Book of Common Prayer

The ascension of Christ. Matthias is chosen in Judas’ place.

1 In the former treatise (dear friend Theophilus), I have written of all that Jesus began to do and teach ² until the day in which he was taken up, after he through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom he had chosen. ³ To them also he showed himself alive after his passion by many certain proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking of the kingdom of God. ⁴ And he gathered them together and instructed them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father – Of which (he said) you have heard from me; ⁵ for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit, and that within this few days.

⁶ When they had come together, they asked him, saying, Lord, will you at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? ⁷ And he said to them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father has put in his own power. ⁸ But you will receive power from the Holy Spirit, who shall come on you. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the world’s end.

⁹ After he had spoken these things, while they looked on, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. ¹⁰ And while they looked steadfastly up to heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, ¹¹ who also said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who is taken up from you into heaven, will come back in the same way as you have seen him go into heaven.

¹² Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is near Jerusalem a Sabbath day’s journey. ¹³ And when they had come in, they went up into an upper room where abode both Peter and James, John and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas, James’ son. ¹⁴ These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication with the women, and with Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.

⁴⁵ From the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. ⁴⁶ And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? (which means, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?)

⁴⁷ Some of the people who were standing there, when they heard that, said, This man is calling for Elijah! ⁴⁸ And straightaway one of them ran and took a sponge, and filled it full of vinegar and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. ⁴⁹ Others said, Leave him be; let us see if Elijah will come and deliver him.

⁵⁰ Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up the spirit. ⁵¹ And behold: the veil of the temple did tear in two, from the top to the bottom, and the earth did quake, and the rocks did split. ⁵² And graves did open, and the bodies of many saints who slept arose, ⁵³ and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and came into the holy city and appeared to many.

⁵⁴ When the centurion and those who were with him watching Jesus saw the earthquake and those things that happened, they feared greatly, saying, Surely this was the Son of God.