John 18
1 After offering this prayer Jesus went out with His disciples to a place on the further side of the Ravine of the Cedars, where there was a garden which He entered--Himself and His disciples.
After Jesus finished praying, he went across the Kidron Brook, along with [us] disciples, to a grove [of olive trees].
2 Now Judas also, who at that very time was betraying Him, knew the place, for Jesus had often resorted there with His disciples.
Judas, who was [about to] enable Jesus’ enemies to seize him, knew that [he would probably be] there. [He knew that because] Jesus often gathered there with us.
3 So Judas, followed by the battalion and by a detachment of the Temple police sent by the High Priests and Pharisees, came there with torches and lamps and weapons.
So Judas came to that grove. He was leading a troop of Roman [soldiers] and some Temple guards who had been sent by the Pharisees and chief priests. They were carrying torches and lamps and weapons.
4 Jesus therefore, knowing all that was about to befall Him, went out to meet them. "Who are you looking for?" He asked them.
Jesus knew everything that was about to happen to him. So [as they approached], he stepped forward and asked them, “Who are you looking for?”
5 "For Jesus the Nazarene," was the answer. "I am he," He replied. (Now Judas who was betraying Him was also standing with them.)
They replied to him, “Jesus, the man from Nazareth.” He replied, “That is who I am.” Judas, the one who was enabling his enemies to seize him, was with them.
6 As soon then as He said to them, "I am he," they went backwards and fell to the ground.
When Jesus told them, “That is who I am,” they lurched backward and fell down on the ground [because of his power].
7 Again therefore He asked them, "Who are you looking for?" "For Jesus the Nazarene," they said.
He asked them again, “Who are you looking for?” They said, “Jesus, [the man] from Nazareth.”
8 "I have told you," replied Jesus, "that I am he. If therefore you are looking for me, let these my disciples go their way."
Jesus replied, “I told you that I am Jesus. So since I am the one you are looking for, allow these [disciples of mine] to go.”
9 He made this request in order that the words He had spoken might be fulfilled, "As for those whom Thou hast given me, I have not lost one."
[This happened] in order that [when they did what he asked them to do], the words would be fulfilled that he had prayed, “I will never lose any of those whom God has brought to me.”
10 Simon Peter, however, having a sword, drew it, and, aiming at the High Priest's servant, cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus.
Simon Peter had a [long] dagger. So he drew it and [tried to kill] the high priest’s servant, [but he only] cut off the man’s right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus.
11 Jesus therefore said to Peter, "Put back your sword. Shall I refuse to drink the cup of sorrow which the Father has given me to drink?"
Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword [back] into its sheath! (I must endure what [my] Father wants me to suffer./Do you not think that I must endure what [my] Father wants me to suffer?) [MET, RHQ]”
12 So the battalion and their tribune and the Jewish police closed in, and took Jesus and bound Him.
Then the troop of soldiers, along with their commander and the Jewish Temple guards, seized Jesus. They tied his hands [behind his back].
13 They then brought Him to Annas first; for Annas was the father-in-law of Caiaphas who was High Priest that year.
Then they took him first to Annas, [who was previously the high priest]. He was the father-in-law of Caiaphas. Caiaphas was the high priest that year.
14 (It was this Caiaphas who had advised the Jews, saying, "It is to your interest that one man should die for the People.")
Caiaphas was the one who [previously] advised the Jewish [Council] that it would be better if one man died for the sake of the people [than for all the people of the Jewish nation to die].
15 Meanwhile Simon Peter was following Jesus, and so also was another disciple. The latter was known to the High Priest, and went in with Jesus into the court of the High Priest's palace.
Simon Peter and [I] were following Jesus. Because the high priest knew [me], [his doorkeeper permitted me] to enter the courtyard.
16 But Peter remained standing outside the door, till the disciple who was acquainted with the High Priest came out and induced the portress to let Peter in.
But Peter [had to] wait outside near the doorway. However, since I knew the high priest, I went back to the doorway and spoke to the girl who was guarding the entrance. Then [she allowed] Peter to come in.
17 This led the girl, the portress, to ask Peter, "Are you also one of this man's disciples?" "No, I am not," he replied.
The servant girl who was guarding the doorway said to Peter, “Surely you are not another disciple of that man [they have arrested], are you?” He said, “I am not.”
18 Now because it was cold the servants and the police had lighted a charcoal fire, and were standing and warming themselves; and Peter too remained with them, standing and warming himself.
It was cold, so the high priest’s slaves and Temple guards made a charcoal fire and were standing around it to keep warm. Peter was also standing near it, warming himself.
19 So the High Priest questioned Jesus about His disciples and His teaching.
[While Peter was doing that], the high priest asked Jesus about his disciples and about what he was teaching people.
20 "As for me," replied Jesus, "I have spoken openly to the world. I have continually taught in some synagogue or in the Temple where all the Jews are wont to assemble, and I have said nothing in secret.
Jesus replied, “I have always spoken where many people [MTY, HYP] could hear me. I have taught them in (the synagogues/their meeting places) and in the Temple courtyard, in places where many [HYP] Jews come together. I have spoken nothing secretly.
21 Why do you question me? Question those who heard what it was I said to them: these witnesses here know what I said."
[So] (why are you asking me questions [like this illegally]?/you should not be asking me questions [like this illegally]!) [RHQ] Ask the people who heard what I taught! They certainly know what I said!”
22 Upon His saying this, one of the officers standing by struck Him with his open hand, asking Him as he did so, "Is that the way you answer the High Priest?"
