Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Peter Responds: God Raised Jesus As The Savior of Israel. We Are Witnesses

²⁷ And having brought them, they stood them in the council^[a] [chamber]. And the high priest questioned them, ²⁸ saying, “Did we not command you with a command not to be teaching on the basis of this name? And behold— you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching. And you intend^[b] to bring the blood of this man upon us”. ²⁹ But having responded, Peter and the apostles said, “It-is-necessary to obey God rather than people. ³⁰ The God of our fathers raised Jesus— Whom you murdered, having hung Him on a cross. ³¹ God exalted this One to His right hand as Leader^[c] and Savior, that He might grant repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. ³² And we are witnesses of these things. And so is the Holy Spirit, Whom God gave to the ones obeying Him”.

⁴ John, to the seven churches in Asia: Grace to you and peace from the One Who is and Who was and Who is coming, and from the seven Spirits^[a] that are before His throne, ⁵ and from Jesus Christ— the Faithful Witness, the Firstborn of the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth.

To the One loving us and having released^[b] us from our sins by His blood— ⁶ and He made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father— to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever, amen. ⁷ Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him— even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth^[c] will beat-their-breasts over Him. Yes! Amen!

⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega”, says the Lord God, “the One Who is and Who was and Who is coming, the Almighty”.

That Evening, Jesus Meets Ten of The Disciples And Says, Receive The Holy Spirit

¹⁹ Then— being evening on that first^[a] day of the week, and the doors having been locked where the disciples were because of the fear of the Jews— Jesus came and stood in their midst. And He says to them, “Peace to you”. ²⁰ And having said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples rejoiced, having seen the Lord. ²¹ Then Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you. Just as the Father has sent Me forth, I also am sending you”. ²² And having said this, He breathed-on^[b] them. And He says to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive the sins of any, they have been forgiven for them. If you retain^[c] the sins of any, they have been retained”.

After Eight Days, Jesus Meets Thomas, Who Says, My Lord And My God!

²⁴ Now Thomas, one of the twelve, the one being called Didymus^[d], was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵ So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But the one said to them, “Unless I see the mark^[e] of the nails in His hands, and put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will by no means believe”. ²⁶ And after eight days, His disciples were again inside, and Thomas was with them. Jesus comes— the doors having been locked. And He stood in their midst and said, “Peace to you”. ²⁷ Then He says to Thomas, “Bring your finger here and see My hands. And bring your hand and put it into My side. And do not be unbelieving, but believing”. ²⁸ Thomas responded and said to Him^[f], “My Lord and my God!” ²⁹ Jesus says to him, “You have believed because you have seen Me. Blessed are the ones not having seen and having believed”.

Jesus Did Many Other Signs

³⁰ Then indeed Jesus also did many other signs^[g] in the presence of His disciples, which have not been written in this book. ³¹ But these things have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and so that believing, you may have life in His name.