Matthew 27:45-56

New Century Version

Jesus Dies

⁴⁵ At noon the whole country became dark, and the darkness lasted for three hours. ⁴⁶ About three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” This means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

⁴⁷ Some of the people standing there who heard this said, “He is calling Elijah.”

⁴⁸ Quickly one of them ran and got a sponge and filled it with vinegar and tied it to a stick and gave it to Jesus to drink. ⁴⁹ But the others said, “Don’t bother him. We want to see if Elijah will come to save him.”

⁵⁰ But Jesus cried out again in a loud voice and died.

⁵¹ Then the curtain in the Temple^[a] was torn into two pieces, from the top to the bottom. Also, the earth shook and rocks broke apart. ⁵² The graves opened, and many of God’s people who had died were raised from the dead. ⁵³ They came out of the graves after Jesus was raised from the dead and went into the holy city, where they appeared to many people.

⁵⁴ When the army officer and the soldiers guarding Jesus saw this earthquake and everything else that happened, they were very frightened and said, “He really was the Son of God!”

⁵⁵ Many women who had followed Jesus from Galilee to help him were standing at a distance from the cross, watching. ⁵⁶ Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of James and John were there.