27-28. The soldiers also nailed two criminals on crosses, one to the right of Jesus and the other to his left.
29. People who passed by said terrible things about Jesus. They shook their heads and shouted, “Ha! So you're the one who claimed you could tear down the temple and build it again in three days.
30. Save yourself and come down from the cross!”
31. The chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses also made fun of Jesus. They said to each other, “He saved others, but he can't save himself.
32. If he is the Messiah, the king of Israel, let him come down from the cross! Then we will see and believe.” The two criminals also said cruel things to Jesus.
33. About midday the sky turned dark and stayed that way until around three o'clock.
34. Then about that time Jesus shouted, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you deserted me?”
35. Some of the people standing there heard Jesus and said, “He is calling for Elijah.”
36. One of them ran and grabbed a sponge. After he had soaked it in wine, he put it on a stick and held it up to Jesus. He said, “Let's wait and see if Elijah will come and take him down!”
37. Jesus shouted and then died.
38. At once the curtain in the temple tore in two from top to bottom.
39. A Roman army officer was standing in front of Jesus. When the officer saw how Jesus died, he said, “This man really was the Son of God!”
40-41. Some women were looking on from a distance. They had come with Jesus to Jerusalem. But even before this they had been his followers and had helped him while he was in Galilee. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of the younger James and of Joseph were two of these women. Salome was also one of them.
42. It was now the evening before the Sabbath, and the Jewish people were getting ready for that sacred day.
43. A man named Joseph from Arimathea was brave enough to ask Pilate for the body of Jesus. Joseph was a highly respected member of the Jewish council, and he was also waiting for God's kingdom to come.
44. Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus was already dead, and he called in the army officer to find out if Jesus had been dead very long.
45. After the officer told him, Pilate let Joseph have Jesus' body.