Jesus Is Sentenced to Death^(A)

⁶ At every Passover Festival Pilate was in the habit of setting free any one prisoner the people asked for. ⁷ At that time a man named Barabbas was in prison with the rebels who had committed murder in the riot. ⁸ When the crowd gathered and began to ask Pilate for the usual favor, ⁹ he asked them, “Do you want me to set free for you the king of the Jews?” ¹⁰ He knew very well that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him because they were jealous.

¹¹ But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask, instead, that Pilate set Barabbas free for them. ¹² Pilate spoke again to the crowd, “What, then, do you want me to do with the one you call the king of the Jews?”

¹³ They shouted back, “Crucify him!”

¹⁴ “But what crime has he committed?” Pilate asked.

They shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”

¹⁵ Pilate wanted to please the crowd, so he set Barabbas free for them. Then he had Jesus whipped and handed him over to be crucified.

Jesus Is Sentenced to Death^(A)

¹³ Pilate called together the chief priests, the leaders, and the people, ¹⁴ and said to them, “You brought this man to me and said that he was misleading the people. Now, I have examined him here in your presence, and I have not found him guilty of any of the crimes you accuse him of. ¹⁵ Nor did Herod find him guilty, for he sent him back to us. There is nothing this man has done to deserve death. ¹⁶ So I will have him whipped and let him go.” ^17 [a]

¹⁸ The whole crowd cried out, “Kill him! Set Barabbas free for us!” (¹⁹ Barabbas had been put in prison for a riot that had taken place in the city, and for murder.)

²⁰ Pilate wanted to set Jesus free, so he appealed to the crowd again. ²¹ But they shouted back, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

²² Pilate said to them the third time, “But what crime has he committed? I cannot find anything he has done to deserve death! I will have him whipped and set him free.”

²³ But they kept on shouting at the top of their voices that Jesus should be crucified, and finally their shouting succeeded. ²⁴ So Pilate passed the sentence on Jesus that they were asking for. ²⁵ He set free the man they wanted, the one who had been put in prison for riot and murder, and he handed Jesus over for them to do as they wished.

³⁹ But according to the custom you have, I always set free a prisoner for you during the Passover. Do you want me to set free for you the king of the Jews?”

⁴⁰ They answered him with a shout, “No, not him! We want Barabbas!” (Barabbas was a bandit.)

19 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him whipped. ² The soldiers made a crown out of thorny branches and put it on his head; then they put a purple robe on him ³ and came to him and said, “Long live the King of the Jews!” And they went up and slapped him.

⁴ Pilate went back out once more and said to the crowd, “Look, I will bring him out here to you to let you see that I cannot find any reason to condemn him.” ⁵ So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Look! Here is the man!”

⁶ When the chief priests and the Temple guards saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

Pilate said to them, “You take him, then, and crucify him. I find no reason to condemn him.”

⁷ The crowd answered back, “We have a law that says he ought to die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”

⁸ When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid. ⁹ He went back into the palace and asked Jesus, “Where do you come from?”

But Jesus did not answer. ¹⁰ Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Remember, I have the authority to set you free and also to have you crucified.”

^11 (A)Jesus answered, “You have authority over me only because it was given to you by God. So the man who handed me over to you is guilty of a worse sin.”

¹² When Pilate heard this, he tried to find a way to set Jesus free. But the crowd shouted back, “If you set him free, that means that you are not the Emperor's friend! Anyone who claims to be a king is a rebel against the Emperor!”

¹³ When Pilate heard these words, he took Jesus outside and sat down on the judge's seat in the place called “The Stone Pavement.” (In Hebrew the name is “Gabbatha.”) ¹⁴ It was then almost noon of the day before the Passover. Pilate said to the people, “Here is your king!”

¹⁵ They shouted back, “Kill him! Kill him! Crucify him!”

Pilate asked them, “Do you want me to crucify your king?”

The chief priests answered, “The only king we have is the Emperor!”

¹⁶ Then Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be crucified.

Jesus Is Crucified^(B)

So they took charge of Jesus.