⁶ Now it was the custom at the festival to release a prisoner whom the people requested. ⁷ A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. ⁸ The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.

⁹ “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?”^(A) asked Pilate, ¹⁰ knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. ¹¹ But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas^(B) instead.

¹² “What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them.

¹³ “Crucify him!” they shouted.

¹⁴ “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.

But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”

¹⁵ Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged,^(C) and handed him over to be crucified.

³⁹ Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”^(A)

⁴⁰ “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”^(B)

⁴¹ As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it^{(C) 42} and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. ⁴³ The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side.^{(D) 44} They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls.^(E) They will not leave one stone on another,^(F) because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming^(G) to you.”

⁴⁷ Then the chief priests and the Pharisees^(A) called a meeting^(B) of the Sanhedrin.^(C)

“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs.^{(D) 48} If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”

³⁶ Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.”^(A) When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.^(B)

Belief and Unbelief Among the Jews

³⁷ Even after Jesus had performed so many signs^(C) in their presence, they still would not believe in him. ³⁸ This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet:

³⁹ For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:

⁴¹ Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory^(F) and spoke about him.^(G)

⁴² Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him.^(H) But because of the Pharisees^(I) they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue;^{(J) 43} for they loved human praise^(K) more than praise from God.^(L)

¹⁵ But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.

“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.