Chronological

The resurrection of Jesus

28 Dawn was breaking on the first day of the week; the sabbath was over. Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, had come to look at the tomb, ² when suddenly there was a great earthquake. An angel of the Lord came down from heaven. He came to the stone, rolled it away, and sat down on top of it. ³ Looking at him was like looking at lightning, and his clothes were white, like snow. ⁴ The guards trembled with terror at him, and became like corpses themselves.

⁵ “Don’t be afraid,” said the angel to the women. “I know you’re looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶ He isn’t here! He’s been raised, as he said he would be! Come and see the place where he was lying— ⁷ and then go at once, and tell his disciples that he’s been raised from the dead, and that he’s going on ahead of you to Galilee. That’s where you’ll see him. There: I’ve told you.”

⁸ The women scurried off quickly away from the tomb, in a mixture of terror and great delight, and went to tell his disciples. ⁹ Suddenly, there was Jesus himself. He met them and said, “Greetings!” They came up to him and took hold of his feet, prostrating themselves in front of him.

¹⁰ “Don’t be afraid,” said Jesus to them. “Go and tell my brothers that they should go to Galilee. Tell them they’ll see me there.”

The priests and the guards

¹¹ While the women were on their way, some of the soldiers who had been on guard went into the city and told the chief priests everything that had happened. ¹² They called an emergency meeting with the elders, allotted a substantial sum of money, and gave it to the soldiers.

¹³ “This,” they told them, “is what you are to say: ‘His disciples came in the night, while we were asleep, and stole him away.’ ¹⁴ And if this gets reported to the governor, we’ll explain it to him and make sure you stay out of trouble.”

¹⁵ They took the money and did as they had been instructed. And this story still goes the rounds among the Jews to this day.

The Great Commission

¹⁶ So the eleven disciples went off to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had instructed them to go. ¹⁷ There they saw him, and worshiped him, though some hesitated.

¹⁸ Jesus came towards them and addressed them.

“All authority in heaven and on earth,” he said, “has been given to me! ¹⁹ So you must go and make all the nations into disciples. Baptize them in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy spirit. ²⁰ Teach them to observe everything I have commanded you. And look: I am with you, every single day, to the very end of the age.”

The resurrection

16 When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome brought spices so that they could come and anoint Jesus. ² Then, very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb, just at sunrise. ³ They were saying to one another, “There’s that stone at the door of the tomb—who’s going to roll it away for us?”

⁴ Then, when they looked up, they saw that it had been rolled away. (It was extremely large.)

⁵ So they went into the tomb, and there they saw a young man sitting on the right-hand side. He was wearing white. They were totally astonished.

⁶ “Don’t be astonished,” he said to them. “You’re looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has been raised! He isn’t here! Look—this is the place where they laid him.

⁷ “But go and tell his disciples—including Peter—that he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You’ll see him there, just like he told you.”

⁸ They went out, and fled from the tomb. Trembling and panic had seized them. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

Two extra endings

[[They gave a brief account to the people around Peter of what they had been told. After this, Jesus himself sent out from East to West, through their work, the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation. Amen.]]

⁹ [When Jesus was raised, early on the first day of the week, he appeared first of all to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. ¹⁰ She went and told the people who had been with him, who were mourning and weeping. ¹¹ When they heard that he was alive, and that he had been seen by her, they didn’t believe it.

¹² After this he appeared in a different guise to two of them as they were walking into the countryside. ¹³ They came back and told the others, but they didn’t believe them.

¹⁴ Later Jesus appeared to the eleven themselves, as they were at table. He told them off for their unbelief and hardheartedness, for not believing those who had seen him after he had been raised.

¹⁵ “Go into all the world,” he said to them, “and announce the message to all creation. ¹⁶ Anyone who believes and is baptized will be rescued, but people who don’t believe will be condemned. ¹⁷ And these signs will happen around those who believe: they will drive out demons in my name, they will speak with new tongues, ¹⁸ they will pick up serpents in their hands; and if they drink anything poisonous it won’t harm them. They will lay their hands on the sick, and they will get better.”

¹⁹ When the Lord Jesus had spoken with them, he was taken up into heaven, and sat down at God’s right hand. ²⁰ They went out and announced the message everywhere. The Lord worked with them, validating their message by the signs that accompanied them.]