Obey Authorities for God’s Sake

Obey Authorities for God’s Sake

² I say, “Keep the king’s commandment ^(C)for the sake of your oath to God. ^3 (D)Do not be hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand for an evil thing, for he does whatever pleases him.”

⁹ All this I have seen, and applied my heart to every work that is done under the sun: There is a time in which one man rules over another to his own hurt.

Death Comes to All

¹⁰ Then I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of holiness, and they were ^(J)forgotten^[d] in the city where they had so done. This also is vanity. ^11 (K)Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. ^12 (L)Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet I surely know that ^(M)it will be well with those who fear God, who fear before Him. ¹³ But it will not be well with the wicked; nor will he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he does not fear before God.

¹⁴ There is a vanity which occurs on earth, that there are just men to whom it ^(N)happens according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the ^(O)righteous. I said that this also is vanity.

^15 (P)So I commended enjoyment, because a man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry; for this will remain with him in his labor all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.

¹⁶ When I applied my heart to know wisdom and to see the business that is done on earth, even though one sees no sleep day or night, ¹⁷ then I saw all the work of God, that ^(Q)a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. For though a man labors to discover it, yet he will not find it; moreover, though a wise man attempts to know it, he will not be able to find it.

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.”