John 18:1-40, NLT
John 18
Jesus Is Betrayed and Arrested
1After saying these things, Jesus crossed the Kidron Valley with his disciples and entered a grove of olive trees.
4Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to him, so he stepped forward to meet them. “Who are you looking for?” he asked.
5“Jesus the Nazarene,”*18:5a Or Jesus of Nazareth; also in 18:7. they replied.
“I Am he,”*18:5b Or “The ‘I Am’ is here”; or “I am the Lord”; Greek reads I am; also in 18:6, 8. See Exod 3:14. Jesus said. (Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.)
And again they replied, “Jesus the Nazarene.”
8“I told you that I Am he,” Jesus said. “And since I am the one you want, let these others go.”
10Then Simon Peter drew a sword and slashed off the right ear of Malchus, the high priest’s slave.
Jesus at the High Priest’s House
12So the soldiers, their commanding officer, and the Temple guards arrested Jesus and tied him up.
Peter’s First Denial
15Simon Peter followed Jesus, as did another of the disciples. That other disciple was acquainted with the high priest, so he was allowed to enter the high priest’s courtyard with Jesus.
“No,” he said, “I am not.”
18Because it was cold, the household servants and the guards had made a charcoal fire. They stood around it, warming themselves, and Peter stood with them, warming himself.
The High Priest Questions Jesus
19Inside, the high priest began asking Jesus about his followers and what he had been teaching them.
22Then one of the Temple guards standing nearby slapped Jesus across the face. “Is that the way to answer the high priest?” he demanded.
23Jesus replied, “If I said anything wrong, you must prove it. But if I’m speaking the truth, why are you beating me?”
24Then Annas bound Jesus and sent him to Caiaphas, the high priest.
Peter’s Second and Third Denials
25Meanwhile, as Simon Peter was standing by the fire warming himself, they asked him again, “You’re not one of his disciples, are you?”
He denied it, saying, “No, I am not.”
26But one of the household slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Didn’t I see you out there in the olive grove with Jesus?”
Jesus’ Trial before Pilate
28Jesus’ trial before Caiaphas ended in the early hours of the morning. Then he was taken to the headquarters of the Roman governor.*18:28 Greek to the Praetorium; also in 18:33. His accusers didn’t go inside because it would defile them, and they wouldn’t be allowed to celebrate the Passover.
30“We wouldn’t have handed him over to you if he weren’t a criminal!” they retorted.
31“Then take him away and judge him by your own law,” Pilate told them.
“Only the Romans are permitted to execute someone,” the Jewish leaders replied.
33Then Pilate went back into his headquarters and called for Jesus to be brought to him. “Are you the king of the Jews?” he asked him.
34Jesus replied, “Is this your own question, or did others tell you about me?”
35“Am I a Jew?” Pilate retorted. “Your own people and their leading priests brought you to me for trial. Why? What have you done?”
36Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.”
37Pilate said, “So you are a king?”
Jesus responded, “You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.”
38“What is truth?” Pilate asked. Then he went out again to the people and told them, “He is not guilty of any crime.
40But they shouted back, “No! Not this man. We want Barabbas!” (Barabbas was a revolutionary.)