Some people decided, “We need a plan to deal with Jeremiah. There'll still be priests to explain the law, there'll still be wise people to give advice, and there'll still be prophets to give prophecies. Let's organize a smear campaign against him so we don't have to listen to a word he says.”
I've heard many people gossiping: “He's the one who says, ‘Terror is everywhere!’ He has to be reported! Report what he's doing!” All my good friends are waiting for me to slip up. “Maybe he'll make a mistake so we can defeat him and get our revenge on him,” they say.
Watching for an opportunity they sent spies who pretended to be sincere. They tried to catch Jesus out in something he said so they could hand him over to the power and authority of the governor.