Matthew 27:64

Matthew 27:64
(KJV) Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first.
(1611 KJV) Command therfore that the sepulchre be made sure, vntill the third day, lest his disciples come by night, & steale him away, and say vnto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last errour shalbe worse then the first.
(1587 Geneva Bible) Command therefore, that the sepulchre be made sure vntill the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steale him away, and say vnto the people, He is risen from the dead: so shall the last errour be worse then the first.
(1568 Bishops Bible) Commaunde therfore, that the sepulchre be made sure, vntyll the thirde day: lest his disciples come by nyght & steale hym away, and say vnto the people, he is rysen from the dead: & the last error shalbe worse then the first.

Counterfeit Versions
(1881 RV) Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest haply his disciples come and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: and the last error will be worse than the first.
(1901 ASV) Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest haply his disciples come and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: and the last error will be worse than the first.
(AMP) Therefore give an order to have the tomb made secure and safeguarded until the third day, for fear that His disciples will come and steal Him away and tell the people that He has risen from the dead, and the last deception and fraud will be worse than the first.
(CEB) Therefore, order the grave to be sealed until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people, ‘He’s been raised from the dead.’ This last deception will be worse than the first.”
(CEV) So please order the tomb to be carefully guarded for three days. If you don’t, his disciples may come and steal his body. They will tell the people that he has been raised to life, and this last lie will be worse than the first one.”

(CSB) So give orders that the tomb be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come, steal him, and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.”

(Douay Rheims-1899 American Edition) Command therefore the sepulchre to be guarded until the third day: lest perhaps his disciples come and steal him away, and say to the people: He is risen from the dead; and the last error shall be worse than the first.
(ERV) So give the order for the tomb to be guarded well for three days. His followers might come and try to steal the body. Then they could tell everyone that he has risen from death. That lie will be even worse than what they said about him before.”
(ESV) Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.”
(GNB) Give orders, then, for his tomb to be carefully guarded until the third day, so that his disciples will not be able to go and steal the body, and then tell the people that he was raised from death. This last lie would be even worse than the first one.”
(HCSB) Therefore give orders that the tomb be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, His disciples may come, steal Him, and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead.’ Then the last deception will be worse than the first.”
(JB Phillips) Will you give the order then to have the grave closely guarded until the third day, so that there can be no chance of his disciples’ coming and stealing the body and telling people that he has risen from the dead? We should then be faced with a worse fraud than the first one.”
(THE MESSAGE) We’ve got to get that tomb sealed until the third day. There’s a good chance his disciples will come and steal the corpse and then go around saying, ‘He’s risen from the dead.’ Then we’ll be worse off than before, the final deceit surpassing the first.”
(NASV) Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.”
(NCV) So give the order for the tomb to be guarded closely till the third day. Otherwise, his followers might come and steal the body and tell people that he has risen from the dead. That lie would be even worse than the first one.”
(NIRV) So give the order to make the tomb secure until the third day. If you don’t, his disciples might come and steal the body. Then they will tell the people that Jesus has been raised from the dead. This last lie will be worse than the first.”
(NIV) So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”
(NLT) So we request that you seal the tomb until the third day. This will prevent his disciples from coming and stealing his body and then telling everyone he was raised from the dead! If that happens, we’ll be worse off than we were at first.”
(RSV) Therefore order the sepulchre to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away, and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.”
(2011 NAB-Roman Catholic) Give orders, then, that the grave be secured until the third day, lest his disciples come and steal him and say to the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead.’ This last imposture would be worse than the first.”
(NWT-Jehovah’s Witnesses) Therefore command the grave to be made secure until the third day, that his disciples may never come and steal him and say to the people, ‘He was raised up from the dead!’ and this last imposture will be worse than the first.”

Textus Receptus - Traditional Text
κελευσον ουν ασφαλισθηναι τον ταφον εως της τριτης ημερας μηποτε ελθοντες οι μαθηται αυτου νυκτος κλεψωσιν αυτον και ειπωσιν τω λαω ηγερθη απο των νεκρων και εσται η εσχατη πλανη χειρων της πρωτης

Hort-Westcott - Critical Text
κελευσον ουν ασφαλισθηναι τον ταφον εως της τριτης ημερας μηποτε ελθοντες οι μαθηται κλεψωσιν αυτον και ειπωσιν τω λαω ηγερθη απο των νεκρων και εσται η εσχατη πλανη χειρων της πρωτης

Corrupted Manuscripts
This verse is corrupted in the following manuscripts:
Aleph 01 - Sinaiticus - Nineteenth Century Counterfeit
A 02 - Alexandrinus - Fifth century
B 03 - Vaticanus - Fourth century
C 04 - Ephraemi Rescriptus - Fifth century (original)
D 05 - Bezae Cantabrigiensis - Fifth century
K 017 - Ninth century
W 032 - Fourth/fifth century
Delta 037 - Ninth century
Theta 038 - Ninth century
1 (Minuscule) - Seventh century
13 (Minuscule) - Eighth century
33 (Minuscule) - Ninth Century
1010 - (Minuscule) - Twelfth Century

Manuscripts which agree with the Textus Receptus for this verse
Byzantine Text (450-1450 A.D.)
C 04 - Ephraemi Rescriptus - Fifth century (corrected)
L 019 - Seventh century
565 - (Minuscule) - Ninth century
700 - (Minuscule) Eleventh century
892 - (Minuscule) - Ninth century

Published Critical Greek Texts with Corruptions
Omit “by night”
Greisbach, Johann - 1805
Lachmann, Karl - 1842
Tischendorf, Constantine - 1869
Tregelles, Samuel - 1857
Alford, Henry - 1849 revised in 1871
Westcott and Hort - 1881
Weiss, Bernhard - 1894
Nestle - 1927 as revised in seventeenth edition in 1941
Nestle-Aland - 1979 - Twenty Sixth Edition
Nestle-Aland - 1993 - Twenty Seventh Edition
United Bible Societies - 1983 - Fourth Edition
Von Soden, Freiherr - 1902

Affected Teaching
One of the fears that the Pharisees had was that the disciples would come by night and steal away the body of Jesus and then claim He was resurrected. They remembered the resurrection of Lazarus and unlike the Sadducees they believed in a future resurrection. This is why they went to Pilate and asked for a guard. They knew that His disciples would not come by day because there would be too many who would see them plus they were all in hiding for fear of the Jews. (John 20:19 KJV) Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. This is why the night would have been a better time if they could have overtaken the guards. There is no reason why the words “by night” should have been removed.

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