8. The crowd came to Pilate and asked him to free a prisoner as he always did.
9. Pilate asked them, “Do you want me to free the king of the Jews?”
10. Pilate knew that the leading priests had given Jesus to him because they were jealous of Jesus.
11. And the leading priests had persuaded the people to ask Pilate to free Barabbas, not Jesus.
12. Pilate asked the crowd again, “So what should I do with this man you call the king of the Jews?”
13. They shouted, “Kill him on a cross!”
14. Pilate asked, “Why? What wrong has he done?”But they shouted louder and louder, “Kill him on a cross!”
15. Pilate wanted to please the crowd. So he freed Barabbas for them. And Pilate told the soldiers to beat Jesus with whips. Then he gave Jesus to the soldiers to be killed on a cross.
16. Pilate’s soldiers took Jesus into the governor’s palace (called the Praetorium). They called all the other soldiers together.
17. They put a purple robe on Jesus. Then they used thorny branches to make a crown. They put it on his head.
18. Then they called out to him, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
19. The soldiers beat Jesus on the head many times with a stick. They also spit on him. Then they made fun of him by bowing on their knees and worshiping him.
20. After they finished making fun of him, the soldiers took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led Jesus out of the palace to be killed on a cross.