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Very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, carrying the spices they had prepared.
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They found the stone rolled away from the entrance to the tomb,
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so they went in; but they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
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They stood there puzzled about this, when suddenly two men in bright shining clothes stood by them.
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Full of fear, the women bowed down to the ground, as the men said to them, "Why are you looking among the dead for one who is alive?
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He is not here; he has been raised. Remember what he said to you while he was in Galilee:
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'The Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, be crucified, and three days later rise to life.' "
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Then the women remembered his words,
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returned from the tomb, and told all these things to the eleven disciples and all the rest.
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The women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; they and the other women with them told these things to the apostles.
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But the apostles thought that what the women said was nonsense, and they did not believe them.
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But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; he bent down and saw the grave cloths but nothing else. Then he went back home amazed at what had happened.
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On that same day two of Jesus' followers were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem,
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and they were talking to each other about all the things that had happened.
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As they talked and discussed, Jesus himself drew near and walked along with them;
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they saw him, but somehow did not recognize him.
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Jesus said to them, "What are you talking about to each other, as you walk along?" They stood still, with sad faces.
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One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, "Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who doesn't know the things that have been happening there these last few days?"
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"What things?" he asked. "The things that happened to Jesus of Nazareth," they answered. "This man was a prophet and was considered by God and by all the people to be powerful in everything he said and did.
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Our chief priests and rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and he was crucified.
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And we had hoped that he would be the one who was going to set Israel free! Besides all that, this is now the third day since it happened.
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Some of the women of our group surprised us; they went at dawn to the tomb,
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but could not find his body. They came back saying they had seen a vision of angels who told them that he is alive.
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Some of our group went to the tomb and found it exactly as the women had said, but they did not see him."
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Then Jesus said to them, "How foolish you are, how slow you are to believe everything the prophets said!
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Was it not necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things and then to enter his glory?"
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And Jesus explained to them what was said about himself in all the Scriptures, beginning with the books of Moses and the writings of all the prophets.
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As they came near the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther;
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but they held him back, saying, "Stay with us; the day is almost over and it is getting dark." So he went in to stay with them.
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He sat down to eat with them, took the bread, and said the blessing; then he broke the bread and gave it to them.
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Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he disappeared from their sight.
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They said to each other, "Wasn't it like a fire burning in us when he talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?"
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They got up at once and went back to Jerusalem, where they found the eleven disciples gathered together with the others
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and saying, "The Lord is risen indeed! He has appeared to Simon!"
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The two then explained to them what had happened on the road, and how they had recognized the Lord when he broke the bread.
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While the two were telling them this, suddenly the Lord himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you."
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They were terrified, thinking that they were seeing a ghost.
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But he said to them, "Why are you alarmed? Why are these doubts coming up in your minds?
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Look at my hands and my feet, and see that it is I myself. Feel me, and you will know, for a ghost doesn't have flesh and bones, as you can see I have."
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He said this and showed them his hands and his feet.
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They still could not believe, they were so full of joy and wonder; so he asked them, "Do you have anything here to eat?"
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They gave him a piece of cooked fish,
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which he took and ate in their presence.
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Then he said to them, "These are the very things I told you about while I was still with you: everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the writings of the prophets, and the Psalms had to come true."
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Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,
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and said to them, "This is what is written: the Messiah must suffer and must rise from death three days later,
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and in his name the message about repentance and the forgiveness of sins must be preached to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.
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You are witnesses of these things.
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And I myself will send upon you what my Father has promised. But you must wait in the city until the power from above comes down upon you."
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Then he led them out of the city as far as Bethany, where he raised his hands and blessed them.
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As he was blessing them, he departed from them and was taken up into heaven.
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They worshiped him and went back into Jerusalem, filled with great joy,
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and spent all their time in the Temple giving thanks to God.