² And they began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man ^(A)misleading our nation and ^(B)forbidding us to give tribute to ^(C)Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, ^(D)a king.”

⁶ And when they could not find them, ^(A)they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, ⁷ and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against ^(B)the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is ^(C)another king, Jesus.”

¹² From then on ^(A)Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. ^(B)Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.”

¹⁴ and said to them, “You brought me this man ^(A)as one who was misleading the people. And ^(B)after examining him before you, behold, I ^(C)did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him.

^16 (A)having a good conscience, so that, ^(B)when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. ¹⁷ For ^(C)it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.

¹⁸ For Christ also ^(D)suffered^{[a] (E)}once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, ^(F)that he might bring us to God, being put to death ^(G)in the flesh but made alive ^(H)in the spirit,

⁵ For we have found this man a plague, ^(A)one who stirs up riots among all the Jews throughout the world and is a ringleader of ^(B)the sect of the Nazarenes.

²⁰ And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. ²¹ They ^(A)advocate customs that are not lawful for us ^(B)as Romans to accept or practice.”

My Kingdom Is Not of This World

^33 (A)So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, ^(B)“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, ^(C)“My kingdom ^(D)is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, ^(E)my servants would have been fighting, that ^(F)I 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, ^(G)“You say that I am a king. ^(H)For this purpose I was born and for this purpose ^(I)I have come into the world—^(J)to bear witness to the truth. ^(K)Everyone who is ^(L)of the truth ^(M)listens to my voice.”

³⁰ They answered him, “If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.”