⁴ “O Israel, listen: Jehovah is our God, Jehovah alone. ⁵ You must love him with all your heart, soul, and might.

¹³ Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized there by John. ¹⁴ John didn’t want to do it.

“This isn’t proper,” he said. “I am the one who needs to be baptized by you.”

¹⁵ But Jesus said, “Please do it, for I must do all that is right.”^[a] So then John baptized him.

¹⁶ After his baptism, as soon as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God coming down in the form of a dove. ¹⁷ And a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, and I am wonderfully pleased with him.”

¹⁶ Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had said they would find him. ¹⁷ There they met him and worshiped him—but some of them weren’t sure it really was Jesus!

¹⁸ He told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and earth. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples in all the nations,^[a] baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and then teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you; and be sure of this—that I am with you always, even to the end of the world.”^[b]

1 From: Peter, Jesus Christ’s missionary.

To: The Jewish Christians driven out of Jerusalem and scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia Minor, and Bithynia.

² Dear friends, God the Father chose you long ago and knew you would become his children. And the Holy Spirit has been at work in your hearts, cleansing you with the blood of Jesus Christ and making you to please him. May God bless you richly and grant you increasing freedom from all anxiety and fear.