²⁸Then^e they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters.^f It was early morning. They did not enter the headquarters themselves; otherwise they would be defiled and unable to eat the Passover.

²⁹So Pilate^g came out to them and said, “What charge^h do you bring against this man?”

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

³¹Pilate told them, “You take him and judge him according to your law.”

“It’s not legal for us to put anyone to death,” the Jews declared. ³²They said this so that Jesus’s words might be fulfilled indicating what kind of death he was going to die.ⁱ

³³Then Pilate went back into the headquarters, summoned Jesus, and said to him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”^j

³⁴Jesus answered, “Are you asking this on your own, or have others told you about me?”

³⁵“I’m not a Jew, am I?” Pilate replied. “Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?”

³⁶“My kingdom^k is not of this world,” said Jesus. “If my kingdom were of this world,^l my servants^m would fight, so that I wouldn’t be handed over to the Jews. But as it is,^B my kingdom is not from here.”ⁿ

³⁷“You are a king then?” Pilate asked.

“You say that I’m a king,” Jesus replied. “I was born for this, and I have come into the world^o for this: to testify^p to the truth.^q Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

³⁸“What is truth?” said Pilate.

JESUS OR BARABBAS

After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, “I find no grounds^r for charging him. ³⁹You^s have a custom that I release one prisoner to you at the Passover. So, do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?”

⁴⁰They shouted back, “Not this man, but Barabbas!”^t Now Barabbas was a revolutionary.^u

JESUS FLOGGED AND MOCKED

19Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. ²The soldiers also twisted together a crown^v of thorns, put it on his head, and clothed him in a purple robe. ³And they kept coming up to him^w and saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” and were slapping his face.

⁴Pilate went outside again and said to them, “Look, I’m bringing him out to you to let you know I find no grounds^x for charging him.” ⁵Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe.^y Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”^z

PILATE SENTENCES JESUS TO DEATH

⁶When the chief priests and the temple servants^D saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”

Pilate responded, “Take him and crucify him yourselves, since I find no grounds for charging him.”

⁷“We have a law,” the Jews replied to him, “and according to that law he ought to die,^aa because he made himself the Son of God.”^ab

⁸When Pilate heard this statement, he was more afraid than ever. ⁹He went back into the headquarters^ac and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus did not give him an answer.^ad ¹⁰So Pilate said to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Don’t you know that I have the authority to release you and the authority to crucify you?”

¹¹“You would have no authority over me at all,” Jesus answered him, “if it hadn’t been given you from above. This is why the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”^ae

¹²From that moment Pilate kept trying^A to release him. But the Jews shouted, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Anyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar!”

¹³When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside. He sat down on the judge’s seat in a place called the Stone Pavement (but in Aramaic, Gabbatha). ¹⁴It was the preparation day for the Passover, and it was about noon.^C Then he told the Jews, “Here is your king!”

¹⁵They shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

Pilate said to them, “Should I crucify your king?”

“We have no king but Caesar!” the chief priests answered.

¹⁶Then he handed him over to be crucified.