Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha.

²This is the Mary who later poured the expensive perfume on the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair. Her brother, Lazarus, was sick.

³So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, your dear friend is very sick.”

⁴But when Jesus heard about it he said, “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.”

⁵So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus,

⁶he stayed where he was for the next two days.

⁷Finally, he said to his disciples, “Let’s go back to Judea.”

⁸But his disciples objected. “Rabbi,” they said, “only a few days ago the people in Judea were trying to stone you. Are you going there again?”

⁹Jesus replied, “There are twelve hours of daylight every day. During the day people can walk safely. They can see because they have the light of this world.

¹⁰But at night there is danger of stumbling because they have no light.”

¹¹Then he said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but now I will go and wake him up.”

¹²The disciples said, “Lord, if he is sleeping, he will soon get better!”

¹³They thought Jesus meant Lazarus was simply sleeping, but Jesus meant Lazarus had died.

¹⁴So he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.

¹⁵And for your sakes, I’m glad I wasn’t there, for now you will really believe. Come, let’s go see him.”

¹⁶Thomas, nicknamed the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go, too — and die with Jesus.”

¹⁷When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days.

¹⁸Bethany was only a few miles down the road from Jerusalem,

¹⁹and many of the people had come to console Martha and Mary in their loss.

²⁰When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house.

²¹Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.

²²But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.”

²³Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.”

²⁴“Yes,” Martha said, “he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.”

²⁵Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.

²⁶Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”

²⁷“Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.”

²⁸Then she returned to Mary. She called Mary aside from the mourners and told her, “The Teacher is here and wants to see you.”

²⁹So Mary immediately went to him.

³⁰Jesus had stayed outside the village, at the place where Martha met him.

³¹When the people who were at the house consoling Mary saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to Lazarus’s grave to weep. So they followed her there.

³²When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

³³When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled.

³⁴“Where have you put him?” he asked them. They told him, “Lord, come and see.”

³⁵Then Jesus wept.

³⁶The people who were standing nearby said, “See how much he loved him!”

³⁷But some said, “This man healed a blind man. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?”

³⁸Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance.

³⁹“Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them. But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.”

⁴⁰Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?”

⁴¹So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me.

⁴²You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.”

⁴³Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!”

⁴⁴And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!”

⁴⁵Many of the people who were with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw this happen.

⁴⁶But some went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.

⁴⁷Then the leading priests and Pharisees called the high council together. “What are we going to do?” they asked each other. “This man certainly performs many miraculous signs.

⁴⁸If we allow him to go on like this, soon everyone will believe in him. Then the Roman army will come and destroy both our Temple and our nation.”

⁴⁹Caiaphas, who was high priest at that time, said, “You don’t know what you’re talking about!

⁵⁰You don’t realize that it’s better for you that one man should die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed.”

⁵¹He did not say this on his own; as high priest at that time he was led to prophesy that Jesus would die for the entire nation.

⁵²And not only for that nation, but to bring together and unite all the children of God scattered around the world.

⁵³So from that time on, the Jewish leaders began to plot Jesus’ death.

⁵⁴As a result, Jesus stopped his public ministry among the people and left Jerusalem. He went to a place near the wilderness, to the village of Ephraim, and stayed there with his disciples.

⁵⁵It was now almost time for the Jewish Passover celebration, and many people from all over the country arrived in Jerusalem several days early so they could go through the purification ceremony before Passover began.

⁵⁶They kept looking for Jesus, but as they stood around in the Temple, they said to each other, “What do you think? He won’t come for Passover, will he?”

⁵⁷Meanwhile, the leading priests and Pharisees had publicly ordered that anyone seeing Jesus must report it immediately so they could arrest him.

¹Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus — the man he had raised from the dead.

²A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate with him.

³Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.

⁴But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said,

⁵“That perfume was worth a year’s wages. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.”

⁶Not that he cared for the poor — he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he often stole some for himself.

