¹⁸ And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “^(A)All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. ^19 [a](B)Go, therefore, and ^(C)make disciples of ^(D)all the nations, ^(E)baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to ^[b]follow all that I commanded you; and behold, ^(F)I am with you ^[c]always, to ^(G)the end of the age.”

The Disciples Commissioned

¹⁴ Later ^(A)He appeared ^(B)to the eleven disciples themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reprimanded them for their ^(C)unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen from the dead. ¹⁵ And He said to them, “^(D)Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. ^16 (E)The one who has believed and has been baptized will be saved; but the one who has not believed will be condemned. ¹⁷ These signs will accompany those who have believed: ^(F)in My name they will cast out demons, they will ^(G)speak with new tongues; ¹⁸ they will ^(H)pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will ^(I)lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

⁴⁴ Now He said to them, “^(A)These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all the things that are written about Me in the ^(B)Law of Moses and the Prophets and ^(C)the Psalms must be fulfilled.” ⁴⁵ Then He ^(D)opened their ^[a]minds to understand the Scriptures, ⁴⁶ and He said to them, “^(E)So it is written, that the ^[b]Christ would suffer and ^(F)rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷ and that ^(G)repentance ^[c]for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed ^[d]in His name to ^(H)all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. ⁴⁸ You are ^(I)witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹ And behold, ^(J)I am sending the promise of My Father upon you; but ^(K)you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

¹⁴ When she had said this, she turned around and *^(A)saw Jesus standing there, and yet she ^(B)did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵ Jesus *said to her, “^(C)Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Thinking that He was the gardener, she *said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you put Him, and I will take Him away.” ¹⁶ Jesus *said to her, “Mary!” She turned and *said to Him ^(D)in ^[a]Hebrew, “^(E)Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). ¹⁷ Jesus *said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to ^(F)My brothers and say to them, ‘I am ^(G)ascending to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’” ^18 (H)Mary Magdalene *came and ^(I)announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her.

Jesus among His Disciples

¹⁹ Now when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were ^[b]shut where the disciples were together due to ^(J)fear of the ^[c]Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst, and *said to them, “^(K)Peace be to you.” ²⁰ And when He had said this, ^(L)He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then ^(M)rejoiced when they saw the Lord. ²¹ So Jesus said to them again, “^(N)Peace be to you; ^(O)just as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” ²² And when He had said this, He breathed on them and *said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ^23 (P)If you forgive the sins of any, their sins ^[d]have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”

^4 [a]Gathering them together, He commanded them ^(A)not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for ^[b](B)what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; ⁵ for ^(C)John baptized ^[c]with water, but you will be baptized ^[d]with the Holy Spirit ^[e](D)not many days from now.”

⁶ So, when they had come together, they began asking Him, saying, “Lord, ^(E)is it at this time that You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” ⁷ But He said to them, “It is not for you to know periods of time or appointed times which ^(F)the Father has set by His own authority; ⁸ but you will receive power ^(G)when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be ^(H)My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and ^(I)Samaria, and as far as ^(J)the remotest part of the earth.”

¹⁹ and ^(A)pray in my behalf, that speech may be given to me ^(B)in the opening of my mouth, to make known with ^(C)boldness ^(D)the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I am an ^(E)ambassador ^(F)in ^[a]chains; that ^[b]in proclaiming it I may speak ^(G)boldly, ^(H)as I ought to speak.

^2 (A)Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; ³ praying at the same time ^(B)for us as well, that God will open up to us a ^(C)door for ^(D)the word, so that we may proclaim ^(E)the mystery of Christ, for which I have also ^(F)been imprisoned; ⁴ that I may make it clear ^(G)in the way that I ought to proclaim it.

^5 [a](H)Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward ^(I)outsiders, ^[b](J)making the most of the opportunity. ^6 (K)Your speech must always be ^[c]with grace, as though seasoned with ^(L)salt, so that you will know how you should ^(M)respond to each person.

⁹ But you are ^(A)a chosen people, a royal ^(B)priesthood, a ^(C)holy nation, ^(D)a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you ^(E)out of darkness into His marvelous light;

¹⁵ but ^[a]sanctify ^(A)Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready ^(B)to make a ^[b]defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the ^(C)hope that is in you, but ^(D)with gentleness and ^(E)respect;