The Season of Easter

In that day you will say:

I will give thanks to you, Lord,

for though you were angry with me,

your anger has turned away,

and you comfort me.

²Surely God is my salvation.

I will trust him and will not be afraid,

because Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song,

and he has become my salvation.

³Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

⁴In that day you will say:

Give thanks to the Lord! Proclaim his name.

Declare among the peoples what he has done.

Proclaim that his name is exalted!

⁵Sing to the Lord, for he has done amazing things!

Let this be known in all the earth!

⁶Shout aloud and sing for joy, daughter of Zion,

for the Holy One of Israel is great among you!

⁵¹Look, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, ⁵²in a moment, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. ⁵⁴But once this perishable body has put on imperishability, and this mortal body has put on immortality, then what is written will be fulfilled:

Death is swallowed up in victory.

⁵⁵Death, where is your sting?

Grave, where is your victory?

⁵⁶The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. ²So she left and ran to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved. “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,” she told them, “and we don’t know where they put him!”

³So Peter and the other disciple went out, heading for the tomb. ⁴The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and got to the tomb first. ⁵Bending over, he saw the linen cloths lying there, yet he did not go in.

⁶Then Simon Peter, who was following him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there. ⁷The cloth that had been on Jesus’ head was not lying with the linen cloths, but was folded up in a separate place by itself. ⁸Then the other disciple, who arrived at the tomb first, also entered. He saw and believed. ⁹(They still did not yet understand the Scripture that he must rise from the dead.)

¹⁰Then the disciples went back to their homes.

¹¹But Mary stood outside facing the tomb, weeping. As she wept, she bent over, looking into the tomb. ¹²She saw two angels in white clothes sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and one at the feet. ¹³They asked her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”

She told them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they have laid him.”

¹⁴After she said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, though she did not know it was Jesus.

¹⁵Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?”

Supposing he was the gardener, she replied, “Sir, if you carried him off, tell me where you laid him, and I will get him.”

¹⁶Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned and replied in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means, “Teacher”).

¹⁷Jesus told her, “Do not continue to cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father—to my God and your God.’”

¹⁸Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” She also told them the things he said to her.

²He said the following:

In my distress I called to the Lord,

and he answered me.

From the belly of the grave I cried out,

and you heard my voice.

³You threw me into the depths,

into the heart of the seas.

The currents swept around me.

All your breakers and your waves swept over me.

⁴I said, “I have been driven away from your sight.

Nevertheless, I will once again look toward your holy temple.”

⁵Waters engulfed me so that I was near death.

The deep surrounded me.

Seaweed was wrapped around my head.

⁶To the roots of the mountains I sank down.

The earth locked me behind its bars forever.

But you brought my life up from the pit, O Lord, my God.

⁷When my life was ebbing away, I remembered the Lord.

My prayer came to you, to your holy temple.

⁸Those who cling to worthless idols forsake the mercy that is theirs.

⁹But I, with a shout of thanksgiving, will indeed sacrifice to you.

What I have vowed, I will certainly pay in full.

Salvation belongs to the Lord!

Therefore, because you were raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. ²Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things. ³For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. ²Suddenly, there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, and going to the tomb, he rolled away the stone and was sitting on it. ³His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. ⁴The guards were so terrified of him that they shook and became like dead men. ⁵The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid! I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶He is not here. He has risen, just as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. ⁷Go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead! And look, he is going ahead of you to Galilee. There you will see him.’ See, I have told you!”

⁸They hurried away from the tomb, with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!”

They approached, took hold of his feet, and worshipped him.

¹⁰Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go, tell my brothers that they should go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”

³⁴Then Peter began to speak: ³⁶“He sent his word to the people of Israel, proclaiming the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.

³⁹“Indeed, we are witnesses of all the things he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem, yet they killed him by hanging him on a cross. ⁴⁰But God raised him on the third day and caused him to be seen, ⁴¹not by all the people, but by the witnesses God had already chosen—by us, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. ⁴²He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify solemnly that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. ⁴³All the prophets testify about him that, through his name, everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins.”

³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴into an inheritance that is undying, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. ⁵Through faith you are being protected by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed at the end of time.

⁶Because of this you rejoice very much, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various kinds of trials ⁷so that the proven character of your faith—which is more valuable than gold, which passes away even though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

⁸Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not see him now, yet by believing in him, you are filled with a joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, ⁹because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

¹⁹On the evening of that first day of the week, the disciples were together behind locked doors because of their fear of the Jews. Jesus came, stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be with you!” ²⁰After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. So the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

²¹Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you! Just as the Father has sent me, I am also sending you.” ²²After saying this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³Whenever you forgive people’s sins, they are forgiven. Whenever you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

²⁴But Thomas, one of the Twelve, the one called 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 the nail marks in his hands, and put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

²⁶After eight days, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. ²⁷Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands. Take your hand and put it into my side. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.”