⁷Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial.

⁸You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

⁹When all the people heard of Jesus’ arrival, they flocked to see him and also to see Lazarus, the man Jesus had raised from the dead.

¹⁰Then the leading priests decided to kill Lazarus, too,

¹¹for it was because of him that many of the people had deserted them and believed in Jesus.

¹²The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city. A large crowd of Passover visitors

¹³took palm branches and went down the road to meet him. They shouted, “Praise God! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the LORD! Hail to the King of Israel!”

¹⁴Jesus found a young donkey and rode on it, fulfilling the prophecy that said:

¹⁵“Don’t be afraid, people of Jerusalem. Look, your King is coming, riding on a donkey’s colt.”

¹⁶His disciples didn’t understand at the time that this was a fulfillment of prophecy. But after Jesus entered into his glory, they remembered what had happened and realized that these things had been written about him.

¹⁷Many in the crowd had seen Jesus call Lazarus from the tomb, raising him from the dead, and they were telling others about it.

¹⁸That was the reason so many went out to meet him — because they had heard about this miraculous sign.

¹⁹Then the Pharisees said to each other, “There’s nothing we can do. Look, everyone has gone after him!”

²⁰Some Greeks who had come to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration

²¹paid a visit to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee. They said, “Sir, we want to meet Jesus.”

²²Philip told Andrew about it, and they went together to ask Jesus.

²³Jesus replied, “Now the time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory.

²⁴I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels — a plentiful harvest of new lives.

²⁵Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity.

²⁶Anyone who wants to serve me must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me.

²⁷“Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But this is the very reason I came!

²⁸Father, bring glory to your name.” Then a voice spoke from heaven, saying, “I have already brought glory to my name, and I will do so again.”

²⁹When the crowd heard the voice, some thought it was thunder, while others declared an angel had spoken to him.

³⁰Then Jesus told them, “The voice was for your benefit, not mine.

³¹The time for judging this world has come, when Satan, the ruler of this world, will be cast out.

³²And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.”

³³He said this to indicate how he was going to die.

³⁴The crowd responded, “We understood from Scripture that the Messiah would live forever. How can you say the Son of Man will die? Just who is this Son of Man, anyway?”

³⁵Jesus replied, “My light will shine for you just a little longer. Walk in the light while you can, so the darkness will not overtake you. Those who walk in the darkness cannot see where they are going.

³⁶Put your trust in the light while there is still time; then you will become children of the light.” After saying these things, Jesus went away and was hidden from them.

³⁷But despite all the miraculous signs Jesus had done, most of the people still did not believe in him.

³⁸This is exactly what Isaiah the prophet had predicted: “LORD, who has believed our message? To whom has the LORD revealed his powerful arm?”

³⁹But the people couldn’t believe, for as Isaiah also said,

⁴⁰“The Lord has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts — so that their eyes cannot see, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and have me heal them.”

⁴¹Isaiah was referring to Jesus when he said this, because he saw the future and spoke of the Messiah’s glory.

⁴²Many people did believe in him, however, including some of the Jewish leaders. But they wouldn’t admit it for fear that the Pharisees would expel them from the synagogue.

⁴³For they loved human praise more than the praise of God.

⁴⁴Jesus shouted to the crowds, “If you trust me, you are trusting not only me, but also God who sent me.

⁴⁵For when you see me, you are seeing the one who sent me.

⁴⁶I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark.

⁴⁷I will not judge those who hear me but don’t obey me, for I have come to save the world and not to judge it.

⁴⁸But all who reject me and my message will be judged on the day of judgment by the truth I have spoken.

⁴⁹I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it.

⁵⁰And I know his commands lead to eternal life; so I say whatever the Father tells me to say.”

¹Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end.

²It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.

³Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God.

⁴So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist,

⁵and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.

⁶When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

⁷Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.”

