New Testament Plan

¹Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw the stone [already] removed from the [groove across the entrance of the] tomb.

²So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple (John), whom Jesus loved (esteemed), and said to them, "They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him!"

³So Peter and the other disciple left, and they were going to the tomb.

⁴And the two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and arrived at the tomb first.

⁵Stooping down and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings [neatly] lying there; but he did not go in.

⁶Then Simon Peter came up, following him, and went into the tomb and saw the linen wrappings [neatly] lying there;

⁷and the [burial] face-cloth which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the [other] linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself.

⁸So the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, went in too; and he saw [the wrappings and the face-cloth] and believed [without any doubt that Jesus had risen from the dead].

⁹For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise from the dead.

¹⁰Then the disciples went back again to their own homes.

¹¹But Mary [who had returned] was standing outside the tomb sobbing; and so, as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the tomb;

¹²and she saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.

¹³And they said to her, "Woman, why are you crying?" She told them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him."

¹⁴After saying this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus.

¹⁵Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you crying? For whom are you looking?" Supposing that He was the gardener, she replied, "Sir, if you are the one who has carried Him away from here, tell me where you have put Him, and I will take Him away."

¹⁶Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, "Rabboni!" (which means, Teacher).

¹⁷Jesus said to her, " Do not hold Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brothers and tell them, 'I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.'"

¹⁸Mary Magdalene came, reporting to the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that He had said these things to her.

¹⁹So when it was evening on that same day, the first day of the week, though the disciples were [meeting] behind barred doors for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them, and said, " Peace to you."

²⁰After He said this, He showed them His hands and His side. When the disciples saw the Lord, they were filled with great joy.

²¹Then Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you [as My representatives]."

²²And when He said this, He breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.

²³If you forgive the sins of anyone they are forgiven [because of their faith]; if you retain the sins of anyone, they are retained [and remain unforgiven because of their unbelief]."

²⁴But Thomas, one of the twelve [disciples], who was called Didymus (the twin), was not with them when Jesus came.

²⁵So the other disciples kept telling him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the marks of the nails, and put my finger into the nail prints, and put my hand into His side, I will never believe."

²⁶Eight days later His disciples were again inside the house, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, though the doors had been barred, and stood among them and said, "Peace to you."

²⁷Then He said to Thomas, "Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and put out your hand and place it in My side. Do not be unbelieving, but [stop doubting and] believe."

²⁸Thomas answered Him, "My Lord and my God!"

²⁹Jesus said to him, "Because you have seen Me, do you now believe? Blessed [happy, spiritually secure, and favored by God] are they who did not see [Me] and yet believed [in Me]."

³⁰There are also many other signs (attesting miracles) that Jesus performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;

³¹but these have been written so that you may believe [with a deep, abiding trust] that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), the Son of God; and that by believing [and trusting in and relying on Him] you may have life in His name.

¹After this Jesus revealed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias (Galilee). And He did it in this way:

²Simon Peter, and Thomas who is called Didymus (the twin), and Nathanael from Cana of Galilee, as well as [John and James] the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together.

³Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said, "And we are coming with you." So they went out and got into the boat; and that night they caught nothing.

⁴As morning was breaking, Jesus [came and] stood on the beach; however, the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.

⁵So Jesus said to them, "Children, do you have any fish [to eat along with your bread]?" They answered, "No."

⁶And He said to them, "Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat (starboard) and you will find some." So they cast [the net], and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great catch of fish.

⁷Then that disciple (John) whom Jesus loved (esteemed) said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer tunic (for he was stripped for work) and threw himself into the sea [and swam ashore].

⁸But the other disciples came in the small boat, for they were not far from shore, only about a hundred yards away, dragging the net full of fish.

⁹So when they got out on the beach, they saw a charcoal fire set up and fish on it cooking, and bread.

¹⁰Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish which you have just caught."

¹¹So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net to land, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three [of them]; and although there were so many, the net was not torn.

¹²Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." None of the disciples dared to ask Him, "Who are You?" They knew [without any doubt] that it was the Lord.

¹³Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and likewise the fish.

¹⁴This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples, after He had risen from the dead.

¹⁵So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these [others do—with total commitment and devotion]?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You [with a deep, personal affection, as for a close friend]." Jesus said to him, "Feed My lambs."

