John:18-19

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* After he had spoken these words Jesus went forth with his disciples to a place across the Ravine of the Cedars , where there was a garden into which he and his disciples went . * Judas the Traitor also knew this place ; for Jesus and his disciples often met there . * So after getting troops and some Temple police from the chief priests and Pharisees , Judas came there with lanterns and torches and weapons . * Then Jesus , knowing all that was coming upon him , went forth to meet them , and asked them , "Who is it that you are looking for ?" * "For Jesus of Nazareth ," they answered . He said to them , "I am he ." (Now Judas also , the betrayer , was standing with them .) * When Jesus said "I am he ," they drew back and fell to the ground ; * so he asked them once more , "Whom are you looking for ?" and they replied , "Jesus of Nazareth ." * "I have already told you that I am he ," said Jesus . "If , then , you are looking for me , let these go their way ." * "(In order that the word which he had spoken might be fulfilled , "Of those whom thou hast given me I have not lost one .") * Then Simon Peter , who had a sword , drew it , and striking at the high priests slave , cut off his right ear . * (The slaves name was Malchus .) Then Jesus said to Peter . "Put up your sword in its sheath . the cup which my Father has given me , shall I not drink it ?" * So the troops and their commandant and the Jewish police took Jesus , and bound him , * and led him to Annas first . (For Annas was the Father-in-law of Caiaphas , who was the high priest that year - * the Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it was for their advantage that one man should die for the people .) * Meanwhile Simon Peter was following Jesus , and so was another disciple who was known to the high priest , and they went in with Jesus into the court of the high priests palace . * But Peter took his stand outside , near the door . So the other disciple who was known to the high priest came out and spoke to the doorkeeper and brought Peter in . * The doorkeeper (a maid servant ) then said to Peter , "Are not you also one of this mans disciples ?" "No I am not ," he answered . * Now the slaves and the attendants were standing and warming themselves about a charcoal fire , which they had made because it was cold ; and Peter also stood with them , and was warming himself . * Then the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching . * Jesus answered him . "I have spoken to all the world openly . I always taught in a synagogue and in the temple , places where all the Jews are wont to assemble , and in secret I have spoken nothing . * "Why do you question me ? Ask those who heard what I have said to them ; these witnesses here know what I said ." * When he had spoken these words , one of the police standing by gave him a blow with his hand , saying as he did so , "Is that the way you answer the high priest ?" * Jesus replied "If I have said anything wrong , give evidence concerning the wrong ; but if I said what was true , why do you strike me ?" * Then Annas sent him in chains to Caiaphas , the high priest . * Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself . They said therefore to him , "You are not also one of his disciples , are you not ?" He denied it , saying "I am not ." * One of the slaves of the high priest , a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off , said , "Did not I myself see you with him in the garden ." * Peter again denied it ; and at that very moment a cock crew . * From the house of Caiaphas they took Jesus to the Praetorium , and it was dawn . They themselves would not enter the Praetorium , in order that they might not be ceremonially defiled , but might be able to eat the Passover . * So Pilate came outside to them and asked , "What charge do you bring against this man ?" * In reply they said , "If he had not been a criminal , we should not have handed him over you ." * "Take him yourselves ," answered Pilate , "and judge him according to your law ." * The Jews answered him , "We are not allowed to put anyone to death " (that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled in which he predicted the kind of death he was to die ). * So Pilate went into the Praetorium again , and summoned Jesus . "Are you the King of the Jews ?" he said . * Jesus answered , "Are you saying this of your own accord , or did others say it to you about me ?" * "I am not a Jew , am I ?" replied Pilate ; "It is your own nation and the high priests who have handed you over to me . What have you done ?" * Jesus answered him . "My kingdom is not of this world . If my kingdom were of this world , then would my servants have fought hard that I should not be handed the Jews ; but in reality my kingdom is not of such origins ." * "You are a king , then ? You !" said Pilate . "You say truly that I am a king ." answered Jesus , "for this purpose I was born , and to this end came I into the world , that I should bear witness to the truth . Every man who is of the truth listens to my voice ." * Pilate said to him , "What is truth ?" As he said this , he went outside again to the Jews and said to them . * "I find no crime in this man . Now it is a custom of yours that I release one prisoner to you at the time of the Passover feast . Do you wish me to release to you the King of the Jews ?" * Then they all shouted again . "No , not him ! Barabbas !" Now Barabbas was a robber . * After that Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged ; * and the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns , placed it on his head , and threw a purple cloak about him , and kept