Mark 15:6-15

International Children’s Bible

Pilate Tries to Free Jesus

⁶ Every year at the Passover time the governor would free one person from prison. He would free any person the people wanted him to free. ⁷ At that time, there was a man named Barabbas in prison. He was a rebel and had committed murder during a riot. ⁸ The crowd came to Pilate and asked him to free a prisoner as he always did.

⁹ Pilate asked them, “Do you want me to free the king of the Jews?” ¹⁰ Pilate knew that the leading priests had given Jesus to him because they were jealous of Jesus. ¹¹ And the leading priests had persuaded the people to ask Pilate to free Barabbas, not Jesus.

¹² Pilate asked the crowd again, “So what should I do with this man you call the king of the Jews?”

¹³ They shouted, “Kill him on a cross!”

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

But they shouted louder and louder, “Kill him on a cross!”

¹⁵ Pilate wanted to please the crowd. So he freed Barabbas for them. And Pilate told the soldiers to beat Jesus with whips. Then he gave Jesus to the soldiers to be killed on a cross.