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And a certain man by the name Chananyah, with his wife Shappira, sold property

And he, with his wife in collusion as to da’as, misappropriated from the price, and having brought a certain part, laid it at the feet of the Moshiach’s Shlichim. [YEHOSHUA 7:11]

But Kefa said, "Chananyah, why has Hasatan filled your lev (heart) that you lied to the Ruach Hakodesh and misappropriated from the price of the land? [DEVARIM 23:21]

"While it remained with you, did it not remain yours? And after it was sold, were the proceeds not under your samchut (authority)? How is it that you have hatched this deed in your lev (heart)? Your sheker (lie) was not to Bnei Adam but to the Ruach Hakodesh." [DEVARIM 23:22; VAYIKRA 6:2]

And hearing these dvarim, having fallen down, Chananyah died; and there came great yirat Shomayim upon all the ones listening. [TEHILLIM 5:6]

And having got up, the bochrim threw the tachrichin shroud over him and, having carried him out, they buried him in a kever.

And there was an interval of lav davka (approximately) shloshah sha’ot and then his isha, not having da’as of what had happened, entered.

And in reply to her, Kefa said "Tell me, you sold the sadeh for such and such a price, did you?" And she said, "Ken, for such and such a price, that was the amount."

And Kefa said to her, "Why was it agreed by the two of you to put the Ruach Hakodesh of Hashem to the test? Hinei! The feet of the ones having buried your ba’al are at the petach (doorway), and they will carry you out."

10 And she fell immediately at his feet and died. And, the bochrim, having entered, found her dead; and, having carried her out, they buried her with her ba’al.

11 And there came great yirat Shomayim upon the whole Messianic kehillah and upon all the ones hearing these things.

12 Now by the hands of the Moshiach’s Shlichim were being effected many otot and moftim among the people and with a sense of achdus they were all in the Ulam Sh’lomo.

13 But none of the rest was daring to be mishtatef in a chavura (becoming involved, joining a fellowship) with them; however, the Am Yisroel held the Messianic Jews in high esteem.

14 And more and more ma’aminim hameshichiyim in Adoneinu were being added, multitudes of anashim and nashim,

15 So much so that even out into the rekhovot they would carry the cholim and put them on pallets and mats, that when Kefa came by, at least his shadow might fall upon some of them.

16 And also the multitudes from the shtetlach surrounding Yerushalayim were coming together, carrying the cholim and the ones being tormented by ruchot teme’ot (unclean spirits); and they were all receiving refu’ah shleimah.

17 But there was an uprising of the Kohen Gadol and all the ones with him of the Tzedukim kat, and they were filled with kinah.

18 And they laid their hands upon the Moshiach’s Shlichim and they put them in a public beis hasohar.

19 And a malach Adonoi (an angel of Hashem) opened the doors of the beis hasohar balailah, and having led them out, said, [BERESHIS 16:7; SHEMOT 3:2; TEHILLIM 34:7]

20 "Go and stand and speak in the Beis Hamikdash to the people kol divrei HaChayyim haelleh."

21 And having heard, the Moshiach’s Shlichim entered the Beis Hamikdash at Shachrit and were saying shiurim. And when the Kohen Gadol and the ones with him had come, they called together the Sanhedrin and all the assembly of Zekenim of the Bnei Yisroel, and they sent to the beis hasohar for the prisoners to be brought to them.

22 But their mesharetim, having come, did not find them in the beis hasohar. And having returned, they reported these things

23 Saying, "We found the beis hasohar locked tight and the shomrim standing at the doors; but when we opened up, we found no one inside."

24 And when the Sar Tzeva HaHeikhal of the Beis Hamikdash and the Rashei Hakohanim heard these words, they were perplexed about them, as far as what would come of all this.

25 But someone came and reported to them, "Hinei, the men whom you put in the beis hasohar are in the Beis Hamikdash standing and saying shiurim to the people."

26 Then the Sar Tzeva HaHeikhal went along with the mesharetim and brought the Moshiach’s Shlichim back, but not with force—for they feared the people, lest they should be stoned.

27 And when they had brought them, they stood the Moshiach’s Shlichim before the Sanhedrin, and the Kohen Gadol questioned them,

28 Saying, "Did we not with a strict command charge you not to say shiurim b’shem hazeh and, hinei, you have filled Yerushalayim with your torah and are determined to bring upon us the dahm of this man."

29 And in reply Kefa and the Moshiach’s Shlichim said, "It is necessary to obey Hashem rather than Bnei Adam. [SHEMOT 1:17]

30 "Elohei Avoteinu made Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua to stand up alive again, the very one whom you killed, having made him talui al haEtz (being hanged on the tree). [DEVARIM 21:23]

31 "This one Hashem exalted as Sar and Moshi’a (Oisleizer) to His right hand to grant teshuva to Yisroel and selicha (forgiveness) of chatta’im (averos, sins).

32 "And we are the eidus (witness) of these matters and so is the Ruach Hakodesh whom Hashem gave to the ones obeying Him."

33 And the ones having heard were cut to the quick and in fury were deciding to do away with them.

34 But a certain Parush got up in the Sanhedrin, a moreh of Torah by name Rabban Gamli’el, respected by kol Am Yisroel, and he gave orders to put the men outside for a little while.

35 And Rabban Gamli’el said to them, "Anshei Yisroel, pay attention to yourselves what you are about to do with these anashim.

