8. When Pilate heard that, he was even more afraid.
9. He went back inside the palace. "Where do you come from?" he asked Jesus. But Jesus did not answer him.
10. "Do you refuse to speak to me?" Pilate said. "Don't you understand? I have the power to set you free or to nail you to a cross."
11. Jesus answered, "You were given power from heaven. If you weren't, you would have no power over me. So the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin."
12. From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free. But the Jews kept shouting, "If you let this man go, you are not Caesar's friend! Anyone who claims to be a king is against Caesar!"
13. When Pilate heard that, he brought Jesus out. Pilate sat down on the judge's seat. It was at a place called The Stone Walkway. In the Aramaic language it was called Gabbatha.
14. It was about noon on Preparation Day in Passover Week. "Here is your king," Pilate said to the Jews.
15. But they shouted, "Kill him! Kill him! Crucify him!" "Should I crucify your king?" Pilate asked. "We have no king but Caesar," the chief priests answered.
16. Finally, Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be nailed to a cross. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus.
17. He had to carry his own cross. He went out to a place called The Skull. In the Aramaic language it was called Golgotha.
18. There they nailed Jesus to the cross. Two other men were crucified with him. One was on each side of him. Jesus was in the middle.
19. Pilate had a notice prepared. It was fastened to the cross. It read, ~jesus of nazareth, the king of the jews.=
20. Many of the Jews read the sign. The place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. The sign was written in the Aramaic, Latin and Greek languages.
21. The chief priests of the Jews argued with Pilate. They said, "Do not write 'The King of the Jews.' Write that this man claimed to be king of the Jews."
22. Pilate answered, "I have written what I have written."
23. When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes. They divided them into four parts. Each soldier got one part. Jesus' long, inner robe was left. It did not have any seams. It was made out of one piece of cloth from top to bottom.
24. "Let's not tear it," they said to one another. "Let's cast lots to see who will get it." This happened so that Scripture would come true. It says, "They divided up my clothes among them. They cast lots for what I was wearing." (Psalm 22:18) So that is what the soldiers did.