The Soldiers Bribed to Lie

¹¹ As they were on their way, some of the guards came into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. ¹² After the priests^[a] had assembled with the elders and agreed on a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money ¹³ and told them, “Say this, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him while we were sleeping.’ ¹⁴ If this reaches the governor’s ears, we will deal with^[b] him and keep you out of trouble.”^{(A) 15} They took the money and did as they were instructed, and this story has been spread among Jewish people to this day.^(B)

¹⁰ But the chief priests had decided to kill Lazarus also, ¹¹ because he was the reason many of the Jews were deserting them^[a] and believing in Jesus.