus, 33 but when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they didn’t break His legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. 35 He who saw it has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe. 36 These things were done so that the Scripture should be fulfilled, “Not one of His bones shall be broken.”**Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12; Psalm 34:19-20 37 Another Scripture says, “They will look on Him who they pierced.”††Zechariah 12:10

38 After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate if he could take the body of Jesus away; and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took the body of Jesus. 39 Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing about a hundred Roman pounds‡‡100 Roman pounds equals about 72 pounds weight or about 33 Kilograms. A Roman pound is 12 ounces. of a mixture of myrrh§§Myrrh is an aromatic resin formed from the gum that drips from the stems and branches of a low, shrubby tree (Commiphora myrhha and closely related trees) native to Arabian deserts and parts of Africa. and aloes.***Aloes probably refers to an aromatic derivative from eaglewood (Aquilaria agallochum) trees found today in Malaya, East Bengal, and China. 40 So they took the body of Jesus, and wrapped it in strips of linen with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 41 In the place where He was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been laid. 42 Because of the Jewish Preparation Day, and because the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.