使 徒 行 傳 1
Chinese New Testament: Easy-to-Read Version
路加写另一部书
1
耶稣被接进天堂
6 当使徒们聚在一起时，他们问耶稣∶“主，现在是您把他们王国再赐给以色列人的时候吗？”
7 耶稣答道∶“天父以他的权威确定的日期和时刻，不是你们可以知道的。 8 但是，当圣灵来到你们身上的时候，你们将会领受到力量；你们将在耶路撒冷、在犹太和撒玛利亚全境，直至天涯海角，做我的见证人。”
9 说完这话，耶稣便在他们的注视下被升上天空。一片云遮掩着他，挡住了他们的视线。 10 当他离去时，他们都目不转睛地仰视着天空，突然有两个身穿白衣的人，站在他们的身边。 11 对他们说∶“加利利人啊，你们为什么站在这里望着天空呢？这个从你们这里被接进天堂的耶稣，你们看到他怎样到天堂去的，他还会怎样回来的。”
挑选一名新使徒
12 这之后，他们便从橄榄山返回了耶路撒冷。橄榄山离耶路撒冷大约有一公里的路程。 13 他们到达后，便到楼上他们住的那间屋子去了。这些人是彼得、约翰、雅各、安得烈、腓力和多马、巴得罗买和马太、亚勒腓的儿子雅各，激进派的西门和雅各的儿子犹大。
14 这些人时常聚在一起虔诚地祈祷。加入他们的还有一些妇女，其中有耶稣的母亲马利亚和他的兄弟。
15 几天之后，信徒们聚在一起，（大约120人）彼得站在他们中间说： 16 “弟兄们，圣灵借大卫之口，在《经》上预言犹大领人逮捕耶稣的事情，是不能不应验的。 17 这个人曾是我们中的一员，和我们一同工作过。”
18 （这个人用他做恶的钱买了一块地。结果一头栽在那里，五脏迸裂而死，连肠子都流出来了。 19 所有住在耶路撒冷的人都听说了这件事，于是便用他们的语言给那块土地起了一个名字，叫亚革大马，意思是“血田”。）
20 “因为《诗篇》书中记载说：
‘愿他的住地荒芜，
永无人烟。’ (A)
并且说：
‘愿另一个人顶替他侍奉的位置。’ (B)
23 使徒便推举出了两个人：一个是约瑟，人们又叫他巴撒巴（也叫犹士都）；另一个人是马提亚。 24 然后，他们祷告说∶“主，你知道我们所有人的心，请您指出从这两个人中，你选中了谁做为使徒， 25 来顶替做为使徒这个侍奉的位置，就是犹大去了属于他的地方所留下的位置。” 26 他们在两个名字中抽了签。签子落到了马提亚的身上，他就加入了十一个使徒的行列。
Acts 1
The Message
To the Ends of the World
1 1-5 Dear Theophilus, in the first volume of this book I wrote on everything that Jesus began to do and teach until the day he said good-bye to the apostles, the ones he had chosen through the Holy Spirit, and was taken up to heaven. After his death, he presented himself alive to them in many different settings over a period of forty days. In face-to-face meetings, he talked to them about things concerning the kingdom of God. As they met and ate meals together, he told them that they were on no account to leave Jerusalem but “must wait for what the Father promised: the promise you heard from me. John baptized in water; you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit. And soon.”
6 When they were together for the last time they asked, “Master, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now? Is this the time?”
7-8 He told them, “You don’t get to know the time. Timing is the Father’s business. What you’ll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world.”
9-11 These were his last words. As they watched, he was taken up and disappeared in a cloud. They stood there, staring into the empty sky. Suddenly two men appeared—in white robes! They said, “You Galileans!—why do you just stand here looking up at an empty sky? This very Jesus who was taken up from among you to heaven will come as certainly—and mysteriously—as he left.”
Returning to Jerusalem
12-13 So they left the mountain called Olives and returned to Jerusalem. It was a little over half a mile. They went to the upper room they had been using as a meeting place:
Peter,
John,
James,
Andrew,
Philip,
Thomas,
Bartholomew,
Matthew,
James, son of Alphaeus,
Simon the Zealot,
Judas, son of James.
14 They agreed they were in this for good, completely together in prayer, the women included. Also Jesus’ mother, Mary, and his brothers.
Replacing Judas
15-17 During this time, Peter stood up in the company—there were about 120 of them in the room at the time—and said, “Friends, long ago the Holy Spirit spoke through David regarding Judas, who became the guide to those who arrested Jesus. That Scripture had to be fulfilled, and now has been. Judas was one of us and had his assigned place in this ministry.
18-20 “As you know, he took the evil bribe money and bought a small farm. There he came to a bad end, rupturing his belly and spilling his guts. Everybody in Jerusalem knows this by now; they call the place Murder Meadow. It’s exactly what we find written in the Psalms:
Let his farm become haunted
So no one can ever live there.
“And also what was written later:
Let someone else take over his post.
21-22 “Judas must now be replaced. The replacement must come from the company of men who stayed together with us from the time Jesus was baptized by John up to the day of his ascension, designated along with us as a witness to his resurrection.”
23-26 They nominated two: Joseph Barsabbas, nicknamed Justus, and Matthias. Then they prayed, “You, O God, know every one of us inside and out. Make plain which of these two men you choose to take the place in this ministry and leadership that Judas threw away in order to go his own way.” They then drew straws. Matthias won and was counted in with the eleven apostles.
