Fate of Ananias and Sapphira

5 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, ² and ^(A)kept back some of the ^[a]proceeds for himself, with his wife’s ^[b]full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he ^(B)laid it at the apostles’ feet. ³ But Peter said, “Ananias, why has ^(C)Satan filled your heart to lie ^(D)to the Holy Spirit and to ^(E)keep back some of the ^[c]proceeds of the land? ⁴ While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not ^[d]under your control? Why is it that you have ^[e]conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but ^(F)to God.” ⁵ And as he heard these words, Ananias ^(G)collapsed and ^[f]died; and ^(H)great fear came over all who heard about it. ⁶ The young men got up and ^(I)covered him up, and after carrying him out, they buried him.

⁷ Now an interval of about three hours elapsed, and his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. ⁸ And Peter responded to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land ^(J)for ^[g]this price?” And she said, “Yes, for ^[h]that price.” ⁹ Then Peter said to her, “Why is it that you have agreed together to ^(K)put ^(L)the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out as well.” ¹⁰ And immediately she ^(M)collapsed at his feet and ^[i]died; and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. ¹¹ And ^(N)great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard about these things.

^12 [j]At the hands of the apostles many ^[k](O)signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all ^[l]together in ^(P)Solomon’s ^[m]portico. ¹³ But none of the rest dared to associate with them; however, ^(Q)the people held them in high esteem. ¹⁴ And increasingly ^(R)believers in the Lord, large numbers of men and women, were being ^(S)added to their number, ¹⁵ to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by ^(T)at least his shadow might fall on any of them. ¹⁶ The ^[n]people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together as well, bringing people who were sick ^[o]or tormented with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed.

Imprisonment and Release

¹⁷ But the high priest stood up, along with all his associates (that is ^(U)the sect of ^(V)the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy. ¹⁸ They laid hands on the apostles and ^(W)put them in a public prison. ¹⁹ But during the night ^(X)an angel of the Lord opened the gates of the prison, and leading them out, he said, ²⁰ “Go, stand and ^[p]speak to the people in the temple area ^[q](Y)the whole message of this Life.” ²¹ Upon hearing this, they entered into the temple area ^(Z)about daybreak and began to teach.

Now when ^(AA)the high priest and his associates came, they called ^(AB)the ^[r]Council together, that is, all the Senate of the sons of Israel, and sent orders to the prison for them to be brought. ²² But ^(AC)the officers who came did not find them in the prison; and they returned and reported, ²³ saying, “We found the prison locked quite securely and the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” ²⁴ Now when ^(AD)the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them as to what ^[s]would come of this. ²⁵ But someone came and reported to them, “The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple area and teaching the people!” ²⁶ Then ^(AE)the captain went along with ^(AF)the officers and proceeded to bring them back without violence (for ^(AG)they were afraid of the people, that they might be stoned).

²⁷ When they had brought them, they had them stand ^[t]before ^(AH)the Council. The high priest interrogated them, ²⁸ saying, “We gave you ^(AI)strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and ^[u]yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and ^(AJ)intend to bring this Man’s blood upon us.” ²⁹ But Peter and the apostles answered, “^(AK)We must obey God rather than men. ^30 (AL)The God of our fathers ^(AM)raised up Jesus, whom you ^(AN)put to death by hanging Him on ^[v](AO)a cross. ^31 (AP)He is the one whom God exalted ^[w]to His right hand as a ^[x](AQ)Prince and a ^(AR)Savior, to grant ^(AS)repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. ³² And we are ^(AT)witnesses ^[y]of these things; and ^(AU)so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”

Gamaliel’s Counsel

³³ But when they heard this, they became ^(AV)infuriated and nearly decided to execute them. ³⁴ But a Pharisee named ^(AW)Gamaliel, a ^(AX)teacher of the Law, respected by all the people, stood up in ^(AY)the Council and gave orders to put the men outside for a short time. ³⁵ And he said to them, “Men of Israel, be careful as to what you are about to do with these men. ³⁶ For, some time ago Theudas appeared, ^(AZ)claiming to be somebody, and a group of about four hundred men joined him. ^[z]But he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. ³⁷ After this man, Judas of Galilee appeared in the days of ^(BA)the census and drew away some people after him; he also perished, and all those who followed him were scattered. ³⁸ And so in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and leave them alone, for if the source of this plan or ^[aa]movement ^(BB)is men, it will be overthrown; ³⁹ but if the source is God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found ^(BC)fighting against God.”

⁴⁰ They followed his advice; and after calling the apostles in, they ^(BD)flogged them and ordered them not to ^[ab]speak in the name of Jesus, and then released them. ⁴¹ So they went on their way from the presence of the ^[ac](BE)Council, ^(BF)rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame ^(BG)for His name. ^42 (BH)And every day, in the temple and ^[ad]from house to house, they did not stop teaching and ^(BI)preaching the good news of Jesus as the ^[ae]Christ.

