John 19:17-37

17He was carrying the cross on which they would kill him. He went out to the place called ‘The Place of the Skull’. This place is called ‘Golgotha’ in the Jewish language.

18When they arrived there, the soldiers fixed Jesus to the cross. They put two other men on crosses near to him. They were on each side of him and Jesus was between them.

19Pilate wrote a notice. Then the soldiers put it on the cross. It said: ‘Jesus from Nazareth, the King of the Jews’.

20The place where they put Jesus on the cross was near to the city. So many of the Jews read this notice. They could read it because Pilate had written the words in three languages. He had written it in the Jewish language and in the languages of the Roman people and the Greek people.

21The leaders of the Jewish priests said to Pilate, ‘Do not write, “The King of the Jews”. Instead, write, “This man said that he is the King of the Jews.” ’

22Pilate answered, ‘I will not change what I have written.’

23After the soldiers had put Jesus on the cross, they took his clothes. They made them into four parts, one part for each soldier. They also took his long shirt, which was one single piece of cloth.

24So they said to each other, ‘We will not tear it. Instead, we will play a game with dice. The person who wins the game will have the shirt.’ This happened in the way that the Bible had already said: ‘Each of them took some of my clothes. They played a game with dice to win what I was wearing.’ And that is what the soldiers did.

25Some women stood near to Jesus while he was on the cross. They were his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleopas, and Mary from Magdala.

26Jesus saw his mother there. He also saw the disciple that he loved. That disciple was standing there, near Jesus' mother. So Jesus said to his mother, ‘Woman, look! There is your son.’

27Then he said to the disciple, ‘Look! There is your mother.’ From that time, the disciple took Jesus' mother to live in his own home.

28After this, Jesus knew that everything was now finished. Then he said, ‘I am thirsty.’ He said this so that things would happen in the way the Bible already said.

29There was a pot full of cheap wine there. So someone put a piece of cloth into the wine. They fixed the cloth to the end of a branch. The branch was from a plant called hyssop. Then they lifted the cloth up to Jesus' mouth.

30Jesus drank the wine. Then he said, ‘Everything is finished.’ He bent his head down and he let his spirit go.

31It was the day when the Jews prepare everything for their day of rest. The next day was the day for the Passover meal, so it was a very important day. The Jews did not want the men's bodies to stay on the crosses during that day of rest. So they asked Pilate to tell the soldiers to break the legs of those men. Then they could take the dead bodies down from the crosses.

32So the soldiers went there. They broke the legs of the two men who were on the crosses next to Jesus.

33Then they went to Jesus. They saw that he was dead already. So they did not break his legs.

34But one of the soldiers put a spear into Jesus' side. Immediately, blood and water came out of his body.

35The man who saw these things has spoken about them. What he says is true. He knows that it really happened. He is telling you the truth so that you can believe.

36The Bible already said how it would happen. It says: ‘Nobody will break any of his bones.’

37In another place, the Bible says: ‘People will push a spear into that man's body, and then they will look at him.’ And that is how it really happened.