Jesus Is Sentenced to Death^(A)

¹⁵ At every Passover Festival the Roman governor was in the habit of setting free any one prisoner the crowd asked for. ¹⁶ At that time there was a well-known prisoner named Jesus Barabbas. ¹⁷ So when the crowd gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to set free for you? Jesus Barabbas or Jesus called the Messiah?” ¹⁸ He knew very well that the Jewish authorities had handed Jesus over to him because they were jealous.

¹⁹ While Pilate was sitting in the judgment hall, his wife sent him a message: “Have nothing to do with that innocent man, because in a dream last night I suffered much on account of him.”

²⁰ The chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask Pilate to set Barabbas free and have Jesus put to death. ²¹ But Pilate asked the crowd, “Which one of these two do you want me to set free for you?”

“Barabbas!” they answered.

²² “What, then, shall I do with Jesus called the Messiah?” Pilate asked them.

“Crucify him!” they all answered.

²³ But Pilate asked, “What crime has he committed?”

Then they started shouting at the top of their voices: “Crucify him!”

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!”

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.

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!”