Matthew 27:11-18

11Now Jesus was standing before Pilate, the Roman governor. “Are you the king of the Jews?” the governor asked him. Jesus replied, “You have said it.”

12But when the leading priests and the elders made their accusations against him, Jesus remained silent.

13“Don’t you hear all these charges they are bringing against you?” Pilate demanded.

14But Jesus made no response to any of the charges, much to the governor’s surprise.

15Now it was the governor’s custom each year during the Passover celebration to release one prisoner to the crowd—anyone they wanted.

16This year there was a notorious prisoner, a man named Barabbas.

17As the crowds gathered before Pilate’s house that morning, he asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you—Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?”

18(He knew very well that the religious leaders had arrested Jesus out of envy.)