⁸“No,” Peter protested, “you will never ever wash my feet!” Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.”

⁹Simon Peter exclaimed, “Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!”

¹⁰Jesus replied, “A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet, to be entirely clean. And you disciples are clean, but not all of you.”

¹¹For Jesus knew who would betray him. That is what he meant when he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

¹²After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing?

¹³You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am.

¹⁴And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet.

¹⁵I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.

¹⁶I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message.

¹⁷Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.

¹⁸“I am not saying these things to all of you; I know the ones I have chosen. But this fulfills the Scripture that says, ‘The one who eats my food has turned against me.’

¹⁹I tell you this beforehand, so that when it happens you will believe that I AM the Messiah.

²⁰I tell you the truth, anyone who welcomes my messenger is welcoming me, and anyone who welcomes me is welcoming the Father who sent me.”

²¹Now Jesus was deeply troubled, and he exclaimed, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me!”

²²The disciples looked at each other, wondering whom he could mean.

²³The disciple Jesus loved was sitting next to Jesus at the table.

²⁴Simon Peter motioned to him to ask, “Who’s he talking about?”

²⁵So that disciple leaned over to Jesus and asked, “Lord, who is it?”

²⁶Jesus responded, “It is the one to whom I give the bread I dip in the bowl.” And when he had dipped it, he gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot.

²⁷When Judas had eaten the bread, Satan entered into him. Then Jesus told him, “Hurry and do what you’re going to do.”

²⁸None of the others at the table knew what Jesus meant.

²⁹Since Judas was their treasurer, some thought Jesus was telling him to go and pay for the food or to give some money to the poor.

³⁰So Judas left at once, going out into the night.

³¹As soon as Judas left the room, Jesus said, “The time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory, and God will be glorified because of him.

³²And since God receives glory because of the Son, he will give his own glory to the Son, and he will do so at once.

³³Dear children, I will be with you only a little longer. And as I told the Jewish leaders, you will search for me, but you can’t come where I am going.

³⁴So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.

³⁵Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

³⁶Simon Peter asked, “Lord, where are you going?” And Jesus replied, “You can’t go with me now, but you will follow me later.”

³⁷“But why can’t I come now, Lord?” he asked. “I’m ready to die for you.”

³⁸Jesus answered, “Die for me? I tell you the truth, Peter — before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.

¹“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.

²There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?

³When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.

⁴And you know the way to where I am going.”

⁵“No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

⁶Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

⁷If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!”

⁸Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”

⁹Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you?

¹⁰Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me.

¹¹Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or at least believe because of the work you have seen me do.

¹²“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.

¹³You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father.

¹⁴Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!

¹⁵“If you love me, obey my commandments.

¹⁶And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you.

¹⁷He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.

¹⁸No, I will not abandon you as orphans — I will come to you.

¹⁹Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live.

²⁰When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

²¹Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”

²²Judas (not Judas Iscariot, but the other disciple with that name) said to him, “Lord, why are you going to reveal yourself only to us and not to the world at large?”

²³Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them.

²⁴Anyone who doesn’t love me will not obey me. And remember, my words are not my own. What I am telling you is from the Father who sent me.

²⁵I am telling you these things now while I am still with you.

²⁶But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative — that is, the Holy Spirit — he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.

²⁷“I am leaving you with a gift — peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.

²⁸Remember what I told you: I am going away, but I will come back to you again. If you really loved me, you would be happy that I am going to the Father, who is greater than I am.

²⁹I have told you these things before they happen so that when they do happen, you will believe.

³⁰“I don’t have much more time to talk to you, because the ruler of this world approaches. He has no power over me,

³¹but I will do what the Father requires of me, so that the world will know that I love the Father. Come, let’s be going.

¹“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener.

²He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.

³You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you.

⁴Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.

⁵“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.

⁶Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.

⁷But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!

⁸When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.

⁹“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love.

¹⁰When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.

¹¹I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!

¹²This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.

