Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

God is good, so thank him^[a]

Jesus goes into Jerusalem

21 Jesus and his 12 disciples were coming near to Jerusalem. They came to the village called Bethphage.^[a] They were on the Mount of Olives.^[b] Then Jesus sent two of his disciples to go further.

² He said to them, ‘Go into the village that is in front of you. When you arrive there, you will immediately see a donkey tied there with her young donkey. Undo the ropes and bring both the donkeys here to me. ³ Someone may ask you, “What are you doing?” Then say, “The Master needs them. He will send them back to you soon.” ’

⁴ A prophet had spoken a message from God about this long ago. Now it became true.

⁵ ‘Say to the people in Jerusalem,

⁶ So the two disciples went to the village. They did everything that Jesus had told them to do. ⁷ They brought the donkey and the young donkey to Jesus. They put their coats on the backs of the donkeys. Then Jesus got up and sat on one of them. ⁸ Many people in the crowd put their coats down on the road. Other people cut branches down from trees. They put these branches down on the road.^[d]

⁹ Many crowds of people went in front of Jesus and other people followed him. All of them were shouting,

¹⁰ When Jesus went into Jerusalem, everybody in the city had trouble in their minds. They were asking each other, ‘Who is this man?’

¹¹ The people in the crowd replied, ‘This is God's prophet, Jesus. He comes from Nazareth in Galilee.’

The Lord's Servant

⁵ You should think about things in the same way that Christ Jesus thought:

Judas Iscariot promises to sell Jesus for money

¹⁴ Judas Iscariot was one of Jesus' 12 apostles. He went to see the leaders of the priests ¹⁵ and he asked them, ‘How much money will you give me if I help you to take hold of Jesus?’ The priests gave Judas 30 silver coins. ¹⁶ Judas then waited for the right moment to help them to take hold of Jesus.

Jesus eats his last meal with his 12 disciples

¹⁷ The first day of the festival when the Jews eat flat bread arrived.^[a] Jesus' disciples came to him and they asked him, ‘Where do you want us to prepare the Passover meal for you to eat?’

¹⁸ Jesus replied, ‘Go to a certain man in the city and say to him, “The teacher says: This is the moment that God has prepared for me. I will eat the Passover meal with my disciples in your house.” ’ ¹⁹ So Jesus' disciples did what he had told them to do. They went and they prepared the Passover meal.

²⁰ When it was evening, Jesus and the 12 apostles sat down to eat the Passover meal together. ²¹ While they were eating, Jesus said, ‘I tell you this: One of you will help the Jewish leaders to take hold of me.’

²² They were very sad about what Jesus had said. Each one of them said to Jesus, ‘Lord, surely you do not mean me, do you?’

²³ Jesus said to them ‘The man who will give me to the rulers is eating from the same dish as I am.^{[b] 24} The Son of Man must die in the way that the Bible says. But it will be very bad for the man who gives me to my enemies. It would be better for that man if he had not been born.’

²⁵ Judas was the one who would give Jesus to the Jewish leaders. But he said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, surely you do not mean me, do you?’ Jesus replied to him, ‘Yes, you have said it.’

²⁶ While Jesus and his disciples were eating, he took a loaf of bread. He thanked God for it and then he broke the bread into pieces. He gave some of it to each of them. He said, ‘Take this bread and eat it. This is my body.’

²⁷ Then Jesus took a cup. He thanked God for the wine in the cup. Then he gave it to them and he said, ‘All of you should drink some of this wine. ²⁸ This is my blood that shows God's promise. When I die, my blood will pour out of my body. In that way God will forgive many people for the wrong things that they have done. That is the promise that God makes because of my death. ²⁹ I tell you this. I will not drink wine again until I drink it with you in my Father's kingdom. Then it will be new wine.’^[c]

³⁰ Then Jesus and his disciples sang a song to praise God.^[d] Then they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Jesus tells Peter what will happen

³¹ Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Tonight, all of you will turn away from me. It will happen in the way that the Bible says:

³² Jesus then said, ‘But after that happens, I will become alive again. Then I will go to Galilee, and you will meet me there.’

³³ Peter said to Jesus, ‘Even if everyone else runs away, I will not leave you.’

³⁴ Jesus replied to Peter, ‘I tell you this: Even tonight, you will say three times that you do not know me. This will happen before the cockerel sings early tomorrow morning.’

³⁵ But Peter said to Jesus, ‘I will die with you if I need to. But I will never say that I do not know you.’ All the other disciples said the same thing.

Jesus prays in a garden on the Mount of Olives

³⁶ Then Jesus and his disciples arrived at a large garden called Gethsemane. Jesus said to the disciples, ‘Sit here while I go over there to pray.’ ³⁷ Then Jesus took Peter and Zebedee's two sons, James and John, with him. He became very sad and upset. ³⁸ He said to them, ‘I am very sad. I feel as if I could die because I feel so sad. Wait here with me and stay awake.’

³⁹ Jesus went a short way beyond them. He went down with his face on the ground. He prayed, ‘Father, if it is possible, please save me from this time of great pain. But Father, I do not ask you to do what I want. Do what you want to do.’

⁴⁰ Jesus returned to the three disciples. Now they were sleeping. He said to Peter, ‘You men could not stay awake with me for even one hour! ⁴¹ You must stay awake and pray. God can help you, so that you will not do something wrong. You really want to do the right thing, but your bodies are weak.’

⁴² Jesus went away a second time and he prayed, ‘My Father, if it is not possible to save me from this time of great pain, then I want to obey you. Do what you want for me.’

⁴³ Then Jesus returned again to Peter, James and John. He saw that they were sleeping. They could not keep their eyes open. ⁴⁴ So Jesus went away from them again and he prayed a third time. He said the same words to God.

⁴⁵ When he returned to the disciples, he said, ‘You should not still be sleeping and resting. Look! The moment has arrived! Someone will now give me, the Son of Man, to my enemies. ⁴⁶ Stand up, we will go now. Look! The man who will give me to my enemies is here.’

The soldiers take hold of Jesus

⁴⁷ While Jesus was still speaking, Judas arrived. He was one of Jesus' 12 disciples. A crowd also came with him. They were carrying swords and heavy sticks. The leaders of the priests and the important Jews had sent these people with Judas. ⁴⁸ Judas was ready to help the Jewish leaders to take hold of Jesus. Before this, he had told them, ‘I will kiss one of the men. You must take hold of that man.’

⁴⁹ Now Judas went immediately to Jesus. He said, ‘Hello, Teacher.’ Then he kissed Jesus in a friendly way.^[f]

⁵⁰ Jesus said to Judas, ‘My friend, now do what you have come here to do.’

Then the crowd of men came up to Jesus. They took hold of him to lead him away. ⁵¹ Then one of Jesus' disciples took hold of his sword. He hit the servant of the leader of the priests with it and he cut off the servant's ear.

⁵² Then Jesus said to the disciple, ‘Put your sword back in its place. People who use a sword to kill others will themselves die in the same way. Someone will kill them with a sword. ⁵³ You should know that I could ask my Father God to help me. He would immediately send more than 12 large groups of angels to fight for me. ⁵⁴ They would save me. But then the things that God has said in the Bible about this would not happen. So it must happen in this way.’

⁵⁵ At that time, Jesus said to the crowd, ‘You have come out here with swords and heavy sticks to take hold of me. Do you really believe that I am leading people to fight against our country's rulers? No! I was teaching people every day in the yard of the temple. But you did not try to take hold of me then. ⁵⁶ The prophets wrote long ago that all this would happen to me. Now it has become true.’

Then all of Jesus' disciples ran away and left him.

Jesus stands in front of all the important rulers

⁵⁷ Then those men who had taken hold of Jesus took him to Caiaphas's house. Caiaphas was the most important priest. The teachers of God's Law and the important Jews were meeting there together with Caiaphas.^[g]

⁵⁸ Peter followed Jesus into the yard of Caiaphas' house. But he did not go near Jesus. He sat down in the yard with the police who worked in the temple. He wanted to see what would happen.

⁵⁹ The leaders of the priests and all the Jewish leaders wanted to punish Jesus with death. So they tried to find some people who would say things against Jesus that were not true. ⁶⁰ Many people did come. And they said things against Jesus that were not true. But still the Jewish leaders could not find a reason to kill Jesus.^[h]

Then two men stood up and they said, ⁶¹ ‘We heard this man say, “I can destroy the temple and in three days I can build it again.” ’

⁶² Then Caiaphas stood up. He said to Jesus, ‘You must reply now to what these men have said against you. Are the things that they say true?’ ⁶³ But Jesus did not say anything.

So Caiaphas said to him, ‘I use the authority of the God who lives. You must promise to tell us what is true. Are you the Messiah? Are you the Son of God?’

⁶⁴ ‘You have said it,’ Jesus replied. ‘And I tell all of you, soon you will see the Son of Man. He will be sitting in the most important place at the right side of the Most Powerful God. You will also see him coming to earth. He will be riding on the clouds in the sky.’

⁶⁵ Then Caiaphas tore his clothes to show that he was angry.^[i] He said, ‘Jesus has spoken bad words against God. We do not need anyone else to speak against him. You have heard him speak bad words against God. ⁶⁶ Do you think that he is guilty?’

They replied, ‘He is guilty and he deserves to die.’

⁶⁷ Then some of them spat into Jesus' face. They also hit him with their fists. ⁶⁸ When they hit him, they said, ‘Messiah! Show us that you are a prophet. Tell us who hit you!’

Peter says three times that he does not know Jesus

⁶⁹ While all these things were happening, Peter was sitting outside in the yard. One of the girls who worked there went to him and she said, ‘You were also a friend of Jesus, the man from Galilee.’

⁷⁰ Peter said in front of everyone who was there, ‘That is not true. I do not know what you are talking about.’

⁷¹ Peter then went out to the gate, and another servant girl saw him. This girl said to the people who were standing there, ‘This man was a friend of Jesus, the man from Nazareth.’

⁷² Peter answered again very strongly. He said, ‘I promise you, I really do not know that man!’

⁷³ After a little time, other people who were standing at the gate spoke to Peter. They said, ‘We are sure that you too are one of that man's friends. We know this because you speak like people who live in Galilee.’

⁷⁴ Peter said to them very strongly, ‘I tell you that I do not know that man. God will surely punish me if this is not true!’

Immediately after Peter said this, the cockerel sang. ⁷⁵ Then Peter remembered that Jesus had said to him, ‘Tonight you will say three times that you do not know me. You will do it before the cockerel sings.’ So Peter went out of the yard. He began to weep a lot because he was very upset.

The important Jews take Jesus to stand in front of Pilate

27 Early the next morning, all the leaders of the priests and the important Jews met together. They decided how to make the Roman rulers kill Jesus. ² They tied Jesus' hands and feet and then they took him to Pilate's house. They put him under the authority of Pilate, who was the Roman ruler.^[j]

Judas dies

³ Judas heard that the Jewish leaders wanted the Roman rulers to kill Jesus. Judas was the man who had helped Jesus' enemies to take hold of him. Now he was very sorry about what he had done. So he took back the 30 silver coins to the leaders of the priests and the important Jews. ⁴ He said to them, ‘I have done the wrong thing. I helped you to take hold of a man who has done nothing wrong.’

They said to Judas, ‘That is not important to us. That is your problem.’

⁵ So Judas took the money and he threw it down on the floor in the temple. Then he went away. He hung himself from a rope so that he died.

⁶ The leaders of the priests picked up the coins. They said, ‘We used this money to catch and kill a man. So it is against our Law to use this same money for the temple.’ ⁷ They decided to use the money to buy a field. They wanted to use the field to bury foreign people who died in the city. The field had been called ‘The Pot-maker's Field’. ⁸ After this, it was called ‘The Field of Blood’. It is still called that even today. ⁹ So the words that the prophet Jeremiah wrote long ago now became true.^[k] He had said, ‘Then they took the 30 silver coins. It was the amount of money the people of Israel had agreed to pay for the man. ¹⁰ They used this money to buy the pot-maker's field. The Lord God had told me to do this.’

Pilate asks Jesus some questions

¹¹ Now Jesus stood in front of the Roman ruler, Pilate. The ruler asked Jesus, ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’

Jesus replied, ‘You have said it.’

¹² The leaders of the priests and the important Jews spoke against Jesus. They said that he had done many bad things. Jesus did not answer them. ¹³ So Pilate said to Jesus, ‘You hear what these men are saying against you. You should reply.’ ¹⁴ But Jesus did not reply to what the men were saying against him, not even to one thing. Pilate was very surprised about this.