Choosing of the Seven

6 Now ^[a]at this time, as the ^(A)disciples were ^(B)increasing in number, a complaint developed on the part of the ^[b](C)Hellenistic Jews against the native ^(D)Hebrews, because their ^(E)widows were being overlooked in ^(F)the daily serving of food. ² So the twelve summoned the ^[c]congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. ³ Instead, ^(G)brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation, ^(H)full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. ⁴ But we will ^(I)devote ourselves to prayer and to the ^[d]ministry of the word.” ⁵ The ^[e]announcement found approval with the whole ^[f]congregation; and they chose ^(J)Stephen, a man ^(K)full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and ^(L)Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and ^[g]Nicolas, a ^[h](M)proselyte from ^(N)Antioch. ⁶ And they brought these men before the apostles; and after ^(O)praying, they ^(P)laid their hands on them.

^7 (Q)The word of God kept spreading; and ^(R)the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to ^(S)the faith.

⁸ And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great ^(T)wonders and ^[i]signs among the people. ⁹ But some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including both ^(U)Cyrenians and ^(V)Alexandrians, and some from ^(W)Cilicia and ^[j](X)Asia, rose up and argued with Stephen. ¹⁰ But they were unable to ^[k]cope with his wisdom and the Spirit by whom he was speaking. ¹¹ Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” ¹² And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, and they ^(Y)came up to him and dragged him away, and brought him ^[l]before ^(Z)the ^[m]Council. ¹³ They put forward ^(AA)false witnesses who said, “This man does not stop ^[n]speaking against this ^(AB)holy place and the Law; ¹⁴ for we have heard him say that ^(AC)this Nazarene, Jesus, will destroy this place and change ^(AD)the customs which Moses handed down to us.” ¹⁵ And all who were sitting in the ^[o](AE)Council stared at him, and they saw his face, which was like the face of an angel.

The Council in Jerusalem

15 ^(A)Some men came down from Judea and began teaching ^(B)the brothers, “Unless you are ^(C)circumcised according to ^(D)the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” ² And after Paul and Barnabas had ^[a]a heated argument and ^(E)debate with them, ^(F)the brothers determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the ^(G)apostles and elders concerning this issue. ³ Therefore, after being ^(H)sent on their way by the church, they were passing through both ^(I)Phoenicia and Samaria, ^(J)describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and they were bringing great joy to all ^(K)the brothers and sisters. ⁴ When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were received by the church, ^(L)the apostles, and the elders, and they ^(M)reported all that God had done with them. ⁵ But some of ^(N)the sect of the ^(O)Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, “It is necessary to ^(P)circumcise ^[b]them and to direct them to keep the Law of Moses.”

^6 (Q)The apostles and the elders came together to ^[c]look into this ^[d]matter. ⁷ After there had been much ^(R)debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “^[e]Brothers, you know that ^[f]in the early days ^(S)God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of ^(T)the gospel and believe. ⁸ And God, ^(U)who knows the heart, testified to them ^(V)giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; ⁹ and ^(W)He made no distinction between us and them, ^(X)cleansing their hearts by faith. ¹⁰ Since this is the case, why are you ^(Y)putting God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which ^(Z)neither our forefathers nor we have been able to bear? ¹¹ But we believe that we are saved through ^(AA)the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.”

¹² All the people kept silent, and they were listening to Barnabas and Paul as they were ^(AB)relating all the ^(AC)signs and wonders that God had done through them among the Gentiles.

James’ Judgment

¹³ After they stopped speaking, ^[g](AD)James responded, saying, “^[h]Brothers, listen to me. ^14 (AE)Simeon has described how God first concerned Himself about taking a people for His name from among the Gentiles. ¹⁵ The words of ^(AF)the Prophets agree with this, just as it is written:

¹⁹ Therefore, it is ^(AM)my judgment that we do not cause trouble for those from the Gentiles who are turning to God, ²⁰ but that we write to them that they abstain from ^[l](AN)things contaminated by idols, from ^(AO)acts of sexual immorality, from ^(AP)what has been ^[m]strangled, and from blood. ²¹ For ^(AQ)from ancient generations Moses has those who preach him in every city, since ^[n]he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

²² Then it seemed good to ^(AR)the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them to send to ^(AS)Antioch with Paul and Barnabas: Judas who was called Barsabbas, and ^(AT)Silas, leading men among ^(AU)the brothers, ²³ and they ^[o]sent this letter with them:

³⁰ So when they were sent away, ^(BO)they went down to Antioch; and after gathering the ^[u]congregation together, they delivered the letter. ³¹ When they had read it, they rejoiced because of its ^[v]encouragement. ^32 (BP)Judas and ^(BQ)Silas, also being ^(BR)prophets themselves, ^[w]encouraged and strengthened ^(BS)the brothers and sisters with a lengthy message. ³³ After they had spent time there, they were sent away from the brothers and sisters ^(BT)in peace to those who had ^(BU)sent them out.^{[x] 35} But ^(BV)Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch, teaching and ^(BW)preaching ^(BX)the word of the Lord, with many others also.

Second Missionary Journey

³⁶ After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s return and visit the brothers and sisters in ^(BY)every city in which we proclaimed ^(BZ)the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” ³⁷ Barnabas wanted to take ^(CA)John, called Mark, along with them also. ³⁸ But Paul was of the opinion that they should not take along with them this man who had ^(CB)deserted them ^[y]in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. ³⁹ Now it turned into such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took ^(CC)Mark with him and sailed away to ^(CD)Cyprus. ⁴⁰ But Paul chose ^(CE)Silas, and left after being ^(CF)entrusted by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. ⁴¹ And he was traveling through ^(CG)Syria and ^(CH)Cilicia, strengthening the churches.