Jesus Dies^(A)

⁴⁵ At noon the whole country became dark. The darkness continued for three hours. ⁴⁶ About three o’clock Jesus cried out loudly, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” This means “My God, my God, why have you left me alone?”^[a]

⁴⁷ Some of the people standing there heard this. They said, “He is calling Elijah.”^[b]

⁴⁸ Quickly, one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled the sponge with sour wine and tied the sponge to a stick. Then he used the stick to give the sponge to Jesus to get a drink from it. ⁴⁹ But the others said, “Don’t bother him. We want to see if Elijah will come to save him.”

⁵⁰ Again Jesus cried out loudly and then died.^[c]

⁵¹ When Jesus died, the curtain in the Temple was torn into two pieces. The tear started at the top and tore all the way to the bottom. Also, the earth shook and rocks were broken. ⁵² The graves opened, and many of God’s people who had died were raised from death. ⁵³ They came out of the graves. And after Jesus was raised from death, they went into the holy city, and many people saw them.

⁵⁴ The army officer and the soldiers guarding Jesus saw this earthquake and everything that happened. They were very afraid and said, “He really was the Son of God!”

⁵⁵ Many women were standing away from the cross, watching. These were the women who had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for him. ⁵⁶ Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of James and John^[d] were there.

Jesus Dies^(A)

⁴⁴ It was about noon, but it turned dark throughout the land until three o’clock in the afternoon, ⁴⁵ because the sun stopped shining. The curtain in the Temple was torn into two pieces. ⁴⁶ Jesus shouted, “Father, I put my life in your hands!”^[a] After Jesus said this, he died.

⁴⁷ The army officer there saw what happened. He praised God, saying, “I know this man was a good man!”

⁴⁸ Many people had come out of the city to see all this. When they saw it, they felt very sorry and left. ⁴⁹ The people who were close friends of Jesus were there. Also, there were some women who had followed Jesus from Galilee. They all stood far away from the cross and watched these things.

Jesus Dies^(A)

²⁸ Later, Jesus knew that everything had been done. To make the Scriptures come true he said, “I am thirsty.”^{[a] 29} There was a jar full of sour wine there, so the soldiers soaked a sponge in it. They put the sponge on a branch of a hyssop plant and lifted it to Jesus’ mouth. ³⁰ When he tasted the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and died.