Acts 1:15-26

Good News Translation

¹⁵A few days later there was a meeting of the believers, about a hundred and twenty in all, and Peter stood up to speak. ¹⁶“My friends,” he said, “the scripture had to come true in which the Holy Spirit, speaking through David, made a prediction about Judas, who was the guide for those who arrested Jesus. ¹⁷Judas was a member of our group, for he had been chosen to have a part in our work.”

(¹⁸^(A)With the money that Judas got for his evil act he bought a field, where he fell to his death; he burst open and all his insides spilled out. ¹⁹All the people living in Jerusalem heard about it, and so in their own language they call that field Akeldama, which means “Field of Blood.”)

²⁰^(B)“For it is written in the book of Psalms,

‘May his house become empty;
may no one live in it.’
It is also written,
‘May someone else take his place of service.’

^21-22^(C)“So then, someone must join us as a witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. He must be one of the men who were in our group during the whole time that the Lord Jesus traveled about with us, beginning from the time John preached his message of baptism^[a] until the day Jesus was taken up from us to heaven.”

²³So they proposed two men: Joseph, who was called Barsabbas (also known as Justus), and Matthias. ²⁴Then they prayed, “Lord, you know the thoughts of everyone, so show us which of these two you have chosen ²⁵to serve as an apostle in the place of Judas, who left to go to the place where he belongs.” ²⁶Then they drew lots to choose between the two men, and the one chosen was Matthias, who was added to the group of eleven apostles.

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