John 19:21-40

²¹So the Jewish priests went back to Pilate and protested, saying to him, “Change what they have written from ‘The King of the Jews’ to ‘This man said that he is the King of the Jews’!”

²²Pilate replied, “What I told them to write is what they have written, and I will not change it.”

²³After the soldiers nailed Jesus to the cross, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier. But they kept his cloak separate. This cloak had been woven from top to bottom from one piece of cloth.

²⁴So they said to each other, “Let's not tear it. Instead, let's decide ◄ by throwing lots/ by gambling► who will get it.” So that is what the soldiers did. As a result, these words were fulfilled {they fulfilled these words} that the Psalmist had written in Scripture, They divided most of my clothes among themselves. They cast lots for one piece of my clothing.

²⁵Near the cross where they had nailed Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and another Mary, the woman from Magdala village.

²⁶Jesus saw his mother standing there. He also saw me standing nearby. Then he said to his mother, “This man will now be like your son.”

²⁷And he said to me, “ Treat this woman as MET your mother.” So from that time I took her to my home and took care of her.

²⁸Later, Jesus knew that everything that God sent him to do had now been completed {that he had now completed everything that God sent him to do}, but he knew that something else that was written in the Scriptures had to be fulfilled { that he had to fulfill something else that they had written in the Scriptures}. So he said, “I am thirsty!”

²⁹There was a jar of sour wine there. So someone took a stalk of a plant called hyssop and fastened a sponge to it. Then he dipped the sponge into the wine and lifted it up to Jesus' lips.

³⁰When Jesus tasted the sour wine, he shouted, “ I have finished all that I came to do!” Then he bowed his head and ◄died/handed over his spirit to God►.

³¹That was the day that they prepared everything for their ◄ Sabbath/day of rest►. The next day was a special day of rest, because it was the day of rest during the Passover celebration. The Jewish leaders SYN did not want the bodies of the three men to remain on the cross during their ◄Sabbath/day of rest► because leaving bodies hanging overnight would be contrary to their Jewish laws. So they went to Pilate and asked him to command that the legs of the three men on the crosses be broken {the soldiers to break the legs of the three men on the crosses}, so that they would die quickly. Then their bodies could be taken down and buried {someone could take down their bodies and bury them}.

³²So, after Pilate agreed, the soldiers went and broke the legs of the first man whom they had nailed on a cross near Jesus. Then they broke the legs of the second man.

³³But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was dead already. So they did not break his legs.

³⁴Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear to make sure that Jesus was dead. Immediately blood clots and other liquid flowed out, which showed that Jesus was really dead.

³⁵I, John, saw this myself, and what I am writing is true. I know that I am telling the truth, and I am saying this in order that you may believe in (OR, my testimony about) Jesus.

³⁶These things happened in order that these words would be fulfilled {to fulfill these words} that are written in Scripture: “Not one of his bones will be broken {No one will break any of his bones}.”

³⁷And they fulfilled another Scripture passage that has these words: ❛They will look on the one whom they have pierced❜.

³⁸Later, Joseph, from Arimathea town, went to Pilate and asked Pilate to allow him to take Jesus' body down from the cross. Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but he did not tell anyone that, because he was afraid of the other Jewish leaders SYN. Pilate permitted him to take Jesus' body, so he went, along with others, and they took Jesus' body down from the cross.

³⁹Nicodemus was one of them. He was the man who previously went to visit Jesus at night. Nicodemus bought an expensive mixture of myrrh and aloe spices to put on the body. It weighed about ◄75 pounds/35 kilograms►.

⁴⁰They took the body of Jesus and wrapped strips of linen cloth around it, putting the spices in with the strips of cloth. They did this according to the Jewish customs about burying bodies in tombs.