Jesus Before Pilate and Herod^(A)(B)(C)

⁶⁶ At daybreak the council^(D) of the elders of the people, both the chief priests and the teachers of the law, met together,^(E) and Jesus was led before them. ⁶⁷ “If you are the Messiah,” they said, “tell us.”

Jesus answered, “If I tell you, you will not believe me, ⁶⁸ and if I asked you, you would not answer.^{(F) 69} But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.”^(G)

⁷⁰ They all asked, “Are you then the Son of God?”^(H)

He replied, “You say that I am.”^(I)

⁷¹ Then they said, “Why do we need any more testimony? We have heard it from his own lips.”

³ When Judas, who had betrayed him,^(A) saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver^(B) to the chief priests and the elders. ⁴ “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”

“What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”^(C)

⁵ So Judas threw the money into the temple^(D) and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.^(E)

⁶ The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.” ⁷ So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. ⁸ That is why it has been called the Field of Blood^(F) to this day. ⁹ Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:^(G) “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on him by the people of Israel, ¹⁰ and they used them to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”^[a](H)

Jesus Before Pilate^(A)

²⁸ Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor.^(B) By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace,^(C) because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover.^{(D) 29} So Pilate came out to them and asked, “What charges are you bringing against this man?”

³⁰ “If he were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed him over to you.”

³¹ Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.”

“But we have no right to execute anyone,” they objected. ³² This took place to fulfill what Jesus had said about the kind of death he was going to die.^(E)

² And they began to accuse him, saying, “We have found this man subverting our nation.^(A) He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar^(B) and claims to be Messiah, a king.”^(C)

³³ Pilate then went back inside the palace,^(A) summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”^(B)

³⁴ “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”

³⁵ “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”

³⁶ Jesus said, “My kingdom^(C) is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders.^(D) But now my kingdom is from another place.”^(E)

³⁷ “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth.^(F) Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”^(G)

³⁸ “What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him.^(H)

¹² When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer.^{(A) 13} Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?”^{(B) 14} But Jesus made no reply,^(C) not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor.

⁴ Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”^(A)

⁵ But they insisted, “He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee^(B) and has come all the way here.”

⁶ On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean.^{(C) 7} When he learned that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod,^(D) who was also in Jerusalem at that time.

⁸ When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him.^(E) From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform a sign of some sort. ⁹ He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer.^{(F) 10} The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him. ¹¹ Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe,^(G) they sent him back to Pilate. ¹² That day Herod and Pilate became friends^(H)—before this they had been enemies.

¹⁵ Now it was the governor’s custom at the festival to release a prisoner^(A) chosen by the crowd.

⁷ A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. ⁸ The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.