Then the chief priests of the Jews<n id="1" /> said to Pilate, &#8220;Do not write, &#8216;The king of the Jews,&#8217; but rather, &#8216;This man said, I am king of the Jews.&#8217;&#8221;

Now the Jewish feast of Passover<n id="1" /> was near, so Jesus went up to Jerusalem.<n id="2" />p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">Now a certain man, a Pharisee<n id="1" /> named Nicodemus, who was a member of the Jewish ruling council,<n id="2" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">After this<n id="1" /> there was a Jewish feast,<n id="2" /> and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.<n id="3" />

(Now the Jewish feast of the Passover<n id="1" /> was near.)<n id="2" />

Now the Jewish feast of Tabernacles<n id="1" /> was near.<n id="2" />

However, no one spoke openly about him for fear of the Jewish leaders.<n id="1" />p>

for on account of him many of the Jewish people from Jerusalem<n id="1" /> were going away and believing in Jesus.p>

so many of the Jewish people of the region<n id="1" /> had come to Martha and Mary to console them<n id="2" /> over the loss of their brother.)<n id="3" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">Then the squad of soldiers<n id="1" /> with their commanding officer<n id="2" /> and the officers of the Jewish leaders<n id="3" /> arrested<n id="4" /> Jesus and tied him up.<n id="5" />

They<n id="1" /> came up to him again and again<n id="2" /> and said, &#8220;Hail, king of the Jews!&#8221;<n id="3" /> And they struck him repeatedly<n id="4" /> in the face.p>

And so, because it was the Jewish day of preparation<n id="1" /> and the tomb was nearby,<n id="2" /> they placed Jesus&#8217; body there.p>

<p class="bodytext">Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washing,<n id="1" /> each holding twenty or thirty gallons.<n id="2" />

You people<n id="1" /> worship what you do not know. We worship what we know, because salvation is from the Jews.<n id="2" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">Then many of the people,<n id="1" /> who had come with Mary and had seen the things Jesus<n id="2" /> did, believed in him.

Now the Jewish feast of Passover<n id="1" /> was near, and many people went up to Jerusalem<n id="2" /> from the rural areas before the Passover to cleanse themselves ritually.<n id="3" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">So Pilate went back into the governor&#8217;s residence,<n id="1" /> summoned Jesus, and asked him, &#8220;Are you the king of the Jews?&#8221;<n id="2" />

But it is your custom that I release one prisoner<n id="1" /> for you at the Passover.<n id="2" /> So do you want me to release for you the king of the Jews?&#8221;

Pilate also had a notice<n id="1" /> written and fastened to the cross,<n id="2" /> which read:<n id="3" /> &#8220;Jesus the Nazarene, the king of the Jews.&#8221;

<p class="bodytext">Now a large crowd of Judeans<n id="1" /> learned<n id="2" /> that Jesus<n id="3" /> was there, and so they came not only because of him<n id="4" /> but also to see Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead.