Acts 2-5

Living Bible

2 Seven weeks had gone by since Jesus’ death and resurrection, and the Day of Pentecost had now arrived.^[a] As the believers met together that day, ² suddenly there was a sound like the roaring of a mighty windstorm in the skies above them and it filled the house where they were meeting. ³ Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on their heads. ⁴ And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in languages they didn’t know,^[b] for the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.

⁵ Many godly Jews were in Jerusalem that day for the religious celebrations, having arrived from many nations. ⁶ And when they heard the roaring in the sky above the house, crowds came running to see what it was all about, and were stunned to hear their own languages being spoken by the disciples.

⁷ “How can this be?” they exclaimed. “For these men are all from Galilee, ⁸ and yet we hear them speaking all the native languages of the lands where we were born! ⁹ Here we are—Parthians, Medes, Elamites, men from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia Minor, ¹⁰ Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the Cyrene language areas of Libya, visitors from Rome—both Jews and Jewish converts— ¹¹ Cretans, and Arabians. And we all hear these men telling in our own languages about the mighty miracles of God!”

¹² They stood there amazed and perplexed. “What can this mean?” they asked each other.

¹³ But others in the crowd were mocking. “They’re drunk, that’s all!” they said.

¹⁴ Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen, all of you, visitors and residents of Jerusalem alike! ¹⁵ Some of you are saying these men are drunk! It isn’t true! It’s much too early for that! People don’t get drunk by 9:00 A.M.! ¹⁶ No! What you see this morning was predicted centuries ago by the prophet Joel— ¹⁷ ‘In the last days,’ God said, ‘I will pour out my Holy Spirit upon all mankind, and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men dream dreams. ¹⁸ Yes, the Holy Spirit shall come upon all my servants, men and women alike, and they shall prophesy. ¹⁹ And I will cause strange demonstrations in the heavens and on the earth—blood and fire and clouds of smoke; ²⁰ the sun shall turn black and the moon blood-red before that awesome Day of the Lord arrives. ²¹ But anyone who asks for mercy from the Lord shall have it and shall be saved.’

²² “O men of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus of Nazareth by doing tremendous miracles through him, as you well know. ²³ But God, following his prearranged plan, let you use the Roman government^[c] to nail him to the cross and murder him. ²⁴ Then God released him from the horrors of death and brought him back to life again, for death could not keep this man within its grip.

²⁵ “King David quoted Jesus as saying:

‘I know the Lord is always with me. He is helping me. God’s mighty power supports me.

²⁶ ‘No wonder my heart is filled with joy and my tongue shouts his praises! For I know all will be well with me in death—

²⁷ ‘You will not leave my soul in hell or let the body of your Holy Son decay.

²⁸ ‘You will give me back my life and give me wonderful joy in your presence.’

²⁹ “Dear brothers, think! David wasn’t referring to himself when he spoke these words I have quoted, for he died and was buried, and his tomb is still here among us. ³⁰ But he was a prophet, and knew God had promised with an unbreakable oath that one of David’s own descendants would be the Messiah and^[d] sit on David’s throne. ³¹ David was looking far into the future and predicting the Messiah’s resurrection, and saying that the Messiah’s soul would not be left in hell and his body would not decay. ³² He was speaking of Jesus, and we all are witnesses that Jesus rose from the dead.

³³ “And now he sits on the throne of highest honor in heaven, next to God. And just as promised, the Father gave him the authority to send the Holy Spirit—with the results you are seeing and hearing today.

³⁴ “No, David was not speaking of himself in these words of his I have quoted,^[e] for he never ascended into the skies. Moreover, he further stated, ‘God spoke to my Lord, the Messiah, and said to him, Sit here in honor beside me ³⁵ until I bring your enemies into complete subjection.’

³⁶ “Therefore I clearly state to everyone in Israel that God has made this Jesus you crucified to be the Lord, the Messiah!”

³⁷ These words of Peter’s moved them deeply, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”

³⁸ And Peter replied, “Each one of you must turn from sin, return to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; then you also shall receive this gift, the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ For Christ promised him to each one of you who has been called by the Lord our God, and to your children and even to those in distant lands!”

⁴⁰ Then Peter preached a long sermon, telling about Jesus and strongly urging all his listeners to save themselves from the evils of their nation. ⁴¹ And those who believed Peter were baptized—about three thousand in all! ⁴² They joined with the other believers in regular attendance at the apostles’ teaching sessions and at the Communion services^[f] and prayer meetings.

⁴³ A deep sense of awe was on them all, and the apostles did many miracles.

⁴⁴ And all the believers met together constantly and shared everything with each other, ⁴⁵ selling their possessions and dividing with those in need. ⁴⁶ They worshiped together regularly at the Temple each day, met in small groups in homes for Communion, and shared their meals with great joy and thankfulness, ⁴⁷ praising God. The whole city was favorable to them, and each day God added to them all who were being saved.

3 Peter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o’clock daily prayer meeting. ² As they approached the Temple, they saw a man lame from birth carried along the street and laid beside the Temple gate—the one called The Beautiful Gate—as was his custom every day. ³ As Peter and John were passing by, he asked them for some money.

⁴ They looked at him intently, and then Peter said, “Look here!”

⁵ The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting a gift.

⁶ But Peter said, “We don’t have any money for you! But I’ll give you something else! I command you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!”

^7-8 Then Peter took the lame man by the hand and pulled him to his feet. And as he did, the man’s feet and ankle bones were healed and strengthened so that he came up with a leap, stood there a moment and began walking! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them.

⁹ When the people inside saw him walking and heard him praising God, ¹⁰ and realized he was the lame beggar they had seen so often at The Beautiful Gate, they were inexpressibly surprised! ¹¹ They all rushed out to Solomon’s Hall, where he was holding tightly to Peter and John! Everyone stood there awed by the wonderful thing that had happened.

¹² Peter saw his opportunity and addressed the crowd. “Men of Israel,” he said, “what is so surprising about this? And why look at us as though we by our own power and godliness had made this man walk? ¹³ For it is the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and of all our ancestors who has brought glory to his servant Jesus by doing this. I refer to the Jesus whom you rejected before Pilate, despite Pilate’s determination to release him. ¹⁴ You didn’t want him freed—this holy, righteous one. Instead you demanded the release of a murderer. ¹⁵ And you killed the Author of Life; but God brought him back to life again. And John and I are witnesses of this fact, for after you killed him we saw him alive!

¹⁶ “Jesus’ name has healed this man—and you know how lame he was before. Faith in Jesus’ name—faith given us from God—has caused this perfect healing.

¹⁷ “Dear brothers, I realize that what you did to Jesus was done in ignorance; and the same can be said of your leaders. ¹⁸ But God was fulfilling the prophecies that the Messiah must suffer all these things. ¹⁹ Now change your mind and attitude to God and turn to him so he can cleanse away your sins and send you wonderful times of refreshment from the presence of the Lord ²⁰ and send Jesus your Messiah back to you again. ^21-22 For he must remain in heaven until the final recovery of all things from sin, as prophesied from ancient times. Moses, for instance, said long ago, ‘The Lord God will raise up a Prophet among you, who will resemble me!^[g] Listen carefully to everything he tells you. ²³ Anyone who will not listen to him shall be utterly destroyed.’^[h]

²⁴ “Samuel and every prophet since have all spoken about what is going on today. ²⁵ You are the children of those prophets; and you are included in God’s promise to your ancestors to bless the entire world through the Jewish race—that is the promise God gave to Abraham. ²⁶ And as soon as God had brought his servant to life again, he sent him first of all to you men of Israel, to bless you by turning you back from your sins.”

