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Gospels · WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE

John 19

Signs and extended conversations reveal Jesus' identity and invite life-giving trust.

New Testament

John 19

1So Pilate then took Jesus and flogged him.

2The soldiers twisted thorns into a crown and put it on his head, and dressed him in a purple garment.

3They kept saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and they kept slapping him.

4Then Pilate went out again, and said to them, “Behold, I bring him out to you, that you may know that I find no basis for a charge against him.”

5Jesus therefore came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment. Pilate said to them, “Behold, the man!”

6When therefore the chief priests and the officers saw him, they shouted, saying, “Crucify! Crucify!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no basis for a charge against him.”

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

8When therefore Pilate heard this saying, he was more afraid.

9He entered into the Praetorium again, and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.

10Pilate therefore said to him, “Aren’t you speaking to me? Don’t you know that I have power to release you and have power to crucify you?”

11Jesus answered, “You would have no power at all against me, unless it were given to you from above. Therefore he who delivered me to you has greater sin.”

12At this, Pilate was seeking to release him, but the Jews cried out, saying, “If you release this man, you aren’t Caesar’s friend! Everyone who makes himself a king speaks against Caesar!”

13When Pilate therefore heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called “The Pavement”, but in Hebrew, “Gabbatha.”

14Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, at about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold, your King!”

15They cried out, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!”

16So then he delivered him to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and led him away.

17He went out, bearing his cross, to the place called “The Place of a Skull”, which is called in Hebrew, “Golgotha”,

18where they crucified him, and with him two others, on either side one, and Jesus in the middle.

19Pilate wrote a title also, and put it on the cross. There was written, “JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

20Therefore many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek.

21The chief priests of the Jews therefore said to Pilate, “Don’t write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘he said, “I am King of the Jews.”’”

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 the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top throughout.

24Then they said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it to decide whose it will be,” that the Scripture might be fulfilled, which says, “They parted my garments among them. They cast lots for my clothing.” Therefore the soldiers did these things.

25But standing by Jesus’ cross were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

26Therefore when Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing there, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”

27Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour, the disciple took her to his own home.

28After this, Jesus, seeing that all things were now finished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I am thirsty!”

29Now a vessel full of vinegar was set there; so they put a sponge full of the vinegar on hyssop, and held it at his mouth.

30When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

31Therefore the Jews, because it was the Preparation Day, so that the bodies wouldn’t remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a special one), asked of Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away.

32Therefore the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with him;

33but when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they didn’t break his legs.

34However, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.

35He who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, that you may believe.

36For these things happened that the Scripture might be fulfilled, “A bone of him will not be broken.”

37Again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they pierced.”

38After these things, Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked of Pilate that he might take away Jesus’ body. Pilate gave him permission. He came therefore and took away his body.

39Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred Roman pounds.

40So they took Jesus’ body, and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury.

41Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden. In the garden was a new tomb in which no man had ever yet been laid.

42Then, because of the Jews’ Preparation Day (for the tomb was near at hand), they laid Jesus there.

READ IN CONTEXT

Before applying this chapter

Signs and extended conversations reveal Jesus' identity and invite life-giving trust. Read John 19 within the complete John overview, and use the contextual Bible reading guide before forming a personal application. Chapter divisions aid navigation, but the literary unit may begin earlier or continue into the next chapter.

Observe first

Mark repeated words, changes of speaker, commands, promises, contrasts, questions, and the relationship between paragraphs.

Apply responsibly

Distinguish description from command and immediate audience from later readers before forming a personal application.

TEXT-DERIVED READING NOTES

What to notice in John 19

John 19 contains 42 verses and about 957 words in this translation. These observations come from the chapter itself; they are prompts for close reading, not claims about its only possible meaning.

The opening movement

Verse 1 begins: “So Pilate then took Jesus and flogged him.” Ask what situation, voice, image, or argument this opening establishes for everything that follows.

The closing movement

Verse 42 closes: “Then, because of the Jews’ Preparation Day (for the tomb was near at hand), they laid Jesus there.” Compare the ending with the opening and note what changed, resolved, intensified, or remained open.

Vocabulary worth tracing

Recurring or prominent content words include pilate, therefore, jews, king, took, crucify. Follow where each word appears and whether its meaning shifts with the speaker or setting.

COMMON QUESTIONS

About John 19

Which Bible translation is shown here?+

This page reproduces the World English Bible Protestant edition (WEBP), a modern-English translation dedicated to the public domain.

How should I cite a specific verse?+

Use the book, chapter, and verse—for example, John 19:1—and name the World English Bible if the wording matters. Each verse number above is a direct anchor link.

Does the chapter number define the complete literary unit?+

Not always. Chapter and verse numbers were added for navigation. Check the paragraphs, scenes, poetic stanzas, or argument before and after this chapter.

A SMALL NEXT STEP

You do not have to have everything figured out.

Begin with one honest question, one passage read carefully, and one faithful next step.

Start with prayer