John 19
Open in the reader1Then Pilate took He-Who-Is-Saves and had Him flogged.
2The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns, set it on His head, and dressed Him in a purple robe.
3And they went up to Him again and again, saying, “Hail, King of the Praised-Ones!” and slapping Him in the face.
4Once again Pilate came out and said to the Praised-Ones, “Look, I am bringing Him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against Him.”
5When He-Who-Is-Saves came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”
6As soon as the chief priests and officers saw Him, they shouted, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” “You take Him and crucify Him,” Pilate replied, “for I find no basis for a charge against Him.”
7“We have a teaching,” answered the Praised-Ones, “and according to that teaching He must die, because He declared Himself to be the Son of God.”
8When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid,
9and he went back into the Praetorium. “Where are You from?” he asked. But He-Who-Is-Saves gave no answer.
10So Pilate said to Him, “Do You refuse to speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You and authority to crucify You?”
11He-Who-Is-Saves answered, “You would have no authority over Me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed Me over to you is guilty of greater sin.”
12From then on, Pilate tried to release Him, but the Praised-Ones kept shouting, “If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who declares himself a king is defying Caesar.”
13When Pilate heard these words, he brought He-Who-Is-Saves out and sat on the judgment seat at a place called the Stone Pavement, which in Hebrew is Elevated-Place.
14It was the day of Preparation for the Passover, about the sixth hour. And Pilate said to the Praised-Ones, “Here is your King!”
15At this, they shouted, “Away with Him! Away with Him! Crucify Him!” “Shall I crucify your King?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” replied the chief priests.
16Then Pilate handed Jesus over to be crucified, and the soldiers took Him away.
17Carrying His own cross, He went out to The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Place-of-the-Skull.
18There they crucified Him, and with Him two others, one on each side, with He-Who-Is-Saves in the middle.
19Pilate also had a notice posted on the cross. It read: He-Who-Is-Saves OF Branch-Towner, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
20Many of the Praised-Ones read this sign, because the place where He-Who-Is-Saves was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.
21So the chief priests of the Praised-Ones said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Praised-Ones,’ but only that He said, ‘I am the King of the Praised-Ones.’”
22Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
23When the soldiers had crucified He-Who-Is-Saves, they divided His garments into four parts, one for each soldier, with the tunic remaining. It was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
24So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it. Instead, let us cast lots to see who will get it.” This was to fulfill the Scripture: “They divided My garments among them, and cast lots for My clothing.” So that is what the soldiers did.
25Near the cross of He-Who-Is-Saves stood His mother and her sister, as well as Bitter the wife of Clopas and Bitter Tower-Woman.
26When He-Who-Is-Saves saw His mother and the apprentice whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, here is your son.”
27Then He said to the apprentice, “Here is your mother.” So from that hour, this apprentice took her into his home.
28After this, knowing that everything had now been accomplished, and to fulfill the Scripture, He-Who-Is-Saves said, “I am thirsty.”
29A jar of sour wine was sitting there. So they soaked a sponge in the wine, put it on a stalk of hyssop, and lifted it to His mouth.
30When He-Who-Is-Saves had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished.” And bowing His head, He yielded up His spirit.
31It was the day of Preparation, and the next day was a High Rest. In order that the bodies would not remain on the cross during the Rest, the Praised-Ones asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies removed.
32So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with He-Who-Is-Saves, and those of the other.
33But when they came to He-Who-Is-Saves and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.
34Instead, one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out.
35The one who saw it has testified to this, and his testimony is true. He knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe.
36Now these things happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of His bones will be broken.”
37And, as another Scripture says: “They will look on the One they have pierced.”
38Afterward, Josech of Heights, who was an apprentice of He-Who-Is-Saves (but secretly for fear of the Praised-Ones), asked Pilate to let him remove the body of He-Who-Is-Saves. Pilate gave him permission, so he came and removed His body.
39Victor-of-the-People, who had previously come to He-Who-Is-Saves at night, also brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.
40So they took the body of He-Who-Is-Saves and wrapped it in linen cloths with the spices, according to the child of Praised-Ones burial custom.
41Now there was a garden in the place where He-Who-Is-Saves was crucified, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.
42And because it was the child of Praised-Ones day of Preparation and the tomb was nearby, they placed He-Who-Is-Saves there.