Then the crowd answered him, "We have learned from the Law that the Messiah remains forever. So how can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?"

As long as you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light." After Jesus had said this, he went away and hid from them.

This is why they could not believe: Isaiah also said,

Isaiah said this when he saw his glory and spoke about him.

Now before the Passover Festival, Jesus realized that his hour had come to leave this world and return to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

I'm telling you this now, before it happens, so that when it does happen, you may believe that I AM.

After saying this, Jesus was deeply troubled in spirit and declared solemnly, "Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, one of you is going to betray me!"

So Simon Peter motioned to this man to ask Jesus about whom he was speaking.

Jesus answered, "He is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread after I have dipped it in the dish."

Now no one at the table knew why Jesus said this to him.

This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

"Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me?" Jesus asked him. "The person who has seen me has seen the Father. So how can you say, "Show us the Father'?

"I have told you this while I am still with you.

I've told you this now, before I leave, so that when I do leave, you will believe.

I won't talk with you much longer, because the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me.

But I'm doing what the Father has commanded me, to let the world know that I love the Father. Get up! Let us leave this place."

This is how my Father is glorified, when you produce a lot of fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

I've told you this, so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

"This is my commandment: that you love one another as I have loved you.

But this happened so that what has been written in their Law might be fulfilled: "They hated me for no reason.'

"I have told you this to keep you from falling away.

They'll do this because they haven't known the Father or me.

But I've told you this, so that when the time comes you'll remember that I told you about them. I didn't tell you this in the beginning, because I was still with you."

But because I have told you this, sorrow has filled your hearts.

and of judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.

At this point, some of his disciples asked each other, "What does he mean by telling us, "In a little while you will no longer see me, then in a little while you will see me again,' and, "because I am going to the Father'?"

They kept saying, "What is this "in a little while' that he keeps talking about? We don't know what he means."

Now we know that you know everything and don't need to have anyone ask you any questions. Because of this, we believe that you have come from God."

I have told you this so that through me you may have peace. In the world you'll have trouble, but be courageous I've overcome the world!"

After Jesus had said this, he looked up to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, so that the Son may glorify you.

And this is eternal life: to know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent Jesus the Messiah.

After Jesus had said all of this, he went with his disciples across the Kidron valley to a place where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered.

This was to fulfill what he had said, "I did not lose a single one of those you gave me."

Peter, however, stood outside the gate. So this other disciple who was known to the high priest went out and spoke to the gatekeeper and brought Peter inside.

The young woman at the gate asked Peter, "You aren't one of this man's disciples, too, are you?" "I am not," he replied.

When he said this, one of the officers standing nearby slapped Jesus on the face and demanded, "Is that any way to answer the high priest?"

So Pilate came out to them and asked, "What accusation are you bringing against this man?"

The Jewish leaders told him, "It is not legal for us to put anyone to death." This was to fulfill what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he was to die.

Jesus replied, "Are you asking this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about me?"

Jesus answered, "My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom belonged to this world, my servants would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But for now my kingdom is not from here."

Pilate asked him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. I was born for this, and I came into the world for this: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is committed to the truth listens to my voice."

At this, they shouted out again, "Not this fellow, but Barabbas!" Now Barabbas was a revolutionary.

When Pilate heard this, he became even more afraid.

From then on, Pilate tried to release him, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, "If you release this fellow, you're not a friend of Caesar! Anyone who claims to be a king is defying Caesar!"

Many Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. It was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.

Then the Jewish high priests told Pilate, "Don't write, "The King of the Jews,' but that this fellow said, "I am the King of the Jews.'"

So they told each other, "Let's not tear it. Instead, let's throw dice to see who gets it." This was to fulfill the Scripture that says, "They divided my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they threw dice." So that is what the soldiers did.

After this, when Jesus realized that everything was now completed, he said (in order to fulfill the Scripture), "I'm thirsty."

The one who saw this has testified, and his testimony is true. He knows he is telling the truth so that you, too, may believe,

At this point Simon Peter arrived, following him, and went straight into the tomb. He observed that the linen cloths were lying there,

After she had said this, she turned around and noticed Jesus standing there, without realizing that it was Jesus.

