Mark 15:1-20 ▼

1 As soon as it was morning, the high priests convened a meeting with the elders and scribes and the whole Council. They bound Jesus with chains, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate.

2 Pilate asked him, |Are you the king of the Jews?| Jesus answered him, |You say so.|

3 The high priests kept accusing him of many things.

4 So Pilate asked him again, |Don't you have any answer? Look how many accusations they're bringing against you!|

5 But since Jesus no longer answered, Pilate was astonished.

6 At every festival, Pilate would release any one prisoner whom the people requested.

7 Now there was a man in prison named Barabbas. He had been with the insurgents who had committed murder during the rebellion.

8 So the crowd came and began to request that Pilate do for them what he always did.

9 Pilate answered them, |Do you want me to release the king of the Jews for you?|

10 because he knew that the high priests had handed him over due to jealousy.

11 But the high priests stirred up the crowd to get him to release Barabbas for them instead.

12 So Pilate asked them again, |Then what should I do with the man you call 'the King of the Jews'?|

13 |Crucify him!| they shouted back.

14 |Why?| Pilate asked them. |What has he done wrong?| But they shouted even louder, |Crucify him!|

15 So Pilate, wanting to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them, but he had Jesus whipped and handed over to be crucified.

16 The soldiers led Jesus into the courtyard of the palace (that is, the governor's headquarters) and called out the whole guard.

17 They dressed him in a purple robe, twisted some thorns into a victor's crown, and placed it on his head.

18 They began to greet him, |Long live the king of the Jews!|

19 They kept hitting him on the head with a stick, spitting on him, kneeling in front of him, and worshiping him.

20 When they had finished making fun of him, they stripped him of the purple robe, put his own clothes back on him, and led him away to crucify him.