Then when (A)Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned (B)the thirty [a]pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? (C)You shall see to it yourself!” And he threw the pieces of silver into (D)the temple sanctuary and left; and (E)he went away and hanged himself. The chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, “It is not lawful to put them in the temple treasury, since it is money paid for blood.” And they conferred together and [b]with the money bought the Potter’s Field as a burial place for strangers. (F)For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. Then that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “(G)And [c]they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of the One whose price had been set by the sons of Israel; 10 (H)and [d]they gave them for the Potters Field, just as the Lord directed me.”

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 27:3 Or silver shekels
  2. Matthew 27:7 Lit from them
  3. Matthew 27:9 Or I took; cf. Zech 11:13
  4. Matthew 27:10 Some early mss I gave

Judas’ death

When Judas, who betrayed Jesus, saw that Jesus was condemned to die, he felt deep regret. He returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, and said, “I did wrong because I betrayed an innocent man.”

But they said, “What is that to us? That’s your problem.” Judas threw the silver pieces into the temple and left. Then he went and hanged himself.

The chief priests picked up the silver pieces and said, “According to the Law it’s not right to put this money in the treasury. Since it was used to pay for someone’s life, it’s unclean.” So they decided to use it to buy the potter’s field where strangers could be buried. That’s why that field is called “Field of Blood” to this very day. This fulfilled the words of Jeremiah the prophet: And I took the thirty pieces of silver, the price for the one whose price had been set by some of the Israelites, 10 and I gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.[a]

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