23And the whole assembly of them rose up and^* brought him before Pilate. ²And they began to accuse him, saying, “We have found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us^* to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying he himself is Christ, a king!” ³And Pilate asked him, saying, “Are you the king of the Jews?” And he answered him and^* said, “You say so.” ⁴So Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no basis for an accusation against this man.” ⁵But they insisted, saying, “He incites the people, teaching throughout the whole of Judea and beginning from Galilee as far as here.”

Jesus Brought Before Herod

⁶Now when^* Pilate heard this,^* he asked if the man was a Galilean. ⁷And when he^* found out that he was from the jurisdiction of Herod, he sent him over to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem in those days. ⁸And when^* Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had been wanting to see him for a long time, because he had heard about him and was hoping to see some miracle performed by him. ⁹So he questioned him at considerable length,^a but he answered nothing to him. ¹⁰And the chief priests and the scribes were standing there vehemently accusing him. ¹¹And Herod with his soldiers also treated him with contempt, and after^* mocking him^* and^* dressing him^* in glistening clothing, he sent him back to Pilate. ¹²And both Herod and Pilate became friends with one another on that same day, for they had previously been enemies of one another.^b

Pilate Releases Barabbas

¹³So Pilate called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people ¹⁴and^* said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was misleading the people, and behold, when I^* examined him^* before you, I found nothing in this man as basis for the accusation which you are making^c against him. ¹⁵But neither did Herod, because he sent him back to us. And behold, nothing deserving death has been done^d by him. ¹⁶Therefore I will punish him and^* release him.”^* ^e ¹⁸But they all cried out in unison, saying, “Take this man away, and release for us Barabbas!” ¹⁹(who had been thrown in prison because of a certain insurrection that had taken place in the city, and for murder). ²⁰And Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them^*^f again, ²¹but they kept crying out, saying, “Crucify! Crucify him!” ²²So he said to them a third time, “Why? What wrong has this man done? I found no basis for an accusation deserving death^g in him. Therefore I will punish him and^* release him.”^* ²³But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he be crucified. And their cries prevailed. ²⁴And Pilate decided that their demand should be granted.

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Footnotes

*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“rose up”) has been translated as a finite verb
*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“answered”) has been translated as a finite verb
*Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“heard”) which is understood as temporal
*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
*Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“found out”) which is understood as temporal
*Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“saw”) which is understood as temporal
aLiterally “with many words”
*Here “after” is supplied as a component of the participle (“mocking”) which is understood as temporal
*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
*Here “and” is supplied to connect the two participles (“mocking” and “dressing”) in keeping with English style
*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
bLiterally “for they had previously existed being at enmity with each other”
*Here “and” is supplied because the participle in the previous verse (“called together”) has been translated as a finite verb
*Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“examined”) which is understood as temporal
*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
cLiterally “you are accusing”
dLiterally “is having been done”
*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“punish”) has been translated as a finite verb
*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
eMany of the most important Greek manuscripts lack v. 17, “Now he was obligated to release for them at the feast one person.”
*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
fSome manuscripts explicitly state “them”
gLiterally “of death”
*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“punish”) has been translated as a finite verb
*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation