Luke 23:44-56

Contemporary English Version

The Death of Jesus

(Matthew 27.45-56; Mark 15.33-41; John 19.28-30)

⁴⁴ Around noon the sky turned dark and stayed that way until the middle of the afternoon. ^45 (A) The sun stopped shining, and the curtain in the temple^[a] split down the middle. ^46 (B) Jesus shouted, “Father, I put myself in your hands!” Then he died.

⁴⁷ When the Roman officer saw what had happened, he praised God and said, “Jesus must really have been a good man!”

⁴⁸ A crowd had gathered to see the terrible sight. Then after they had seen it, they felt brokenhearted and went home. ^49 (C) All of Jesus' close friends and the women who had come with him from Galilee stood at a distance and watched.

Jesus Is Buried

(Matthew 27.57-61; Mark 15.42-47; John 19.38-42)

^50-51 There was a man named Joseph, who was from Arimathea in Judea. Joseph was a good and honest man, and he was eager for God's kingdom to come. He was also a member of the council, but he did not agree with what they had decided.

⁵² Joseph went to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body. ⁵³ He took the body down from the cross and wrapped it in fine cloth. Then he put it in a tomb that had been cut out of solid rock and had never been used. ⁵⁴ It was Friday, and the Sabbath was about to begin.^[b]

⁵⁵ The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and watched how Jesus' body was placed in the tomb. ^56 (D) Then they went to prepare some sweet-smelling spices for his burial. But on the Sabbath they rested, as the Law of Moses commands.