¹⁷ So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?”^(A)

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.

⁹ “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?”^(A) asked Pilate, ¹⁰ knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. ¹¹ But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas^(B) instead.

¹² “What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them.

²¹ Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver^(A) between two opinions? If the Lord^(B) is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”

But the people said nothing.

¹⁵ But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites,^(A) in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household,^(B) we will serve the Lord.”^(C)

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!”