5
But Jesus no longer answered anything, so Pilate was surprised.
6
At every Passover festival, Pilate would free one prisoner whom the people asked for.
7
There was a man named Barabbas in prison. He was with some rebels who had committed murder during a riot.
8
The crowd asked Pilate to do for them what he always did.
9
Pilate answered them, "Do you want me to free the king of the Jews for you?"
10
Pilate knew that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him because they were jealous.
11
The chief priests stirred up the crowd so that Pilate would free Barabbas for them instead.
12
So Pilate again asked them, "Then what should I do with the king of the Jews?"
13
"Crucify him!" they shouted back.
14
Pilate said to them, "Why? What has he done wrong?" But they shouted even louder, "Crucify him!"
15
Pilate wanted to satisfy the people, so he freed Barabbas for them. But he had Jesus whipped and handed over to be crucified.