Ananias and Sapphira Die

5 But a man named Ananias and his wife Sapphira sold ·some land [a piece of property]. ² He ·kept back [pilfered; skimmed off] part of the ·money [proceeds; price] for himself; his wife knew about this and agreed to it. But he brought the rest of the money and ·gave it to [^Llaid it at the feet of] the apostles. ³ Peter said, “Ananias, why did you let Satan ·rule your thoughts [^Lfill your heart] to lie to the Holy Spirit and to ·keep [pilfer; skim off] for yourself part of the ·money [proceeds] you received for the land? ⁴ Before you sold the land, it belonged to you. And even after you sold it, you could have used the ·money [proceeds] any way you wanted. Why did you think of doing this? You lied to God, not to us!” When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. Some young men came in, wrapped up his body, carried it out, and buried it. And everyone who heard about this was filled with fear.

⁷ About three hours later his wife came in, but she did not know what had happened. ⁸ Peter said to her, “Tell me, was the ·money [payment] you got for your field this much?”

Sapphira answered, “Yes, that was the price.”

⁹ Peter said to her, “Why did you and your husband ·agree [conspire] to test the Spirit of the Lord [Gal. 6:7–8]? Look! The ·men [^Lfeet of those] who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” ¹⁰ ·At that moment [Instantly] Sapphira fell down by his feet and died. When the young men came in and ·saw [discovered; found] that she was dead, they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. ¹¹ The whole church and all the others who heard about these things were filled with ·fear [terror; awe].

The Apostles Heal Many

¹² The apostles did many ·signs [miracles] and ·miracles [wonders] among the people. And they would all meet together on Solomon’s Porch [see 3:11]. ¹³ None of the others dared to join them, ·but [or even though] all the people ·respected [praised; highly regarded] them. ¹⁴ More and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to the ·group [crowd; multitude] of believers. ¹⁵ [As a result] The people placed their sick on ·beds [cots] and mats in the streets, hoping that when Peter passed by at least his shadow might fall on [^Lsome of] them. ¹⁶ Crowds came from all the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those who were ·bothered [tormented] by ·evil [^Lunclean; ^Cdemons were viewed as “unclean” or defiling spirit-beings] spirits, and all of them were healed.

Leaders Try to Stop the Apostles

¹⁷ The high priest and all his friends (a ·group [sect; religious party] called the Sadducees [4:1]) became very ·jealous [indignant; or zealous; ^Cperhaps referring to their religious zeal]. ¹⁸ They ·took [seized; arrested; ^Lput hands on] the apostles and put them in [public] ·jail [custody]. ¹⁹ But during the night, an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the ·jail [prison] and led the apostles outside. The angel said, ²⁰ “Go stand in the Temple [^Ccourts; 2:46] and tell the people ·everything [or the full message; ^Lall the words] about this new life.” ²¹ When the apostles heard this, they obeyed and went into the Temple [^Ccourts; 2:46] early in the morning and ·continued [or began] teaching.

When the high priest and his friends arrived, they called a meeting of the ·leaders [^LSanhedrin; 4:15] ·and [or that is,] ·all the important elders [^Lthe whole senate/council of the sons of Israel]. They sent some men to the ·jail [prison] to bring the apostles to them. ²² But, upon arriving, the ·officers [temple police] could not find the apostles. So they went back and reported to the leaders. ²³ They said, “·The jail was [^LWe found the jail] closed and locked, and the guards were standing at the doors. But when we opened the doors, ·the jail was empty [^Lwe found no one inside]!” ²⁴ Hearing this, the captain of the Temple guards and the ·leading [^Tchief] priests were ·confused [puzzled; confounded] and wondered what ·was happening [or this might lead to].

²⁵ Then someone came and told them, “Listen [^LLook]! The men you put in ·jail [prison] are standing in the Temple [courts] teaching the people.” ²⁶ Then the captain and ·his men [the officers/attendants; ^Cthe temple police] went out and brought the apostles back. But they did not use force, because they were afraid the people would stone them to death.

²⁷ They brought the apostles to the ·meeting [^LSanhedrin; 4:15] and made them stand before the leaders. The high priest questioned them, ²⁸ saying, “We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in that name [^Cof Jesus]. But look, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are ·trying [wishing; intending] to make us responsible for this man’s ·death [^Lblood].”

²⁹ Peter and the other apostles answered, “We must obey God, not ·human authority [^Lpeople]! ³⁰ You ·killed [murdered] Jesus by hanging him on a ·cross [^Ltree]. But God, the God of our ancestors, raised Jesus up from the dead! ³¹ Jesus is the One whom God ·raised [exalted] to be on his right ·side [^Lhand], as ·Leader [Prince; Ruler] and Savior. Through him, ·the people of Israel [^LIsrael] could ·change their hearts and lives [repent] and have their sins forgiven. ³² We ·saw all these things happen [^Ltestify to/are witnesses of these things]. The Holy Spirit, whom God has given to all who obey him, also ·proves [or testifies that] these things are true.”

³³ When the leaders heard this, they became ·angry [furious] and wanted to kill them. ³⁴ But a Pharisee [^Ca member of a religious party that strictly observed OT laws, added traditions, and represented a minority on the Sanhedrin] named Gamaliel [^CPaul’s teacher; 22:3] stood up in the ·meeting [^LSanhedrin; 4:15]. He was a teacher of the law, and all the people respected him. He ordered the ·apostles [^Lmen] to leave the meeting for a little while. ³⁵ Then he said, “·People of Israel [^LMen, Israelites], be careful what you are planning to do to these men. ³⁶ ·Remember when [or Some time ago] Theudas ·appeared [^Lrose up]? He ·said [claimed] he was ·a great man [^Lsomebody], and about four hundred men joined him. But he was killed, and all his followers were scattered; they ·were able to do nothing [failed; came to nothing]. ³⁷ Later, a man named ·Judas came from Galilee [or Judas the Galilean appeared/arose] at the time of the ·registration [census; ^Cof people and possessions, for tax purposes; Judas led a tax revolt]. He also led a group of followers and ·was killed [perished], and all his followers were scattered. ³⁸ And so now I tell you: Stay away from these men, and leave them alone. If their ·plan [or activity; endeavor] comes from human ·authority [or origin], it will fail. ³⁹ But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop them. You might even ·be [find yourselves] fighting against God himself!”

The leaders ·agreed with [were convinced by] what Gamaliel said. ⁴⁰ They called the apostles in, ·beat [flogged; whipped] them, and ·told [commanded] them not to speak in the name of Jesus again. Then they let them go free. ⁴¹ The apostles left the ·meeting [^Lpresence of the Sanhedrin/council; 4:15] ·full of joy [rejoicing] because they were ·given the honor [or considered worthy by God] of suffering disgrace for ·Jesus [^Lthe name]. ⁴² Every day in the Temple [courts] and in people’s homes they continued teaching the people and ·telling [proclaiming] the ·Good News [Gospel] —that Jesus is the ·Christ [Messiah].