1. 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.
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.”
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.