John 18

₁After Jesus had prayed, He went outside with his disciples. They went to the other side of the Kidron Valley into a garden. ₂Judas, who betrayed Jesus, also knew where the garden was because Jesus and his disciples had gone there many times before. ₃Then Judas went to get the soldiers and guards from the chief_priests and Pharisees. They had lamps, lanterns and weapons with them when they came into the garden. ₄Jesus knew everything that would happen to Him, so He walked to Judas and the soldiers and He asked them: ‘Who are you looking for?’

₅They said to Him: ‘We are looking for Jesus of Nazareth.’ Jesus said: ‘I am Jesus.’

Judas, the man who betrayed Jesus, was also standing with them. ₆When Jesus said: ‘I am Jesus, the Man you are looking for,’ they moved back and they fell on their backs onto the ground. ₇Jesus asked them again: ‘Who are you looking for?’

They said: ‘We are looking for Jesus of Nazareth.’

₈Jesus said to them: ‘I have already told you that I am Jesus. If you want to arrest Me, let my disciples go.’

₉Jesus said this so that it could happen as He had said before, when He said: ‘Father, You have given Me people and I have kept them safe. I have not lost one of them.’

₁₀Simon-Peter had a sword with him. He took it out and he cut the servant of the high-priest. He cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus. ₁₁Jesus said to Peter: ‘Put away your sword. My Father wants Me to drink this cup_of_suffering and I will drink it.’

₁₂The soldiers, the officer and the guards of the Jews arrested Jesus and they tied Him.

₁₃The soldiers took Jesus to Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas. Caiaphas was the high-priest that year. ₁₄(It was Caiaphas who had told the Jews that it was better that one Man died so that all the people of the nation could live). ₁₅Simon-Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. The high-priest knew the other disciple, so the other disciple went with Jesus to the front of the house of the high-priest. ₁₆Peter did not go in. He stayed outside near the gate. Later on the other disciple who knew the high-priest came and talked to the girl who was standing at the gate and she let Peter go in. ₁₇The girl who was standing at the gate said to Peter: ‘Are you one of that Man's disciples? I think you are.’ Peter answered her and said: ‘No, I am not.’

₁₈It was cold and the servants and guards were standing around a fire and they were warming themselves. Peter was also standing with them and warming himself.

₁₉The high-priest asked Jesus questions about his disciples and the things that He had taught the people. ₂₀Jesus said to him: ‘I have always talked to people where everyone could see Me. I have taught the people in the synagogues and in the temple where a lot of Jews were together. I have taught them where everyone could hear what I said. ₂₁Why do you ask Me these questions? You must ask the people who listened to Me. They know what I said.’

₂₂One of the guards who was standing near Jesus hit Him in the face when he heard what Jesus said and he said to Jesus: ‘You must not talk like that to the high-priest.’

₂₃Jesus said to him: ‘If I said something wrong, you must tell Me what I have said that is wrong. But if I didn't say anything wrong, then why did you hit Me?’

₂₄Then Annas sent Jesus to Caiaphas, the high-priest. Jesus was still tied.

₂₅Simon-Peter was still outside at the fire. He was standing there and warming himself. The people who were near him asked him: ‘Are you one of Jesus' disciples?’ Peter said: ‘No, I am not.’

₂₆One of the servants of the high-priest was also standing there. He was a relative of the man whose ear Peter cut off. He said to Peter: ‘I think I saw you with Jesus in the garden.’

₂₇Again Peter said he did not know Jesus. And then a cock_crowed.

₂₈The Jewish_leaders took Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the house of Pilate, the governor. It was early in the morning. The Jews did not go into the governor's house because he was not a Jew and they did not want to become impure, because then they could not eat the Passover meal. ₂₉Pilate, the governor, went out to the Jews and he told them: ‘You must tell me what this Man, Jesus, has done wrong.’

₃₀They told Pilate: ‘Jesus is a bad man. That is why we brought Him to you so that you can punish Him.’

₃₁Pilate said to them: ‘Take Him away. You can judge Him. See what your laws say and decide if He is guilty.’ But the Jews said to Pilate: ‘No, we can not do it because we may not kill someone when we punish him.’ ₃₂(This happened to show that the words of Jesus were true when He had told them before how He would die). ₃₃Pilate went into his house again. He called Jesus and he asked Jesus: ‘Are you the King_of_the_Jews?’

₃₄Jesus asked Pilate: ‘Why do you ask Me if I am the King_of_the_Jews? Did you think about this yourself or did other people tell you about Me?’

₃₅Pilate said to Jesus: ‘I am not a Jew. Your own people and the chief_priests brought You to me. They want me to punish You. You must tell me what You did wrong.’ ₃₆Jesus said to him: ‘I am not a king like other kings on earth. If I were a king of this world, then my people would fight to protect Me and then the Jews would not have arrested Me. No, I am not a king like the other kings of the earth.’

₃₇Pilate said to Jesus: ‘Oh, You are a king?’ Jesus said to him: ‘Yes, it is as you say. I came to this world and I was born to tell the people about the truth. Any person who belongs to the truth of God listens to Me.’

₃₈Pilate asked Jesus: ‘What is the truth? I think no one knows.’

After Pilate had talked to Jesus, he went out to the Jews. He told them: ‘Jesus has done nothing wrong. ₃₉You know that I always let someone free out of jail when it is Passover. Do you want me to let Jesus, the King_of_the_Jews, free?’

₄₀They shouted_loudly: ‘No, we do not want Him to go free. You must let Barabbas come out of jail.’ (Barabbas was a robber).