4 While they were talking to the people, the chief priests, the captain of the Temple police, and some of the Sadducees^[i] came over to them, ² very disturbed that Peter and John were claiming that Jesus had risen from the dead. ³ They arrested them and since it was already evening, jailed them overnight. ⁴ But many of the people who heard their message believed it, so that the number of believers now reached a new high of about five thousand men!

⁵ The next day it happened that the Council of all the Jewish leaders was in session in Jerusalem— ⁶ Annas the High Priest was there, and Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and others of the High Priest’s relatives. ⁷ So the two disciples were brought in before them.

“By what power, or by whose authority have you done this?” the Council demanded.

⁸ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Honorable leaders and elders of our nation, ⁹ if you mean the good deed done to the cripple, and how he was healed, ¹⁰ let me clearly state to you and to all the people of Israel that it was done in the name and power of Jesus from Nazareth, the Messiah, the man you crucified—but God raised back to life again. It is by his authority that this man stands here healed! ¹¹ For Jesus the Messiah is (the one referred to in the Scriptures when they speak of) a ‘stone discarded by the builders which became the capstone of the arch.’^{[j] 12} There is salvation in no one else! Under all heaven there is no other name for men to call upon to save them.”

¹³ When the Council saw the boldness of Peter and John and could see that they were obviously uneducated non-professionals, they were amazed and realized what being with Jesus had done for them! ¹⁴ And the Council could hardly discredit the healing when the man they had healed was standing right there beside them! ¹⁵ So they sent them out of the Council chamber and conferred among themselves.

¹⁶ “What shall we do with these men?” they asked each other. “We can’t deny that they have done a tremendous miracle, and everybody in Jerusalem knows about it. ¹⁷ But perhaps we can stop them from spreading their propaganda. We’ll tell them that if they do it again we’ll really throw the book at them.” ¹⁸ So they called them back in, and told them never again to speak about Jesus.

¹⁹ But Peter and John replied, “You decide whether God wants us to obey you instead of him! ²⁰ We cannot stop telling about the wonderful things we saw Jesus do and heard him say.”

²¹ The Council then threatened them further and finally let them go because they didn’t know how to punish them without starting a riot. For everyone was praising God for this wonderful miracle— ²² the healing of a man who had been lame for forty years.

²³ As soon as they were freed, Peter and John found the other disciples and told them what the Council had said.

²⁴ Then all the believers united in this prayer:

“O Lord, Creator of heaven and earth and of the sea and everything in them— ^25-26 you spoke long ago by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor King David, your servant, saying, ‘Why do the heathen rage against the Lord, and the foolish nations plan their little plots against Almighty God? The kings of the earth unite to fight against him and against the anointed Son of God!’

²⁷ “That is what is happening here in this city today! For Herod the king, and Pontius Pilate the governor, and all the Romans—as well as the people of Israel—are united against Jesus, your anointed Son, your holy servant. ²⁸ They won’t stop at anything that you in your wise power will let them do. ²⁹ And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and grant to your servants great boldness in their preaching, ³⁰ and send your healing power, and may miracles and wonders be done by the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

³¹ After this prayer, the building where they were meeting shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and boldly preached God’s message.

³² All the believers were of one heart and mind, and no one felt that what he owned was his own; everyone was sharing. ³³ And the apostles preached powerful sermons about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and there was warm fellowship among all the believers,^{[k] 34-35} and no poverty—for all who owned land or houses sold them and brought the money to the apostles to give to others in need.

³⁶ For instance, there was Joseph (the one the apostles nicknamed “Barnabas, the encourager.” He was of the tribe of Levi, from the island of Cyprus). ³⁷ He was one of those who sold a field he owned and brought the money to the apostles for distribution to those in need.

5 But there was a man named Ananias (with his wife Sapphira) who sold some property ² and brought only part of the money, claiming it was the full price. (His wife had agreed to this deception.)

³ But Peter said, “Ananias, Satan has filled your heart. When you claimed this was the full price, you were lying to the Holy Spirit. ⁴ The property was yours to sell or not, as you wished. And after selling it, it was yours to decide how much to give. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us, but to God.”

