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.