Acts 1
New Catholic Bible
At Jerusalem[a]
From Jesus to the Community of the Lord[b]
Chapter 1
Prologue.[c] 1 In my previous book, Theophilus,[d] I wrote of everything that Jesus did and taught from the beginning 2 until the day he was taken up, after first giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.
The Promise of the Spirit.[e] 3 After his passion Jesus had presented himself alive to them by many proofs. He appeared to them during forty days and spoke to them about the kingdom of God. 4 When they were gathered together, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, saying, “Wait there for the promise of the Father about which you have heard me speak. 5 For John baptized with water, but within a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
6 As they were all gathered together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you are going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He replied, “It is not for you to know the dates or the times that the Father has designated by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and then you will be my witnesses not only in Jerusalem, but throughout Judea and Samaria, and indeed to the farthest ends of the earth.”
The Ascension of Jesus.[f] 9 After he said this, he was lifted up as they looked on, and a cloud took him from their sight. 10 While he was departing as they gazed upward toward the sky, suddenly two men dressed in white robes stood beside them, 11 and they said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking up into the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come back in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”
12 The First Community Waiting for the Spirit. Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, no farther distant than a Sabbath day’s journey.[g] 13 When they arrived, they went to the upper room where they were staying: Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 All of these were constantly engaged in prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.[h]
15 The Choice of Judas’s Successor.[i] In those days, Peter stood up before the assembled brothers, numbering about one hundred and twenty, and said, 16 “Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled that the Holy Spirit revealed through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus. 17 He was one of our number and was granted a share in this ministry.
18 “With the money from his traitorous act, this man purchased a plot of land upon which he fell headlong, and he burst open, all of his entrails pouring out. 19 The news about this became known to all the people living in Jerusalem, so that in their own language that plot of land was called ‘Hakeldama,’ which means ‘Field of Blood.’[j] 20 For it is written in the Book of Psalms,
‘May his encampment become deserted,
and may there be no one to dwell in it.’
And again,
‘Let another take over his position.’
21 “Therefore, it is necessary to choose one of the men who have accompanied us during the entire time that the Lord Jesus lived with us, 22 beginning from his baptism by John until the day when he was taken up from us. For he must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”
23 And so they nominated two candidates: Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. 24 Then they prayed, saying, “Lord, you know the hearts of everyone. Show us which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in this apostolic ministry that Judas abandoned to go to his own place.” 26 Then they cast lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias, who was then added to the eleven apostles.
Footnotes
- Acts 1:1 In the Gospel of Luke, the life of Jesus takes the form of an ascent to Jerusalem, where through him God will decisively intervene in the destiny of humanity. The Book of Acts allows us to be present at the spread of the Gospel from that center to the ends of the earth. The Holy City is very important as the starting point of evangelization.
The experience of the young Christian community becomes exemplary, as in stories of foundations. Thus in chs. 1–7 everything takes place in Jerusalem, while in chs. 8–12 the city serves as the starting point and point of return of the stories. The Church of Jerusalem, then, is the source of Christianity: it is the mother Church and the inspiration for every other Church and for the whole Church. - Acts 1:1 The first two chapters of Acts serve a special purpose. In them we move from the risen Jesus to the community that is founded and established in the midst of the Jewish people—the community that is the starting point of the main routes along which the life of the Church develops. For readers of that period, the language used constantly recalls the great traditions of the Old Testament: the entire plan of God is recapitulated in these passages that in turn establish the perspective for what follows.
- Acts 1:1 One author conceived the third Gospel and the Book of Acts as a single whole; the combination is not the result of chance. The first work tells the story of the actions and teachings of Jesus, “beginning from [John’s] baptism” (see Acts 1:22; 10:37); the second shows us the life and activity of the risen Lord, which is likewise made visible in the deeds and acts of the various communities.
- Acts 1:1 Theophilus: perhaps a rich and distinguished person who has paid for the publication of the work. He is the same person as in Lk 1:3.
- Acts 1:3 This is the important theme that characterizes the period of the Lord’s appearances (the period lasts forty days, between Easter and Pentecost; the number 40, which recurs so often in the Bible, is a symbol of fullness). The story highlights what it means to experience the risen Lord.
It is the Spirit who links the past phase of the life of Jesus with its present phase. This Spirit, often promised by Jesus (Lk 11:13; 24:49), brings to fulfillment all the blessings that the Messiah was to bring (see Joel 4:9; Am 9:11). The day of national restoration is no longer something to be awaited; the decisive moment has already arrived, and the Spirit is beginning to unite the peoples. - Acts 1:9 The Ascension is not the final act, but the beginning of the time to come. The cloud that hides Jesus from the eyes of the disciples recalls the cloud that covered the people in the wilderness, accompanying them night and day on their journey (Ex 40:36-38); it is a sign of God’s presence, of his glory (Lk 9:34f). The risen Jesus reunites earth with heaven, i.e., the world of human beings with the world of God.
- Acts 1:12 Sabbath day’s journey: about two-thirds of a mile.
- Acts 1:14 This is the only place in which the mother of Jesus is mentioned in Acts; the collateral relatives of Jesus, his brethren, will later on have an important place in the Jerusalem community (Acts 12:20; 15:13; 21:18; see note on Mt 12:46).
- Acts 1:15 The ministry (diakonia: service) of the apostle (“one who is sent”) appears from the outset as a solidly established institution, and one that is indispensable for the people of God. The apostles are twelve in number, as though to preside over the twelve tribes, i.e., the true Israel (see Acts 26:7), and it is around them that this community of one hundred and twenty (or ten for each apostle) has formed.
- Acts 1:19 The language spoken is Aramaic.
Copyright © 2004 by World Bible Translation Center
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
