¹⁴ And the king, when he heard these words, ^(A)was greatly displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he ^[a]labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him.

^26 (A)And the king was exceedingly sorry; yet, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he did not want to refuse her.

⁷ The Jews answered him, ^(A)“We have a law, and according to ^[a]our law He ought to die, because ^(B)He made Himself the Son of God.”

⁸ Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid, ⁹ and went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” ^(C)But Jesus gave him no answer.

¹⁰ Then Pilate said to Him, “Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have ^[b]power to crucify You, and power to release You?”

¹¹ Jesus answered, ^(D)“You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore ^(E)the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”

¹² From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, “If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar’s friend. ^(F)Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar.”

Taking the Place of Barabbas^(A)

^13 (B)Then Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people, ¹⁴ said to them, ^(C)“You have brought this Man to me, as one who misleads the people. And indeed, ^(D)having examined Him in your presence, I have found no fault in this Man concerning those things of which you accuse Him; ¹⁵ no, neither did Herod, for ^[a]I sent you back to him; and indeed nothing deserving of death has been done by Him. ^16 (E)I will therefore chastise Him and release Him” ^17 (F)(for^[b] it was necessary for him to release one to them at the feast).

¹⁸ And ^(G)they all cried out at once, saying, “Away with this Man, and release to us Barabbas”— ¹⁹ who had been thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made in the city, and for murder.

²⁰ Pilate, therefore, wishing to release Jesus, again called out to them. ²¹ But they shouted, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!”

¹⁷ Therefore, when they had gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release to you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” ¹⁸ For he knew that they had handed Him over because of ^(A)envy.

¹⁹ While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, “Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him.”

^20 (B)But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. ²¹ The governor answered and said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?”

They said, ^(C)“Barabbas!”

²² Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?”

They all said to him, “Let Him be crucified!”

²³ Then the governor said, ^(D)“Why, what evil has He done?”

But they cried out all the more, saying, “Let Him be crucified!”

²⁴ When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a ^[a]tumult was rising, he ^(E)took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this ^[b]just Person. You see to it.”

¹³ Then Nebuchadnezzar, in ^(A)rage and fury, gave the command to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. So they brought these men before the king.

²⁸ Afterward, when David heard it, he said, “My kingdom and I are ^[a]guiltless before the Lord forever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner. ^29 (A)Let it rest on the head of Joab and on all his father’s house; and let there never fail to be in the ^[b]house of Joab one ^(B)who has a discharge or is a leper, who leans on a staff or falls by the sword, or who lacks bread.”