¹⁶Again He said to him a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me [with total commitment and devotion]?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You [with a deep, personal affection, as for a close friend]." Jesus said to him, "Shepherd My sheep."

¹⁷He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me [with a deep, personal affection for Me, as for a close friend]?" Peter was grieved that He asked him the third time, "Do you [really] love Me [with a deep, personal affection, as for a close friend]?" And he said to Him, "Lord, You know everything; You know that I love You [with a deep, personal affection, as for a close friend]." Jesus said to him, "Feed My sheep.

¹⁸I assure you and most solemnly say to you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and walked wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and arms, and someone else will dress you, and carry you where you do not wish to go."

¹⁹Now He said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. And after saying this, He said to him, "Follow Me [walk the same path of life that I have walked]!"

²⁰Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; the one who also had leaned back on His chest at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is it that is going to betray You?"

²¹So when Peter saw him, he asked Jesus, "Lord, and what about this man [what is in his future]?"

²²Jesus said to him, "If I want him to stay alive until I come [again], what is that to you? You follow Me!"

²³So this word went out among the brothers that this disciple (John) was not going to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not going to die, but only, "If I want him to stay alive until I come [again], what is that to you?"

²⁴This is the same disciple who is testifying to these things and has recorded them; and we know [without any doubt] that his testimony is true.

²⁵And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were recorded one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

¹The first account I made, Theophilus, was [a continuous report] about all the things that Jesus began to do and to teach

²until the day when He ascended to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given instruction to the apostles (special messengers) whom He had chosen.

³To these [men] He also showed Himself alive after His suffering [in Gethsemane and on the cross], by [a series of] many infallible proofs and unquestionable demonstrations, appearing to them over a period of forty days and talking to them about the things concerning the kingdom of God.

⁴While being together and eating with them, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, "Of which," He said, "you have heard Me speak.

⁵For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized and empowered and united with the Holy Spirit, not long from now."

⁶So when they had come together, they asked Him repeatedly, "Lord, are You at this time reestablishing the kingdom and restoring it to Israel?"

⁷He said to them, "It is not for you to know the times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority.

⁸But you will receive power and ability when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be My witnesses [to tell people about Me] both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth."

⁹And after He said these things, He was caught up as they looked on, and a cloud took Him up out of their sight.

¹⁰While they were looking intently into the sky as He was going, two men in white clothing suddenly stood beside them,

¹¹who said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This [same] Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will return in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven."

¹²Then the disciples returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet (Olive Grove), which is near Jerusalem, [only] a Sabbath day's journey (less than one mile) away.

¹³When they had entered the city, they went upstairs to the upper room where they were staying [indefinitely]; that is, Peter, and John and [his brother] James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew (Nathanael) and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas (Thaddaeus) the son of James.

¹⁴All these with one mind and one purpose were continually devoting themselves to prayer, [waiting together] along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

¹⁵Now on one of these days Peter stood up among the brothers and sisters (a gathering of about a hundred and twenty believers was there) and he said,

¹⁶"Brothers and sisters, it was necessary that the Scripture be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the lips of David [king of Israel] about Judas [Iscariot], who acted as guide to those who arrested Jesus.

¹⁷For he (Judas) was counted among us and received his share [by divine allotment] in this ministry."

¹⁸(Now Judas Iscariot acquired a piece of land [indirectly] with the [money paid him as a] reward for his treachery, and falling headlong, his body burst open in the middle and all his intestines poured out.

¹⁹All the people in Jerusalem learned about this, so in their own dialect—Aramaic—they called the piece of land Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)

²⁰"For in the book of Psalms it is written, 'Let his place of residence become desolate, And let there be no one to live in it'; and [again], 'Let another take his position as overseer.'

²¹So of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus spent with us,

²²beginning with the baptism by John [at the outset of Jesus' ministry] until the day when He was taken up from us—one of these men must become a witness with us [to testify] of His resurrection."

²³And they put forward two men, Joseph, the one called Barsabbas (who was surnamed Justus), and Matthias.

²⁴They prayed and said, "You, Lord, who know all hearts [their thoughts, motives, desires], show us which one of these two You have chosen

²⁵to occupy this ministry and apostleship which Judas left to go to his own place [of evil]."

²⁶And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.