New Testament in a Year

Ananias and Sapphira

5 But there was a man called Ananias among the group of believers. His wife was called Sapphira. Together they sold one of their fields. ² Ananias gave part of the money that he received to the apostles. But he kept part of the money for himself. Sapphira knew all about what Ananias had done.^[a]

³ Peter said to Ananias, ‘Ananias, Satan wanted you to tell a lie and you have obeyed him. You have told a lie to the Holy Spirit. That is a bad thing to do! You sold your field, but you did not give us all the money. You kept part of it for yourselves.^{[b] 4} Before you sold the field, it belonged to you. And after you sold the field, the money was yours. You could choose what to do with it. But you chose to do a very bad thing. You did not only tell a lie to us men. You have told a lie to God.’

⁵ As soon as he heard Peter say this, Ananias fell down and he died. When people heard what had happened, they were all very afraid. ⁶ Some young men came into the room. They put cloths around Ananias's dead body and they carried it outside. Then they buried it.

⁷ About three hours later, Ananias's wife, Sapphira, came into the room. She did not know what had happened to her husband. ⁸ Peter asked Sapphira, ‘Was this all the money that you and your husband received for your field?’ ‘Yes,’ Sapphira answered. ‘That was all the money that we received.’

⁹ Peter said to her, ‘It was wrong for you and your husband to do this bad thing. You agreed together to tell a lie to the Holy Spirit of the Lord God. Listen! The men who have just buried your husband are at the door again now. They will carry your body out too.’

¹⁰ Immediately, Sapphira fell down in front of Peter and she died. Then the young men came into the room. They saw that Sapphira was dead. So they carried her outside and they buried her body next to her husband. ¹¹ The whole group of believers, and many other people, heard about what had happened to Ananias and Sapphira. They were all very afraid.

The apostles do some powerful things for the people to see

¹² At that time, the apostles were doing many miracles that showed God's power among the people. All the believers often met together in the yard of the temple in a place called Solomon's porch. ¹³ The other people were afraid to meet with the group of believers. But people respected the believers very much. ¹⁴ More and more people became believers and they joined the group. So now many men and women believed in the Lord Jesus.

¹⁵ As a result, people carried their sick friends into the streets and put them on beds and mats. They hoped that Peter would pass that way and make their sick friends well again. They just wanted Peter's shadow to touch them.^{[c] 16} Many people also came into Jerusalem from the small towns near the city. They brought their sick friends with them. Some of those sick people had bad spirits that gave them trouble. God caused all these sick people to become well again.

The most important priest puts the apostles in prison

¹⁷ People liked the apostles very much. So the most important priest and his friends who belonged to the Sadducees' group were very jealous. ¹⁸ These important men took hold of the apostles and they put them in the city's prison. ¹⁹ But during the night, one of the Lord God's angels came and he opened the prison gates. He led the apostles out of the prison. ²⁰ The angel said to them, ‘Go and stand in the yard of the temple. Tell the people everything about this new life that God gives.’

²¹ The apostles did what the angel told them to do. At dawn they went into the yard of the temple. They began to teach the people there.

Then the most important priest and his friends arrived. They told the group of Jewish leaders to meet with them. All the most important people in Israel were in that group. Then they sent their police to the prison to bring the apostles to the meeting place.