¹⁵ Each year, at the time for the Passover festival, the Roman ruler would let one person go free out of the prison. The people could choose which person should go free. ¹⁶ At that time, there was a man called Barabbas in prison. Everyone knew about the bad things that he had done. ¹⁷ When the crowd came together at Pilate's house, Pilate asked them, ‘Who do you want me to let go free? Should Barabbas go free? Or should it be Jesus, who is called the Messiah?’ ¹⁸ Pilate knew why the Jewish leaders had brought Jesus to him. They were jealous because people liked Jesus so much.

¹⁹ Pilate was sitting on his special seat as a judge. Then his wife sent a message to him. She said, ‘Do not do anything to that man. He has done nothing wrong. Last night I had a dream about him. It gave me a lot of trouble in my mind.’

²⁰ But the leaders of the priests and the important Jews talked to the crowds of people. They said, ‘You must ask Pilate to let Barabbas go free. Then he must tell the soldiers to kill Jesus.’

²¹ Pilate asked the people again, ‘Which of these two men should go free?’ The people answered, ‘Barabbas.’

²² Then Pilate asked the people, ‘So what should I do with Jesus, who is called the Messiah?’ The people all shouted, ‘Take him and kill him on a cross!’

²³ So Pilate said, ‘Why should I kill him? What bad things has he done?’

But the people shouted even louder, ‘Kill him on a cross!’

²⁴ Then Pilate knew that he could not do anything to make them quiet. He thought that the people would start to fight his soldiers. So he took a dish of water and he washed his hands in front of the people. He said, ‘It is not because of me that this man will die. You are the people who have caused it to happen.’

²⁵ All the people answered Pilate, ‘Yes, God should punish us and our children, if we have done the wrong thing.’

²⁶ Then Pilate let Barabbas go free, as the crowd wanted. But he said to his soldiers, ‘Hit Jesus many times with a whip. Then take him and fix him to a cross to die.’

²⁷ Then Pilate's soldiers took Jesus into the yard of the ruler's house. All the other soldiers in their group were there. ²⁸ They removed Jesus' clothes from him. They put a dark red coat on him. ²⁹ They used some branches with thorns to make a crown for him. Then they put it on his head. They put a long stick in his right hand. They went down on their knees in front of him. They laughed at him and they said, ‘Hello, King of the Jews, you are great!’^[l]

³⁰ Then the soldiers spat into Jesus' face. They took the stick and they hit Jesus on his head with it many times. ³¹ After they had laughed at him, they took the special coat off him. They put his own clothes back on him. Then they took him out to the place where they would kill him on a cross.

The soldiers kill Jesus on a cross

³² When they were going to that place, they met a man called Simon. He came from the city of Cyrene. The Roman soldiers told Simon that he must carry Jesus' cross. ³³ The soldiers took Jesus to the place that is called Golgotha. (Golgotha means the place of a skull.^[m] )

³⁴ They tried to give Jesus some wine to drink. They had mixed some medicine into the wine. Jesus tasted it, but he would not drink it. ³⁵ Then the soldiers fixed Jesus onto the cross. They took his clothes for themselves. They played a game to find out who would receive each piece of his clothes. ³⁶ Then the soldiers sat down and they watched Jesus carefully. ³⁷ Above his head they fixed a notice. This showed the reason why they were killing him. It said, ‘This man is Jesus, the king of the Jews.’ ³⁸ Then the soldiers also fixed two robbers to crosses near to Jesus. One robber was at Jesus' right side, and one was at his left side.

³⁹ The people who walked near there insulted Jesus. They laughed at him, ⁴⁰ and they said, ‘You said that you could destroy the temple and then build it again in three days. If you really are the Son of God, save yourself. Come down from the cross.’

⁴¹ The leaders of the priests and the teachers of God's Law and the important Jews also laughed at him. ⁴² They said, ‘This man saved other people, did he? But he cannot save his own life! He says that he is the king of Israel. So he should come down from the cross now. Then we will believe in him. ⁴³ He says that he trusts in God. So if God wants him, God should save him now. He did say that he is the Son of God.’ ⁴⁴ Then the two robbers who were on the crosses next to Jesus also insulted him.

Jesus dies

⁴⁵ It was now midday. The whole country became dark for three hours. ⁴⁶ At about three o'clock in the afternoon, Jesus shouted loudly, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ That means, ‘My God, my God, why have you left me alone?’

⁴⁷ Some people who were standing there heard him. They said to each other, ‘He is shouting to Elijah.’

