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Ezra 3-5
Contemporary English Version

The First Offering on the New Altar

3 During the seventh month[a] of the year, the Israelites who had settled in their towns went to Jerusalem. 2 (A) The priest Joshua son of Jozadak, together with the other priests, and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his relatives rebuilt the altar of Israel's God. Then they were able to offer sacrifices there by following the instructions God had given to Moses, the man of God. 3 (B) And they built the altar where it had stood before,[b] even though they were afraid of the people who were already living around there. Then every morning and evening they burned sacrifices and offerings to the Lord.

4 (C) The people followed the rules for celebrating the Festival of Shelters and offered the proper sacrifices each day. 5 (D) They offered sacrifices to please the Lord,[c] sacrifices at each New Moon Festival, and sacrifices at the rest of the Lord's festivals. Every offering the people had brought voluntarily was also presented to the Lord.

6 Although work on the temple itself had not yet begun, the people started offering sacrifices on the Lord's altar on the first day of the seventh month of that year.

The Rebuilding of the Temple Begins

7 King Cyrus of Persia had said the Israelites could have cedar trees brought from Lebanon to Joppa by sea. So they sent grain, wine, and olive oil to the cities of Tyre and Sidon as payment for these trees, and they gave money to the stoneworkers and carpenters.

8 During the second month[d] of the second year after the people had returned from Babylonia, they started rebuilding the Lord's temple. Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak, the priests, the Levites, and everyone else who had returned started working. Every Levite over 20 years of age was put in charge of some part of the work. 9 The Levites in charge of the whole project were Joshua and his sons and relatives and Kadmiel and his sons from the family of Hodaviah.[e] The family of Henadad worked along with them.

10 (E) When the builders had finished laying the foundation of the temple, the priests put on their robes and blew trumpets in honor of the Lord, while the Levites from the family of Asaph praised God with cymbals. All of them followed the instructions given years before by King David.[f] 11 (F) They praised the Lord and gave thanks as they took turns singing:

“The Lord is good!
His faithful love for Israel
    will last forever.”

Everyone started shouting and praising the Lord because work on the foundation of the temple had begun. 12 (G) Many of the older priests and Levites and the heads of families wept bitterly because they remembered seeing the first temple years before. But others were so happy that they celebrated with joyful shouts. 13 Their shouting and crying were so noisy that it all sounded alike and could be heard a long way off.

Foreigners[g] Want To Help Rebuild the Temple

4 The enemies of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin heard that the people had come back to rebuild the temple of the Lord God of Israel. 2 (H) So they went to Zerubbabel and to the family leaders and said, “Let us help! Ever since King Esarhaddon of Assyria[h] brought us here, we have worshiped your God and offered sacrifices to him.”

3 But Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the family leaders answered, “You cannot take part in building a temple for the Lord our God! We will build it ourselves, just as King Cyrus of Persia commanded us.”

4 Then the neighboring people began to do everything possible to frighten the Jews[i] and to make them stop building. 5 During the time that Cyrus was king and even until Darius[j] became king, they kept bribing government officials to slow down the work.

Trouble Rebuilding Jerusalem[k]

6 (I) In the first year that Xerxes was king,[l] the neighboring people brought written charges against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.

7 Later, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and their advisors got together and wrote a letter to Artaxerxes when he was king of Persia.[m] It was written in Aramaic and had to be translated.[n]

8-10 [o] A letter was also written to Artaxerxes about Jerusalem by Governor Rehum, Secretary Shimshai, and their advisors, including the judges, the governors, the officials, and the local leaders. They were joined in writing this letter by people from Erech and Babylonia, the Elamites from Susa,[p] and people from other foreign nations that the great and famous Ashurbanipal[q] had forced to settle in Samaria and other parts of Western Province.[r]

11 This letter said:

Your Majesty King Artaxerxes, we are your servants from everywhere in Western Province, and we send you our greetings.

12 You should know that the Jews who left your country have moved back to Jerusalem and are now rebuilding that rebellious city. In fact, they have almost finished rebuilding the walls and repairing the foundations. 13 You should also know that if the walls are completed and the city is rebuilt, the Jews won't pay any kind of taxes, and there will be less money in your treasury.

14 We are telling you this, because you have done so much for us, and we want everyone to respect you. 15 If you look up the official records of your ancestors, you will find that Jerusalem has constantly rebelled and has led others to rebel against kings and provinces. That's why the city was destroyed in the first place. 16 If Jerusalem is rebuilt and its walls completed, you will no longer have control over Western Province.