¹³There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

¹⁴You are my friends if you do what I command.

¹⁵I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.

¹⁶You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name.

¹⁷This is my command: Love each other.

¹⁸“If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first.

¹⁹The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.

²⁰Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you.

²¹They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me.

²²They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin.

²³Anyone who hates me also hates my Father.

²⁴If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father.

²⁵This fulfills what is written in their Scriptures : ‘They hated me without cause.’

²⁶“But I will send you the Advocate — the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me.

²⁷And you must also testify about me because you have been with me from the beginning of my ministry.

¹“I have told you these things so that you won’t abandon your faith.

²For you will be expelled from the synagogues, and the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are doing a holy service for God.

³This is because they have never known the Father or me.

⁴Yes, I’m telling you these things now, so that when they happen, you will remember my warning. I didn’t tell you earlier because I was going to be with you for a while longer.

⁵“But now I am going away to the one who sent me, and not one of you is asking where I am going.

⁶Instead, you grieve because of what I’ve told you.

⁷But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you.

⁸And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.

⁹The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me.

¹⁰Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more.

¹¹Judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged.

¹²“There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now.

¹³When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.

¹⁴He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me.

¹⁵All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’

¹⁶“In a little while you won’t see me anymore. But a little while after that, you will see me again.”

¹⁷Some of the disciples asked each other, “What does he mean when he says, ‘In a little while you won’t see me, but then you will see me,’ and ‘I am going to the Father’?

¹⁸And what does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand.”

¹⁹Jesus realized they wanted to ask him about it, so he said, “Are you asking yourselves what I meant? I said in a little while you won’t see me, but a little while after that you will see me again.

²⁰I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn over what is going to happen to me, but the world will rejoice. You will grieve, but your grief will suddenly turn to wonderful joy.

²¹It will be like a woman suffering the pains of labor. When her child is born, her anguish gives way to joy because she has brought a new baby into the world.

²²So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again; then you will rejoice, and no one can rob you of that joy.

²³At that time you won’t need to ask me for anything. I tell you the truth, you will ask the Father directly, and he will grant your request because you use my name.

²⁴You haven’t done this before. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy.

²⁵“I have spoken of these matters in figures of speech, but soon I will stop speaking figuratively and will tell you plainly all about the Father.

²⁶Then you will ask in my name. I’m not saying I will ask the Father on your behalf,

²⁷for the Father himself loves you dearly because you love me and believe that I came from God.

²⁸Yes, I came from the Father into the world, and now I will leave the world and return to the Father.”

²⁹Then his disciples said, “At last you are speaking plainly and not figuratively.

³⁰Now we understand that you know everything, and there’s no need to question you. From this we believe that you came from God.”

³¹Jesus asked, “Do you finally believe?

³²But the time is coming — indeed it’s here now — when you will be scattered, each one going his own way, leaving me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me.

³³I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

¹After saying all these things, Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you.

²For you have given him authority over everyone. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him.

³And this is the way to have eternal life — to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.

⁴I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.

⁵Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began.

⁶“I have revealed you to the ones you gave me from this world. They were always yours. You gave them to me, and they have kept your word.

⁷Now they know that everything I have is a gift from you,

⁸for I have passed on to them the message you gave me. They accepted it and know that I came from you, and they believe you sent me.

⁹“My prayer is not for the world, but for those you have given me, because they belong to you.

¹⁰All who are mine belong to you, and you have given them to me, so they bring me glory.

¹¹Now I am departing from the world; they are staying in this world, but I am coming to you. Holy Father, you have given me your name; now protect them by the power of your name so that they will be united just as we are.

¹²During my time here, I protected them by the power of the name you gave me. I guarded them so that not one was lost, except the one headed for destruction, as the Scriptures foretold.

¹³“Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy.

¹⁴I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.

¹⁵I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one.

¹⁶They do not belong to this world any more than I do.

