Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Jesus meets with Saul

9 All this time, Saul was still speaking strongly against the disciples of the Lord Jesus. He wanted to kill all the believers. So he went to see the most important priest in Jerusalem. ² Saul asked him, ‘Please will you write some letters for me?^[a] Then I can give one of these letters to the leader of each Jewish group in Damascus.^[b] That will give me authority to take hold of any believers that I find there.’

Saul wanted to find anyone who agreed with the Way of the Lord Jesus.^[c] Then he would tie them and bring them back to Jerusalem, whether they were men or they were women. ³ He travelled towards Damascus. He was very near the city when a bright light suddenly appeared. The light came from the sky, and it shone all around him. ⁴ Saul fell down onto the ground. He heard a voice which said to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you fight against me?’

⁵ Saul asked, ‘Lord, who are you?’ He said, ‘I am Jesus. And you are fighting against me. ⁶ Now you must get up and go into the city. Someone there will tell you what you must do.’

⁷ The men who were travelling with Saul stood still. They could not say anything. They could hear that someone was speaking. But they could not see anyone. ⁸ Saul stood up. He opened his eyes, but he could not see anything. So the men who were with Saul held his hand. They led him into Damascus. ⁹ For three days, Saul could not see anything. During that time, he did not eat any food or drink anything.

¹⁰ There was a believer who lived in Damascus. His name was Ananias. God gave him a message in a vision. The Lord Jesus said to him, ‘Ananias!’ Ananias answered, ‘Lord, I am here.’

¹¹ Jesus said to Ananias, ‘Prepare yourself and go to Straight Street. A man called Judas lives on that street. Go to his house. When you get there, ask for a man from Tarsus who is called Saul. He is praying to God. ¹² He has had a message from God in a vision. In his vision, he saw a man who is called Ananias come to him. He saw you put your hands on him so that he could see again.’

¹³ Ananias replied, ‘Lord, many people have told me about this man. He has done very bad things to your own people, the believers in Jerusalem. ¹⁴ Now he has come here to Damascus, and he has brought letters with him from the leaders of the priests. They have given him authority, so that he will take hold of everyone who believes in you. He will tie them and put them in prison.’

¹⁵ But the Lord said to Ananias, ‘Go now to Saul! I have chosen him to work for me. He will go to those who are not Jews and to their rulers. He will tell them about me. He will also tell the people of Israel about me. ¹⁶ I myself will tell him about the many troubles that he will have. He will have much pain on my behalf.’

¹⁷ So Ananias went to Judas's house and he went inside. He put his hands on Saul and he said to him, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus himself has sent me here to you.^[a] It was Jesus that you saw on the road when you were coming here to Damascus. He has sent me to you so that you will be able to see again. God will also fill you with his Holy Spirit.’

¹⁸ When Ananias said that, immediately something like bits of fish skin fell from Saul's eyes. Then Saul could see again. So he stood up and Ananias baptized him. ¹⁹ Then Saul ate some food and he became strong again.

Saul teaches people about Jesus

Saul stayed with the believers in Damascus for a few days. ²⁰ He immediately went to the Jewish meeting places and he taught people about Jesus. He told them that Jesus is the Son of God.

David wrote this song. He asks God to bless the Temple.

Thank you, Lord^[a]

¹¹ Then I looked again, and I heard the voices of many angels. There were thousands and millions of them. They were standing around the throne, with the beings that are alive and the leaders. ¹² They all sang with loud voices:

¹³ Then I heard everything that is alive singing. That was everything in heaven and everything on the earth, and everything under the earth and everything in the sea. They were singing:

¹⁴ The four beings that are alive agreed. They said, ‘Yes, this is true.’ The leaders fell down and they worshipped God and the Lamb.^[a]

Jesus shows himself to the disciples again

21 After that, Jesus showed himself to the disciples again when they were by Lake Tiberias.^[a] This is how it happened. ² Simon Peter, Thomas the Twin and Nathanael were together. (Nathanael came from Cana in Galilee.) The sons of Zebedee (James and John) and two other disciples were also there. ³ Simon Peter said to the other disciples, ‘I will now go and catch fish.’ They replied, ‘We will come with you.’ So they went out and they got into the boat. But they caught nothing during that night.

⁴ Early in the morning, Jesus was standing on the shore of the lake. But the disciples did not know that it was Jesus who stood there. ⁵ Then Jesus asked them, ‘Friends, have you caught any fish?’ They answered, ‘No!’ ⁶ He said, ‘Throw your net out on the right side of the boat. If you do that, you will catch some fish.’ So they threw the net out into the water. Then they caught so many fish that they could not pull the net back into the boat.

⁷ The disciple that Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ When Simon Peter heard him say, ‘It is the Lord,’ he put on his coat. (He had been wearing only a few clothes.) Then he jumped into the water. ⁸ The other disciples followed him in the boat. They pulled the net that was full of fish behind them. They were not far from the shore. It was about 100 metres away. ⁹ When they came to the shore, they saw that someone had lit a fire. Some fish were cooking on it. There was some bread there, too. ¹⁰ Jesus said to them, ‘Bring here some of the fish that you have just caught.’

¹¹ Simon Peter got back into the boat and he pulled the net onto the shore. It was full of 153 big fish. There were so many fish, but the net had not broken. ¹² Jesus said to them, ‘Come here and eat breakfast.’ None of the disciples was brave enough to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ They knew that it was the Lord. ¹³ So Jesus took the bread and he gave it to them. Then he did the same with the fish.

¹⁴ After Jesus died and became alive again, this was now the third time that he showed himself to his disciples.

Jesus talks to Peter

¹⁵ When they had finished eating, Jesus spoke to Simon Peter. He said, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these other disciples love me?’ Peter answered, ‘Yes Lord, you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’

¹⁶ Jesus asked him a second time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ Peter answered, ‘Yes Lord, you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Take care of my sheep.’ ¹⁷ Jesus asked him a third time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’^[b] Peter was sad because Jesus asked him a third time, ‘Do you love me?’ So he said to Jesus, ‘Lord, you know everything. You know that I really love you!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Take care of my sheep. ¹⁸ I tell you this: When you were young, you put on your own clothes. Then you went to any place that you wanted to visit. But when you are old, it will be different. You will hold out your arms and someone else will tie your clothes for you. Then they will take you to a place where you do not want to go.’ ¹⁹ When Jesus said this, he was showing how Peter would die.^[c] His death would give honour to God. Then Jesus said to Peter, ‘Follow me.’