17 King Artaxerxes answered:

Greetings to Governor Rehum, Secretary Shimshai, and to your advisors in Samaria and other parts of Western Province.

18 After your letter was translated and read to me, 19 I had the old records checked. It is true that for years Jerusalem has rebelled and caused trouble for other kings and nations. 20 And powerful kings have ruled Western Province from Jerusalem and have collected all kinds of taxes.

21 I want you to command the people to stop rebuilding the city until I give further notice. 22 Do this at once, so that no harm will come to the kingdom.

23 As soon as this letter was read, Governor Rehum, Secretary Shimshai, and their advisors went to Jerusalem and forced everyone to stop rebuilding the city.

Work on the Temple Starts Again

24 (J) The Jews were forced to stop work on the temple and were not able to do any more building until the year after Darius became king of Persia.[s] 5 1 (K) Then the Lord God of Israel told the prophets Haggai and Zechariah[t] to speak in his name to the people of Judah and Jerusalem. And they did. 2 (L) So Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the priest urged the people to start working on the temple again, and God's prophets encouraged them.

3 Governor Tattenai of Western Province and his assistant Shethar Bozenai got together with some of their officials. Then they went to Jerusalem and said to the people, “Who told you to rebuild this temple? 4 Give us the names of the workers!”

5 But God was looking after the Jewish leaders. So the governor and his group decided not to make the people stop working on the temple until they could report to Darius and get his advice.

6 Governor Tattenai, Shethar Bozenai, and their advisors sent a report to Darius, 7 which said:

King Darius, we wish you the best! 8 We went to Judah, where the temple of the great God is being built with huge stones and wooden beams set in the walls. Everyone is working hard, and the building is going up quickly.

9 We asked those in charge to tell us who gave them permission to rebuild the temple. 10 We also asked for the names of their leaders, so that we could write them down for you.

11 They claimed to be servants of the God who rules heaven and earth. And they said they were rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago by one of Israel's greatest kings.[u]

12 (M) We were told that their people had made God angry, and he let them be captured by Nebuchadnezzar,[v] the Babylonian king[w] who took them away as captives to Babylonia. Nebuchadnezzar tore down their temple, 13-15 (N) took its gold and silver articles, and put them in the temple of his own god in Babylon.

They also said that during the first year Cyrus was king of Babylonia,[x] he gave orders for God's temple to be rebuilt in Jerusalem where it had stood before. So Cyrus appointed Sheshbazzar governor of Judah and sent these gold and silver articles for him to put in the temple. 16 Sheshbazzar then went to Jerusalem and laid the foundation for the temple, and the work is still going on.

17 Your Majesty, please order someone to look up the old records in Babylonia and find out if King Cyrus really did give orders to rebuild God's temple in Jerusalem. We will do whatever you think we should.

Footnotes

  1. 3.1 seventh month: Tishri (also called Ethanim), the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-September to mid-October.
  2. 3.3 where it had stood before: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  3. 3.5 sacrifices to please the Lord: In traditional translations these sacrifices are usually called “whole burnt offerings” (see Leviticus 1.1-16).
  4. 3.8 second month: Ziv, the second month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-April to mid-May.
  5. 3.9 Hodaviah: Or “Yehudah” or “Hodiah.”
  6. 3.10 King David: Ruled from about 1010 to 970 b.c.
  7. 4.1 Foreigners: People from foreign countries who had been captured by Assyrian and Babylonian kings and forced to settle in Palestine.
  8. 4.2 King Esarhaddon of Assyria: Ruled from 681 to 669 b.c. These people may have been brought to Palestine in 677 or 676 b.c., when Esarhaddon invaded Syria.
  9. 4.4 Jews: This was the name given to those Israelites who settled in Judah after returning from Babylonia.
  10. 4.5 Cyrus … Darius: Cyrus ruled 539–530 b.c. (see the note at 1.1); Darius I, known as Darius the Great, ruled 522–486 b.c.
  11. 4.6 Jerusalem: Verses 6-23, which tell about the events of a later period, are placed here because they are also concerned with the problem of stopping or slowing down work on the temple.
  12. 4.6 first year that Xerxes was king: Either the end of 486 or the beginning of 485 b.c. The Hebrew has the king's Persian name “Ahasuerus,” but he is better known as “Xerxes,” the Greek form of the name.
  13. 4.7 Artaxerxes … Persia: Artaxerxes I (465–425 b.c.).
  14. 4.7 It was … translated: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  15. 4.8-10 Ezra 4.8—6.18 was written in Aramaic, instead of Hebrew like most of the Old Testament.
  16. 4.8-10 the judges … Susa: One possible translation for the names and titles.
  17. 4.8-10 Ashurbanipal: King of Assyria 669–633 (or possibly 627) b.c. In Aramaic the king's name is “Osnapper,” but he is better known as Ashurbanipal.
  18. 4.8-10 Western Province: The land from the Euphrates River west to the Mediterranean Sea.
  19. 4.24 year after … king of Persia: 520 b.c.
  20. 5.1 Zechariah: Aramaic “Zechariah son of Iddo.”
  21. 5.11 one of Israel's greatest kings: Solomon (ruled from about 970 to 931 b.c.).
  22. 5.12 Nebuchadnezzar: See the note at 1.7.
  23. 5.12 the Babylonian king: Aramaic “the Babylonian king from Chaldea,” but Chaldea is another name for Babylonia.
  24. 5.13-15 Cyrus was king of Babylonia: King Cyrus of Persia became king of Babylonia when the Persians conquered the city of Babylon in 539 b.c.
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Ezra 3-5
New International Version

