Wise Men from the East

2 Now after ^(A)Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, ^[a]wise men ^(B)from the East came to Jerusalem, ² saying, ^(C)“Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen ^(D)His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”

³ When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ And when he had gathered all ^(E)the chief priests and ^(F)scribes of the people together, ^(G)he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

⁵ So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:

⁷ Then Herod, when he had secretly called the ^[b]wise men, determined from them what time the ^(J)star appeared. ⁸ And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”

⁹ When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. ¹¹ And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, ^(K)they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

¹² Then, being divinely warned ^(L)in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.

The Flight into Egypt

¹³ Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.”

¹⁴ When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, ¹⁵ and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, ^(M)“Out of Egypt I called My Son.”

Massacre of the Innocents

¹⁶ Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. ¹⁷ Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:

The Home in Nazareth^(O)

¹⁹ Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, ^20 (P)saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who ^(Q)sought the young Child’s life are dead.” ²¹ Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.

²² But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a ^(R)dream, he turned aside ^(S)into the region of Galilee. ²³ And he came and dwelt in a city called ^(T)Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled ^(U)which was spoken by the prophets, “He shall be called a Nazarene.”

Peter’s Sermon^(A)

¹⁴ But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. ¹⁵ For these are not drunk, as you suppose, ^(B)since it is only ^[a]the third hour of the day. ¹⁶ But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

²² “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you ^(J)by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know— ²³ Him, ^(K)being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, ^(L)you ^[b]have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; ^24 (M)whom God raised up, having ^[c]loosed the ^[d]pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. ²⁵ For David says concerning Him:

²⁹ “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you ^(P)of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. ³⁰ Therefore, being a prophet, ^(Q)and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, ^[e]according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, ³¹ he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, ^(R)that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. ^32 (S)This Jesus God has raised up, ^(T)of which we are all witnesses. ³³ Therefore ^(U)being exalted ^[f]to ^(V)the right hand of God, and ^(W)having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He ^(X)poured out this which you now see and hear.

³⁴ “For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself:

³⁶ “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

³⁷ Now when they heard this, ^(Z)they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”

³⁸ Then Peter said to them, ^(AA)“Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the ^[g]remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ For the promise is to you and ^(AB)to your children, and ^(AC)to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

A Vital Church Grows

⁴⁰ And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this ^[h]perverse generation.” ⁴¹ Then those who ^[i]gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. ^42 (AD)And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ ^[j]doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. ⁴³ Then fear came upon every soul, and ^(AE)many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. ⁴⁴ Now all who believed were together, and ^(AF)had all things in common,

¹² So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? ^13 (A)The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, ^(B)glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you ^(C)delivered up and ^(D)denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. ¹⁴ But you denied ^(E)the Holy One ^(F)and the Just, and ^(G)asked for a murderer to be granted to you, ¹⁵ and killed the ^[a]Prince of life, ^(H)whom God raised from the dead, ^(I)of which we are witnesses.

Prologue

1 The former account I made, O ^(A)Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, ^2 (B)until the day in which ^[a]He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit ^(C)had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, ^3 (D)to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many ^[b]infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

The Holy Spirit Promised

^4 (E)And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have ^(F)heard from Me; ^5 (G)for John truly baptized with water, ^(H)but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” ⁶ Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” ⁷ And He said to them, ^(I)“It is not for you to ^(J)know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. ^8 (K)But you shall receive power ^(L)when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and ^(M)you shall be ^[c]witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and ^(N)Samaria, and to the ^(O)end of the earth.”

Jesus Ascends to Heaven^(P)

^9 (Q)Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, ^(R)He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. ¹⁰ And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them ^(S)in white apparel, ¹¹ who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, ^(T)will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”

The Upper Room Prayer Meeting

^12 (U)Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey. ¹³ And when they had entered, they went up ^(V)into the upper room where they were staying: ^(W)Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and ^(X)Simon the Zealot; and ^(Y)Judas the son of James. ^14 (Z)These all continued with one ^[d]accord in prayer ^[e]and supplication, with ^(AA)the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with ^(AB)His brothers.

Matthias Chosen^(AC)

¹⁵ And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the ^[f]disciples (altogether the number ^(AD)of names was about a hundred and twenty), and said, ¹⁶ “Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, ^(AE)which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, ^(AF)who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus; ¹⁷ for ^(AG)he was numbered with us and obtained a part in ^(AH)this ministry.”

^18 (AI)(Now this man purchased a field with ^(AJ)the ^[g]wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his ^[h]entrails gushed out. ¹⁹ And it became known to all those dwelling in Jerusalem; so that field is called in their own language, Akel Dama, that is, Field of Blood.)