¹⁷Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.

¹⁸Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world.

¹⁹And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.

²⁰“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message.

²¹I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one — as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.

²²“I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one.

²³I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.

²⁴Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began!

²⁵“O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do; and these disciples know you sent me.

²⁶I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them.”

¹After saying these things, Jesus crossed the Kidron Valley with his disciples and entered a grove of olive trees.

²Judas, the betrayer, knew this place, because Jesus had often gone there with his disciples.

³The leading priests and Pharisees had given Judas a contingent of Roman soldiers and Temple guards to accompany him. Now with blazing torches, lanterns, and weapons, they arrived at the olive grove.

⁴Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to him, so he stepped forward to meet them. “Who are you looking for?” he asked.

⁵“Jesus the Nazarene,” they replied. “I AM he,” Jesus said. (Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.)

⁶As Jesus said “I AM he,” they all drew back and fell to the ground!

⁷Once more he asked them, “Who are you looking for?” And again they replied, “Jesus the Nazarene.”

⁸“I told you that I AM he,” Jesus said. “And since I am the one you want, let these others go.”

⁹He did this to fulfill his own statement: “I did not lose a single one of those you have given me.”

¹⁰Then Simon Peter drew a sword and slashed off the right ear of Malchus, the high priest’s slave.

¹¹But Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath. Shall I not drink from the cup of suffering the Father has given me?”

¹²So the soldiers, their commanding officer, and the Temple guards arrested Jesus and tied him up.

¹³First they took him to Annas, since he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest at that time.

¹⁴Caiaphas was the one who had told the other Jewish leaders, “It’s better that one man should die for the people.”

¹⁵Simon Peter followed Jesus, as did another of the disciples. That other disciple was acquainted with the high priest, so he was allowed to enter the high priest’s courtyard with Jesus.

¹⁶Peter had to stay outside the gate. Then the disciple who knew the high priest spoke to the woman watching at the gate, and she let Peter in.

¹⁷The woman asked Peter, “You’re not one of that man’s disciples, are you?” “No,” he said, “I am not.”

¹⁸Because it was cold, the household servants and the guards had made a charcoal fire. They stood around it, warming themselves, and Peter stood with them, warming himself.

¹⁹Inside, the high priest began asking Jesus about his followers and what he had been teaching them.

²⁰Jesus replied, “Everyone knows what I teach. I have preached regularly in the synagogues and the Temple, where the people gather. I have not spoken in secret.

²¹Why are you asking me this question? Ask those who heard me. They know what I said.”

²²Then one of the Temple guards standing nearby slapped Jesus across the face. “Is that the way to answer the high priest?” he demanded.

²³Jesus replied, “If I said anything wrong, you must prove it. But if I’m speaking the truth, why are you beating me?”

²⁴Then Annas bound Jesus and sent him to Caiaphas, the high priest.

²⁵Meanwhile, as Simon Peter was standing by the fire warming himself, they asked him again, “You’re not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it, saying, “No, I am not.”

²⁶But one of the household slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Didn’t I see you out there in the olive grove with Jesus?”

²⁷Again Peter denied it. And immediately a rooster crowed.

²⁸Jesus’ trial before Caiaphas ended in the early hours of the morning. Then he was taken to the headquarters of the Roman governor. His accusers didn’t go inside because it would defile them, and they wouldn’t be allowed to celebrate the Passover.

²⁹So Pilate, the governor, went out to them and asked, “What is your charge against this man?”

³⁰“We wouldn’t have handed him over to you if he weren’t a criminal!” they retorted.

³¹“Then take him away and judge him by your own law,” Pilate told them. “Only the Romans are permitted to execute someone,” the Jewish leaders replied.

³²(This fulfilled Jesus’ prediction about the way he would die. )

³³Then Pilate went back into his headquarters and called for Jesus to be brought to him. “Are you the king of the Jews?” he asked him.

