23Then the whole group stood up and led Jesus to Pilate. ⁿ ²They began to accuse Jesus, saying, “We caught this man telling things that mislead our people. He says that we should not pay taxes to Caesar, and he calls himself the Christ, a king.”

³Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

Jesus answered, “Those are your words.”

⁴Pilate said to the leading priests and the people, “I find nothing against this man.”

⁵They were insisting, saying, “But Jesus makes trouble with the people, teaching all around Judea. He began in Galilee, and now he is here.”

Pilate Sends Jesus to Herod

⁶Pilate heard this and asked if Jesus was from Galilee. ⁷Since Jesus was under Herod’s authority, Pilate sent Jesus to Herod, who was in Jerusalem at that time. ⁸When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, because he had heard about Jesus and had wanted to meet him for a long time. He was hoping to see Jesus work a miracle. ⁹Herod asked Jesus many questions, but Jesus said nothing. ¹⁰The leading priests and teachers of the law were standing there, strongly accusing Jesus. ¹¹After Herod and his soldiers had made fun of Jesus, they dressed him in a kingly robe and sent him back to Pilate. ¹²In the past, Pilate and Herod had always been enemies, but on that day they became friends.

Jesus Must Die

¹³Pilate called the people together with the leading priests and the rulers. ¹⁴He said to them, “You brought this man to me, saying he makes trouble among the people. But I have questioned him before you all, and I have not found him guilty of what you say. ¹⁵Also, Herod found nothing wrong with him; he sent him back to us. Look, he has done nothing for which he should die. ¹⁶So, after I punish him, I will let him go free.” ¹⁷Every year at the Passover Feast, Pilate had to release one prisoner to the people. ⁿ

¹⁸But the people shouted together, “Take this man away! Let Barabbas go free!” ¹⁹(Barabbas was a man who was in prison for his part in a riot in the city and for murder.)

²⁰Pilate wanted to let Jesus go free and told this to the crowd. ²¹But they shouted again, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

²²A third time Pilate said to them, “Why? What wrong has he done? I can find no reason to kill him. So I will have him punished and set him free.”

²³But they continued to shout, demanding that Jesus be crucified. Their yelling became so loud that ²⁴Pilate decided to give them what they wanted.

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Footnotes

nPilate Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor of Judea from a.d. 26 to a.d. 36.
nEvery … people. Some Greek copies do not contain the bracketed text.