Jesus is Taken to Pilate^(A)

27 When morning came, all the high priests and elders of the people conspired against Jesus to put him to death. ² They bound him with chains, led him away, and handed him over to Pontius^[a] Pilate, the governor.

Pilate Questions Jesus^(A)

¹¹ Meanwhile, Jesus was made to stand in front of the governor. The governor asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

Jesus said, “You say so.”

¹² While Jesus^[a] was being accused by the high priests and elders, he made no reply. ¹³ Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear how many charges they’re bringing against you?” ¹⁴ But Jesus^[b] did not reply at all, so that the governor was very surprised.

Jesus is Taken to Pilate^(A)

15 As soon as it was morning, the high priests convened a meeting with the elders and scribes and the whole Council.^[a] They bound Jesus with chains, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. ² Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

Jesus^[b] answered him, “You say so.”

³ The high priests kept accusing him of many things. ⁴ So Pilate asked him again, “Don’t you have any answer? Look how many accusations they’re bringing against you!” ⁵ But since Jesus no longer answered, Pilate was astonished.

Pilate Questions Jesus^(A)

²⁸ Then Jesus was led from Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters^[a] early in the morning. The Jews^[b] did not go into the headquarters, to avoid becoming unclean^[c] and unable to eat the Passover meal. ²⁹ So Pilate came out to them and asked, “What accusation are you bringing against this man?”

³⁰ They answered him, “If he weren’t a criminal, we wouldn’t have handed him over to you.”

³¹ Pilate told them, “You take him and try him according to your Law.”

The Jewish leaders^[d] told him, “It is not legal for us to put anyone to death.” ³² This was to fulfill what Jesus had said^[e] when he indicated the kind of death he was to die.

³³ So Pilate went back into the governor’s headquarters,^[f] summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

³⁴ Jesus replied, “Are you asking this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about me?”

³⁵ Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? It is your own nation and high priests who have handed you over to me. What have you done?”

³⁶ Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom belonged to this world, my servants would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders.^[g] But for now my kingdom is not from here.”

³⁷ Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?”

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. I was born for this, and I came into the world for this: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is committed to the truth listens to my voice.”

³⁸ Pilate asked him, “What is ‘truth’?” and then he went out to the Jewish leaders^[h] again and told them, “I find no basis for a charge against him.