Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Peter Speaks in the House of Cornelius

³⁴ Peter began to speak: “I really understand now that God does not consider some people to be better than others. ³⁵ He accepts anyone who worships him and does what is right. It is not important what nation they come from. ³⁶ God has spoken to the people of Israel. He sent them the Good News that peace has come through Jesus Christ, the Lord of all people.

³⁷ “You know what has happened all over Judea. It began in Galilee after John told the people they needed to be baptized. ³⁸ You know about Jesus from Nazareth. God made him the Messiah by giving him the Holy Spirit and power. Jesus went everywhere doing good for people. He healed those who were ruled by the devil, showing that God was with him.

³⁹ “We saw all that Jesus did in Judea and in Jerusalem. But he was killed. They put him on a cross made of wood. ⁴⁰ But on the third day after his death, God raised him to life and let him be seen openly. ⁴¹ He was not seen by everyone, but only by us, the ones God had already chosen to be witnesses. We ate and drank with him after he was raised from death.

⁴² “Jesus told us to go and speak to the people. He told us to tell them that he is the one God chose to be the Judge of all who are living and all who have died. ⁴³ Everyone who believes in Jesus will have their sins forgiven through his name. All the prophets agree that this is true.”

God’s Banquet for His Servants

⁶ The Lord All-Powerful will give a feast for all the people on this mountain. At the feast, there will be the best foods and wines. The meat will be good and tender, the wine pure and clear.

⁷ But now there is a veil covering all nations and people. This veil is called “death.” ⁸ But death will be destroyed forever.^[a] And the Lord God will wipe away every tear from every face. In the past, all of his people were sad, but God will take away that sadness from the earth. All of this will happen because the Lord said it would.

The Good News About Jesus Christ

15 Now, brothers and sisters, I want you to remember the Good News I told you. You received that Good News message, and you continue to base your life on it. ² That Good News, the message you heard from me, is God’s way to save you. But you must continue believing it. If you don’t, you believed for nothing.

³ I gave you the message that I received. I told you the most important truths: that Christ died for our sins, as the Scriptures say; ⁴ that he was buried and was raised to life on the third day, as the Scriptures say; ⁵ and that he appeared to Peter and then to the twelve apostles. ⁶ After that Christ appeared to more than 500 other believers at the same time. Most of them are still living today, but some have died. ⁷ Then he appeared to James and later to all the apostles. ⁸ Last of all, he appeared to me. I was different, like a baby born before the normal time.

⁹ All the other apostles are greater than I am. I say this because I persecuted the church of God. That is why I am not even good enough to be called an apostle. ¹⁰ But, because of God’s grace, that is what I am. And his grace that he gave me was not wasted. I worked harder than all the other apostles. (But I was not really the one working. It was God’s grace that was with me.) ¹¹ So then it is not important if I told you God’s message or if it was the other apostles who told you—we all tell people the same message, and this is what you believed.

Peter Speaks in the House of Cornelius

³⁴ Peter began to speak: “I really understand now that God does not consider some people to be better than others. ³⁵ He accepts anyone who worships him and does what is right. It is not important what nation they come from. ³⁶ God has spoken to the people of Israel. He sent them the Good News that peace has come through Jesus Christ, the Lord of all people.

³⁷ “You know what has happened all over Judea. It began in Galilee after John told the people they needed to be baptized. ³⁸ You know about Jesus from Nazareth. God made him the Messiah by giving him the Holy Spirit and power. Jesus went everywhere doing good for people. He healed those who were ruled by the devil, showing that God was with him.

³⁹ “We saw all that Jesus did in Judea and in Jerusalem. But he was killed. They put him on a cross made of wood. ⁴⁰ But on the third day after his death, God raised him to life and let him be seen openly. ⁴¹ He was not seen by everyone, but only by us, the ones God had already chosen to be witnesses. We ate and drank with him after he was raised from death.

⁴² “Jesus told us to go and speak to the people. He told us to tell them that he is the one God chose to be the Judge of all who are living and all who have died. ⁴³ Everyone who believes in Jesus will have their sins forgiven through his name. All the prophets agree that this is true.”

News That Jesus Has Risen From Death^(A)

20 Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb. She saw that the large stone was moved away from the entrance. ² So she ran to Simon Peter and the other follower (the one Jesus loved very much). She said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.”

³ So Peter and the other follower started going to the tomb. ⁴ They were both running, but the other follower ran faster than Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ He bent down and looked in. He saw the pieces of linen cloth lying there, but he did not go in.

⁶ Then Simon Peter finally reached the tomb and went in. He saw the pieces of linen lying there. ⁷ He also saw the cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. It was folded up and laid in a different place from the pieces of linen. ⁸ Then the other follower went in—the one who had reached the tomb first. He saw what had happened and believed. ⁹ (These followers did not yet understand from the Scriptures that Jesus must rise from death.)

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene^(B)

¹⁰ Then the followers went back home. ¹¹ But Mary stood outside the tomb, crying. While she was crying, she bent down and looked inside the tomb. ¹² She saw two angels dressed in white sitting where Jesus’ body had been. One was sitting where the head had been; the other was sitting where the feet had been.

¹³ The angels asked Mary, “Woman, why are you crying?”

Mary answered, “They took away the body of my Lord, and I don’t know where they put him.” ¹⁴ When Mary said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there. But she did not know that it was Jesus.

¹⁵ He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?”

She thought he was the man in charge of the garden. So she said to him, “Did you take him away, sir? Tell me where you put him. I will go and get him.”

¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and said in Aramaic, “Rabboni,” which means “Teacher.”

¹⁷ Jesus said to her, “You don’t need to hold on to me! I have not yet gone back up to the Father. But go to my followers^[a] and tell them this: ‘I am going back to my Father and your Father. I am going back to my God and your God.’”

¹⁸ Mary Magdalene went to the followers and told them, “I saw the Lord!” And she told them what he had said to her.

News That Jesus Has Risen From Death^(A)

16 The next day after the Sabbath day, Mary Magdalene, Salome, and Mary the mother of James bought some sweet-smelling spices to put on Jesus’ body. ² Very early on that day, the first day of the week, the women were going to the tomb. It was very early after sunrise. ³ The women said to each other, “There is a large stone covering the entrance of the tomb. Who will move the stone for us?”

⁴ Then the women looked and saw that the stone was moved. The stone was very large, but it was moved away from the entrance. ⁵ The women walked into the tomb and saw a young man there wearing a white robe. He was sitting on the right side of the tomb. The women were afraid.

⁶ But the man said, “Don’t be afraid. You are looking for Jesus from Nazareth, the one who was killed on a cross. He has risen from death! He is not here. Look, here is the place they put him when he was dead. ⁷ Now go and tell his followers. And be sure to tell Peter. Tell them, ‘Jesus is going into Galilee and will be there before you come. You will see him there, as he told you before.’”

⁸ The women were very afraid and confused. They left the tomb and ran away. They did not tell about what happened, because they were afraid.^[a]