And the thieves who were crucified with Him also heaped the same abuse on Him.

Then about three in the afternoon Jesus called out in a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama, sabachthani? [Note: These words were spoken in the commonly used Aramaic language], which mean, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Just then the Temple curtain was torn in two from top to bottom, the ground shook, and rocks were split open.

Graves opened up and the bodies of many dead saints [i.e., God's holy people] were raised up [from the dead].

Now when the military man in charge, and those with him who were watching Jesus, saw [and felt] the earthquake and the [other] things that happened, they became extremely fearful, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God."

And many women, who had followed Jesus from Galilee and had ministered to His needs, were watching [all this] from a distance.

Among them were Mary from Magdala; Mary, the mother of James and Joseph [i.e., probably the wife of Clopas. See John 19:25]; and the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee [i.e., Salome. Mark 15:40].

Now while these women were on their way, some of the guards entered the city and began telling the leading priests everything that had happened.

saying, "We want you to say, 'Jesus' disciples came at night and stole his body while we were asleep.'

So, they took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story [i.e., that Jesus' body had been stolen by His disciples] was told widely among the Jews, and continues to be told to this day.