When Brothers Dwell in Unity

A Song of ^mAscents. Of David.

They Had Everything in Common

32 Now the full number of those who believed were of ^kone heart and ^lsoul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but ^mthey had everything in common. 33 And with great ⁿpower the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and ^ogreat grace was upon them all. 34 ^pThere was not a needy person among them, for ^qas many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold 35 and ^rlaid it at the apostles’ feet, and ^sit was distributed to each as any had need.

Jesus Appears to the Disciples

19 ^cOn the evening ^dof that day, the first day of the week, ^ethe doors being locked where the disciples were ^ffor fear of the Jews,¹ Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ^g“Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, ^hhe showed them his hands and his side. Then ⁱthe disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As ^jthe Father has sent me, ^keven so I am sending you.” 22 And when he had said this, he ^lbreathed on them and said to them, ^m“Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 ⁿIf you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

Jesus and Thomas

24 Now ^oThomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin,² was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, ^p“Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. ^qAlthough the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ^q“Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, ^r“Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, ^s“My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? ^tBlessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

The Purpose of This Book

30 ^uNow Jesus did many other signs ^vin the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 ^wbut these are written so that you may ^xbelieve that Jesus is the Christ, ^ythe Son of God, and that by believing ^zyou may have life ^ain his name.

The Word of Life

1 ^aThat which was ^bfrom the beginning, ^cwhich we have heard, ^dwhich we have seen with our eyes, ^ewhich we looked upon and ^fhave touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 ^gthe life ^hwas made manifest, and we have seen it, and ⁱtestify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, ^awhich was with the Father and ^hwas made manifest to us— 3 ^cthat which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed ^jour fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so ^kthat our¹ joy may be complete.

Walking in the Light

5 ^lThis is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that ^mGod is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 ⁿIf we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and ^odo not practice the truth. 7 But ^pif we walk in the light, ^qas he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and ^rthe blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 ^sIf we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and ^tthe truth is not in us. 9 ^uIf we confess our sins, he is ^vfaithful and just to forgive us our sins and ^rto cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, ^wwe make him a liar, and ^xhis word is not in us.

Christ Our Advocate

1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, ^ywe have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 ^zHe is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but ^aalso for the sins of the whole world.