Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Signs of the new covenant

³² The company of those who believed had one heart and soul. Nobody said that they owned their property; instead, they had everything in common. ³³ The apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus with great power, and great grace was upon all of them. ³⁴ For there was no needy person among them, since any who possessed lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sale, ³⁵ and placed it at the feet of the apostles, who then gave to each according to their need.

The Word of Life

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have gazed at, and our hands have handled—concerning the Word of Life! ² That life was displayed, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and we announce to you the life of God’s coming age, which was with the father and was displayed to us. ³ That which we have seen and heard, we announce to you too, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the father, and with his son Jesus the Messiah. ⁴ We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

God’s light and our darkness

⁵ This is the message which we have heard from him, and announce to you: God is light, and there is no darkness at all in him. ⁶ If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the dark, we are telling lies, and not doing what is true. ⁷ But if we walk in the light, just as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his son makes us pure and clean from all sin. ⁸ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say that we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar, and his word is not in us.

2 My children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. If anyone does sin, we have one who pleads our cause before the father—namely, the Righteous One, Jesus the Messiah! ² He is the sacrifice which atones for our sins—and not ours only, either, but those of the whole world.

Jesus and the disciples

¹⁹ On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Judaeans. Jesus came and stood in the middle of them.

“Peace be with you,” he said.

²⁰ With these words, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were overjoyed when they saw the master.

²¹ “Peace be with you,” Jesus said to them again. “As the father has sent me, so I’m sending you.”

²² With that, he breathed on them.

“Receive the holy spirit,” he said. ²³ “If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you retain anyone’s sins, they are retained.”

Jesus and Thomas

²⁴ One of the Twelve, Thomas (also known as Didymus), wasn’t with them when Jesus came. ²⁵ So the other disciples spoke to him.

“We’ve seen the master!” they said.

“Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands,” replied Thomas, “and put my finger into the nail-marks, and put my hand into his side—I’m not going to believe!”

²⁶ A week later the disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. The doors were shut. Jesus came and stood in the middle of them.

“Peace be with you!” he said.

²⁷ Then he addressed Thomas.

“Bring your finger here,” he said, “and inspect my hands. Bring your hand here and put it into my side. Don’t be faithless! Just believe!”

²⁸ “My Lord,” replied Thomas, “and my God!”

²⁹ “Is it because you’ve seen me that you believe?” replied Jesus. “God’s blessing on people who don’t see, and yet believe!”

³⁰ Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which aren’t written in this book. ³¹ But these ones are written so that you may believe that the Messiah, the son of God, is none other than Jesus; and that, with this faith, you may have life in his name.