Matthew 27:1-26

Easy-to-Read Version

Jesus Is Taken to Governor Pilate^(A)

27 Early the next morning, all the leading priests and older leaders of the people met and decided to kill Jesus. ² They tied him, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate, the governor.

Judas Kills Himself^(B)

³ Judas saw that they had decided to kill Jesus. He was the one who had handed him over. When he saw what happened, he was very sorry for what he had done. So he took the 30 silver coins back to the priests and the older leaders. ⁴ Judas said, “I sinned. I handed over to you an innocent man to be killed.”

The Jewish leaders answered, “We don’t care! That’s a problem for you, not us.”

⁵ So Judas threw the money into the Temple. Then he went out from there and hanged himself.

⁶ The leading priests picked up the silver coins in the Temple. They said, “Our law does not allow us to keep this money with the Temple money, because this money has paid for a man’s death.” ⁷ So they decided to use the money to buy a field called Potter’s Field. This field would be a place to bury people who died while visiting in Jerusalem. ⁸ That is why that field is still called the Field of Blood. ⁹ This showed the full meaning of what Jeremiah the prophet said:

“They took 30 silver coins. That was how much the people of Israel decided to pay for his life. ¹⁰ They used those 30 silver coins to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”^[a]

Governor Pilate Questions Jesus^(C)

¹¹ Jesus stood before Pilate, the governor, who asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

Jesus answered, “Yes, that’s right.”

¹² Then, when the leading priests and the older Jewish leaders made their accusations against Jesus, he said nothing.

¹³ So Pilate said to him, “Don’t you hear all these charges they are making against you? Why don’t you answer?”

¹⁴ But Jesus did not say anything, and this really surprised the governor.

Pilate Tries but Fails to Free Jesus^(D)

¹⁵ Every year at Passover time the governor would free one prisoner—whichever one the people wanted him to free. ¹⁶ At that time there was a man in prison who was known to be very bad. His name was Barabbas.^[b]

¹⁷ When a crowd gathered, Pilate said to them, “I will free one man for you. Which one do you want me to free: Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” ¹⁸ Pilate knew that they had handed Jesus over to him because they were jealous of him.

¹⁹ While Pilate was sitting there in the place for judging, his wife sent a message to him. It said, “Don’t do anything with that man. He is not guilty. Last night I had a dream about him, and it troubled me very much.”

²⁰ But the leading priests and older Jewish leaders told the people to ask for Barabbas to be set free and for Jesus to be killed.

²¹ Pilate said, “I have Barabbas and Jesus. Which one do you want me to set free for you?”

The people answered, “Barabbas!”

²² Pilate asked, “So what should I do with Jesus, the one called the Messiah?”

All the people said, “Kill him on a cross!”

²³ Pilate asked, “Why do you want me to kill him? What wrong has he done?”

But they shouted louder, “Kill him on a cross!”

²⁴ Pilate saw that there was nothing he could do to make the people change. In fact, it looked as if there would be a riot. So he took some water and washed his hands^[c] in front of them all. He said, “I am not guilty of this man’s death. You are the ones who are doing it!”

²⁵ The people answered, “We will take full responsibility for his death. You can blame us and even our children!”

²⁶ Then Pilate set Barabbas free. And he told some soldiers to beat Jesus with whips. Then he handed him over to the soldiers to be killed on a cross.