Matthew 27:45-66

Good News Translation

The Death of Jesus^(A)

⁴⁵ At noon the whole country was covered with darkness, which lasted for three hours. ^46 (B)At about three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud shout, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why did you abandon me?”

⁴⁷ Some of the people standing there heard him and said, “He is calling for Elijah!” ^48 (C)One of them ran up at once, took a sponge, soaked it in cheap wine, put it on the end of a stick, and tried to make him drink it.

⁴⁹ But the others said, “Wait, let us see if Elijah is coming to save him!”

⁵⁰ Jesus again gave a loud cry and breathed his last.

^51 (D)Then the curtain hanging in the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split apart, ⁵² the graves broke open, and many of God's people who had died were raised to life. ⁵³ They left the graves, and after Jesus rose from death, they went into the Holy City, where many people saw them.

⁵⁴ When the army officer and the soldiers with him who were watching Jesus saw the earthquake and everything else that happened, they were terrified and said, “He really was the Son of God!”

^55 (E)There were many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee and helped him. ⁵⁶ Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the wife of Zebedee.

The Burial of Jesus^(F)

⁵⁷ When it was evening, a rich man from Arimathea arrived; his name was Joseph, and he also was a disciple of Jesus. ⁵⁸ He went into the presence of Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate gave orders for the body to be given to Joseph. ⁵⁹ So Joseph took it, wrapped it in a new linen sheet, ⁶⁰ and placed it in his own tomb, which he had just recently dug out of solid rock. Then he rolled a large stone across the entrance to the tomb and went away. ⁶¹ Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there, facing the tomb.

The Guard at the Tomb

⁶² The next day, which was a Sabbath, the chief priests and the Pharisees met with Pilate ^63 (G)and said, “Sir, we remember that while that liar was still alive he said, ‘I will be raised to life three days later.’ ⁶⁴ 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.”

⁶⁵ “Take a guard,” Pilate told them; “go and make the tomb as secure as you can.”

⁶⁶ So they left and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and leaving the guard on watch.