Acts 3:1-16

Living Bible

3 Peter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o’clock daily prayer meeting. ² As they approached the Temple, they saw a man lame from birth carried along the street and laid beside the Temple gate—the one called The Beautiful Gate—as was his custom every day. ³ As Peter and John were passing by, he asked them for some money.

⁴ They looked at him intently, and then Peter said, “Look here!”

⁵ The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting a gift.

⁶ But Peter said, “We don’t have any money for you! But I’ll give you something else! I command you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!”

^7-8 Then Peter took the lame man by the hand and pulled him to his feet. And as he did, the man’s feet and ankle bones were healed and strengthened so that he came up with a leap, stood there a moment and began walking! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them.

⁹ When the people inside saw him walking and heard him praising God, ¹⁰ and realized he was the lame beggar they had seen so often at The Beautiful Gate, they were inexpressibly surprised! ¹¹ They all rushed out to Solomon’s Hall, where he was holding tightly to Peter and John! Everyone stood there awed by the wonderful thing that had happened.

¹² Peter saw his opportunity and addressed the crowd. “Men of Israel,” he said, “what is so surprising about this? And why look at us as though we by our own power and godliness had made this man walk? ¹³ For it is the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and of all our ancestors who has brought glory to his servant Jesus by doing this. I refer to the Jesus whom you rejected before Pilate, despite Pilate’s determination to release him. ¹⁴ You didn’t want him freed—this holy, righteous one. Instead you demanded the release of a murderer. ¹⁵ And you killed the Author of Life; but God brought him back to life again. And John and I are witnesses of this fact, for after you killed him we saw him alive!

¹⁶ “Jesus’ name has healed this man—and you know how lame he was before. Faith in Jesus’ name—faith given us from God—has caused this perfect healing.