²⁸Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”

²⁹Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

³⁰Jesus, in the presence of his disciples, did many other miraculous signs that are not written in this book. ³¹But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

¹⁰When the governor motioned to him to speak, Paul replied, “Because I know that you have been a judge over this nation for many years, I gladly make my defense. ¹¹You can verify for yourself that it was no more than twelve days ago when I went up to worship at Jerusalem. ¹²They did not find me arguing with anyone in the temple or stirring up a crowd in the synagogues or anywhere else in the city. ¹³And they cannot prove to you the accusations they are now making against me.

¹⁴“But I do confess to you that I worship the God of our fathers according to the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything written throughout the Law and in the Prophets; ¹⁵and I have the same hope in God that these men have, that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous. ¹⁶This is the reason I continue to do my best to have a clear conscience toward both God and people.

¹⁷“After several years, I came to bring my people gifts for the poor and to present offerings. ¹⁸While I was doing these things, they found me ceremonially purified in the temple, without a crowd or disturbance. ¹⁹But there are some Jews from the province of Asia who ought to be here before you and bring charges, if they have anything against me. ²⁰Or let these men here state what crime they found in me when I stood before the Sanhedrin, ²¹unless this is about the one thing I shouted while standing in their presence: ‘It is concerning the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you today.’”

¹⁷If you call on the Father who judges impartially, according to the work of each person, conduct yourselves during the time of your pilgrimage in reverence, ¹⁸because you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, not with things that pass away, such as silver or gold, ¹⁹but with the precious blood of Christ, like a lamb without blemish or spot. ²⁰He was chosen before the foundation of the world but revealed in these last times for your sake. ²¹Through him you are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

¹³Now, on that same day, two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. ¹⁴They were talking with each other about all of these things that had happened. ¹⁵While they were talking and discussing this, Jesus himself approached and began to walk along with them. ¹⁶But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. ¹⁷He said to them, “What are you talking about as you walk along?” Saddened, they stopped.

¹⁸One of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

¹⁹“What things?” he asked them.

They replied, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet, mighty in deed and word before God and all the people. ²⁰The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be condemned to death. And they crucified him. ²¹But we were hoping that he was going to redeem Israel. Not only that, but besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. ²²Also some women of our group amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning. ²³When they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. ²⁴Some of those who were with us went to the tomb. They found it just as the women had said, but they did not see him.”

²⁵He said to them, “How foolish you are and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and to enter his glory?” ²⁷Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

²⁸As they approached the village where they were going, he acted as if he were going to travel farther. ²⁹But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, since it is almost evening, and the day is almost over.”

So he went in to stay with them. ³⁰When he reclined at the table with them, he took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and began giving it to them. ³¹Suddenly their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. Then he vanished from their sight. ³²They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was speaking to us along the road and while he was explaining the Scriptures to us?” ³³They got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem. They found the Eleven and those who were with them assembled together. ³⁴They were saying, “The Lord really has been raised! He has appeared to Simon.” ³⁵They themselves described what had happened along the road, and how they recognized him when he broke the bread.

³⁴David said to Saul, “Your servant has been taking care of his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, ³⁵I went after it and struck it and rescued the lamb out of its mouth. When the lion reared up against me, I grabbed it by its mane, struck it, and killed it. ³⁶Your servant struck both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has defied the ranks of the living God.” ³⁷David added, “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”

Saul said to David, “Go then! May the Lord be with you.”

²⁰Now may the God of peace—who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, in connection with his blood, which established the eternal testament— ²¹may he equip you with every good thing to do his will, as he works in us what is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.

“Amen, Amen, I tell you: Anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the door, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. ²The one who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. ³The doorkeeper opens the door for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴When he has brought out all his own sheep, he walks ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they know his voice. ⁵They will never follow a stranger, but will run away from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” ⁶Jesus used this illustration in speaking to the people, but they did not understand what he was telling them.

⁷So Jesus said again, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: I am the door for the sheep. ⁸All who came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. ⁹I am the door. Whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture.

¹⁰“A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

¹⁶So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and he informed him. Then Ahab came to meet Elijah.

¹⁷When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is that you, the one who brings trouble on Israel?”

