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About that time Judas, who betrayed him, when he saw that Jesus had been condemned to die, changed his mind and deeply regretted what he had done,[a] and brought back the money to the chief priests and other Jewish leaders.

“I have sinned,” he declared, “for I have betrayed an innocent man.”

“That’s your problem,” they retorted.

Then he threw the money onto the floor of the Temple and went out and hanged himself. The chief priests picked the money up. “We can’t put it in the collection,” they said, “since it’s against our laws to accept money paid for murder.”

They talked it over and finally decided to buy a certain field where the clay was used by potters, and to make it into a cemetery for foreigners who died in Jerusalem. That is why the cemetery is still called “The Field of Blood.”

This fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah which says,

“They took the thirty pieces of silver—the price at which he was valued by the people of Israel—

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 27:3 deeply regretted what he had done, literally, “repented himself.”

When Judas, who had betrayed him,(A) saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver(B) to the chief priests and the elders. “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”

“What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”(C)

So Judas threw the money into the temple(D) and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.(E)

The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.” So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. That is why it has been called the Field of Blood(F) to this day. Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:(G) “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on him by the people of Israel,

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