marching up to him , * saying , "Hail ! King of the Jews !" They also gave him blow after blow with their hands . * Pilate again came forth and said to the people , "See , I am going to bring his out to you , that you may clearly know that I find no crime in him ," * Then as Jesus came out , wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe , Pilate said to them , "BEHOLD , THE MAN !" * So when the chief priests and the police saw him , they shouted . "Crucify him ! Crucify him !" "Take him yourselves and crucify him ," said Pilate , "for I find no crime in him ." * The Jews answered him , "We have a law , and by that law he ought to die , because he made himself out to be Gods Son ," * Now when Pilate heard these words he was more alarmed than ever , * and entering the Praetorium again , he said to Jesus , "What is your origin ?" * Jesus made no answer . So Pilate said to him . "Do you not speak to me ? Do you not know that I have power to release you , or power to crucify you ?" * "You would have no power over me ," answered Jesus , "unless it had been given you from above . For this reason he who has betrayed me to you has the greater sin ." * After that Pilate began to seek to release him , but the Jews shouted out . "If you release this man you are no friend of the Emperor . Any man who makes himself out to be king is a rebel against the Emperor ." * On hearing what they said , Pilate brought Jesus out and made him sit on the judges seat in a place called the Mosaic Pavement (the Hebrew name is Gabbatha ). * And it was the day of Preparation for the Passover , about six oclock in the morning . Then he said to the Jews , "Behold your King !" * Then they shouted . "Away with him ! Away with him ! Crucify him !" "Crucify your King ?" said Pilate . The chief priests answered , "We have no king but Caesar !" * So then he gave him over to them to be crucified . * So they took Jesus , who went forth bearing his own cross , to a place called The Place of a Skull - in the Hebrew tongue , Golgotha . * There they crucified him ; and with him two others , one on either side , and Jesus between them . * And Pilate moreover wrote an inscription and placed it above the cross . What he wrote was , "JESUS , THE NAZARENE , KING OF THE JEWS " * This inscription was read by many of the Jews , because the place where they crucified Jesus was near the city , and the inscription was written in Hebrew , Latin , and Greek . * So the high priests of the Jews said to Pilate , "Do not write King of the Jews , but He said , I am King of the Jews ." * Pilate answered , "What I have written , I have written !" * After the soldiers had crucified Jesus , they took his garments and divided them into four parts , to each soldier a part , and the tunic . Now the tunic was seamless , woven in one piece from top to bottom ; * so the soldiers said one to another . "Let us not tear it . Let us draw lots , to see whose it shall be " - that the Scripture might be fulfilled . They divided my garments among them , For my raiment did they cast lots . This was what the soldiers did . * Now there stood near the cross of Jesus , his mother and his mothers sister , Mary the wife of Clopas , and Mary Magdalene . * When Jesus saw his mother , and standing near her the disciple whom he loved , he said to his mother , "Woman behold your son ." * Then he said to the disciple , "Behold your mother ." And from that hour the disciple took her to his home . * After that , when Jesus knew that everything was now accomplished , he said in fulfilment of the words of Scripture , "I am thirsty ." * There was a jar full of vinegar standing there ; and they filled a sponge with vinegar , and put it upon a stalk of hyssop , and put it to his lips . * Then after he had taken the vinegar , Jesus said , "IT IS FINISHED !" And bowing his head , he yielded up his spirit . * It was Preparation Day , so in order to prevent the bodies hanging on the cross during the Sabbath (for the Sabbath was a great day ) the Jews begged Pilate to have the legs broken , and the bodies taken away . * So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man and of the other who had been crucified with him . * But upon coming to Jesus they saw that he was already dead , and did not break his legs . * One of the soldiers , however , pierced his side with a lance , and immediately blood and water flowed out . * And he who saw it has borne testimony , and his testimony is trustworthy , and he knows that he is telling the truth in order that you may believe . * For this happened that the Scripture might be fulfilled , Not one of his bones shall be broken . * And again another Scripture says , They shall look on him whom they have pierced . * After these things Joseph of Arimathea , who was a disciple of Jesus , but in secret because of fear of the Jews , asked Pilate for permission to take the body of Jesus , and Pilate gave him leave . So he came and took the body . * Nicodemus also (the one who visited Jesus by night , at first ) came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes , weighing nearly a hundred pounds . * So they took the body of Jesus and wound it in linen with the spices , according to the Jewish mode of burial . * There was a garden near the place where Jesus had been crucified , and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid . * Here , because of its being Preparation Day , and as the tomb was near by , they placed Jesus . * On the first day of the week , very early in the morning , while it was yet dark , Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and discovered that the stone had been removed from the tomb .

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