⁴⁸ One of these people ran quickly and he brought a piece of cloth. He poured cheap wine on it, and he put it on the end of a stick. He lifted it up to Jesus so that he could drink the wine from it. ⁴⁹ The other people said, ‘Wait! Now we will see if Elijah comes to save him.’

⁵⁰ Then Jesus shouted again with a loud voice, and after that he died.

⁵¹ At that moment, the curtain inside the temple tore completely into two parts. It tore from the top down to the bottom. The ground shook and rocks broke into pieces. ⁵² Places in the ground where people had buried dead bodies opened up. Many of God's people who had died now became alive again. ⁵³ After Jesus became alive again, those people came up out of those places. They went into God's city, Jerusalem. Many people saw them there.

⁵⁴ The captain and his soldiers had been watching Jesus. They saw the ground shaking. They saw everything that had happened. They were very frightened and they said, ‘It must be true! This man really was the Son of God.’

⁵⁵ There were also many women there. They were standing a long way away and they were watching these events. They had come with Jesus from Galilee to help him. ⁵⁶ Mary from Magdala was there. Mary the mother of James and Joses, and Mary the mother of Zebedee's sons, were also there.

Joseph from Arimathea buries Jesus' body

⁵⁷ That evening a rich man who came from a town called Arimathea went to Pilate. The man's name was Joseph, and he had become a disciple of Jesus. ⁵⁸ Joseph asked Pilate for the dead body of Jesus. Pilate told his soldiers to give Jesus' body to Joseph. ⁵⁹ So Joseph took Jesus' body. He put a clean piece of linen cloth around it. ⁶⁰ Then he put the body in a large hole in a rock. He had made the hole for his own body when he died. After he put Jesus' body there, he rolled a very big stone across the front of the hole to shut it. Then he went away. ⁶¹ Mary from Magdala and Mary the mother of James were there. They were sitting where they could see the hole in the rock where Joseph had put Jesus' body.

Soldiers watch the place where Joseph had buried Jesus

⁶² The next day was the Jewish day of rest. The leaders of the priests and the Pharisees met together with Pilate. ⁶³ They said to him, ‘Sir, that man told lies. When he was still living, he said, “Three days after I die, I will become alive again.” We know that is what he said. ⁶⁴ So you should tell some soldiers to watch the place where Joseph put Jesus' body. They should watch there for the next three days. Then his disciples cannot come to take his body away. If they did that, then they could say to the people, “God has caused Jesus to become alive again.” This will be worse than the lies that Jesus told when he was alive.’

⁶⁵ Pilate said to them, ‘OK. You may take a group of soldiers to watch the place. Let them fix the rock well, so that nobody can open it.’ ⁶⁶ So the Jewish leaders and the soldiers went to the place where Joseph had put Jesus' body. They fixed the big stone that closed the front of the hole with a seal. Then they would know if someone had moved it. The soldiers stayed there to watch the place very carefully.

Pilate asks Jesus some questions

¹¹ Now Jesus stood in front of the Roman ruler, Pilate. The ruler asked Jesus, ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’

Jesus replied, ‘You have said it.’

¹² The leaders of the priests and the important Jews spoke against Jesus. They said that he had done many bad things. Jesus did not answer them. ¹³ So Pilate said to Jesus, ‘You hear what these men are saying against you. You should reply.’ ¹⁴ But Jesus did not reply to what the men were saying against him, not even to one thing. Pilate was very surprised about this.

¹⁵ Each year, at the time for the Passover festival, the Roman ruler would let one person go free out of the prison. The people could choose which person should go free. ¹⁶ At that time, there was a man called Barabbas in prison. Everyone knew about the bad things that he had done. ¹⁷ When the crowd came together at Pilate's house, Pilate asked them, ‘Who do you want me to let go free? Should Barabbas go free? Or should it be Jesus, who is called the Messiah?’ ¹⁸ Pilate knew why the Jewish leaders had brought Jesus to him. They were jealous because people liked Jesus so much.

¹⁹ Pilate was sitting on his special seat as a judge. Then his wife sent a message to him. She said, ‘Do not do anything to that man. He has done nothing wrong. Last night I had a dream about him. It gave me a lot of trouble in my mind.’

²⁰ But the leaders of the priests and the important Jews talked to the crowds of people. They said, ‘You must ask Pilate to let Barabbas go free. Then he must tell the soldiers to kill Jesus.’

²¹ Pilate asked the people again, ‘Which of these two men should go free?’ The people answered, ‘Barabbas.’

