Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Peter speaks to Cornelius and to his family and friends

³⁴ Then Peter said to them, ‘Now I understand that God accepts all people in the same way. God has shown me that this is true. ³⁵ God accepts all people who worship him and who do the right things. It is not important to God which nation a person belongs to. ³⁶ This is the message that God has sent to the people of Israel. He told us the good news about Jesus Christ, who is the Lord of all people. Because of Jesus, we can now come near to God again. ³⁷ You know about the important things that have happened everywhere in Judea. These things began in Galilee after John spoke God's message to the people. He baptized those people who believed in God. ³⁸ You know that God chose Jesus to do special work for him. He gave Jesus his Holy Spirit and helped him to do powerful things. Jesus came from the town of Nazareth. He travelled to many places and he did good things. The Devil had power over some people. But Jesus caused all those people to become well again. He could do those powerful things because God was with him.

³⁹ We saw everything that Jesus did in Jerusalem and in all Judea. The leaders in Jerusalem fixed Jesus to a cross and they killed him. ⁴⁰ But then, three days after that, God caused Jesus to become alive again. God caused him to appear to us. ⁴¹ Not all the people saw him. God chose us to be Jesus' apostles and we saw him. Now we are telling people about all these things. We ate and we drank with Jesus after he became alive again. ⁴² At that time, Jesus said to us, “Go and tell people the message about me. Tell them that God has given me authority to judge all people. I will judge those who are now alive. And I will judge those who have died.” ’ ⁴³ Then Peter said, ‘All of God's prophets spoke about Jesus as God's Messiah. They said that God would forgive everyone who believes in him. He would forgive them for their sins because of what Jesus, the Messiah, would do.’

The Israelites will return to their own land

31 The Lord says this:

² The Lord says,

God is good, so thank him^[a]

The old life and the new life

3 God has raised you with Christ to a new life. So you should want more and more the things that belong to heaven. That is where Christ is now. He sits there at God's right side. ² So think about the good things that are there in heaven above. Do not think only about things that are on the earth. ³ Remember that your old nature has died. God is keeping your new life safe with Christ. ⁴ You have that new life because you belong to Christ. One day, Christ will show himself clearly to everyone. Then everyone will see that you are with him. They will see that you also are great, like he is.

Peter speaks to Cornelius and to his family and friends

³⁴ Then Peter said to them, ‘Now I understand that God accepts all people in the same way. God has shown me that this is true. ³⁵ God accepts all people who worship him and who do the right things. It is not important to God which nation a person belongs to. ³⁶ This is the message that God has sent to the people of Israel. He told us the good news about Jesus Christ, who is the Lord of all people. Because of Jesus, we can now come near to God again. ³⁷ You know about the important things that have happened everywhere in Judea. These things began in Galilee after John spoke God's message to the people. He baptized those people who believed in God. ³⁸ You know that God chose Jesus to do special work for him. He gave Jesus his Holy Spirit and helped him to do powerful things. Jesus came from the town of Nazareth. He travelled to many places and he did good things. The Devil had power over some people. But Jesus caused all those people to become well again. He could do those powerful things because God was with him.

³⁹ We saw everything that Jesus did in Jerusalem and in all Judea. The leaders in Jerusalem fixed Jesus to a cross and they killed him. ⁴⁰ But then, three days after that, God caused Jesus to become alive again. God caused him to appear to us. ⁴¹ Not all the people saw him. God chose us to be Jesus' apostles and we saw him. Now we are telling people about all these things. We ate and we drank with Jesus after he became alive again. ⁴² At that time, Jesus said to us, “Go and tell people the message about me. Tell them that God has given me authority to judge all people. I will judge those who are now alive. And I will judge those who have died.” ’ ⁴³ Then Peter said, ‘All of God's prophets spoke about Jesus as God's Messiah. They said that God would forgive everyone who believes in him. He would forgive them for their sins because of what Jesus, the Messiah, would do.’

The hole in the rock is empty

20 Early on the first day of the week, Mary from Magdala went to the hole in the rock. It was still dark. She saw that someone had removed the big stone from the front of the hole. ² So she ran to where Simon Peter was. He was with the other disciple, the one that Jesus loved. She said to them, ‘Somebody has taken the Lord's body out of the hole. We do not know where they have put him!’

³ So Peter and the other disciple started to go to the place where Jesus' body had been. ⁴ Both of them were running. But the other disciple ran faster than Peter ran. So he reached the hole first. ⁵ He bent himself down and he looked inside the hole. He saw the pieces of linen cloth that were lying there. But he did not go in. ⁶ Simon Peter had run behind the other disciple. When he arrived, he went into the hole. He saw the pieces of cloth that were lying there. ⁷ Also, he saw the piece of cloth that had been around Jesus' head. This was not in the same place as the long pieces of linen cloth. Someone had put it carefully in a separate place. ⁸ The other disciple had reached the place first, and now he also went inside. He saw and he believed. ⁹ They still did not understand what the Bible already said. It said that Jesus had to become alive again after he had died.^[a]

Jesus appears to Mary from Magdala

¹⁰ Then the disciples returned to the place where they were staying. ¹¹ But Mary stood outside the hole in the rock. She was crying. While she cried, she bent herself down to look inside the hole. ¹² She saw two angels there. They were wearing white clothes. They were sitting where Jesus' dead body had been. One angel was sitting where Jesus' head had been. The other angel was sitting where his feet had been.

¹³ They asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying?’ She replied, ‘They have taken away my Lord. I do not know where they have put him.’ ¹⁴ When she had said this, she turned round. She saw a man who was standing there. It was Jesus, but she did not recognize him. ¹⁵ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?’ Mary thought that he was the gardener. So she said, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away somewhere, please tell me. Tell me where you have put him. Then I will go and I will take him away.’

¹⁶ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned towards him and she said in the Jewish language, ‘Rabboni!’ (This means ‘Teacher’.) ¹⁷ Jesus said, ‘Do not hold on to me because I have not gone up to the Father yet. But go to my brothers, the disciples. Tell them, “Now I will go up to my Father. He is also your Father. He is my God, and he is your God.” ’ ¹⁸ Mary from Magdala took this message to the disciples. She went to them and she said, ‘I have seen the Lord!’ Then she told them the things that Jesus had said to her.

Jesus becomes alive again

28 After the day of rest had finished, Mary from Magdala and Mary the mother of James got up early. It was dawn on the first day of the week. They went to the hole in the rock where Joseph had put the dead body of Jesus.

² At that moment, the ground moved about very strongly. One of the Lord God's angels came from heaven. He went to the rock. He rolled the big stone away from the hole and then he sat on top of it. ³ He shone brightly like lightning. His clothes were very white like snow. ⁴ The soldiers who were carefully watching that place were very frightened. They suddenly fell down on the ground. Like dead men, they could not move.

⁵ Then the angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid. I know that you are looking for Jesus. The soldiers killed him on a cross. ⁶ But he is not here. He has become alive again. That is what he said would happen. Come here. You can see the place where he was lying. ⁷ Then you must go quickly to his disciples. Tell them, “Jesus is alive again, and he is going to Galilee. You must also go there and you will see him.” That is the message that I have brought for you.’

⁸ So the women went away quickly from the hole in the rock. They were very frightened, but they were also very happy. They ran to tell the disciples the angel's message. ⁹ At that moment, Jesus met the two women and he said, ‘Hello.’ They went near to him. They held on to his feet and they worshipped him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. Go and tell my disciples to go to Galilee. They will see me there.’