Betrayed and Arrested
18 When Yeshua had said these things, He went out with His disciples across the Kidron Valley,[a] where there was a garden, which He and His disciples entered. 2 Now Judah, who was betraying Him, also knew the place, because Yeshua had often met there with His disciples. 3 So Judah, having taken a band of soldiers and some officers from the ruling kohanim and Pharisees, comes there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. 4 Then Yeshua, knowing all the things coming upon Him, went forward. He said to them, “Who are you looking for?”
5 “Yeshua ha-Natzrati,” they answered Him.
Yeshua tells them, “I am.” Now Judah, the one betraying Him, was also standing with them. 6 So when Yeshua said to them, “I am,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
7 So again He asked them, “Who are you looking for?”
And they said, “Yeshua ha-Natzrati.”
8 Yeshua answered, “I told you, I am! If you’re looking for Me, let these men go their way.” 9 This was so the word would be fulfilled that He spoke: “I did not lose one of those You have given Me.”[b]
10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the servant of the kohen gadol, and cut off his right ear. Now the servant’s name was Malchus. 11 So Yeshua said to Peter, “Put the sword into the sheath! The cup the Father has given Me—shall I never drink it?”
Interrogated and Tried
12 Then the band of soldiers, with the captain and the officers of the Judeans, seized Yeshua and tied Him up. 13 They led Him first to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the kohen gadol that year. 14 Now Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Judean leaders that it was better for one man to die on behalf of the people.
15 Simon Peter was following Yeshua with another disciple. Now that disciple was known to the kohen gadol, so he went with Yeshua into the court of the kohen gadol. 16 But Peter was left standing outside by the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the kohen gadol, went out and spoke to the doorkeeper and brought Peter in.
17 The maidservant at the door says to Peter, “Aren’t you one of this Man’s disciples too?”
He says, “No, I’m not.” 18 The servants and officers were standing around a fire they had made, because it was cold and they were warming themselves. And Peter was also with them, standing and warming himself.
19 The kohen gadol then questioned Yeshua about His disciples and His teaching. 20 “I have spoken openly to the world,” Yeshua answered him. “I always taught in the synagogues and the Temple, where all the Jewish people come together. I spoke nothing in secret. 21 Why question Me? Ask those who have heard what I spoke to them. Look, they know what I said.”
22 When He had said this, one of the officers standing nearby gave Yeshua a slap, saying, “Is that the way you answer the kohen gadol?”
23 Yeshua answered him, “If I have spoken wrongly, give evidence of the wrong; but if rightly, why hit Me?” 24 Then Annas sent Him, still tied up, to Caiaphas, the kohen gadol.
25 Now Simon Peter was standing outside and warming himself. So they said to him, “Aren’t you one of His disciples too?”
He denied it and said, “No, I’m not!”
26 One of the servants of the kohen gadol, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “Didn’t I see you in the garden with Him?”
27 Again Peter denied it, and immediately a rooster crowed.
28 Then they led Yeshua from Caiaphas to the Praetorium.[c] It was early. They themselves did not enter the Praetorium, so they would not become unclean but might eat the Passover. 29 Therefore Pilate came out to them and said, “What charge do you bring against this man?”
30 They answered, “If He weren’t an evildoer, we wouldn’t have handed Him over to you.”
31 Then Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves, and judge Him by your Torah!”
The Judean leaders responded, “We are not authorized to put anyone to death.” 32 This happened so that the word Yeshua spoke would be fulfilled, signifying what kind of death He was about to die.
33 So Pilate went back into the Praetorium, called for Yeshua, and asked Him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”
34 “Are you saying this on your own,” Yeshua answered, “or did others tell you about Me?”
35 Pilate answered, “I’m not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and ruling kohanim handed You over to me! What have You done?”
36 Yeshua answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I wouldn’t be handed over to the Judean leaders. But as it is, My kingdom is not from here.”
37 So Pilate said to Him, “Are you a king, then?”
Yeshua answered, “You say that I am a king. For this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world, so that I might testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”
38 Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” After he said this, he went out again to the Judean leaders. He said to them, “I find no case against Him. 39 But it’s your custom that I release someone for you at Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”
40 They shouted back, “Not this One, but Bar-Abba!” Now Bar-Abba[d] was a revolutionary.
Footnotes
- John 18:1 cf. 2 Sam. 15:23.
- John 18:9 Similar to Jn. 6:39; 17:12.
- John 18:28 The Roman governor’s Jerusalem residence.
- John 18:40 Also Barabbas, Son of the Father (Aram.).