The Empty Tomb

Plain English Version (PEV)

Mat 28:1–8

1 On Sunday morning Mary Magdalene, and another woman called Mary, they got up really early and went to look at the cave that had Jesus’s body.
2 Suddenly there was a big earthquake. One of God’s angel messengers came down from heaven, and he rolled the big stone away from the cave, and he sat on top of it.
3 His face was bright and shiny, like lightning. His clothes were really white, like snow.
4 The soldiers that were guarding the cave were really frightened. They fell down on the ground like dead men, and they couldn’t move.
5 Then the angel said to the women, “Don’t be afraid. I know that you are looking for Jesus, the one they killed on a cross.
6 But Jesus is not here. God made him alive again, just like he told you. Come over here and see the place where he was lying.
7 Now you have to go quickly to his followers. Tell them, ‘Jesus is alive again, and he is going to Galilee country ahead of you mob. You have to go and see him there.’ That is my message for you.”
8 Then the women ran away from that cave. They were really frightened, but they were really happy too. They were running to the other followers of Jesus, to tell them the angel’s message.

Mrk 16:1–8

1 The next day was Saturday. It was their special rest day. When the sun went down, that special rest day was finished. Then Mary Magdalene, Salome and Mary the mother of James bought some perfume to put on Jesus’s body, so they could bury him the right way.
2 On Sunday morning when the sun was just starting to come up they went to that cave to find Jesus’s body.
3 As they walked along they said to each other, “Who will roll away that big rock to open up the cave for us? It’s way too big for us.”
4 But when the women got there they looked up and saw that rock wasn’t blocking the cave any more. Somebody already came before them and rolled that rock away.
5 So they walked into the cave and saw a young man sitting there on the right-hand side, wearing really white clothes. They got a big surprise.
6 He said to them, “Don’t be frightened. You are looking for the body of Jesus, the man from Nazareth that they killed on a cross. God made him alive again. He isn’t here. Look, see this place just here. They put his body here, but it isn’t here now.”
7 And he said to them, “Go back to his followers and tell them, ‘You mob have to go back to Galilee. Jesus will go ahead of you mob to that country, and when you go back there you will see him. You remember, he told you about that some time ago.’ Make sure you tell this message to Peter too.”
8 The women didn’t know what to think. They were so frightened they were shaking. They came out of that cave and ran away. Those women were too frightened to talk to anybody. They just ran away.

Luk 24:1–12

1 Later, on that same day, 2 of Jesus’s followers walked from Jerusalem to a community called Emmaus. That was about 11 kilometers.
2 As they walked along the road they talked about everything that happened.
3 Then suddenly Jesus came and joined up with them, but they didn’t know it was Jesus. God blocked their eyes a bit, so they couldn’t see who he was. Jesus walked along with them and listened to what they said to each other,
4 then he asked them, “What is this thing you are talking about so much, as you walk along the road?” When they heard him say that they both stopped, and they looked very sad.
5 Then one of them, called Cleopas, said, “I reckon you are the only visitor to Jerusalem that hasn’t heard about the things that happened here in the last few days.”
6 Jesus asked him, “What things?” They said, “The things that happened to Jesus, the man from Nazareth. God gave him the power to tell his messages, and to teach people his words, and to do powerful things. All the people reckoned he was great.
7 But our bosses, and the leaders of our ceremonies, they didn’t want him. They grabbed him and gave him to the Roman soldiers, and told them to kill him, so they nailed him to a cross and he died.
8 But, you know, we were hoping he will save us Israel people, but he can’t do that now. And all of that happened 3 days ago.
9 And now, today, some of our women gave us a shock. They went to his grave early this morning, to look for his body,
10 but they couldn’t find it. His body wasn’t in that grave. They came back and told us they saw some of God’s angel messengers, and those angels said that he is alive.
11 And some of our men went to that grave, and they saw that everything was just like the women said. His body was not in the grave.”
12 Then Jesus said to them, “You 2 are a bit stupid. You don’t properly believe the messages that God’s men told us a long time ago.