9. Pilate asked them, “Do you want me to free the king of the Jews?”
10. Pilate knew that the leading priests had handed Jesus over to him because they were jealous of him.
11. But the leading priests persuaded the people to ask Pilate to free Barabbas, not Jesus.
12. Pilate asked the people again, “So what should I do with this man you call the king of the Jews?”
13. The people shouted, “Kill him on a cross!”
14. Pilate asked, “Why? What wrong has he done?” But the people shouted louder and louder, “Kill him on a cross!”
15. Pilate wanted to please the people, so he set Barabbas free for them. And he told the soldiers to beat Jesus with whips. Then he handed him over to the soldiers to be killed on a cross.
16. Pilate’s soldiers took Jesus into the governor’s palace (called the Praetorium). They called all the other soldiers together.
17. They put a purple robe on Jesus, made a crown from thorny branches, and put it on his head.
18. Then they began shouting, “Welcome, king of the Jews!”