¹⁸Elijah said, “It is not I who have brought trouble on Israel, but rather you and your father’s house, because you abandoned the Lord’s commandments and followed the Baals. ¹⁹But now gather all Israel before me on Mount Carmel, along with the four hundred fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.” ²⁰So Ahab sent word to all the people of Israel, and he assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel.

²¹Then Elijah said to all the people, “How long will you stagger around on two crutches? If the Lord is God, follow him. If Baal is God, follow him.” But the people did not answer him a single word.

²²Then Elijah said to the people, “I am the only one left of the Lord’s prophets, but the prophets of Baal total four hundred fifty men. ²³Provide two bulls for us. Let them choose one bull for themselves and cut it up and place it on the firewood, but they are not to light the fire. I will prepare the other bull and place it on the firewood, but I will not light the fire. ²⁴Then you will call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers with fire, he is God.”

All the people said, “This proposal is good.”

²⁵Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull, and you go first because there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god. But do not light the fire.”

²⁶So they took the bull which had been given to them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, “Baal! Answer us!” But there was not a sound. No one answered. So they staggered around the altar which they had made.

²⁷When noon came, Elijah mocked them: “Shout louder! He is a god, isn’t he? He may be deep in thought or busy or on a journey. Perhaps he is asleep and will wake up!” ²⁸So they cried out with a loud voice, and according to their practice they cut themselves with daggers and spears until their blood flowed. ²⁹After noon, they kept up a prophetic frenzy until the time of the evening sacrifice, but there was no sound. No one answered. There was no response.

³⁰Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” So they came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down. ³¹Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come and had proclaimed, “Your name shall be Israel.” ³²He built the stones into an altar in the name of the Lord. Around it he made a trench big enough to hold about twenty-five pounds of seed. ³³He arranged the wood, cut up the bull, and placed it on the wood.

Then he said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the sacrifice and on the wood.” ³⁴Then he said, “Do it again.” So they did it again. Then he said, “Do it a third time.” So they did it a third time. ³⁵The water flowed all around the altar. It even filled the trench.

³⁶When the time of the evening sacrifice had arrived, Elijah the prophet stood up and said, “O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and that I have done all these things by your word. ³⁷Answer me, Lord! Answer me so that this people will know that you, O Lord, are God and that you are turning their hearts back to you.”

³⁸Fire from the Lord fell on the sacrifice and on the wood, the stones, and the dirt. It even licked up the water in the trench. ³⁹When all the people saw this, they fell on their knees and said, “The Lord, he is God! The Lord, he is God!”

⁴⁰Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let a single one of them escape!” So they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the Kishon River and slaughtered them there.

⁴¹Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for I hear the sound of a heavy rainstorm.” ⁴²So Ahab went to eat and drink, but Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel. He bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees. ⁴³He said to his servant, “Go up and look toward the sea.”

So his servant went up and looked, and he said, “There is nothing.”

But seven times Elijah told him, “Go again.”

⁴⁴On the seventh time the servant said, “There is a cloud as small as a man’s hand rising from the sea.”

Then Elijah said to him, “Go up and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down so that the rain does not stop you.’ ”

⁴⁵Meanwhile, the skies got dark with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. So Ahab got into his chariot and went to Jezre’el.

⁴As you come to him, the Living Stone, rejected by men but chosen by God and precious, ⁵you also, like living stones, are being built as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, in order to bring spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶For it says in Scripture:

See, I lay a stone in Zion,

a chosen and precious cornerstone,

and the one who believes in him will certainly not be put to shame.

⁷Therefore, for you who believe, this is an honor. But for those who do not believe:

The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,

⁸and,

a stone over which they stumble

and a rock over which they fall.

Because they continue to disobey the word, they stumble over it. And that is the consequence appointed for them.

⁹But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, the people who are God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. ¹⁰At one time you were not a people, but now you are the people of God. At one time you were not shown mercy, but now you have been shown mercy.

“Do not let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. ²In my Father’s house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. ³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me, so that you may also be where I am. ⁴You know where I am going, and you know the way.”

⁵“Lord, we don’t know where you are going,” Thomas replied, “so how can we know the way?”

⁶Jesus said to him, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father, except through me. ⁷If you know me, you would also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

⁸“Lord,” said Philip, “show us the Father, and that is enough for us.”

⁹“Have I been with you so long,” Jesus answered, “and you still do not know me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I am telling you I am not speaking on my own, but the Father who remains in me is doing his works. ¹¹Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me. Or else believe because of the works themselves.

¹²“Amen, Amen, I tell you: The one who believes in me will do the works that I am doing. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.