³⁴Jesus replied, “Is this your own question, or did others tell you about me?”

³⁵“Am I a Jew?” Pilate retorted. “Your own people and their leading priests brought you to me for trial. Why? What have you done?”

³⁶Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.”

³⁷Pilate said, “So you are a king?” Jesus responded, “You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.”

³⁸“What is truth?” Pilate asked. Then he went out again to the people and told them, “He is not guilty of any crime.

³⁹But you have a custom of asking me to release one prisoner each year at Passover. Would you like me to release this ‘King of the Jews’?”

⁴⁰But they shouted back, “No! Not this man. We want Barabbas!” (Barabbas was a revolutionary.)

¹Then Pilate had Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip.

²The soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they put a purple robe on him.

³“Hail! King of the Jews!” they mocked, as they slapped him across the face.

⁴Pilate went outside again and said to the people, “I am going to bring him out to you now, but understand clearly that I find him not guilty.”

⁵Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said, “Look, here is the man!”

⁶When they saw him, the leading priests and Temple guards began shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” “Take him yourselves and crucify him,” Pilate said. “I find him not guilty.”

⁷The Jewish leaders replied, “By our law he ought to die because he called himself the Son of God.”

⁸When Pilate heard this, he was more frightened than ever.

⁹He took Jesus back into the headquarters again and asked him, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave no answer.

¹⁰“Why don’t you talk to me?” Pilate demanded. “Don’t you realize that I have the power to release you or crucify you?”

¹¹Then Jesus said, “You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above. So the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”

¹²Then Pilate tried to release him, but the Jewish leaders shouted, “If you release this man, you are no ‘friend of Caesar.’ Anyone who declares himself a king is a rebel against Caesar.”

¹³When they said this, Pilate brought Jesus out to them again. Then Pilate sat down on the judgment seat on the platform that is called the Stone Pavement (in Hebrew, Gabbatha).

¹⁴It was now about noon on the day of preparation for the Passover. And Pilate said to the people, “Look, here is your king!”

¹⁵“Away with him,” they yelled. “Away with him! Crucify him!” “What? Crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the leading priests shouted back.

¹⁶Then Pilate turned Jesus over to them to be crucified. The Crucifixion So they took Jesus away.

¹⁷Carrying the cross by himself, he went to the place called Place of the Skull (in Hebrew, Golgotha).

¹⁸There they nailed him to the cross. Two others were crucified with him, one on either side, with Jesus between them.

¹⁹And Pilate posted a sign on the cross that read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”

²⁰The place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, so that many people could read it.

²¹Then the leading priests objected and said to Pilate, “Change it from ‘The King of the Jews’ to ‘He said, I am King of the Jews.’”

²²Pilate replied, “No, what I have written, I have written.”

²³When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they divided his clothes among the four of them. They also took his robe, but it was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.

²⁴So they said, “Rather than tearing it apart, let’s throw dice for it.” This fulfilled the Scripture that says, “They divided my garments among themselves and threw dice for my clothing.” So that is what they did.

²⁵Standing near the cross were Jesus’ mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene.

²⁶When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, “Dear woman, here is your son.”

²⁷And he said to this disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from then on this disciple took her into his home.

²⁸Jesus knew that his mission was now finished, and to fulfill Scripture he said, “I am thirsty.”

²⁹A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips.

³⁰When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

³¹It was the day of preparation, and the Jewish leaders didn’t want the bodies hanging there the next day, which was the Sabbath (and a very special Sabbath, because it was Passover week). So they asked Pilate to hasten their deaths by ordering that their legs be broken. Then their bodies could be taken down.

³²So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men crucified with Jesus.

³³But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead, so they didn’t break his legs.

³⁴One of the soldiers, however, pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out.

³⁵(This report is from an eyewitness giving an accurate account. He speaks the truth so that you also may continue to believe. )

³⁶These things happened in fulfillment of the Scriptures that say, “Not one of his bones will be broken,”

³⁷and “They will look on the one they pierced.”