⁵ As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor, dead! Everyone was terrified, ⁶ and the younger men covered him with a sheet and took him out and buried him.

⁷ About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. ⁸ Peter asked her, “Did you people sell your land for such and such a price?”

“Yes,” she replied, “we did.”

⁹ And Peter said, “How could you and your husband even think of doing a thing like this—conspiring together to test the Spirit of God’s ability to know what is going on?^[l] Just outside that door are the young men who buried your husband, and they will carry you out too.”

¹⁰ Instantly she fell to the floor, dead, and the young men came in and, seeing that she was dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. ¹¹ Terror gripped the entire church and all others who heard what had happened.

¹² Meanwhile, the apostles were meeting regularly at the Temple in the area known as Solomon’s Hall, and they did many remarkable miracles among the people. ¹³ The other believers didn’t dare join them, though, but all had the highest regard for them. ¹⁴ And more and more believers were added to the Lord, crowds both of men and women. ¹⁵ Sick people were brought out into the streets on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow would fall across some of them as he went by! ¹⁶ And crowds came in from the Jerusalem suburbs, bringing their sick folk and those possessed by demons; and every one of them was healed.

¹⁷ The High Priest and his relatives and friends among the Sadducees reacted with violent jealousy ¹⁸ and arrested the apostles, and put them in the public jail.

¹⁹ But an angel of the Lord came at night, opened the gates of the jail and brought them out. Then he told them, ²⁰ “Go over to the Temple and preach about this Life!”

²¹ They arrived at the Temple about daybreak and immediately began preaching! Later that morning^[m] the High Priest and his courtiers arrived at the Temple, and, convening the Jewish Council and the entire Senate, they sent for the apostles to be brought for trial. ²² But when the police arrived at the jail, the men weren’t there, so they returned to the Council and reported, ²³ “The jail doors were locked, and the guards were standing outside, but when we opened the gates, no one was there!”

²⁴ When the police captain^[n] and the chief priests heard this, they were frantic, wondering what would happen next and where all this would end! ²⁵ Then someone arrived with the news that the men they had jailed were out in the Temple, preaching to the people!

^26-27 The police captain went with his officers and arrested them (without violence, for they were afraid the people would kill them if they roughed up the disciples) and brought them in before the Council.

²⁸ “Didn’t we tell you never again to preach about this Jesus?” the High Priest demanded. “And instead you have filled all Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring the blame for this man’s death on us!”

²⁹ But Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men. ³⁰ The God of our ancestors brought Jesus back to life again after you had killed him by hanging him on a cross. ³¹ Then, with mighty power, God exalted him to be a Prince and Savior, so that the people of Israel would have an opportunity for repentance, and for their sins to be forgiven. ³² And we are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit, who is given by God to all who obey him.”

³³ At this, the Council was furious and decided to kill them. ³⁴ But one of their members, a Pharisee named Gamaliel (an expert on religious law and very popular with the people), stood up and requested that the apostles be sent outside the Council chamber while he talked.

³⁵ Then he addressed his colleagues as follows:

“Men of Israel, take care what you are planning to do to these men! ³⁶ Some time ago there was that fellow Theudas, who pretended to be someone great. About four hundred others joined him, but he was killed, and his followers were harmlessly dispersed.

³⁷ “After him, at the time of the taxation, there was Judas of Galilee. He drew away some people as disciples, but he also died, and his followers scattered.

³⁸ “And so my advice is, leave these men alone. If what they teach and do is merely on their own, it will soon be overthrown. ³⁹ But if it is of God, you will not be able to stop them, lest you find yourselves fighting even against God.”

⁴⁰ The Council accepted his advice, called in the apostles, had them beaten, and then told them never again to speak in the name of Jesus, and finally let them go. ⁴¹ They left the Council chamber rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer dishonor for his name. ⁴² And every day, in the Temple and in their home Bible classes, they continued to teach and preach that Jesus is the Messiah.