15 It was the time of the Passover celebrations, and a tradition had been established that the governor would release one prisoner to the people—whoever they chose. 16 At that time, there was a well-known prisoner named Barabbas, 17 so when all the people had gathered, Pilate shouted down to them, “Who would you all like me to release: Barabbas or Yeshua who’s also being called the messiah?” 18 He said this because he knew that Yeshua had been arrested because of the jealousy of the Jewish leaders.

19 But while Pilate was still making his judgement, his wife sent a note to him, saying, “Don’t touch that guiltless man because I was very distressed by a dream I had about him.”

20 Meanwhile the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to request that Barabbas be released and that Yeshua should be sentenced, 21 so when the governor asked them, “Which of these two men should I release?” they called back, “Barabbas.”

22 “So what should I do to Yeshua who’s called the messiah?” Pilate asked.

“Execute him on a stake!” they all responded.

23 “But what crime has he done?” demanded Pilate.

But they just kept yelling loudly, “Execute him on a stake.”

24 [ref]When Pilate saw that it was going nowhere other than to turn into a riot, got a bowl of water and washed his hands up there in front of the crowd, announcing, “I’m innocent of the blood of this man who has done nothing wrong. It’s your responsibility now.”

25 “The responsibility for his blood will be on us and on our children,” the people shouted back.

26 Then Pilate commanded that Barabbas be released. He commanded that Yeshua be flogged and then he handed him over to be executed.

6 Now at time of the Jewish Passover, Pilate would normally pardon one prisoner for them and release him. 7 There was another prisoner at the time named Barabbas who was an activist accused of murder. 8 By now, the crowd had arrived and asked Pilate to release a prisoner as usual at Passover. 9 So he asked them, “Do you want me to release the King of the Jews for you?” 10 This was because Pilate was well aware that the chief priests had brought Yeshua because they were jealous of his popularity. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to start saying that it was Barabbas that they wanted released. 12 So Pilate asked again, “Then what should I do with this man that you call the King of the Jews?”

13 The crowd yelled back, “Execute him on a pole.”

14 Pilate demanded, “What has he even done wrong?”

But they just yelled louder, “Execute him on a pole!”

15 Now Pilate wanted to placate the crowd, so he had Barabbas released while he had Yeshua flogged and then handed over to the execution squad.

13 So Pilate called together the chief priests and the local leaders and the people 14 and told them, “You brought this man to me for stirring up the people, but listen, I’ve examined him in front of you all and I find him to be not guilty of anything that you’re all accusing him of, 15 and Herod didn’t either, because he just sent him back to us. Now listen, he’s done nothing worthy of a death sentence 16 so I’ll have him disciplined and then discharged.

17 ◘ 18 But they all yelled out in unison, “Take him away and release Barabbas instead!” 19 (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for murder after an uprising that had occurred in the city.)

20 Pilate called out again to them wanting to release Yeshua 21 but they kept yelling, “Execute him on a stake! Execute him on a stake!”

22 He tried a third time, “But what crime has this man committed? I’ve found nothing worthy of the death sentence, so I’ll discipline him and then release him.”

23 But they kept loudly insisting that he be executed on a stake, and the yelling of the crowd was strong enough to convince Pilate, 24 so he conceded to their request 25 and released the one thrown into prison for murder and rebellion, but he conceded to sentence Yeshua as they had wanted.