And the chance came when Herod on his birthday gave a feast to his lords, and the high captains, and the chief men of Galilee;

It was now two days before the feast of the Passover and the unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes made designs how they might take him by deceit and put him to death:

But they said, Not while the feast is going on, for fear there may be trouble among the people.

Now at the feast every year he let one prisoner go free at their request.