Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Peter Speaks to the Crowd
14 Peter stood with the eleven apostles and spoke in a loud and clear voice to the crowd:
Friends and everyone else living in Jerusalem, listen carefully to what I have to say!
36 Everyone in Israel should then know for certain that God has made Jesus both Lord and Christ, even though you put him to death on a cross.
37 When the people heard this, they were very upset. They asked Peter and the other apostles, “Friends, what should we do?”
38 Peter said to them, “Turn to God and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 This promise is for you and your children. It is for everyone our Lord God will choose, no matter where they live.”
40 Peter told them many other things as well. Then he said, “I beg you to save yourselves from what will happen to all these evil people.” 41 On that day about 3,000 believed his message and were baptized.
When the Lord Saves You from Death
1 I love you, Lord!
You answered my prayers.
2 You paid attention to me,
and so I will pray to you
as long as I live.
3 Death attacked from all sides,
and I was captured
by its painful chains.
But when I was really hurting,
4 I prayed and said, “Lord,
please don't let me die!”
12 What must I give you, Lord,
for being so good to me?
13 I will pour out an offering
of wine to you,
and I will pray in your name
because you
have saved me.
14 I will keep my promise to you
when your people meet.
15 You are deeply concerned
when one of your loyal people
faces death.
16 I worship you, Lord,
just as my mother did,
and you have rescued me
from the chains of death.
17 I will offer you a sacrifice
to show how grateful I am,
and I will pray.
18 I will keep my promise to you
when your people
19 gather at your temple
in Jerusalem.
Shout praises to the Lord!
17 You say that God is your Father, but God doesn't have favorites! He judges all people by what they do. So you must honor God while you live as strangers here on earth. 18 You were rescued[a] from the useless way of life you learned from your ancestors. But you know you were not rescued by such things as silver or gold that don't last forever. 19 (A) You were rescued by the precious blood of Christ, that spotless and innocent lamb. 20 Christ was chosen even before the world was created, but because of you, he did not come until these last days. 21 And when he did come, it was to lead you to have faith in God, who raised him from death and honored him in a glorious way. This is why you have put your faith and hope in God.
22 You obeyed the truth,[b] and your souls were made pure. Now you sincerely love each other. But you must keep on loving with all your heart. 23 Do this because God has given you new birth by his message that lives on forever.
Jesus Appears to Two Disciples
(Mark 16.12,13)
13 That same day two of Jesus' disciples were going to the village of Emmaus, which was about eleven kilometers from Jerusalem. 14 As they were talking and thinking about what had happened, 15 Jesus came near and started walking along beside them. 16 But they did not know who he was.
17 Jesus asked them, “What were you talking about as you walked along?”
The two of them stood there looking sad and gloomy. 18 Then the one named Cleopas asked Jesus, “Are you the only person from Jerusalem who didn't know what was happening there these last few days?”
19 “What do you mean?” Jesus asked.
They answered:
Those things that happened to Jesus from Nazareth. By what he did and said he showed that he was a powerful prophet, who pleased God and all the people. 20 Then the chief priests and our leaders had him arrested and sentenced to die on a cross. 21 We had hoped that he would be the one to set Israel free! But it has already been three days since all this happened.
22 Some women in our group surprised us. They had gone to the tomb early in the morning, 23 but did not find the body of Jesus. They came back, saying they had seen a vision of angels who told them that he is alive. 24 Some men from our group went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said. But they didn't see Jesus either.
25 Then Jesus asked the two disciples, “Why can't you understand? How can you be so slow to believe all that the prophets said? 26 Didn't you know that the Messiah would have to suffer before he was given his glory?” 27 Jesus then explained everything written about himself in the Scriptures, beginning with the Law of Moses and the Books of the Prophets.[a]
28 When the two of them came near the village where they were going, Jesus seemed to be going farther. 29 They begged him, “Stay with us! It's already late, and the sun is going down.” So Jesus went into the house to stay with them.
30 After Jesus sat down to eat, he took some bread. He blessed it and broke it. Then he gave it to them. 31 At once they knew who he was, but he disappeared. 32 They said to each other, “When he talked with us along the road and explained the Scriptures to us, didn't it warm our hearts?” 33 So they got up and returned to Jerusalem.
The two disciples found the eleven apostles and the others gathered together. 34 And they learned from the group that the Lord was really alive and had appeared to Peter. 35 Then the disciples from Emmaus told what happened on the road and how they knew he was the Lord when he broke the bread.
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