¹² The chief priests gathered together all the elders, an emergency conference of sorts. They needed a plan. They decided the simplest course was bribery: they would pay off the guards ¹³ and order them to say that the disciples had come in the middle of the night and had stolen Jesus’ corpse while they slept. ¹⁴ The chief priests promised the soldiers they would run interference with the governor so that the soldiers wouldn’t be punished for falling asleep when they were supposed to be keeping watch.