The judge sat upon a high seat in the hall. His name was Pontius Pilate. The judge did not know Jesus. The judge said, What has he done?
The wicked people said, He calls himself a king.
Then Pilate said to Jesus, Are you a king? And Jesus said, Yes, I am. But Pilate thought that he looked very good, and he did not want to punish him.
Then the wicked men made a great noise, and said, You must crucify him.
Pilate said, No, I will beat him, and that will be enough. So Pilate gave Jesus to some soldiers, who took him into a house and beat him with knotted ropes, (this way of beating is called scourging,) and all the blood ran down his back. Then the cruel soldiers laughed at him because he said he was a king. They took off his own clothes, and put some fine clothes on him such as kings wear, purple and red.
Then they said, We must put a crown on his head. So they took prickly thorns, sharp like pins, and twisted them together, and made a crown, and put it on his head.
They said He must have a scepter, (for kings hold something called a scepter in their hands), so they put a reed in his hand for a scepter; then they took it from him, and beat him on the head: and they knelt down to him laughing, and said, O king! O king!
Pilate saw the soldiers tormenting him, and he brought Jesus into the street, where the wicked people were, and he showed Jesus to them, and said, Look at your king.
Pilate hoped they would be sorry to see him so ill-used; blood upon his forehead from the thorns, and his back scourged, and dressed in fine clothes to mock him: but the wicked people were cruel like tigers.
Said they, Crucify him! Crucify him! All the people cried out, Crucify him! though Jesus had always been so kind to them.