36 "For at an earlier tekufa (era, period), there was the uprising of Theudas, who claimed to be somebody himself, with whom were associated a number of anashim lav davka (approximately) four hundred; who was done away with and as many as were obeying him were all dispersed and it came to nothing.

37 "After this there was Yehudah HaGelili in the yamim of the census; who misled the people to follow after him and that man perished and, as many as were obeying him, were all scattered.

38 "And now I say to you, stay away from these anashim, and leave them alone, because if this cheshbon (plan) or this matter is of Bnei Adam, it will be overthrown.

39 "But if it is from Hashem, you are not able to overthrow them—in that case you may even be found to be fighting keneged (against, opposing) Hashem." And they were persuaded by Rabban Gamli’el. [2Ch 13:12; Prov 21:30; Isa 46:10]

40 And having called together the Moshiach’s Shluchim and having flogged them, they warned them not to speak in the shem of Yehoshua, and they released them.

41 Therefore Moshiach’s Shluchim were going rejoicing from the presence of the Sanhedrin, that they were considered worthy to suffer shame for ha-Shem (the Name).

42 And every day in the Beis Hamikdash and from bais to bais they did not stop saying shiurim and drashot about Yehoshua as Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach.

But there was a man named Ananias (with his wife Sapphira) who sold some property and brought only part of the money, claiming it was the full price. (His wife had agreed to this deception.)

But Peter said, “Ananias, Satan has filled your heart. When you claimed this was the full price, you were lying to the Holy Spirit. The property was yours to sell or not, as you wished. And after selling it, it was yours to decide how much to give. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us, but to God.”

As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor, dead! Everyone was terrified, and the younger men covered him with a sheet and took him out and buried him.

About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, “Did you people sell your land for such and such a price?”

“Yes,” she replied, “we did.”

And Peter said, “How could you and your husband even think of doing a thing like this—conspiring together to test the Spirit of God’s ability to know what is going on?[a] Just outside that door are the young men who buried your husband, and they will carry you out too.”

10 Instantly she fell to the floor, dead, and the young men came in and, seeing that she was dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 Terror gripped the entire church and all others who heard what had happened.

12 Meanwhile, the apostles were meeting regularly at the Temple in the area known as Solomon’s Hall, and they did many remarkable miracles among the people. 13 The other believers didn’t dare join them, though, but all had the highest regard for them. 14 And more and more believers were added to the Lord, crowds both of men and women. 15 Sick people were brought out into the streets on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow would fall across some of them as he went by! 16 And crowds came in from the Jerusalem suburbs, bringing their sick folk and those possessed by demons; and every one of them was healed.

17 The High Priest and his relatives and friends among the Sadducees reacted with violent jealousy 18 and arrested the apostles, and put them in the public jail.

19 But an angel of the Lord came at night, opened the gates of the jail and brought them out. Then he told them, 20 “Go over to the Temple and preach about this Life!”

21 They arrived at the Temple about daybreak and immediately began preaching! Later that morning[b] the High Priest and his courtiers arrived at the Temple, and, convening the Jewish Council and the entire Senate, they sent for the apostles to be brought for trial. 22 But when the police arrived at the jail, the men weren’t there, so they returned to the Council and reported, 23 “The jail doors were locked, and the guards were standing outside, but when we opened the gates, no one was there!”

24 When the police captain[c] and the chief priests heard this, they were frantic, wondering what would happen next and where all this would end! 25 Then someone arrived with the news that the men they had jailed were out in the Temple, preaching to the people!

26-27 The police captain went with his officers and arrested them (without violence, for they were afraid the people would kill them if they roughed up the disciples) and brought them in before the Council.

28 “Didn’t we tell you never again to preach about this Jesus?” the High Priest demanded. “And instead you have filled all Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring the blame for this man’s death on us!”

29 But Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our ancestors brought Jesus back to life again after you had killed him by hanging him on a cross. 31 Then, with mighty power, God exalted him to be a Prince and Savior, so that the people of Israel would have an opportunity for repentance, and for their sins to be forgiven. 32 And we are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit, who is given by God to all who obey him.”

33 At this, the Council was furious and decided to kill them. 34 But one of their members, a Pharisee named Gamaliel (an expert on religious law and very popular with the people), stood up and requested that the apostles be sent outside the Council chamber while he talked.

35 Then he addressed his colleagues as follows:

“Men of Israel, take care what you are planning to do to these men! 36 Some time ago there was that fellow Theudas, who pretended to be someone great. About four hundred others joined him, but he was killed, and his followers were harmlessly dispersed.

37 “After him, at the time of the taxation, there was Judas of Galilee. He drew away some people as disciples, but he also died, and his followers scattered.

38 “And so my advice is, leave these men alone. If what they teach and do is merely on their own, it will soon be overthrown. 39 But if it is of God, you will not be able to stop them, lest you find yourselves fighting even against God.”

40 The Council accepted his advice, called in the apostles, had them beaten, and then told them never again to speak in the name of Jesus, and finally let them go. 41 They left the Council chamber rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer dishonor for his name. 42 And every day, in the Temple and in their home Bible classes, they continued to teach and preach that Jesus is the Messiah.

Footnotes

  1. Acts 5:9 to test the Spirit of God’s ability to know what is going on, literally, “to try the Spirit of the Lord.”
  2. Acts 5:21 Later that morning, implied.
  3. Acts 5:24 the police captain, literally, “the captain of the Temple.”