The Acts of the Apostles: part 1

The Acts of the Apostles: part 1 - 

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Chapter 1

I have given an earlier account, O Theophilus, of all the things which Jesus did, and of his teaching from the first,

Till the day when he was taken up to heaven after he had given his orders, through the Holy Spirit, to the Apostles of whom he had made selection:

And to whom he gave clear and certain signs that he was living, after his death; for he was seen by them for forty days, and gave them teaching about the kingdom of God:

And when they were all together, with him, he gave them orders not to go away from Jerusalem, but to keep there, waiting till the word of the Father was put into effect, of which, he said, I have given you knowledge:

For the baptism of John was with water, but you will have baptism with the Holy Spirit, after a little time.

So, when they were together, they said to him, Lord, will you at this time give back the kingdom to Israel?

And he said to them, It is not for you to have knowledge of the time and the order of events which the Father has kept in his control.

But you will have power, when the Holy Spirit has come on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judaea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

And when he had said these things, while they were looking, he was taken up, and went from their view into a cloud.

And while they were looking up to heaven with great attention, two men came to them, in white clothing,

And said, O men of Galilee, why are you looking up into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken from you into heaven, will come again, in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.

Then they went back to Jerusalem from the mountain named Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away.

And when they came in, they went up into the room where they were living; Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James, the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas, the son of James.

And they all with one mind gave themselves up to prayer, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

And in those days Peter got up among the brothers (there were about one hundred and twenty of them), and said,

My brothers, the word of God had to be put into effect, which the Holy Spirit had said before, by the mouth of David, about Judas, who was guide to those who took Jesus,

For he was numbered among us, and had his part in our work.

(Now this man, with the reward of his evil-doing, got for himself a field, and falling head first, came to a sudden and violent end there.

And this came to the knowledge of all those who were living in Jerusalem, so that the field was named in their language, Akel-dama, or, The field of blood.)

For in the book of Psalms it says, Let his house be waste, and let no man be living in it: and, Let his position be taken by another.

For this reason, of the men who have been with us all the time, while the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,

Starting from the baptism of John till he went up from us, one will have to be a witness with us of his coming back from death.

And they made selection of two, Joseph, named Barsabbas, whose other name was Justus, and Matthias.

And they made prayers and said, Lord, having knowledge of the hearts of all men, make clear which of these two has been marked out by you,

To take that position as a servant and Apostle, from which Judas by his sin was shut out, so that he might go to his place.

And they put it to the decision of chance, and the decision was given for Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven Apostles.

Chapter 2

And when the day of Pentecost was come, they were all together in one place.

And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like the rushing of a violent wind, and all the house where they were was full of it.

And they saw tongues, like flames of fire, coming to rest on every one of them.

And they were all full of the Holy Spirit, and were talking in different languages, as the Spirit gave them power.

Now there were living at Jerusalem, Jews, God-fearing men, from every nation under heaven.

And when this sound came to their ears, they all came together, and were greatly surprised because every man was hearing the words of the disciples in his special language.

And they were full of wonder and said, Are not all these men Galilaeans?

And how is it that every one of us is hearing their words in the language which was ours from our birth?

Men of Parthia, Media, and Elam, and those living in Mesopotamia, in Judaea and Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia,

In Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt and the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and those who have come from Rome, Jews by birth and others who have become Jews,

Men of Crete and Arabia, to all of us they are talking in our different languages, of the great works of God.

And they were all surprised and in doubt saying to one another, What is the reason of this?

But others, making sport of them, said, They are full of new wine.

But Peter, getting up, with the eleven, said in a loud voice, O men of Judaea, and all you who are living in Jerusalem, take note of this and give ear to my words.

For these men are not overcome with wine, as it seems to you, for it is only the third hour of the day;

But this is the thing which was said by the prophet Joel;

And it will come about, in the last days, says God, that I will send out my Spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters will be prophets, and your young men will see visions, and your old men will have dreams:

And on my men-servants and my women-servants I will send my Spirit, and they will be prophets.

And wonders will be seen in heaven, and signs on the earth, blood and fire and smoke:

The sun will become dark and the moon will be turned to blood, before that great day of the Lord comes in glory:

And whoever makes his prayer to the Lord will have salvation.

Men of Israel, give ear to these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man who had the approval of God, as was made clear to you by the great works and signs and wonders which God did by him among you, as you yourselves have knowledge,

Him, when he was given up, by the decision and knowledge of God, you put to death on the cross, by the hands of evil men:

But God gave him back to life, having made him free from the pains of death because it was not possible for him to be overcome by it.

For David said of him, I saw the Lord before my face at all times, for he is at my right hand, so that I may not be moved:

And for this cause my heart was glad and my tongue full of joy, and my flesh will be resting in hope:

For you will not let my soul be in hell and you will not give up your Holy One to destruction.

You have made me see the ways of life; I will be full of joy when I see your face.

My brothers, I may say to you openly that David came to his death, and was put in the earth, and his resting-place is with us today.

