Chronological

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

1 The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, concerning all that Jesus began both to do and teach, ² until the day when He was taken up, after He had given commandments through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom He had chosen, ³ to whom He presented Himself alive after His passion by many infallible proofs, appearing to them for forty days, and speaking concerning the kingdom of God. ⁴ Being assembled with them, He commanded them, “Do not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, of which you have heard from Me.^{[a] 5} For John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

The Ascension

⁶ So when they had come together, they asked Him, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”

⁷ He said to them, “It is not for you to know the times or the dates, which the Father has fixed by His own authority. ⁸ But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

⁹ When He had spoken these things, while they looked, He was taken up. And a cloud received Him from their sight.

¹⁰ While they looked intently toward heaven as He ascended, suddenly two men stood by them in white garments. ¹¹ They said, “Men of Galilee, why stand looking toward heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you to heaven, will come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”

Judas’ Successor

¹² Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is a Sabbath day’s walk^[b] from Jerusalem. ¹³ When they had entered, they went up into the upper room, where they were staying: Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot; and Judas the son of James. ¹⁴ These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

¹⁵ In those days Peter stood up among the disciples (the number of people together was about a hundred and twenty), and said, ¹⁶ “Brothers, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit previously spoke by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became the guide to those who seized Jesus. ¹⁷ For he was numbered with us and took part in this ministry.”

¹⁸ (Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity. And falling headlong, he burst asunder in the middle and all his organs spilled out. ¹⁹ It became known to all the residents of Jerusalem. So this field is called in their dialect Akeldama, 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 while the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, ²² beginning from the baptism of John until the very day that He was taken up from us, one of these men must become with us a witness of His resurrection.”

²³ So they proposed two, Joseph, called Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. ²⁴ Then they prayed, “You, Lord, who knows the hearts of all men, show which of these two You have chosen ²⁵ to take the place in this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, to go to his own place.” ²⁶ Then they cast lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. So he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

2 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. ² Suddenly a sound like a mighty rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ There appeared to them tongues as of fire, being distributed and resting on each of them, ⁴ and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to speak.

⁵ Now dwelling in Jerusalem were Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. ⁶ When this sound occurred, the crowd came together and were confounded, because each man heard them speaking in his own language. ⁷ They were all amazed and marveled, saying to each other, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸ How is it that we hear, each in our own native language? ⁹ Parthians, Medes and Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the regions of Libya near Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, ¹¹ Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own languages the mighty works of God.” ¹² They were all amazed and perplexed, saying to each other, “What does this mean?”

¹³ Others mocking said, “These men are full of new wine.”

Peter’s Speech at Pentecost

¹⁴ But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all you who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to my words. ¹⁵ For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is 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 was a man attested to you by God with powerful works and wonders and signs, which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves know. ²³ You have taken Him, who was handed over to you by the ordained counsel and foreknowledge of God, and by lawless hands have crucified and killed Him, ²⁴ whom God raised up by loosening the pull of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. ²⁵ For David says concerning Him:

²⁹ “Brothers, I may speak confidently to you concerning the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. ³⁰ But being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of his seed according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, ³¹ he foresaw this and spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. ³² God raised up this Jesus, of which we all are witnesses. ³³ Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured out this which you now see and hear. ³⁴ For David has not ascended to the heavens, yet he says:

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

³⁷ When they heard this, they were stung in the heart and said to Peter and to the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

³⁸ Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

⁴⁰ With many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” ⁴¹ Then those who gladly received his word were baptized, and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.

Life Among the Believers

⁴² They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in the prayers. ⁴³ Fear came to every soul. And many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. ⁴⁴ All who believed were together and had all things in common. ⁴⁵ They sold their property and goods and distributed them to all, according to their need. ⁴⁶ And continuing daily with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, ⁴⁷ praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

The Lame Man Healed at the Temple Gate

3 Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer. ² A man lame from birth was being carried, whom people placed daily at the gate of the temple called Beautiful to ask alms from those who entered the temple. ³ Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked for alms. ⁴ Peter, gazing at him with John, said, “Look at us.” ⁵ So he paid attention to them, expecting to receive something from them.

⁶ Then Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but I give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” ⁷ He took him by the right hand and raised him up. Immediately his feet and ankles were strengthened. ⁸ Jumping up, he stood and walked and entered the temple with them, walking and jumping and praising God. ⁹ All the people saw him walking and praising God. ¹⁰ They knew that it was he who sat for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what happened to him.

Peter’s Speech at Solomon’s Porch

¹¹ As the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the entrance that is called Solomon’s Porch, greatly amazed. ¹² When Peter saw it, he answered the people: “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this man? Or why do you stare at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk? ¹³ The God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His Son Jesus, whom you handed over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him. ¹⁴ You denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, ¹⁵ and you killed the Creator of Life, whom God has raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. ¹⁶ And His name, by faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. And faith which comes through Him has given him perfect health in your presence.

¹⁷ “Now brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. ¹⁸ But what God foretold through all the prophets, that His Christ should suffer, He thus fulfilled. ¹⁹ Therefore repent and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, ²⁰ and that He may send the One who previously was preached to you, Jesus Christ, ²¹ whom the heavens must receive until the time of restoring what God spoke through all His holy prophets since the world began. ²² For Moses indeed said to the fathers, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall hear whatever He may say to you. ²³ And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that prophet shall be utterly eliminated from the people.’^[h]

²⁴ “Indeed, all the prophets since Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold these days. ²⁵ You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’^{[i] 26} God, having raised up His Son Jesus, sent Him to you first, to bless you in turning every one of you from your iniquities.”