The Crowd Chooses Barabbas

^15 (A)Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. ¹⁶ And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. ¹⁷ So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or ^(B)Jesus who is called Christ?” ¹⁸ For he knew that it was out ^(C)of envy that they had delivered him up. ¹⁹ Besides, while he was sitting on ^(D)the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with ^(E)that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today ^(F)in a dream.” ²⁰ Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ^(G)ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. ²¹ The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” ²² Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” ^(H)They all said, “Let him be crucified!” ²³ And he said, “Why? ^(I)What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”

Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified

²⁴ So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that ^(J)a riot was beginning, he took water and ^(K)washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of ^(L)this man's blood;^{[a] (M)}see to it yourselves.” ²⁵ And all the people answered, ^(N)“His blood be on us and ^(O)on our children!” ²⁶ Then he released for them Barabbas, and having ^(P)scourged^[b] Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.

Jesus Is Mocked

^27 (Q)Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the ^(R)governor's headquarters,^[c] and they gathered the whole ^(S)battalion^[d] before him. ²⁸ And they stripped him and put ^(T)a scarlet robe on him, ²⁹ and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they ^(U)mocked him, saying, “Hail, ^(V)King of the Jews!” ³⁰ And ^(W)they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. ³¹ And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and ^(X)led him away to crucify him.

The Crucifixion

^32 (Y)(Z)As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to ^(AA)carry his cross. ^33 (AB)And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), ^34 (AC)they offered him wine to drink, mixed with ^(AD)gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it.

Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified

^6 (A)Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. ⁷ And among the rebels in prison, who had ^(B)committed murder ^(C)in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas. ⁸ And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did for them. ⁹ And he answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” ¹⁰ For he perceived that ^(D)it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up. ¹¹ But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead. ¹² And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with ^(E)the man you call the King of the Jews?” ¹³ And they cried out again, “Crucify him.” ¹⁴ And Pilate said to them, “Why? ^(F)What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him.” ¹⁵ So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having ^(G)scourged^[a] Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.

Jesus Is Mocked

^16 (H)And the soldiers led him away inside ^(I)the palace (that is, ^(J)the governor's headquarters),^[b] and they called together the whole ^(K)battalion.^{[c] 17} And they clothed him in ^(L)a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. ¹⁸ And they began to salute him, ^(M)“Hail, King of the Jews!” ¹⁹ And they were striking his head with a reed and ^(N)spitting on him and ^(O)kneeling down in homage to him. ²⁰ And when they had ^(P)mocked him, they stripped him of ^(Q)the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they ^(R)led him out to crucify him.

The Crucifixion

^21 (S)And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. ^22 (T)And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). ²³ And they offered him wine mixed with ^(U)myrrh, but he did not take it. ²⁴ And they crucified him and ^(V)divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take.

¹³ Pilate then called together the chief priests and ^(A)the rulers and the people, ¹⁴ and said to them, “You brought me this man ^(B)as one who was misleading the people. And ^(C)after examining him before you, behold, I ^(D)did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. ¹⁵ Neither did Herod, for ^(E)he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him. ^16 (F)I will therefore punish and release him.”^[a]

Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified

^18 (G)But they all cried out together, ^(H)“Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas”— ¹⁹ a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and ^(I)for murder. ²⁰ Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus, ²¹ but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” ²² A third time he said to them, “Why? ^(J)What evil has he done? ^(K)I have found in him no guilt deserving death. ^(L)I will therefore punish and release him.” ²³ But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed. ²⁴ So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted. ²⁵ He released the man who had been thrown into prison ^(M)for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, ^(N)but he delivered Jesus over to their will.

The Crucifixion

^26 (O)And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. ²⁷ And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were ^(P)mourning and lamenting for him. ²⁸ But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹ For behold, ^(Q)the days are coming when they will say, ^(R)‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ ^30 (S)Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ ³¹ For ^(T)if they do these things when ^(U)the wood is green, what will happen ^(V)when it is dry?”

^39 (A)But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” ⁴⁰ They cried out again, ^(B)“Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.^[a]

Jesus Delivered to Be Crucified

19 Then Pilate took Jesus and ^(C)flogged him. ^2 (D)And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. ³ They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. ⁴ Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that ^(E)I find no guilt in him.” ⁵ So Jesus came out, wearing ^(F)the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, ^(G)“Behold the man!” ⁶ When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, ^(H)“Take him yourselves and crucify him, for ^(I)I find no guilt in him.” ⁷ The Jews^[b] answered him, “We have a law, and ^(J)according to that law he ought to die because ^(K)he has made himself the Son of God.” ⁸ When Pilate heard this statement, ^(L)he was even more afraid. ^9 (M)He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, ^(N)“Where are you from?” But ^(O)Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰ So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” ¹¹ Jesus answered him, ^(P)“You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore ^(Q)he who delivered me over to you ^(R)has the greater sin.”

¹² From then on ^(S)Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. ^(T)Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” ¹³ So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on ^(U)the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic^[c] Gabbatha. ¹⁴ Now it was ^(V)the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour.^[d] He said to the Jews, ^(W)“Behold your King!” ¹⁵ They cried out, ^(X)“Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” ^16 (Y)So he ^(Z)delivered him over to them to be crucified.

The Crucifixion

So they took Jesus, ¹⁷ and ^(AA)he went out, ^(AB)bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha.