Matthew 27:45-54

45It was now midday. The whole country became dark for three hours.

46At about three o'clock in the afternoon, Jesus shouted loudly, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ That means, ‘My God, my God, why have you left me alone?’

47Some people who were standing there heard him. They said to each other, ‘He is shouting to Elijah.’

48One of these people ran quickly and he brought a piece of cloth. He poured cheap wine on it, and he put it on the end of a stick. He lifted it up to Jesus so that he could drink the wine from it.

49The other people said, ‘Wait! Now we will see if Elijah comes to save him.’

50Then Jesus shouted again with a loud voice, and after that he died.

51At that moment, the curtain inside the temple tore completely into two parts. It tore from the top down to the bottom. The ground shook and rocks broke into pieces.

52Places in the ground where people had buried dead bodies opened up. Many of God's people who had died now became alive again.

53After Jesus became alive again, those people came up out of those places. They went into God's city, Jerusalem. Many people saw them there.

54The captain and his soldiers had been watching Jesus. They saw the ground shaking. They saw everything that had happened. They were very frightened and they said, ‘It must be true! This man really was the Son of God.’