Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

⁹ That night Paul saw a vision. In it, a man from Macedonia came to Paul. The man stood there and begged, “Come across to Macedonia and help us.” ¹⁰ After Paul had seen the vision, we^[a] immediately prepared to leave for Macedonia. We understood that God had called us to tell the Good News to those people.

The Conversion of Lydia

¹¹ We left Troas in a ship and sailed to the island of Samothrace. The next day we sailed to the city of Neapolis. ¹² Then we went to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city in that part of Macedonia. We stayed there for a few days.

¹³ On the Sabbath day we went out the city gate to the river. There we thought we might find a special place for prayer. Some women had gathered there, so we sat down and talked with them. ¹⁴ There was a woman there named Lydia from the city of Thyatira. Her job was selling purple cloth. She was a worshiper of the true God. Lydia was listening to Paul, and the Lord opened her heart to accept what Paul was saying. ¹⁵ She and all the people living in her house were baptized. Then she invited us into her home. She said, “If you think I am a true believer in the Lord Jesus, come stay in my house.” She persuaded us to stay with her.

To the director: With instruments. A song of praise.

¹⁰ The angel carried me away by the Spirit to a very large and high mountain. The angel showed me the holy city, Jerusalem. The city was coming down out of heaven from God.

²² I did not see a temple in the city. The Lord God All-Powerful and the Lamb were the city’s temple. ²³ The city did not need the sun or the moon to shine on it. The glory of God gave the city light. The Lamb was the city’s lamp.

²⁴ The peoples of the world will walk by the light given by the Lamb. The rulers of the earth will bring their glory into the city. ²⁵ The city’s gates will never close on any day, because there is no night there. ²⁶ The greatness and the honor of the nations will be brought into the city. ²⁷ Nothing unclean will ever enter the city. No one who does shameful things or tells lies will ever enter the city. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life will enter the city.

22 The angel showed me the river of the water of life, clear as crystal. The river flows from the throne of God and the Lamb. ² It flows down the middle of the street of the city. The tree of life is on each side of the river, and it produces fruit every month, twelve times a year. The leaves of the tree are for healing the nations.

³ Nothing that God judges guilty will be there in that city. The throne of God and the Lamb will be in the city. God’s servants will worship him. ⁴ They will see his face. God’s name will be written on their foreheads. ⁵ There will never be night again. People will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun. The Lord God will give them light. And they will rule like kings forever and ever.

²³ Jesus answered, “All who love me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them. My Father and I will come to them and live with them. ²⁴ But anyone who does not love me does not obey my teaching. This teaching that you hear is not really mine. It is from my Father who sent me.

²⁵ “I have told you all these things while I am with you. ²⁶ But the Helper will teach you everything and cause you to remember all that I told you. This Helper is the Holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name.

²⁷ “I leave you peace. It is my own peace I give you. I give you peace in a different way than the world does. So don’t be troubled. Don’t be afraid. ²⁸ You heard me say to you, ‘I am leaving, but I will come back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be happy that I am going back to the Father, because the Father is greater than I am. ²⁹ I have told you this now, before it happens. Then when it happens, you will believe.

Jesus Heals a Man at a Pool

5 Later, Jesus went to Jerusalem for a special Jewish festival. ² In Jerusalem there is a pool with five covered porches. In Aramaic it is called Bethzatha.^[a] This pool is near the Sheep Gate. ³ Many sick people were lying on the porches beside the pool. Some of them were blind, some were crippled, and some were paralyzed.^{[b] 4 [c] 5} One of the men lying there had been sick for 38 years. ⁶ Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been sick for a very long time. So he asked him, “Do you want to be well?”

⁷ The sick man answered, “Sir, there is no one to help me get into the water when it starts moving. I try to be the first one into the water. But when I try, someone else always goes in before I can.”

⁸ Then Jesus said, “Stand up! Pick up your mat and walk.” ⁹ Immediately the man was well. He picked up his mat and started walking.

The day all this happened was a Sabbath day.