After saying this, he showed them his hands and his side, and when they saw the Lord, the disciples were overjoyed.

When he had said this, he breathed on them and told them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.

Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not recorded in this book.

Later on, Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. This is what happened:

This was now the third time that Jesus revealed himself to the disciples after he had been raised from the dead.

Now he said this to show by what kind of death he would glorify God. After saying this, Jesus told him, "Keep following me."

So the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple wasn't going to die. Yet Jesus didn't say to Peter that he wasn't going to die, but, "If it's my will for him to remain until I come back, how does that concern you?"

This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them down. We know that his testimony is true.

Now those who had gathered together began to ask Jesus, "Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?"

After saying this, Jesus was taken up while those who had gathered together were watching, and a cloud took him out of their sight.

They asked, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This same Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you saw him go up into heaven."

because he was one of our number and was appointed to share in this ministry."

(Now this man bought a field with the money he got for his crime. Falling on his face, he burst open in the middle, and all his intestines gushed out.

This became known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that this field is called in their language Hakeldama, that is, "The Field of Blood".)

beginning when he was baptized by John until the day he was taken up from us. Therefore, someone like this must become a witness with us to his resurrection."

to serve in this office of apostle, from which Judas left to go to his own place."

All of them continued to be stunned and puzzled, and they kept asking one another, "What can this mean?"

Rather, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

After he was arrested according to the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified this very man and killed him using the hands of lawless men.

"Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and that his tomb is among us to this day.

"It was this very Jesus whom God raised and we're all witnesses of that.

"Therefore, let all the people of Israel understand beyond a doubt that God made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah!"

When the crowd that had gathered heard this, they were pierced to the heart. They asked Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what should we do?"

For this promise belongs to you and your children, as well as to all those who are distant, whom the Lord our God may call to himself."

Using many different expressions, Peter continued to testify and to plead: "Be saved," he urged them, "from this corrupt generation!"

When Peter saw this, he told the people: "Fellow Israelis, why are you wondering about this, and why are you staring at us as if by our own power or godliness we made him walk?

It is his name that is, by faith in his name that has healed this man whom you see and know. Yes, the faith that comes through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.

This is how God fulfilled what he had predicted through the voice of all the prophets that his Messiah would suffer.

They made Peter and John stand in front of them and began asking, "By what power or by what name did you do this?"

If we are being questioned today for a good deed done for someone who was sick or to learn how this man was healed,

you and all the people of Israel must understand that this man stands healthy before you because of the name of Jesus from Nazareth, whom you crucified, but whom God raised from the dead.

But to keep it from spreading any further among the people, let us warn them never again to speak to anyone in this name."

since the man on whom this sign of healing had been performed was more than 40 years old.

When they heard this, they all raised their voices to God and said, "Master, you made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them.

For in this city both Herod and Pontius Pilate actually met together with unbelievers and the people of Israel to oppose your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed,

And great fear seized the whole church and everyone else who heard about this.

"Go, stand in the Temple, and keep on telling the people the whole message about this life they can have."

After the apostles heard this, they went into the Temple at daybreak and began to teach. The high priest and those who were with him arrived, called the Council and all the elders of Israel together, and sent word to the prison to have the men brought in.

He said, "We gave you strict orders not to teach in his name, didn't we? Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to bring this man's blood on us!"

God has exalted to his right hand this very man as our Leader and Savior in order to extend repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.

When the Council heard this, they became furious and wanted to kill them.

"I'm telling you to keep away from these men for now. Leave them alone, because if this plan or movement is of human origin, it will fail.

Therefore, brothers, appoint seven men among you who have a good reputation, who are full of the Spirit and wisdom, and we'll put them in charge of this work.

This suggestion pleased the whole group. So they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a gentile convert to Judaism from Antioch.

They had false witnesses stand up and say, "This man never stops saying things against this Holy Place and against the Law.

For we have heard him say that this Jesus from Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us."

Then the high priest asked, "Is this true?"

So he left the country of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. Then after the death of his father, God had him move to this country where you now live.

"This is what God promised: His descendants would be strangers in a foreign country, and its people would enslave them and oppress them for 400 years.