27Early the next morning, all the leading priests and elders of the people decided that Jesus should die. ²They tied him, led him away, and turned him over to Pilate, the governor.

Judas Kills Himself

³Judas, the one who had given Jesus to his enemies, saw that they had decided to kill Jesus. Then he was very sorry for what he had done. So he took the thirty silver coins back to the priests and the leaders, ⁴saying, “I sinned; I handed over to you an innocent man.”

The leaders answered, “What is that to us? That’s your problem, not ours.”

⁵So Judas threw the money into the Temple. Then he went off and hanged himself.

⁶The leading priests picked up the silver coins in the Temple and said, “Our law does not allow us to keep this money with the Temple money, because it has paid for a man’s death.” ⁷So they decided to use the coins to buy Potter’s Field as a place to bury strangers who died in Jerusalem. ⁸That is why that field is still called the Field of Blood. ⁹So what Jeremiah the prophet had said came true: “They took thirty silver coins. That is how little the Israelites thought he was worth. ¹⁰They used those thirty silver coins to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.” ⁿ

Pilate Questions Jesus

¹¹Jesus stood before Pilate the governor, and Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

Jesus answered, “Those are your words.”

¹²When the leading priests and the elders accused Jesus, he said nothing.

¹³So Pilate said to Jesus, “Don’t you hear them accusing you of all these things?”

¹⁴But Jesus said nothing in answer to Pilate, and Pilate was very surprised at this.

Pilate Tries to Free Jesus

¹⁵Every year at the time of Passover the governor would free one prisoner whom the people chose. ¹⁶At that time there was a man in prison, named Barabbas, ⁿ who was known to be very bad. ¹⁷When the people gathered at Pilate’s house, Pilate said, “Whom do you want me to set free: Barabbas ⁿ or Jesus who is called the Christ?” ¹⁸Pilate knew that they turned Jesus in to him because they were jealous.

¹⁹While Pilate was sitting there on the judge’s seat, his wife sent this message to him: “Don’t do anything to that man, because he is innocent. Today I had a dream about him, and it troubled me very much.”

²⁰But the leading priests and elders convinced the crowd to ask for Barabbas to be freed and for Jesus to be killed.

²¹Pilate said, “I have Barabbas and Jesus. Which do you want me to set free for you?”

The people answered, “Barabbas.”

²²Pilate asked, “So what should I do with Jesus, the one called the Christ?”

They all answered, “Crucify him!”

²³Pilate asked, “Why? What wrong has he done?”

But they shouted louder, “Crucify him!”

²⁴When Pilate saw that he could do nothing about this and that a riot was starting, he took some water and washed his hands ⁿ in front of the crowd. Then he said, “I am not guilty of this man’s death. You are the ones who are causing it!”

²⁵All the people answered, “We and our children will be responsible for his death.”

²⁶Then he set Barabbas free. But Jesus was beaten with whips and handed over to the soldiers to be crucified.

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Footnotes

n“They … commanded me.” See Zechariah 11:12–13 and Jeremiah 32:6–9.
nBarabbas Some Greek copies read “Jesus Barabbas.”
nBarabbas Some Greek copies read “Jesus Barabbas.”
nwashed his hands He did this as a sign to show that he wanted no part in what the people did.