³⁸Afterward Joseph of Arimathea, who had been a secret disciple of Jesus (because he feared the Jewish leaders), asked Pilate for permission to take down Jesus’ body. When Pilate gave permission, Joseph came and took the body away.

³⁹With him came Nicodemus, the man who had come to Jesus at night. He brought about seventy-five pounds of perfumed ointment made from myrrh and aloes.

⁴⁰Following Jewish burial custom, they wrapped Jesus’ body with the spices in long sheets of linen cloth.

⁴¹The place of crucifixion was near a garden, where there was a new tomb, never used before.

⁴²And so, because it was the day of preparation for the Jewish Passover and since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

¹Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.

²She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

³Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb.

⁴They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.

⁵He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in.

⁶Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there,

⁷while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings.

⁸Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed —

⁹for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead.

¹⁰Then they went home.

¹¹Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in.

¹²She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying.

¹³“Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her. “Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”

¹⁴She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him.

¹⁵“Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?” She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”

¹⁶“Mary!” Jesus said. She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).

¹⁷“Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

¹⁸Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.

¹⁹That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said.

²⁰As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord!

²¹Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.”

²²Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

²³If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

²⁴One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came.

²⁵They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”

²⁶Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said.

²⁷Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”

²⁸“My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed.

²⁹Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”

³⁰The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book.

³¹But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.

¹Later, Jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee. This is how it happened.

²Several of the disciples were there — Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples.

³Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.” “We’ll come, too,” they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night.

⁴At dawn Jesus was standing on the beach, but the disciples couldn’t see who he was.

⁵He called out, “Fellows, have you caught any fish?” “No,” they replied.

⁶Then he said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” So they did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it.

⁷Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his tunic (for he had stripped for work), jumped into the water, and headed to shore.

⁸The others stayed with the boat and pulled the loaded net to the shore, for they were only about a hundred yards from shore.

⁹When they got there, they found breakfast waiting for them — fish cooking over a charcoal fire, and some bread.

¹⁰“Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,” Jesus said.

¹¹So Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net to the shore. There were 153 large fish, and yet the net hadn’t torn.

¹²“Now come and have some breakfast!” Jesus said. None of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord.

¹³Then Jesus served them the bread and the fish.

¹⁴This was the third time Jesus had appeared to his disciples since he had been raised from the dead.

¹⁵After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these? ” “Yes, Lord,” Peter replied, “you know I love you.” “Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him.

¹⁶Jesus repeated the question: “Simon son of John, do you love me?” “Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I love you.” “Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said.

¹⁷A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep.

¹⁸“I tell you the truth, when you were young, you were able to do as you liked; you dressed yourself and went wherever you wanted to go. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others will dress you and take you where you don’t want to go.”

¹⁹Jesus said this to let him know by what kind of death he would glorify God. Then Jesus told him, “Follow me.”

²⁰Peter turned around and saw behind them the disciple Jesus loved — the one who had leaned over to Jesus during supper and asked, “Lord, who will betray you?”

²¹Peter asked Jesus, “What about him, Lord?”

²²Jesus replied, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? As for you, follow me.”

²³So the rumor spread among the community of believers that this disciple wouldn’t die. But that isn’t what Jesus said at all. He only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?”

²⁴This disciple is the one who testifies to these events and has recorded them here. And we know that his account of these things is accurate.

²⁵Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.

¹In my first book I told you, Theophilus, about everything Jesus began to do and teach

²until the day he was taken up to heaven after giving his chosen apostles further instructions through the Holy Spirit.

³During the forty days after he suffered and died, he appeared to the apostles from time to time, and he proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive. And he talked to them about the Kingdom of God.

⁴Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before.

⁵John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

⁶So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”

⁷He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know.

⁸But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere — in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

⁹After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him.

¹⁰As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them.

