Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

³⁶ There was a woman called Tabitha who lived in Joppa.^[a] She was a believer. In the Greek language, her name was Dorcas, which means ‘deer’.^[b] She was always doing good things to help people. She gave poor people the things that they needed.

³⁷ Dorcas became very ill and then she died. Women washed her body and they put it in a room upstairs. ³⁸ Joppa was not very far from Lydda. The believers in Joppa heard that Peter was in Lydda. So they sent two men to go and to tell him, ‘Please hurry and come to Joppa.’

³⁹ Peter then returned to Joppa with the two men. When he arrived at Dorcas's house, some women took him upstairs. Many widows were there and they were crying. They all stood there, near to Peter. They showed him the shirts and coats that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

⁴⁰ Peter sent all these women out of the room. He went down on his knees and he prayed to God. Then he turned his head towards the dead woman and he said, ‘Tabitha, stand up!’ She opened her eyes. When she saw Peter, she sat up. ⁴¹ Peter held her hand and he helped her to stand up. Then he told the widows and all the believers to come into the room. He showed them that Dorcas was alive again.

⁴² People everywhere in Joppa heard what had happened. As a result, many more people believed in the Lord Jesus. ⁴³ Peter stayed in Joppa for many days. He stayed with a man called Simon, who was a tanner.^[c]

This is a song that David wrote.

God takes care of his people^[a]

The large crowd who were wearing white clothes

⁹ After this, I looked again. I saw a very big crowd of people. There were so many people that nobody could count them. They came from every nation, from every tribe and from every language. They were standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing long white clothes and they held branches of palm trees in their hands.^[a]

¹⁰ They shouted loudly:

¹¹ All the angels were standing around the throne, and around the leaders and the four beings. The angels all bent down so that their faces touched the ground. They worshipped God who was on the throne in front of them. ¹² They said:

¹³ Then one of the leaders asked me, ‘Who are these people in white clothes? Where did they come from?’

¹⁴ I replied, ‘You surely know who they are, sir.’

He said to me, ‘They are the people who have had a time of very bad trouble. Now they have come out of that. They have washed their clothes in the blood of the Lamb. Now their clothes are white and clean.^{[b] 15} Because of that, they are now standing in front of God's throne. They serve God in his house all the time, day and night. And God will keep them safe because he is with them. ¹⁶ They will never again be hungry. They will never be thirsty. The sun will not burn them, nor will any other strong heat burn them. ¹⁷ The Lamb is there with them, near to God's throne. He will take care of them, like a shepherd with his sheep. He will take them to drink fresh water that gives people life. They will no longer be sad. God will take away all the tears from their eyes.’

The Jewish leaders do not believe in Jesus

²² It was the time for the Jewish Festival called Hanukkah.^[a] This happened in Jerusalem. It was winter.

²³ Jesus was walking in the yard of the temple, under a place with a roof. The place was called Solomon's porch. ²⁴ The Jewish leaders stood around him. They said to him, ‘We want to know who you are. When will you tell us? If you are the Messiah, tell us clearly.’ ²⁵ Jesus answered, ‘I have already told you, but you do not believe. The things that I do by my Father's authority show you who I am. ²⁶ But you refuse to believe, because you are not my sheep. ²⁷ My sheep recognize my voice. I know them and they follow me. ²⁸ I give them life for ever with God. They will never die. Nobody can ever take them away from me. ²⁹ My Father has given them to me. He is greater than all things. Nobody can ever take my sheep out of my Father's hand. ³⁰ My Father and I are one.’