Matthew 27:52-66 ▼

52 tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised.

53 And coming forth from their tombs after his resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many.

54 The centurion and the men with him who were keeping watch over Jesus feared greatly when they saw the earthquake and all that was happening, and they said, “Truly, this was the Son of God!”

55 There were many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him.

56 Among them were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

57 When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who was himself a disciple of Jesus.

58 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be handed over.

59 Taking the body, Joseph wrapped it [in] clean linen

60 and laid it in his new tomb that he had hewn in the rock. Then he rolled a huge stone across the entrance to the tomb and departed.

61 But Mary Magdalene and the other Mary remained sitting there, facing the tomb.

62 The next day, the one following the day of preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate

63 and said, “Sir, we remember that this impostor while still alive said, ‘After three days I will be raised up.’

64 Give orders, then, that the grave be secured until the third day, lest his disciples come and steal him and say to the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead.’ This last imposture would be worse than the first.”

65 Pilate said to them, “The guard is yours; go secure it as best you can.”

66 So they went and secured the tomb by fixing a seal to the stone and setting the guard.