^15 [a]At this time Peter stood up among ^(A)the brothers and sisters (a group of about 120 ^[b]people was there together), and said, ¹⁶ “^[c]Brothers, ^(B)the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, ^(C)who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. ¹⁷ For he was ^(D)counted among us and received his share in ^(E)this ministry.” ¹⁸ (Now this man ^(F)acquired a field with ^(G)the price of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out. ¹⁹ And it became known to all the residents of Jerusalem; as a result that field was called Hakeldama in ^(H)their own language, that is, Field of Blood.) ²⁰ “For it is written in the book of Psalms:

and,

²¹ Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that ^(K)the Lord Jesus went in and out ^[e]among us— ^22 (L)beginning ^[f]with the baptism of John until the day that He ^(M)was taken up from us—one of these must become a ^(N)witness with us of His resurrection.” ²³ So they put forward two men, Joseph called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus), and ^(O)Matthias. ²⁴ And they ^(P)prayed and said, “You, Lord, who ^(Q)know the hearts of all people, show which one of these two You have chosen ²⁵ to ^[g]occupy ^(R)this ministry and ^(S)apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” ²⁶ And they ^[h](T)drew lots for them, and the lot fell ^[i]to ^(U)Matthias; and he was added to ^(V)the eleven apostles.

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.