John 18:25-40 : Easy-to-Read Version
Peter Lies Again (Mt. 26:71-75; Mk. 14:69-72; Lk. 22:58-62)
25Simon Peter was standing [at the fire], keeping himself warm. The other men said to Peter, "Are you one of the followers of that man (Jesus)?" But Peter denied it. He said, "No, I am not." 26One of the servants of the high priest* was there. This servant was a relative to the man whose ear Peter had cut off. The servant said, "I think I saw you with him (Jesus) in the garden!" 27But again Peter said, "No, I was not with him!" And at that same time a rooster crowed.
Jesus Is Brought Before Pilate (Mt. 27:1-2, 11-31; Mk. 15:1-20; Lk. 23:1-25)
28Then the Jews took Jesus from Caiaphas' house to the [Roman governor's] palace. It was early in the morning. The Jews would not go inside the palace. They did not want to make themselves unclean,* because they wanted to eat the Passover* meal. 29So Pilate went outside to the Jews. He asked, "What do you say this man has done wrong?" 30The Jews answered, "He is a bad man. That is why we brought him to you." 31Pilate said to the Jews, "You Jews take him yourselves and judge him by your own law." The Jews answered, "But your law does not allow us to punish a person by killing him." 32(This happened so that what Jesus said about how he would die would be true.) 33Then Pilate went back inside the palace. Pilate called Jesus to him. He asked Jesus, "Are you the king of the Jews?" 34Jesus said, "Is that your own question, or did other people tell you about me?" 35Pilate said, "I am not a Jew! It was your own people and their leading priests that brought you before me. What have you done wrong?" 36Jesus said, "My kingdom does not belong to this world. If it belonged to this world, then my servants would fight so that I would not be given to the Jews. But my kingdom is from another place." 37Pilate said, "So you are a king!" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. That is true. I was born for this: to tell people about the truth. That is why I came into the world. And every person that belongs to the truth listens to me." 38Pilate said, "What is truth?" When Pilate said this, he went out to the Jews again. Pilate said to the Jews, "I can find nothing to charge against this man. 39But it is one of your customs for me to free one prisoner to you at the time of the Passover.* Do you want me to free this 'king of the Jews'?" 40The Jews yelled back, "No, not him! Let Barabbas go free!" (Barabbas was a rebel.)
high priest The most important Jewish priest and leader. unclean Going into a non-Jewish place would ruin the special cleansing the Jews had done (See Jn. 11:55). Passover An important Jewish holy day. The Jews ate a special meal on this day every year to remember that God freed them from slavery in Egypt in the time of Moses.