John 19

Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him.

1Then Pilate, the Roman governor, took Jesus and had him whipped.

2And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe,

2The soldiers twisted thorn branches into a crown. They put it on his head. They also put a purple robe on him.

3And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands.

3They came up to him again and again. They said, "Hail, King of the Jews!" And they hit him in the face.

4Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him.

4Pilate went outside again. He said, "Look, I am bringing him out to you. I want you to know I find nothing he did wrong."

5Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man!

5Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, "Here is the man!"

6When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him.

6The chief priests and guards saw him and shouted, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" That meant killing him by nailing him to a wooden cross. Pilate said, "You take him and do it. I find nothing he did wrong."

7The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.

7The Jewish leaders answered, "We have a law. By our law he must die. He called himself the Son of God."

8When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid;

8When Pilate heard them say this, he was even more afraid.

9And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer.

9He went back inside the hall where he judged people. He asked Jesus, "Where are you from?" But Jesus did not answer him.

10Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?

10Then Pilate said, "Will you not speak to me? Don't you know I can set you free or have you killed?"

11Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.

11Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me at all, unless God gave it to you. So the man who handed me to you has done the greater wrong."

12And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar’s friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.

12After that, Pilate tried to set Jesus free. But the leaders shouted, "If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar, the ruler of Rome. Anyone who calls himself a king is against Caesar."

13When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.

13When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus outside. He sat down in the judge's seat. The place was called the Stone Pavement, or Gabbatha in the Hebrew language.

14And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!

14It was the day to get ready for Passover, the holiday when the Jewish people remembered God saving them long ago. It was about noon. Pilate said to them, "Here is your King!"

NoteThe KJV says "the sixth hour." People then counted hours from sunrise, so this means about noon.

15But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.

15But they shouted, "Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!" Pilate asked, "Should I put your King on a cross?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar."

16Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away.

16So Pilate handed Jesus over to be put on a cross. The soldiers took Jesus and led him away.

17And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:

17Jesus carried his own cross. He went out to a place called the Place of the Skull. In Hebrew it is called Golgotha.

18Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.

18There they nailed him to a cross. They put two other men on crosses too, one on each side. Jesus was in the middle.

19And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.

19Pilate wrote a sign and had it put on the cross. It said: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

20This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin.

20Many Jewish people read this sign. The place where Jesus was crucified was close to the city. The sign was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.

21Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews.

21The chief priests said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews.' Write that he said, 'I am King of the Jews.'"

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

22Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."

23Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout.

23After the soldiers nailed Jesus to the cross, they took his clothes. They made four piles, one for each soldier. His long shirt was left over. It was woven in one piece, with no seams at all.

24They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.

24So the soldiers said, "Let's not tear it. Let's cast lots to see who gets it." This happened just as the Scriptures said: "They divided my clothes among them, and they cast lots for my clothing." So that is what the soldiers did.

NoteTo "cast lots" was a way of choosing by chance, a little like drawing straws or rolling dice.

25Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.

25Standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister. Mary the wife of Cleophas was there, and Mary Magdalene.

26When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!

26Jesus saw his mother. He saw the follower he loved standing beside her. He said to his mother, "Woman, here is your son."

27Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.

27Then he said to that follower, "Here is your mother." From that time on, the follower took her into his own home.

28After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.

28After this, Jesus knew that everything was now done. So that the Scriptures would come true, he said, "I am thirsty."

29Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth.

29A jar full of sour wine was sitting there. They soaked a sponge in it. They put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant and held it to his mouth.

NoteThe KJV word "vinegar" means the cheap, sour wine that soldiers drank, not the vinegar in a kitchen today.

30When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

30Jesus tasted the sour wine. He said, "It is finished." Then he bowed his head and died.

31The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

31It was the day to get ready, and the next day was a special Sabbath, a day of rest. The Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses that day. So they asked Pilate to have the men's legs broken and the bodies taken away.

32Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him.

32The soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man. Then they broke the legs of the other man.

33But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs:

33But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead. So they did not break his legs.

34But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.

34Instead, one of the soldiers pushed a spear into Jesus' side. Right away blood and water came out.

35And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.

35The man who saw this has told what happened, and what he says is true. He knows he is telling the truth, so that you may believe.

36For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken.

36These things happened so that the Scriptures would come true: "Not one of his bones will be broken."

37And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.

37Another place in the Scriptures says, "They will look at the one they pierced."

38And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus.

38After this, Joseph from the town of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Joseph followed Jesus, but he kept it secret because he was afraid of the leaders. Pilate said yes, so Joseph came and took the body away.

39And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.

39Nicodemus came too. He was the man who had first come to Jesus at night. He brought about seventy-five pounds of myrrh and aloes, which are sweet-smelling spices.

NoteThe KJV says "an hundred pound weight." Those old pounds were lighter, so it is about seventy-five pounds today.

40Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.

40They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in strips of linen cloth with the spices. That was the Jewish way of burying someone.

41Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid.

41There was a garden in the place where Jesus was crucified. In the garden was a new tomb, a room cut into rock. No one had ever been laid there.

42There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews’ preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.

42It was the Jewish day to get ready, and the tomb was close by. So they laid Jesus there.