⁵¹ At that moment the curtain of the temple^(A) was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split^{(B) 52} and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. ⁵³ They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and^[a] went into the holy city^(C) and appeared to many people.

⁵⁴ When the centurion and those with him who were guarding^(D) Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”^(E)

⁵⁵ Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs.^{(F) 56} Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph,^[b] and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.^(G)

The Burial of Jesus^(H)

⁵⁷ As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. ⁵⁸ Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. ⁵⁹ Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, ⁶⁰ and placed it in his own new tomb^(I) that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. ⁶¹ Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.

The Guard at the Tomb

⁶² The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. ⁶³ “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’^{(J) 64} So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body^(K) and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”

⁶⁵ “Take a guard,”^(L) Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” ⁶⁶ So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal^(M) on the stone^(N) and posting the guard.^(O)

⁴⁵ for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple^(A) was torn in two.^(B)

⁴⁷ The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God^(A) and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” ⁴⁸ When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts^(B) and went away. ⁴⁹ But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee,^(C) stood at a distance,^(D) watching these things.

The Burial of Jesus^(E)

⁵⁰ Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, ⁵¹ who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea, and he himself was waiting for the kingdom of God.^{(F) 52} Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body. ⁵³ Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. ⁵⁴ It was Preparation Day,^(G) and the Sabbath was about to begin.

⁵⁵ The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee^(H) followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. ⁵⁶ Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes.^(I) But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.^(J)

³¹ Now it was the day of Preparation,^(A) and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses^(B) during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. ³² The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other.^{(C) 33} But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. ³⁴ Instead, one of the soldiers pierced^(D) Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.^{(E) 35} The man who saw it^(F) has given testimony, and his testimony is true.^(G) He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. ³⁶ These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled:^(H) “Not one of his bones will be broken,”^{[a](I) 37} and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”^[b](J)

The Burial of Jesus^(K)

³⁸ Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders.^(L) With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. ³⁹ He was accompanied by Nicodemus,^(M) the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.^{[c] 40} Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen.^(N) This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs.^{(O) 41} At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. ⁴² Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation^(P) and since the tomb was nearby,^(Q) they laid Jesus there.