The man was intimate with Eve, his wife. She conceived and gave birth to Cain. She said, “I have gotten a man with the Lord.” ²She also gave birth to Cain’s brother Abel.

Abel tended sheep, but Cain worked the ground. ³As time passed, one day Cain brought an offering to the Lord from the fruit of the soil. ⁴Abel also brought some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. The Lord looked favorably on Abel and his offering, ⁵but he did not look favorably on Cain and his offering. Cain was very angry, and his face showed it.

⁶The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why do you have that angry look on your face? ⁷If you do good, will you not be lifted up? If you do not do good, sin is crouching at the door. It has a strong desire for you, but you must rule over it.”

⁸Cain said to Abel, his brother, “Let’s go into the field.” When they were in the field, Cain attacked Abel, his brother, and killed him.

⁹The Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel, your brother?”

He said, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”

¹⁰The Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the soil. ¹¹Now you are cursed and sent away from the soil which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ¹²When you work the soil, it will no longer give its strength to you. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”

¹³Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is too great for me to bear. ¹⁴Look, today you have driven me away from the soil. I will be hidden from your face, and I will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth. And whoever finds me will kill me.”

¹⁵The Lord said to him, “No! If anyone kills Cain, he will face sevenfold revenge.” And the Lord appointed a sign for Cain, so that anyone who found him would not strike him down.

¹⁶Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

¹¹This is the message you have heard from the beginning: Love one another. ¹²Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the Evil One and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own works were evil, while those of his brother were righteous. ¹³Do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you. ¹⁴We know that we have crossed over from death to life, because we love our brothers. The one who does not love remains in death. ¹⁵Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him. ¹⁶This is how we have come to know love: Jesus laid down his life for us. And we also should lay down our lives for our brothers. ¹⁷Whoever has worldly wealth and sees his brother in need but closes his heart against him—how can God’s love remain in him? ¹⁸Dear children, let us love not only with word or with our tongue, but also in action and truth.

¹⁵“If you love me, hold on to my commands. ¹⁶I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. ¹⁷He is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it does not see him or know him. You know him because he stays with you and will be in you.

¹⁸“I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you. ¹⁹In a little while the world will see me no longer, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. ²⁰In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. ²¹The one who has my commands and holds on to them is the one who loves me. And the one who loves me will be loved by my Father. I too will love him and show myself to him.”

That night the king could not sleep, so he ordered that the chronicles, the record of the memorable events of his reign, be brought to him. These accounts were read to the king.

²They found the account about the incident when Mordecai had reported Bigthan and Teresh, the king’s two eunuchs who had controlled access to the entrance to the palace, who had tried to assassinate King Xerxes.

³The king said, “What honor and recognition has been given to Mordecai for this?”

Then the servants of the king who were attending him said, “Nothing has been done for him.”

⁴The king said, “Who is in the court?” Just then Haman had come to the outer court of the king’s palace to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.

⁵The king’s servants said to him, “Look, Haman is standing in the court.” The king said, “Have him come in.”

⁶When Haman came in, the king said to him, “What should be done to honor the man with whom the king is pleased?”

Haman said in his heart, “Who could there be that the king would be more pleased to honor than me?”

⁷Haman said to the king, “The man whom the king is pleased to honor ⁸should be clothed with garments that the king has worn. He should be given a horse on which the king has ridden, and crowned with a crown that has been on the king’s head. ⁹These clothes and this horse should be delivered by one of the highest ranking noblemen of the king. They should dress up the man whom the king is pleased to honor and let him ride on the horse in the public square of the city. Walking in front of him, they will proclaim, “This is what is done for the man whom the king is pleased to honor.”

¹⁰The king said to Haman, “Hurry! Take the clothing and the horse just as you have said, and do this for Mordecai the Jew, who sits in the gatehouse of the king. Do not leave out a thing from whatever you have said.”

¹¹Haman took the clothing and the horse, clothed Mordecai, had him ride through the public square of the city, and proclaimed before him, “This is what is done for the man whom the king is pleased to honor.”

¹²Mordecai returned to the king’s gate, but Haman hurried to his home, mourning, with his head covered. ¹³Haman reported all this to Zeresh his wife and to all his friends.

His advisors and Zeresh his wife said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not overcome him. Instead, you will surely fall before him.”

¹⁴While they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and rushed Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

Therefore, because you were raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. ²Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things. ³For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

⁴⁴He said to them, “These are my words, which I spoke to you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.”

