The Burial of Jesus^(A)

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^(B) 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.’^{(C) 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^(D) 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,”^(E) 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^(F) on the stone^(G) and posting the guard.^(H)

Jesus Has Risen^(I)

28 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene^(J) and the other Mary^(K) went to look at the tomb.

² There was a violent earthquake,^(L) for an angel^(M) of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone^(N) and sat on it. ³ His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.^{(O) 4} The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

⁵ The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid,^(P) for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.^(Q) Come and see the place where he lay. ⁷ Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee.^(R) There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

⁸ So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹ Suddenly Jesus met them.^(S) “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers^(T) to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

The Guards’ Report

¹¹ While the women were on their way, some of the guards^(U) went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. ¹² When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, ¹³ telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away^(V) while we were asleep.’ ¹⁴ If this report gets to the governor,^(W) we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” ¹⁵ So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.

The Burial of Jesus^(A)

⁴² It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath).^(B) So as evening approached, ⁴³ Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council,^(C) who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God,^(D) went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. ⁴⁴ Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. ⁴⁵ When he learned from the centurion^(E) that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. ⁴⁶ So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.^{(F) 47} Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph^(G) saw where he was laid.

Jesus Has Risen^(H)

16 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices^(I) so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. ² Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb ³ and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”^(J)

⁴ But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. ⁵ As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe^(K) sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

⁶ “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene,^(L) who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. ⁷ But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him,^(M) just as he told you.’”^(N)

⁸ Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.^[a]

The Burial of Jesus^(A)

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.^{(B) 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,^(C) and the Sabbath was about to begin.

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

Jesus Has Risen^(G)

24 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared^(H) and went to the tomb. ² They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³ but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.^{(I) 4} While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning^(J) stood beside them. ⁵ In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? ⁶ He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:^{(K) 7} ‘The Son of Man^(L) must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ”^{(M) 8} Then they remembered his words.^(N)

⁹ When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. ¹⁰ It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them^(O) who told this to the apostles.^{(P) 11} But they did not believe^(Q) the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. ¹² Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves,^(R) and he went away,^(S) wondering to himself what had happened.

On the Road to Emmaus

¹³ Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles^[a] from Jerusalem.^{(T) 14} They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. ¹⁵ As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them;^{(U) 16} but they were kept from recognizing him.^(V)

¹⁷ He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”

They stood still, their faces downcast. ¹⁸ One of them, named Cleopas,^(W) asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

¹⁹ “What things?” he asked.

“About Jesus of Nazareth,”^(X) they replied. “He was a prophet,^(Y) powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. ²⁰ The chief priests and our rulers^(Z) handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; ²¹ but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.^(AA) And what is more, it is the third day^(AB) since all this took place. ²² In addition, some of our women amazed us.^(AC) They went to the tomb early this morning ²³ but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. ²⁴ Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”^(AD)

²⁵ He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?”^{(AE) 27} And beginning with Moses^(AF) and all the Prophets,^(AG) he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.^(AH)

²⁸ As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. ²⁹ But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.

³⁰ When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it^(AI) and began to give it to them. ³¹ Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him,^(AJ) and he disappeared from their sight. ³² They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us^(AK) while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures^(AL) to us?”

³³ They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together ³⁴ and saying, “It is true! The Lord^(AM) has risen and has appeared to Simon.”^{(AN) 35} Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.^(AO)

Jesus Appears to the Disciples

³⁶ While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”^(AP)

³⁷ They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost.^{(AQ) 38} He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? ³⁹ Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see;^(AR) a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”

⁴⁰ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. ⁴¹ And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” ⁴² They gave him a piece of broiled fish, ⁴³ and he took it and ate it in their presence.^(AS)

⁴⁴ He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you:^(AT) Everything must be fulfilled^(AU) that is written about me in the Law of Moses,^(AV) the Prophets^(AW) and the Psalms.”^(AX)

⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. ⁴⁶ He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer^(AY) and rise from the dead on the third day,^{(AZ) 47} and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name^(BA) to all nations,^(BB) beginning at Jerusalem.^{(BC) 48} You are witnesses^(BD) of these things. ⁴⁹ I am going to send you what my Father has promised;^(BE) but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

The Burial of Jesus^(A)

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.^(B) With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. ³⁹ He was accompanied by Nicodemus,^(C) the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.^{[a] 40} Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen.^(D) This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs.^{(E) 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^(F) and since the tomb was nearby,^(G) they laid Jesus there.

The Empty Tomb^(H)

20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene^(I) went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.^{(J) 2} So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved,^(K) and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”^(L)

³ So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb.^{(M) 4} Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ He bent over and looked in^(N) at the strips of linen^(O) lying there but did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, ⁷ as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head.^(P) The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. ⁸ Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first,^(Q) also went inside. He saw and believed. ⁹ (They still did not understand from Scripture^(R) that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)^{(S) 10} Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

¹¹ Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb^{(T) 12} and saw two angels in white,^(U) seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

¹³ They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”^(V)

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”^{(W) 14} At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there,^(X) but she did not realize that it was Jesus.^(Y)

¹⁵ He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?^(Z) Who is it you are looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic,^(AA) “Rabboni!”^(AB) (which means “Teacher”).

¹⁷ Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers^(AC) and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father^(AD) and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

¹⁸ Mary Magdalene^(AE) went to the disciples^(AF) with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

¹⁹ On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders,^(AG) Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace^(AH) be with you!”^{(AI) 20} After he said this, he showed them his hands and side.^(AJ) The disciples were overjoyed^(AK) when they saw the Lord.

²¹ Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you!^(AL) As the Father has sent me,^(AM) I am sending you.”^{(AN) 22} And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.^{(AO) 23} If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”^(AP)