³⁸ “What is truth?” Pilate asked. Then he went out again to the people and told them, “He is not guilty of any crime. ³⁹ But you have a custom of asking me to release one prisoner each year at Passover. Would you like me to release this ‘King of the Jews’?”

⁴⁰ But they shouted back, “No! Not this man. We want Barabbas!” (Barabbas was a revolutionary.)

Jesus Sentenced to Death

19 Then Pilate had Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip. ² The soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they put a purple robe on him. ³ “Hail! King of the Jews!” they mocked, as they slapped him across the face.

⁴ Pilate went outside again and said to the people, “I am going to bring him out to you now, but understand clearly that I find him not guilty.” ⁵ Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said, “Look, here is the man!”

⁶ When they saw him, the leading priests and Temple guards began shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

“Take him yourselves and crucify him,” Pilate said. “I find him not guilty.”

⁷ The Jewish leaders replied, “By our law he ought to die because he called himself the Son of God.”

⁸ When Pilate heard this, he was more frightened than ever. ⁹ He took Jesus back into the headquarters^[a] again and asked him, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave no answer. ¹⁰ “Why don’t you talk to me?” Pilate demanded. “Don’t you realize that I have the power to release you or crucify you?”

¹¹ Then Jesus said, “You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above. So the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”

¹² Then Pilate tried to release him, but the Jewish leaders shouted, “If you release this man, you are no ‘friend of Caesar.’^[b] Anyone who declares himself a king is a rebel against Caesar.”

¹³ When they said this, Pilate brought Jesus out to them again. Then Pilate sat down on the judgment seat on the platform that is called the Stone Pavement (in Hebrew, Gabbatha). ¹⁴ It was now about noon on the day of preparation for the Passover. And Pilate said to the people,^[c] “Look, here is your king!”

¹⁵ “Away with him,” they yelled. “Away with him! Crucify him!”

“What? Crucify your king?” Pilate asked.

“We have no king but Caesar,” the leading priests shouted back.

¹⁶ Then Pilate turned Jesus over to them to be crucified.

The Crucifixion

So they took Jesus away.

Hezekiah Rules in Judah

29 Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became the king of Judah, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. ² He did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, just as his ancestor David had done.

Hezekiah Reopens the Temple

³ In the very first month of the first year of his reign, Hezekiah reopened the doors of the Temple of the Lord and repaired them. ⁴ He summoned the priests and Levites to meet him at the courtyard east of the Temple. ⁵ He said to them, “Listen to me, you Levites! Purify yourselves, and purify the Temple of the Lord, the God of your ancestors. Remove all the defiled things from the sanctuary. ⁶ Our ancestors were unfaithful and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord our God. They abandoned the Lord and his dwelling place; they turned their backs on him. ⁷ They also shut the doors to the Temple’s entry room, and they snuffed out the lamps. They stopped burning incense and presenting burnt offerings at the sanctuary of the God of Israel.

⁸ “That is why the Lord’s anger has fallen upon Judah and Jerusalem. He has made them an object of dread, horror, and ridicule, as you can see with your own eyes. ⁹ Because of this, our fathers have been killed in battle, and our sons and daughters and wives have been captured. ¹⁰ But now I will make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger will turn away from us. ¹¹ My sons, do not neglect your duties any longer! The Lord has chosen you to stand in his presence, to minister to him, and to lead the people in worship and present offerings to him.”

¹² Then these Levites got right to work:

¹⁵ These men called together their fellow Levites, and they all purified themselves. Then they began to cleanse the Temple of the Lord, just as the king had commanded. They were careful to follow all the Lord’s instructions in their work. ¹⁶ The priests went into the sanctuary of the Temple of the Lord to cleanse it, and they took out to the Temple courtyard all the defiled things they found. From there the Levites carted it all out to the Kidron Valley.

¹⁷ They began the work in early spring, on the first day of the new year,^[a] and in eight days they had reached the entry room of the Lord’s Temple. Then they purified the Temple of the Lord itself, which took another eight days. So the entire task was completed in sixteen days.

The Temple Rededication

¹⁸ Then the Levites went to King Hezekiah and gave him this report: “We have cleansed the entire Temple of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the table of the Bread of the Presence with all its utensils. ¹⁹ We have also recovered all the items discarded by King Ahaz when he was unfaithful and closed the Temple. They are now in front of the altar of the Lord, purified and ready for use.”

²⁰ Early the next morning King Hezekiah gathered the city officials and went to the Temple of the Lord. ²¹ They brought seven bulls, seven rams, and seven male lambs as a burnt offering, together with seven male goats as a sin offering for the kingdom, for the Temple, and for Judah. The king commanded the priests, who were descendants of Aaron, to sacrifice the animals on the altar of the Lord.

²² So they killed the bulls, and the priests took the blood and sprinkled it on the altar. Next they killed the rams and sprinkled their blood on the altar. And finally, they did the same with the male lambs. ²³ The male goats for the sin offering were then brought before the king and the assembly of people, who laid their hands on them. ²⁴ The priests then killed the goats as a sin offering and sprinkled their blood on the altar to make atonement for the sins of all Israel. The king had specifically commanded that this burnt offering and sin offering should be made for all Israel.

²⁵ King Hezekiah then stationed the Levites at the Temple of the Lord with cymbals, lyres, and harps. He obeyed all the commands that the Lord had given to King David through Gad, the king’s seer, and the prophet Nathan. ²⁶ The Levites then took their positions around the Temple with the instruments of David, and the priests took their positions with the trumpets.

²⁷ Then Hezekiah ordered that the burnt offering be placed on the altar. As the burnt offering was presented, songs of praise to the Lord were begun, accompanied by the trumpets and other instruments of David, the former king of Israel. ²⁸ The entire assembly worshiped the Lord as the singers sang and the trumpets blew, until all the burnt offerings were finished. ²⁹ Then the king and everyone with him bowed down in worship. ³⁰ King Hezekiah and the officials ordered the Levites to praise the Lord with the psalms written by David and by Asaph the seer. So they offered joyous praise and bowed down in worship.

³¹ Then Hezekiah declared, “Now that you have consecrated yourselves to the Lord, bring your sacrifices and thanksgiving offerings to the Temple of the Lord.” So the people brought their sacrifices and thanksgiving offerings, and all whose hearts were willing brought burnt offerings, too. ³² The people brought to the Lord 70 bulls, 100 rams, and 200 male lambs for burnt offerings. ³³ They also brought 600 cattle and 3,000 sheep and goats as sacred offerings.

³⁴ But there were too few priests to prepare all the burnt offerings. So their relatives the Levites helped them until the work was finished and more priests had been purified, for the Levites had been more conscientious about purifying themselves than the priests had been. ³⁵ There was an abundance of burnt offerings, along with the usual liquid offerings, and a great deal of fat from the many peace offerings.

So the Temple of the Lord was restored to service. ³⁶ And Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced because of what God had done for the people, for everything had been accomplished so quickly.

Psalm 85

For the choir director: A psalm of the descendants of Korah.