²⁰ “For it is written in the Book of Psalms:

and,

²¹ “Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, ²² beginning from the baptism of John to that day when ^(AM)He was taken up from us, one of these must ^(AN)become a witness with us of His resurrection.”

²³ And they proposed two: Joseph called ^(AO)Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. ²⁴ And they prayed and said, “You, O Lord, ^(AP)who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen ^25 (AQ)to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.” ²⁶ And they cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

Stephen’s Address: The Call of Abraham

7 Then the high priest said, “Are these things so?”

² And he said, ^(A)“Brethren and fathers, listen: The ^(B)God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in ^(C)Haran, ³ and said to him, ^(D)‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’ ⁴ Then ^(E)he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was ^(F)dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell. ⁵ And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, ^(G)He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him. ⁶ But God spoke in this way: ^(H)that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into ^(I)bondage and oppress them four hundred years. ^7 (J)‘And the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will ^(K)judge,’ said God, ^(L)‘and after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place.’ ^8 (M)Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision; ^(N)and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; ^(O)and Isaac begot Jacob, and ^(P)Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs.

The Patriarchs in Egypt

^9 (Q)“And the patriarchs, becoming envious, ^(R)sold Joseph into Egypt. ^(S)But God was with him ¹⁰ and delivered him out of all his troubles, ^(T)and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. ^11 (U)Now a famine and great ^[a]trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance. ^12 (V)But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. ¹³ And the ^(W)second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to the Pharaoh. ^14 (X)Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and ^(Y)all his relatives to him, ^[b]seventy-five people. ^15 (Z)So Jacob went down to Egypt; ^(AA)and he died, he and our fathers. ¹⁶ And ^(AB)they were carried back to Shechem and laid in ^(AC)the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem.

God Delivers Israel by Moses

¹⁷ “But when ^(AD)the time of the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham, ^(AE)the people grew and multiplied in Egypt ¹⁸ till another king ^(AF)arose who did not know Joseph. ¹⁹ This man dealt treacherously with our people, and oppressed our forefathers, ^(AG)making them expose their babies, so that they might not live. ^20 (AH)At this time Moses was born, and ^(AI)was well pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his father’s house for three months. ²¹ But ^(AJ)when he was set out, ^(AK)Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son. ²² And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was ^(AL)mighty in words and deeds.

^23 (AM)“Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. ²⁴ And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian. ²⁵ For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. ²⁶ And the next day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brethren; why do you wrong one another?’ ²⁷ But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, ^(AN)‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? ²⁸ Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?’ ^29 (AO)Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he ^(AP)had two sons.

^30 (AQ)“And when forty years had passed, an Angel ^[c]of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai. ³¹ When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him, ³² saying, ^(AR)‘I am the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and dared not look. ^33 (AS)‘Then the Lord said to him, “Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. ³⁴ I have surely ^(AT)seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will ^(AU)send you to Egypt.” ’

³⁵ “This Moses whom they rejected, saying, ^(AV)‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer ^(AW)by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush. ^36 (AX)He brought them out, after he had ^(AY)shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, ^(AZ)and in the Red Sea, ^(BA)and in the wilderness forty years.

Israel Rebels Against God

³⁷ “This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, ^(BB)‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. ^(BC)Him^[d] you shall hear.’

^38 (BD)“This is he who was in the ^[e]congregation in the wilderness with ^(BE)the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, ^(BF)the one who received the living ^(BG)oracles^[f] to give to us, ³⁹ whom our fathers ^(BH)would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt, ^40 (BI)saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods to go before us; as for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ ^41 (BJ)And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and ^(BK)rejoiced in the works of their own hands. ⁴² Then ^(BL)God turned and gave them up to worship ^(BM)the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets:

God’s True Tabernacle

⁴⁴ “Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses ^(BP)to make it according to the pattern that he had seen, ^45 (BQ)which our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, ^(BR)whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the ^(BS)days of David, ^46 (BT)who found favor before God and ^(BU)asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob. ^47 (BV)But Solomon built Him a house.

⁴⁸ “However, ^(BW)the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says:

Israel Resists the Holy Spirit

⁵¹ “You ^(BZ)stiff-necked^[g] and ^(CA)uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. ^52 (CB)Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of ^(CC)the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, ^53 (CD)who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”

Stephen the Martyr

^54 (CE)When they heard these things they were ^[h]cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. ⁵⁵ But he, ^(CF)being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the ^(CG)glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, ⁵⁶ and said, “Look! ^(CH)I see the heavens opened and the ^(CI)Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

⁵⁷ Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; ⁵⁸ and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And ^(CJ)the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. ⁵⁹ And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, ^(CK)receive my spirit.” ⁶⁰ Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, ^(CL)“Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.