Introduction

1 In my first book, Theophilus, I wrote about everything Jesus did and taught from the beginning, ² up to the day when he was taken up to heaven^[a] after giving orders by the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. ³ After he had suffered, he had shown himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during a period of 40 days and telling them about the kingdom of God.

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

⁴ While he was meeting with them, he ordered them, “Don’t leave Jerusalem. Instead, wait for what the Father has promised, about which you heard me speak, ⁵ because John baptized with^[b] water, but you will be baptized with^[c] the Holy Spirit a few days from now.”

⁶ Now those who had gathered together began to ask Jesus,^[d] “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” ⁷ He answered them, “It isn’t for you to know what times or periods the Father has fixed by his own authority. ⁸ But you’ll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you’ll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Jesus Goes Up to Heaven

⁹ After saying this, Jesus^[e] was taken up while those who had gathered together^[f] were watching, and a cloud took him out of their sight. ¹⁰ While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, two men in white robes stood right beside them. ¹¹ They asked, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This same Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you saw him go up into heaven.”

A New Apostle Takes the Place of Judas

¹² Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives,^[g] which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away.^{[h] 13} When they came into the city, these men^[i] went to the upstairs room where they had been staying: Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son^[j] of James. ¹⁴ With one mind, all of them kept devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women (including Mary the mother of Jesus) and his brothers.

¹⁵ At that time,^[k] Peter got up among the brothers (there were about 120 people present) and said, ¹⁶ “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the voice of David about Judas, who was the guide for those who arrested Jesus, ¹⁷ because he was one of our number and was appointed^[l] to share in this ministry.” ¹⁸ (Now this man bought a field with the money he got for his crime. Falling on his face, he burst open in the middle, and all his intestines gushed out. ¹⁹ This became known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that this field is called in their language Hakeldama, that is, “The Field of Blood”.) ²⁰ “For in the Book of Psalms it is written, ‘Let his estate be desolate, and let no one live on it,’^[m] and, ‘Let someone else take over his office,’^{[n] 21} who was one of the men associated with us all the time the Lord Jesus came and went among us, ²² beginning when he was baptized by John until the day he was taken up from us. Therefore, someone like this^[o] must become a witness with us to his resurrection.”

²³ So they nominated two men—Joseph called Barsabbas, who also was called Justus, and Matthias. ²⁴ Then they prayed, “Lord, you know the hearts of all people. Show us which one of these two men you have chosen ²⁵ to serve in this office of apostle,^[p] from which Judas left to go to his own place.”

²⁶ So they drew lots for them, and when the lot fell on Matthias, he was enrolled with the eleven apostles.