Jesus Before the Council

66 ^tWhen day came, ^uthe assembly of the elders of the people gathered together, both chief priests and scribes. And they led him away to their ^vcouncil, and they ^wsaid, 67 ^x“If you are ^ythe Christ, tell us.” But he said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe, 68 and if I ask you, you will not answer. 69 But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated ^zat the right hand of the power of God.” 70 So they all said, “Are you ^athe Son of God, then?” And he said to them, ^b“You say that I am.” 71 Then they said, “What further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips.”

Judas Hangs Himself

3 Then when ^bJudas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus¹ was condemned, ^che changed his mind and brought back ^dthe thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, 4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? ^eSee to it yourself.” 5 And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, ^fhe departed, and he went and hanged himself. 6 But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into ^gthe treasury, since it is blood money.” 7 So they took counsel and bought with them the potter’s field as a burial place for strangers. 8 Therefore ^hthat field has been called the Field of Blood ⁱto this day. 9 ^jThen was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, ^k“And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, 10 and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.”

Jesus Before Pilate

28 ^qThen they led Jesus ^rfrom the house of Caiaphas to ^sthe governor’s headquarters.¹ It was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor’s headquarters, ^tso that they would not be defiled, ^ubut could eat the Passover. 29 ^vSo Pilate went outside to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” 30 They answered him, “If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.” 31 Pilate said to them, ^w“Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” The Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.” 32 ^xThis was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken ^yto show by what kind of death he was going to die.

2 And they began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man ^dmisleading our nation and ^eforbidding us to give tribute to ^fCaesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, ^ga king.”

My Kingdom Is Not of This World

33 ^zSo Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, ^a“Are you the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” 35 Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” 36 Jesus answered, ^b“My kingdom ^cis not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, ^dmy servants would have been fighting, that ^eI might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” 37 Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, ^f“You say that I am a king. ^gFor this purpose I was born and for this purpose ^hI have come into the world—ⁱto bear witness to the truth. ^jEveryone who is ^kof the truth ^llistens to my voice.” 38 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

After he had said this, ^mhe went back outside to the Jews and told them, ⁿ“I find no guilt in him.

12 ^oBut when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer. 13 Then Pilate said to him, ^p“Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?” 14 But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.

4 Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, ^k“I find no guilt in this man.” 5 But they were urgent, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, ^lfrom Galilee even to this place.”

Jesus Before Herod

6 When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. 7 And when he learned that he belonged to ^mHerod’s jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time. 8 When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, ⁿfor he had long desired to see him, ^obecause he had heard about him, and he was hoping ^pto see some sign done by him. 9 So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer. 10 The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. 11 And Herod with his soldiers ^qtreated him with contempt and ^rmocked him. Then, ^sarraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate. 12 And ^tHerod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before this they had been at enmity with each other.

The Crowd Chooses Barabbas

15 ^qNow at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted.

7 And among the rebels in prison, who had ⁿcommitted murder ^oin 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.

13 Pilate then called together the chief priests and ^uthe rulers and the people, 14 and said to them, “You brought me this man ^vas one who was misleading the people. And ^wafter examining him before you, behold, I ^xdid not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. 15 Neither did Herod, for ^yhe sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him. 16 ^zI will therefore punish and release him.”¹

39 ^oBut 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?”

18 For he knew that it was out ^sof envy that they had delivered him up. 19 Besides, while he was sitting on ^tthe judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with ^uthat righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today ^vin a dream.” 20 Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ^wask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus.

Jesus Delivered to Be Crucified

1 Then Pilate took Jesus and ^qflogged him. 2 ^rAnd 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 ^sI find no guilt in him.” 5 So Jesus came out, wearing ^tthe crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, ^u“Behold the man!”

20 Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release 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?” ^xThey all said, “Let him be crucified!”

22 A third time he said to them, “Why? ^dWhat evil has he done? ^eI have found in him no guilt deserving death. ^fI will therefore punish and release him.” 23 But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed.

6 When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, ^v“Take him yourselves and crucify him, for ^wI find no guilt in him.” 7 The Jews¹ answered him, “We have a law, and ^xaccording to that law he ought to die because ^yhe has made himself the Son of God.” 8 When Pilate heard this statement, ^zhe was even more afraid. 9 ^aHe entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, ^b“Where are you from?” But ^cJesus 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, ^d“You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore ^ehe who delivered me over to you ^fhas the greater sin.”

12 From then on ^gPilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. ^hEveryone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” 13 So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on ⁱthe judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic² Gabbatha. 14 Now it was ^jthe day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour.³ He said to the Jews, ^k“Behold your King!” 15 They cried out, ^l“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.”

Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified

24 So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that ^za riot was beginning, he took water and ^awashed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of ^bthis man’s blood;^{1 c}see to it yourselves.” 25 And all the people answered, ^d“His blood be on us and ^eon our children!” 26 Then he released for them Barabbas, and having ^fscourged² Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.