⁶It was the usual practice at the Passover Feast to let one prisoner go free. The people could choose the one they wanted. ⁷A man named Barabbas was in prison. He was there with some other people who had fought against the country’s rulers. They had committed murder while they were fighting against the rulers. ⁸The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.

⁹“Do you want me to let the king of the Jews go free?” asked Pilate. ¹⁰He knew that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him because they were jealous. ¹¹But the chief priests stirred up the crowd. So the crowd asked Pilate to let Barabbas go free instead.

¹²“Then what should I do with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them.

¹³“Crucify him!” the crowd shouted.

¹⁴“Why? What wrong has he done?” asked Pilate.

But they shouted even louder, “Crucify him!”

¹⁵Pilate wanted to satisfy the crowd. So he let Barabbas go free. He ordered that Jesus be whipped. Then he handed him over to be nailed to a cross.

The Soldiers Make Fun of Jesus

¹⁶The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace. It was called the Praetorium. They called together the whole company of soldiers.

¹⁷The soldiers put a purple robe on Jesus. Then they twisted thorns together to make a crown. They placed it on his head. ¹⁸They began to call out to him, “We honor you, king of the Jews!” ¹⁹Again and again they hit him on the head with a stick. They spit on him. They fell on their knees and pretended to honor him.

²⁰After they had made fun of him, they took off the purple robe. They put his own clothes back on him. Then they led him out to nail him to a cross.

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