Prologue

1 The former account I made, O ^(A)Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, ^2 (B)until the day in which ^[a]He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit ^(C)had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, ^3 (D)to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many ^[b]infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

The Holy Spirit Promised

^4 (E)And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have ^(F)heard from Me; ^5 (G)for John truly baptized with water, ^(H)but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” ⁶ Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” ⁷ And He said to them, ^(I)“It is not for you to ^(J)know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. ^8 (K)But you shall receive power ^(L)when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and ^(M)you shall be ^[c]witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and ^(N)Samaria, and to the ^(O)end of the earth.”

Jesus Ascends to Heaven^(P)

^9 (Q)Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, ^(R)He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. ¹⁰ And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them ^(S)in white apparel, ¹¹ who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, ^(T)will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”

The Upper Room Prayer Meeting

^12 (U)Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey. ¹³ And when they had entered, they went up ^(V)into the upper room where they were staying: ^(W)Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and ^(X)Simon the Zealot; and ^(Y)Judas the son of James. ^14 (Z)These all continued with one ^[d]accord in prayer ^[e]and supplication, with ^(AA)the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with ^(AB)His brothers.

Matthias Chosen^(AC)

¹⁵ And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the ^[f]disciples (altogether the number ^(AD)of names was about a hundred and twenty), and said, ¹⁶ “Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, ^(AE)which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, ^(AF)who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus; ¹⁷ for ^(AG)he was numbered with us and obtained a part in ^(AH)this ministry.”

^18 (AI)(Now this man purchased a field with ^(AJ)the ^[g]wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his ^[h]entrails gushed out. ¹⁹ And it became known to all those dwelling in Jerusalem; so that field is called in their own language, Akel Dama, that is, Field of Blood.)

²⁰ “For it is written in the Book of Psalms:

and,

²¹ “Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, ²² beginning from the baptism of John to that day when ^(AM)He was taken up from us, one of these must ^(AN)become a witness with us of His resurrection.”

²³ And they proposed two: Joseph called ^(AO)Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. ²⁴ And they prayed and said, “You, O Lord, ^(AP)who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen ^25 (AQ)to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.” ²⁶ And they cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

Peter Defends God’s Grace

11 Now the apostles and brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. ² And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, ^(A)those of the circumcision contended with him, ³ saying, ^(B)“You went in to uncircumcised men ^(C)and ate with them!”

⁴ But Peter explained it to them ^(D)in order from the beginning, saying: ^5 (E)“I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, an object descending like a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came to me. ⁶ When I observed it intently and considered, I saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. ⁷ And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ ⁸ But I said, ‘Not so, Lord! For nothing common or unclean has at any time entered my mouth.’ ⁹ But the voice answered me again from heaven, ‘What God has cleansed you must not call common.’ ¹⁰ Now this was done three times, and all were drawn up again into heaven. ¹¹ At that very moment, three men stood before the house where I was, having been sent to me from Caesarea. ¹² Then ^(F)the Spirit told me to go with them, doubting nothing. Moreover ^(G)these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. ^13 (H)And he told us how he had seen an angel standing in his house, who said to him, ‘Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon whose surname is Peter, ¹⁴ who will tell you words by which you and all your household will be saved.’ ¹⁵ And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, ^(I)as upon us at the beginning. ¹⁶ Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ^(J)‘John indeed baptized with water, but ^(K)you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ ^17 (L)If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, ^(M)who was I that I could withstand God?”

¹⁸ When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, ^(N)“Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.”

Barnabas and Saul at Antioch

^19 (O)Now those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but the Jews only. ²⁰ But some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to ^(P)the Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus. ²¹ And ^(Q)the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and ^(R)turned to the Lord.

²² Then news of these things came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent out ^(S)Barnabas to go as far as Antioch. ²³ When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad, and ^(T)encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord. ²⁴ For he was a good man, ^(U)full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. ^(V)And a great many people were added to the Lord.

²⁵ Then Barnabas departed for ^(W)Tarsus to seek Saul. ²⁶ And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

Relief to Judea

²⁷ And in these days ^(X)prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch. ²⁸ Then one of them, named ^(Y)Agabus, stood up and showed by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of ^(Z)Claudius Caesar. ²⁹ Then the disciples, each according to his ability, determined to send ^(AA)relief to the brethren dwelling in Judea. ^30 (AB)This they also did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.