Jesus Sentenced to Be Crucified^(A)

19 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.^{(B) 2} The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe ³ and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!”^(C) And they slapped him in the face.^(D)

⁴ Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out^(E) to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.”^{(F) 5} When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe,^(G) Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”

²⁰ Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again.

²¹ “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor.

“Barabbas,” they answered.

²² “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?”^(A) Pilate asked.

They all answered, “Crucify him!”

²² For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him.”^(A)

²³ But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed.

⁶ As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”

But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him.^(A) As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”^(B)

⁷ The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die,^(C) because he claimed to be the Son of God.”^(D)

⁸ When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, ⁹ and he went back inside the palace.^(E) “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer.^{(F) 10} “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”

¹¹ Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.^(G) Therefore the one who handed me over to you^(H) is guilty of a greater sin.”

¹² From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king^(I) opposes Caesar.”

¹³ When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat^(J) at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic^(K) is Gabbatha). ¹⁴ It was the day of Preparation^(L) of the Passover; it was about noon.^(M)

“Here is your king,”^(N) Pilate said to the Jews.

¹⁵ But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.

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

²⁴ When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar^(A) was starting, he took water and washed his hands^(B) in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,”^(C) he said. “It is your responsibility!”^(D)

²⁵ All the people answered, “His blood is on us and on our children!”^(E)

²⁴ So Pilate decided to grant their demand.

¹⁵ Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged,^(A) and handed him over to be crucified.