Matthew 27:16-18

Living Bible

¹⁶ This year there was a particularly notorious criminal in jail named Barabbas, ¹⁷ and as the crowds gathered before Pilate’s house that morning he asked them, “Which shall I release to you—Barabbas, or Jesus your Messiah?”^{[a] 18} For he knew very well that the Jewish leaders had arrested Jesus out of envy because of his popularity with the people.