⁴⁵Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. ⁴⁶He said to them, “This is what is written and so it must be: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. ⁴⁸You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹Look, I am sending you what my Father promised. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

⁵⁰He led them out as far as the vicinity of Bethany. He lifted up his hands and blessed them. ⁵¹And while he was blessing them, he parted from them and was taken up into heaven. ⁵²So they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. ⁵³They were continually in the temple courts, praising and blessing God. Amen.

²¹When this man Elkanah and his entire household went up to offer the annual sacrifice to the Lord and to fulfill his vow, ²²Hannah did not go up with them, because she said to her husband, “Not until the child is weaned. Then I will bring him, so that he can appear before the Lord and remain there permanently.”

²³Her husband Elkanah said to her, “Do whatever you think is best. Wait until you have weaned him. Yes, then the Lord will establish his word.”

So the woman stayed at home, and she nursed her son until she was ready to wean him. ²⁴When she had weaned him, she took him up with her. She also took a three-year-old bull, twenty-five pounds of flour, and a container of wine, and she brought him to the House of the Lord in Shiloh. The boy was ˻with them. And they brought him before the Lord, and his father killed the sacrifice as he regularly did before the Lord, and he brought˼ the boy. ²⁵When they had killed the bull, they presented the child to Eli. ²⁶She said, “Excuse me, my lord. As your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood here next to you, praying to the Lord. ²⁷I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked for. ²⁸So now I have also dedicated him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is dedicated to the Lord.” So he worshipped the Lord there.

¹³Since we have that same spirit of faith, which corresponds to what is written: “I believed; therefore, I have spoken,” we also believe, and therefore we speak. ¹⁴For we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and bring us (together with you) into his presence. ¹⁵In fact, all this is for your benefit, so that as grace increases, it will overflow to the glory of God, as more and more people give thanks.

¹⁶Therefore we are not discouraged. But even if our outer self is wasting away, yet our inner self is being renewed day by day. ¹⁷Yes, our momentary, light trouble produces for us an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond any comparison. ¹⁸We are not focusing on what is seen, but on what is not seen. For the things that are seen are temporary, but the things that are not seen are eternal.

After Jesus had spoken these things, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son so that your Son may glorify you. ²For you gave him authority over all flesh, so that he may give eternal life to all those you have given him. ³This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent. ⁴I have glorified you on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. ⁵Now, Father, glorify me at your own side with the glory I had at your side before the world existed.

⁶“I revealed your name to the men you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me, and they have held on to your word. ⁷Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. ⁸For I gave them the words you gave me, and they received them. They learned the truth that I came from you. They believed that you sent me.

⁹“I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, because they are yours. ¹⁰All that is mine is yours, and what is yours is mine. And I am glorified in them. ¹¹I am no longer going to be in the world, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you.”

²⁸After this, I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.

Your sons and your daughters will prophesy.

Your old men will dream dreams.

Your young men will see visions.

²⁹Even on the servants, both male and female,

I will pour out my Spirit in those days.

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ²Suddenly a sound like the rushing of a violent wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³They saw divided tongues that were like fire resting on each one of them. ⁴They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, since the Spirit was giving them the ability to speak fluently.

⁵Now there were godly Jewish men from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. ⁶When this sound was heard, a crowd came together and was confused, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. ⁷They were completely baffled and said to each other, “Look, are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? ⁸Then how is it that each of us hears them speaking in his own native language? ⁹Parthians, Medes, and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, and of Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt, and the parts of Libya around Cyrene; visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes; ¹¹Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring in our own languages the wonderful works of God.” ¹²They were all amazed and perplexed. They kept saying to one another, “What does this mean?” ¹³But others mocked them and said, “They are full of new wine.”

¹⁴Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice, and spoke loudly and clearly to them: “Men of Judea, and all you residents of Jerusalem, understand this, and listen closely to my words. ¹⁵These men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day. ¹⁶On the contrary, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

¹⁷This is what God says will happen in the last days:

I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.

Your sons and your daughters will prophesy.

Your young men will see visions.

Your old men will dream dreams.

¹⁸Even on my servants, both men and women,

I will pour out my Spirit in those days,

and they will prophesy.

¹⁹I will show wonders in the sky above,

and signs on the earth below,

blood and fire and a rising cloud of smoke.

²⁰The sun will be turned to darkness

and the moon to blood

before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.

²¹And this will happen: Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

⁵“But now I am going away to him who sent me, and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ ⁶Yet because I have told you these things, sorrow has filled your heart. ⁷Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth: It is good for you that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸When he comes, he will convict the world about sin, about righteousness, and about judgment: ⁹about sin, because they do not believe in me; ¹⁰about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; ¹¹about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.”