Matthew 27:51–66

⁵¹At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split.^{* 52}The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. ⁵³After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many. ⁵⁴Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”^a*

⁵⁵Many women were also there, looking on from a distance; they had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him.^{* 56}Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph,^b and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.^*

The Burial of Jesus

⁵⁷When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who also was himself a disciple of Jesus.^{* 58}He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. ⁵⁹So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth ⁶⁰and laid it in his new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away.^{* 61}Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

The Guard at the Tomb

⁶²The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate ⁶³and said, “Sir, we remember what that impostor said while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise again.’^{* 64}Therefore command the tomb to be made secure until the third day; otherwise, his disciples may go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception would be worse than the first.” ⁶⁵Pilate said to them, “You have a guard^c of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can.”^{d* 66}So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone.^*