¹¹“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!”

¹²Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, a distance of half a mile.

¹³When they arrived, they went to the upstairs room of the house where they were staying. Here are the names of those who were present: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon (the zealot), and Judas (son of James).

¹⁴They all met together and were constantly united in prayer, along with Mary the mother of Jesus, several other women, and the brothers of Jesus.

¹⁵During this time, when about 120 believers were together in one place, Peter stood up and addressed them.

¹⁶“Brothers,” he said, “the Scriptures had to be fulfilled concerning Judas, who guided those who arrested Jesus. This was predicted long ago by the Holy Spirit, speaking through King David.

¹⁷Judas was one of us and shared in the ministry with us.”

¹⁸(Judas had bought a field with the money he received for his treachery. Falling headfirst there, his body split open, spilling out all his intestines.

¹⁹The news of his death spread to all the people of Jerusalem, and they gave the place the Aramaic name Akeldama, which means “Field of Blood.”)

²⁰Peter continued, “This was written in the book of Psalms, where it says, ‘Let his home become desolate, with no one living in it.’ It also says, ‘Let someone else take his position.’

²¹“So now we must choose a replacement for Judas from among the men who were with us the entire time we were traveling with the Lord Jesus —

²²from the time he was baptized by John until the day he was taken from us. Whoever is chosen will join us as a witness of Jesus’ resurrection.”

²³So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias.

²⁴Then they all prayed, “O Lord, you know every heart. Show us which of these men you have chosen

²⁵as an apostle to replace Judas in this ministry, for he has deserted us and gone where he belongs.”

²⁶Then they cast lots, and Matthias was selected to become an apostle with the other eleven.

¹On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place.

²Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting.

³Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them.

⁴And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.

⁵At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem.

⁶When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers.

⁷They were completely amazed. “How can this be?” they exclaimed. “These people are all from Galilee,

⁸and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages!

⁹Here we are — Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, the province of Asia,

¹⁰Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the areas of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome

¹¹(both Jews and converts to Judaism), Cretans, and Arabs. And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done!”

¹²They stood there amazed and perplexed. “What can this mean?” they asked each other.

¹³But others in the crowd ridiculed them, saying, “They’re just drunk, that’s all!”

¹⁴Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this.

¹⁵These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early for that.

¹⁶No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel:

¹⁷‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.

¹⁸In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants — men and women alike — and they will prophesy.

¹⁹And I will cause wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below — blood and fire and clouds of smoke.

²⁰The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and glorious day of the LORD arrives.

²¹But everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.’

²²“People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know.

²³But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him.

²⁴But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip.

²⁵King David said this about him: ‘I see that the LORD is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.

²⁶No wonder my heart is glad, and my tongue shouts his praises! My body rests in hope.

²⁷For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your Holy One to rot in the grave.

²⁸You have shown me the way of life, and you will fill me with the joy of your presence.’

²⁹“Dear brothers, think about this! You can be sure that the patriarch David wasn’t referring to himself, for he died and was buried, and his tomb is still here among us.

³⁰But he was a prophet, and he knew God had promised with an oath that one of David’s own descendants would sit on his throne.

³¹David was looking into the future and speaking of the Messiah’s resurrection. He was saying that God would not leave him among the dead or allow his body to rot in the grave.

³²“God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all witnesses of this.

³³Now he is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand. And the Father, as he had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today.

³⁴For David himself never ascended into heaven, yet he said, ‘The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit in the place of honor at my right hand

³⁵until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet.”’

³⁶“So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!”

³⁷Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”

³⁸Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

³⁹This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away — all who have been called by the Lord our God.”

⁴⁰Then Peter continued preaching for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!”

⁴¹Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day — about 3,000 in all.

⁴²All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper ), and to prayer.

⁴³A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders.

⁴⁴And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had.

⁴⁵They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need.

⁴⁶They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity —

⁴⁷all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.