19:31 Then, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies should not stay on the crosses on the Sabbath 1 (for that Sabbath was an especially important one), 2 the Jewish leaders 3 asked Pilate to have the victims’ legs 4 broken 5 and the bodies taken down. 6 19:32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men who had been crucified 7 with Jesus, 8 first the one and then the other. 9 19:33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 19:34 But one of the soldiers pierced 10 his side with a spear, and blood and water 11 flowed out immediately. 19:35 And the person who saw it 12 has testified (and his testimony is true, and he 13 knows that he is telling the truth), 14 so that you also may believe. 19:36 For these things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled, “Not a bone of his will be broken.” 15 19:37 And again another scripture says, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced.” 16
19:38 After this, Joseph of Arimathea, a disciple of Jesus (but secretly, because he feared the Jewish leaders 17 ), 18 asked Pilate if he could remove the body of Jesus. Pilate 19 gave him permission, so he went and took the body away. 20