²² Then Pilate asked the people, ‘So what should I do with Jesus, who is called the Messiah?’ The people all shouted, ‘Take him and kill him on a cross!’

²³ So Pilate said, ‘Why should I kill him? What bad things has he done?’

But the people shouted even louder, ‘Kill him on a cross!’

²⁴ Then Pilate knew that he could not do anything to make them quiet. He thought that the people would start to fight his soldiers. So he took a dish of water and he washed his hands in front of the people. He said, ‘It is not because of me that this man will die. You are the people who have caused it to happen.’

²⁵ All the people answered Pilate, ‘Yes, God should punish us and our children, if we have done the wrong thing.’

²⁶ Then Pilate let Barabbas go free, as the crowd wanted. But he said to his soldiers, ‘Hit Jesus many times with a whip. Then take him and fix him to a cross to die.’

²⁷ Then Pilate's soldiers took Jesus into the yard of the ruler's house. All the other soldiers in their group were there. ²⁸ They removed Jesus' clothes from him. They put a dark red coat on him. ²⁹ They used some branches with thorns to make a crown for him. Then they put it on his head. They put a long stick in his right hand. They went down on their knees in front of him. They laughed at him and they said, ‘Hello, King of the Jews, you are great!’^[a]

³⁰ Then the soldiers spat into Jesus' face. They took the stick and they hit Jesus on his head with it many times. ³¹ After they had laughed at him, they took the special coat off him. They put his own clothes back on him. Then they took him out to the place where they would kill him on a cross.

The soldiers kill Jesus on a cross

³² When they were going to that place, they met a man called Simon. He came from the city of Cyrene. The Roman soldiers told Simon that he must carry Jesus' cross. ³³ The soldiers took Jesus to the place that is called Golgotha. (Golgotha means the place of a skull.^[b] )

³⁴ They tried to give Jesus some wine to drink. They had mixed some medicine into the wine. Jesus tasted it, but he would not drink it. ³⁵ Then the soldiers fixed Jesus onto the cross. They took his clothes for themselves. They played a game to find out who would receive each piece of his clothes. ³⁶ Then the soldiers sat down and they watched Jesus carefully. ³⁷ Above his head they fixed a notice. This showed the reason why they were killing him. It said, ‘This man is Jesus, the king of the Jews.’ ³⁸ Then the soldiers also fixed two robbers to crosses near to Jesus. One robber was at Jesus' right side, and one was at his left side.

³⁹ The people who walked near there insulted Jesus. They laughed at him, ⁴⁰ and they said, ‘You said that you could destroy the temple and then build it again in three days. If you really are the Son of God, save yourself. Come down from the cross.’

⁴¹ The leaders of the priests and the teachers of God's Law and the important Jews also laughed at him. ⁴² They said, ‘This man saved other people, did he? But he cannot save his own life! He says that he is the king of Israel. So he should come down from the cross now. Then we will believe in him. ⁴³ He says that he trusts in God. So if God wants him, God should save him now. He did say that he is the Son of God.’ ⁴⁴ Then the two robbers who were on the crosses next to Jesus also insulted him.

Jesus dies

⁴⁵ It was now midday. The whole country became dark for three hours. ⁴⁶ At about three o'clock in the afternoon, Jesus shouted loudly, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ That means, ‘My God, my God, why have you left me alone?’

⁴⁷ Some people who were standing there heard him. They said to each other, ‘He is shouting to Elijah.’

⁴⁸ One of these people ran quickly and he brought a piece of cloth. He poured cheap wine on it, and he put it on the end of a stick. He lifted it up to Jesus so that he could drink the wine from it. ⁴⁹ The other people said, ‘Wait! Now we will see if Elijah comes to save him.’

⁵⁰ Then Jesus shouted again with a loud voice, and after that he died.

⁵¹ At that moment, the curtain inside the temple tore completely into two parts. It tore from the top down to the bottom. The ground shook and rocks broke into pieces. ⁵² Places in the ground where people had buried dead bodies opened up. Many of God's people who had died now became alive again. ⁵³ After Jesus became alive again, those people came up out of those places. They went into God's city, Jerusalem. Many people saw them there.

⁵⁴ The captain and his soldiers had been watching Jesus. They saw the ground shaking. They saw everything that had happened. They were very frightened and they said, ‘It must be true! This man really was the Son of God.’