After Jesus said that, one of the Temple guards standing near him slapped him on his face. He said, “(That is not the way you should answer the high priest!/Is that the way you should answer the high priest?) [RHQ]”
23 "If I have spoken wrongly," replied Jesus, "bear witness to it as wrong; but if rightly, why that blow?"
Jesus replied to him, “If I said something that was contrary [to your laws], you could tell [me that what I said that] was wrong. But because I said only what was right, (you should not be striking me!/why are you striking me?) [RHQ]”
24 So Annas sent Him bound to Caiaphas the High Priest.
Then after Jesus’ hands were tied {after they tied Jesus hands} [again], Annas sent him to Caiaphas, the high priest.
25 But Simon Peter remained standing and warming himself, and this led to their asking him, "Are you also one of his disciples?" He denied it, and said, "No, I am not."
As Simon Peter was standing warming himself [at the fire], someone else said to him, “You are not one of that man’s disciples, are you?” He denied [that he was], and said, “I am not.”
26 One of the High Priest's servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, "Did I not see you in the garden with him?"
[Later] one of the high priest’s servants, a man who was a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off [before], said to him, “I saw you with that man in the grove [of olive trees], did I not?”
27 Once more Peter denied it, and immediately a cock crowed.
Peter again denied it. Immediately a rooster crowed, [as Jesus had said would happen].
28 So they brought Jesus from Caiaphas's house to the Praetorium. It was the early morning, and they would not enter the Praetorium themselves for fear of defilement, and in order that they might be able to eat the Passover.
Then the [Jewish leaders] [SYN] led Jesus from the [home of] Caiaphas to the headquarters [of Pilate, the Roman governor]. It was before dawn. [Pilate was a non-Jew], [and they thought that if they entered his headquarters], they would become unacceptable to God {God would reject them}, [and as a result] they would not be able to eat [the food during] the Passover [celebration]. [Because of that, they did not want to enter Pilate’s headquarters].
29 Accordingly Pilate came out to them and inquired, "What accusation have you to bring against this man?"
So Pilate came out to [talk to] them. He said, “What law do you say that this man has disobeyed?”
30 "If the man were not a criminal," they replied, "we would not have handed him over to you."
[They knew that Jesus had not disobeyed any Roman law, so they did not want to answer him. Instead], they said, “If this man were not a criminal, we would not have brought him to you!”
31 "Take him yourselves," said Pilate, "and judge him by your Law." "We have no power," replied the Jews, "to put any man to death."
Then Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves, and judge him according to your own laws!” Then the Jewish [leaders] [SYN] said, “[No! We want him executed, but we want you Romans to execute him, because] we Jews have no right to execute anyone!”
32 They said this that the words might be fulfilled in which Jesus predicted the kind of death He was to die.
[The Romans executed people by nailing them to a cross]. [So], as a result of what [the Jewish leaders said], it was fulfilled {[the Romans] would fulfill} what Jesus had said previously about the way he was going to die.
33 Re-entering the Praetorium, therefore, Pilate called Jesus and asked Him, "Are you the King of the Jews?"
Pilate then went back inside his headquarters. He summoned Jesus. [Because the Jewish leaders had said that Jesus claimed to be a king], Pilate said to Jesus [scornfully], “Are you the king of the Jews?”
34 "Do you say this of yourself, or have others told it you about me?" replied Jesus.
Jesus replied, “Are you asking that because you yourself [want to know if I claim to be a king], or because (someone else/Caiaphas) said [that I claim to be their king]?”
35 "Am I a Jew?" exclaimed Pilate; "it is your own nation and the High Priests who have handed you over to me. What have you done?"
Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, [so] ([I cannot understand these matters!/how can I understand these matters]?) [RHQ] It was your fellow Jews and your chief priests who brought you to me! What have you done [to make them want to execute you]?”
36 "My kingdom," replied Jesus, "does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my subjects would have resolutely fought to save me from being delivered up to the Jews. But, as a matter of fact, my kingdom has not this origin."
Jesus replied, “It is not people in [MTY] this world who are [making me] king. If it was people in this world who were making me a king, my disciples would have fought in order that the Jewish [leaders] [SYN] would be prevented {to prevent the Jewish [leaders] [SYN]} from seizing me. But it is not [someone here in] this world who is making me a king.”
37 "So then you are a king!" rejoined Pilate. "Yes," said Jesus, "you say truly that I am a king. For this purpose I was born, and for this purpose I have come into the world--to give testimony for the truth. Every one who is a friend of the truth listens to my voice."
Then Pilate said to him, “So [are you saying that] you are a king?” Jesus replied, “[Yes], what you have said about my being a king [is correct]. I was born to become a king, and I came into this world to tell people the truth [about God]. Everyone who [believes] the truth pays attention to what I say.”
38 "What is truth?" said Pilate. But no sooner had he spoken the words than he went out again to the Jews and told them, "I find no crime in him.
Pilate said to him, “[How can anyone know] what the truth is?” After he said that, he went outside and talked to the Jewish [leaders] [SYN] again. He said to them, “I do not find that he has done anything at all for which I should punish him.
39 But you have a custom that I should release one prisoner to you at the Passover. So shall I release to you the King of the Jews?"
But you [Jews] customarily, [every year] during the Passover [celebration], ask me to release for you [someone who is in prison]. So would you like for me to release for you the [man who you] Jews [say is your] king?”
40 With a roar of voices they again cried out, saying, "Not this man, but Barabbas!" Now Barabbas was a robber.
They shouted again, “No, do not [release] this man! Instead, [release] Barrabas!” But Barrabas was [in prison because he was] a revolutionist!
