The Great Commission

¹⁶ The eleven disciples traveled to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had directed them.^{(A) 17} When they saw him, they worshiped,^[a] but some doubted. ¹⁸ Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.^{(B) 19} Go, therefore, and make disciples^(C) of^[b] all nations,^(D) baptizing^(E) them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember,^[c] I am with you always,^[d] to the end of the age.”^(F)

Prologue

1 I wrote the first narrative, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach^{(A) 2} until the day he was taken up, after he had given instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.^{(B) 3} After he had suffered, he also presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.^(C)

The Holy Spirit Promised

⁴ While he was^[a] with them, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father’s promise.^(D) “Which,” he said, “you have heard me speak about; ⁵ for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit in a few days.”^(E)

⁶ So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?”

⁷ He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.^{(F) 8} But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”^(G)

The Ascension

⁹ After he had said this, he was taken up as they were watching, and a cloud took him out of their sight. ¹⁰ While he was going, they were gazing into heaven, and suddenly two men in white clothes stood by them.^{(H) 11} They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen him going into heaven.”^(I)

⁶ Be strong and courageous;^(A) don’t be terrified or afraid of them. For the Lord your God is the one who will go with you;^(B) he will not leave you or abandon you.”^(C)

²⁶ For this is the kind of high priest we need: holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.^{(A) 27} He doesn’t need to offer sacrifices every day, as high priests do—first for their own sins, then for those of the people. He did this once for all time when he offered himself.^(B)

¹¹ Every priest stands day after day ministering and offering the same sacrifices time after time, which can never take away sins.^{(A) 12} But this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.^{[a](B) 13} He is now waiting until his enemies are made his footstool.^{(C) 14} For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are sanctified.