Rebuilding the Altar

3 When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns,(A) the people assembled(B) together as one in Jerusalem. 2 Then Joshua(C) son of Jozadak(D) and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel(E) and his associates began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses(F) the man of God. 3 Despite their fear(G) of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening sacrifices.(H) 4 Then in accordance with what is written, they celebrated the Festival of Tabernacles(I) with the required number of burnt offerings prescribed for each day. 5 After that, they presented the regular burnt offerings, the New Moon(J) sacrifices and the sacrifices for all the appointed sacred festivals of the Lord,(K) as well as those brought as freewill offerings to the Lord. 6 On the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, though the foundation of the Lord’s temple had not yet been laid.

Rebuilding the Temple

7 Then they gave money to the masons and carpenters,(L) and gave food and drink and olive oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, so that they would bring cedar logs(M) by sea from Lebanon(N) to Joppa, as authorized by Cyrus(O) king of Persia.

8 In the second month(P) of the second year after their arrival at the house of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel(Q) son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak and the rest of the people (the priests and the Levites and all who had returned from the captivity to Jerusalem) began the work. They appointed Levites twenty(R) years old and older to supervise the building of the house of the Lord. 9 Joshua(S) and his sons and brothers and Kadmiel and his sons (descendants of Hodaviah[a]) and the sons of Henadad and their sons and brothers—all Levites—joined together in supervising those working on the house of God.

10 When the builders laid(T) the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets,(U) and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise(V) the Lord, as prescribed by David(W) king of Israel.(X) 11 With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord:

“He is good;
    his love toward Israel endures forever.”(Y)

And all the people gave a great shout(Z) of praise to the Lord, because the foundation(AA) of the house of the Lord was laid. 12 But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple,(AB) wept(AC) aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. 13 No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy(AD) from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.

Opposition to the Rebuilding

4 When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building(AE) a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel, 2 they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of the families and said, “Let us help you build because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to him since the time of Esarhaddon(AF) king of Assyria, who brought us here.”(AG)

3 But Zerubbabel, Joshua and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel answered, “You have no part with us in building a temple to our God. We alone will build it for the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, commanded us.”(AH)

4 Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building.[b](AI) 5 They bribed officials to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Later Opposition Under Xerxes and Artaxerxes

6 At the beginning of the reign of Xerxes,[c](AJ) they lodged an accusation against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.(AK)

7 And in the days of Artaxerxes(AL) king of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of his associates wrote a letter to Artaxerxes. The letter was written in Aramaic script and in the Aramaic(AM) language.[d][e]

8 Rehum the commanding officer and Shimshai the secretary wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows:

9 Rehum the commanding officer and Shimshai the secretary, together with the rest of their associates(AN)—the judges, officials and administrators over the people from Persia, Uruk(AO) and Babylon, the Elamites of Susa,(AP) 10 and the other people whom the great and honorable Ashurbanipal(AQ) deported and settled in the city of Samaria and elsewhere in Trans-Euphrates.(AR)

11 (This is a copy of the letter they sent him.)

To King Artaxerxes,

From your servants in Trans-Euphrates:

12 The king should know that the people who came up to us from you have gone to Jerusalem and are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are restoring the walls and repairing the foundations.(AS)

13 Furthermore, the king should know that if this city is built and its walls are restored, no more taxes, tribute or duty(AT) will be paid, and eventually the royal revenues will suffer.[f] 14 Now since we are under obligation to the palace and it is not proper for us to see the king dishonored, we are sending this message to inform the king, 15 so that a search may be made in the archives(AU) of your predecessors. In these records you will find that this city is a rebellious city, troublesome to kings and provinces, a place with a long history of sedition. That is why this city was destroyed.(AV) 16 We inform the king that if this city is built and its walls are restored, you will be left with nothing in Trans-Euphrates.

17 The king sent this reply:

To Rehum the commanding officer, Shimshai the secretary and the rest of their associates living in Samaria and elsewhere in Trans-Euphrates:(AW)

Greetings.

18 The letter you sent us has been read and translated in my presence. 19 I issued an order and a search was made, and it was found that this city has a long history of revolt(AX) against kings and has been a place of rebellion and sedition. 20 Jerusalem has had powerful kings ruling over the whole of Trans-Euphrates,(AY) and taxes, tribute and duty were paid to them. 21 Now issue an order to these men to stop work, so that this city will not be rebuilt until I so order. 22 Be careful not to neglect this matter. Why let this threat grow, to the detriment of the royal interests?(AZ)

23 As soon as the copy of the letter of King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum and Shimshai the secretary and their associates,(BA) they went immediately to the Jews in Jerusalem and compelled them by force to stop.

24 Thus the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius(BB) king of Persia.

Tattenai’s Letter to Darius

5 Now Haggai(BC) the prophet and Zechariah(BD) the prophet, a descendant of Iddo, prophesied(BE) to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. 2 Then Zerubbabel(BF) son of Shealtiel and Joshua(BG) son of Jozadak set to work(BH) to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, supporting them.

3 At that time Tattenai,(BI) governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai(BJ) and their associates went to them and asked, “Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and to finish it?”(BK) 4 They[g] also asked, “What are the names of those who are constructing this building?” 5 But the eye of their God(BL) was watching over the elders of the Jews, and they were not stopped until a report could go to Darius and his written reply be received.

6 This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates, the officials of Trans-Euphrates, sent to King Darius. 7 The report they sent him read as follows:

To King Darius:

Cordial greetings.

8 The king should know that we went to the district of Judah, to the temple of the great God. The people are building it with large stones and placing the timbers in the walls. The work(BM) is being carried on with diligence and is making rapid progress under their direction.

9 We questioned the elders and asked them, “Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and to finish it?”(BN) 10 We also asked them their names, so that we could write down the names of their leaders for your information.

11 This is the answer they gave us:

“We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the temple(BO) that was built many years ago, one that a great king of Israel built and finished. 12 But because our ancestors angered(BP) the God of heaven, he gave them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar the Chaldean, king of Babylon, who destroyed this temple and deported the people to Babylon.(BQ)

13 “However, in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, King Cyrus issued a decree(BR) to rebuild this house of God. 14 He even removed from the temple[h] of Babylon the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to the temple[i] in Babylon.(BS) Then King Cyrus gave them to a man named Sheshbazzar,(BT) whom he had appointed governor, 15 and he told him, ‘Take these articles and go and deposit them in the temple in Jerusalem. And rebuild the house of God on its site.’

16 “So this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God(BU) in Jerusalem. From that day to the present it has been under construction but is not yet finished.”

17 Now if it pleases the king, let a search be made in the royal archives(BV) of Babylon to see if King Cyrus did in fact issue a decree to rebuild this house of God in Jerusalem. Then let the king send us his decision in this matter.

Footnotes

  1. Ezra 3:9 Hebrew Yehudah, a variant of Hodaviah
  2. Ezra 4:4 Or and troubled them as they built
  3. Ezra 4:6 Hebrew Ahasuerus
  4. Ezra 4:7 Or written in Aramaic and translated
  5. Ezra 4:7 The text of 4:8–6:18 is in Aramaic.
  6. Ezra 4:13 The meaning of the Aramaic for this clause is uncertain.
  7. Ezra 5:4 See Septuagint; Aramaic We.
  8. Ezra 5:14 Or palace
  9. Ezra 5:14 Or palace
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John 20
Contemporary English Version

Jesus Is Alive

(Matthew 28.1-10; Mark 16.1-8; Luke 24.1-12)

20 On Sunday morning while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. 2 She ran to Simon Peter and to Jesus' favorite disciple and said, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb! We don't know where they have put him.”

3 Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 They ran side by side, until the other disciple ran faster than Peter and got there first. 5 He bent over and saw the strips of linen cloth lying inside the tomb, but he did not go in.

6 When Simon Peter got there, he went into the tomb and saw the strips of cloth. 7 He also saw the piece of cloth that had been used to cover Jesus' face. It was rolled up and in a place by itself. 8 The disciple who got there first then went into the tomb, and when he saw it, he believed. 9 At that time Peter and the other disciple did not know that the Scriptures said Jesus would rise to life. 10 So the two of them went back to the other disciples.

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

(Mark 16.9-11)

11 Mary Magdalene stood crying outside the tomb. She was still weeping, when she stooped down 12 and saw two angels inside. They were dressed in white and were sitting where Jesus' body had been. One was at the head and the other was at the foot. 13 The angels asked Mary, “Why are you crying?”

She answered, “They have taken away my Lord's body! I don't know where they have put him.”

14 As soon as Mary said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there. But she did not know who he was. 15 Jesus asked her, “Why are you crying? Who are you looking for?”

She thought he was the gardener and said, “Sir, if you have taken his body away, please tell me, so I can go and get him.”

16 Then Jesus said to her, “Mary!”

She turned and said to him, “Rabboni.” The Aramaic word “Rabboni” means “Teacher.”

17 Jesus told her, “Don't hold on to me! I have not yet gone to the Father. But tell my disciples I am going to the one who is my Father and my God, as well as your Father and your God.” 18 Mary Magdalene then went and told the disciples she had seen the Lord. She also told them what he had said to her.

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

(Matthew 28.16-20; Mark 16.14-18; Luke 24.36-49)

19 The disciples were afraid of the Jewish leaders, and on the evening of that same Sunday they locked themselves in a room. Suddenly, Jesus appeared in the middle of the group. He greeted them 20 and showed them his hands and his side. When the disciples saw the Lord, they became very happy.

21 After Jesus had greeted them again, he said, “I am sending you, just as the Father has sent me.” 22 Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 (A) If you forgive anyone's sins, they will be forgiven. But if you don't forgive their sins, they will not be forgiven.”

Jesus and Thomas

24 Although Thomas the Twin was one of the twelve disciples, he wasn't with the others when Jesus appeared to them. 25 So they told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But Thomas said, “First, I must see the nail scars in his hands and touch them with my finger. I must put my hand where the spear went into his side. I won't believe unless I do this!”

26 A week later the disciples were together again. This time, Thomas was with them. Jesus came in while the doors were still locked and stood in the middle of the group. He greeted his disciples 27 and said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands! Put your hand into my side. Stop doubting and have faith!”

28 Thomas replied, “You are my Lord and my God!”

29 Jesus said, “Thomas, do you have faith because you have seen me? The people who have faith in me without seeing me are the ones who are really blessed!”

Why John Wrote His Book

30 Jesus worked many other miracles[a] for his disciples, and not all of them are written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you will put your faith in Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God. If you have faith in[b] him, you will have true life.

Footnotes

  1. 20.30 miracles: See the note at 2.11.
  2. 20.31 put your faith in … have faith in: Some manuscripts have “keep on having faith in … keep on having faith in.”
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John 20
New International Version

The Empty Tomb(A)

20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene(B) went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.(C) 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved,(D) and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”(E)

3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb.(F) 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in(G) at the strips of linen(H) lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head.(I) The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first,(J) also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture(K) that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)(L) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb(M) 12 and saw two angels in white,(N) seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”(O)

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”(P) 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there,(Q) but she did not realize that it was Jesus.(R)

15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?(S) Who is it you are looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic,(T) “Rabboni!”(U) (which means “Teacher”).

17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers(V) and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father(W) and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

18 Mary Magdalene(X) went to the disciples(Y) with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders,(Z) Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace(AA) be with you!”(AB) 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side.(AC) The disciples were overjoyed(AD) when they saw the Lord.

21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you!(AE) As the Father has sent me,(AF) I am sending you.”(AG) 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.(AH) 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”(AI)

Jesus Appears to Thomas

24 Now Thomas(AJ) (also known as Didymus[a]), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side,(AK) I will not believe.”(AL)

26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace(AM) be with you!”(AN) 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”(AO)

28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed;(AP) blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”(AQ)

The Purpose of John’s Gospel

30 Jesus performed many other signs(AR) in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.(AS) 31 But these are written that you may believe[b](AT) that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God,(AU) and that by believing you may have life in his name.(AV)

Footnotes

  1. John 20:24 Thomas (Aramaic) and Didymus (Greek) both mean twin.
  2. John 20:31 Or may continue to believe
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Contemporary English Version (CEV)

Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.

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New International Version (NIV)

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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.

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