But being a prophet, and having in mind the oath which God had given to him, that of the fruit of his body one would take his place as a king,

He, having knowledge of the future, was talking of the coming again of Christ from the dead, that he was not kept in hell and his body did not see destruction.

This Jesus God has given back to life, of which we all are witnesses.

And so, being lifted up to the right hand of God, and having the Father’s word that the Holy Spirit would come, he has sent this thing, which now you see and have knowledge of.

For David has not gone up into heaven, but says, himself, The Lord said to my Lord, Be seated at my right hand,

Till I put all those who are against you under your feet.

For this reason, let all Israel be certain that this Jesus, whom you put to death on the cross, God has made Lord and Christ.

Now when these words came to their ears their hearts were troubled, and they said to Peter and the other Apostles, Brothers, what are we to do?

And Peter said, Let your hearts be changed, every one of you, and have baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will have the Holy Spirit given to you.

For the word of God is for you and for your children and for all those who are far off, even all those who may be marked out by the Lord our God.

And with more such words he gave his witness, offering them salvation and saying, Come out from this evil generation.

Then those who gave hearing to his words had baptism: and about three thousand souls were joined to them that day.

And they kept their attention fixed on the Apostles’ teaching and were united together in the taking of broken bread and in prayer.

But fear came on every soul: and all sorts of wonders and signs were done by the Apostles.

And all those who were of the faith kept together, and had all things in common;

And exchanging their goods and property for money, they made division of it among them all, as they had need.

And day by day, going in agreement together regularly to the Temple and, taking broken bread together in their houses, they took their food with joy and with true hearts,

Giving praise to God, and having the approval of all the people; and every day the number of those who had salvation was increased by the Lord.

Chapter 3

Now Peter and John were going up to the Temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer;

And a certain man who from birth had had no power in his legs, was taken there every day, and put down at the door of the Temple which is named Beautiful, requesting money from those who went into the Temple;

He then, seeing Peter and John going into the Temple, made a request to them.

And Peter, looking at him, with John, said, Keep your eyes on us.

And he gave attention to them, hoping to get something from them.

But Peter said, I have no silver or gold, but what I have, that I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up on your feet.

And he took him by his right hand, lifting him up; and straight away his feet and the bones of his legs became strong,

And, jumping up, he got on to his feet and went into the Temple with them, walking and jumping and giving praise to God.

And all the people saw him walking and praising God:

And they saw that it was the man who made requests for money at the door of the Temple, and they were full of wonder and surprise at what had taken place.

And while he kept his hands on Peter and John, all the people came running together to the covered way which is named Solomon’s, full of wonder.

And when Peter saw it he said to the people, You men of Israel, why are you so greatly surprised at this man? or why are you looking at us as if by our power or virtue we had given him the use of his legs?

The God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has given glory to his servant Jesus; whom you gave up, turning your backs on him, when Pilate had made the decision to let him go free.

But you would have nothing to do with the Holy and Upright One, and made request for a man of blood to be given to you,

And put to death the Lord of life; whom God gave back from the dead; of which fact we are witnesses.

And his name, through faith in his name, has made this man strong, whom you see and have knowledge of: yes, the faith which is through him has made him well, before you all.

And now, my brothers, I am conscious that you did this, as did your rulers, without knowledge.

But the things which God had made clear before, by the mouth of all the prophets, that the Christ would have to undergo, he has put into effect in this way.

So then, let your hearts be changed and be turned to God, so that your sins may be completely taken away, and times of blessing may come from the Lord;

And that he may send the Christ who was marked out for you from the first, even Jesus:

Who is to be kept in heaven till the time when all things are put right, of which God has given word by the mouth of his holy prophets, who have been from the earliest times.

For Moses said, The Lord will give you a prophet from among your people, like me; you will give ear to everything which he will say to you.

And every soul who does not give attention to that prophet, will be cut off from among the people.

And all the prophets from Samuel and those who came after, every one of them, gave word of these days.

You are the sons of the prophets, and of the agreement which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, Through your seed a blessing will come on all the families of the earth.

To you, first, God sent his servant, blessing you by turning every one of you from his sins.

Chapter 4

And while they were talking to the people, the priests and the captain of the Temple and the Sadducees came up to them,

Being greatly troubled because they were teaching the people and preaching Jesus as an example of the coming back from the dead.

And they took them and put them in prison till the morning, for it was now evening.

But a number of those who gave hearing to the word had faith; and they were now about five thousand.

And on the day after, the rulers and those in authority and the scribes came together in Jerusalem;

And Annas, the high priest, was there, and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all the relations of the high priest.

Then sending for Peter and John, they said, By what power and in whose name have you done this?

Then Peter, being full of the Holy Spirit, said to them, O you rulers of the people and men of authority,

If we are questioned today about a good work done to a man who was ill, as to how he has been made well,

Take note, all of you, and all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you put to death on the cross, whom God gave back from the dead, even through him is this man now before you completely well.

He is the stone which you builders had no use for, but which has been made the chief stone of the building.

And in no other is there salvation: for there is no other name under heaven, given among men, through which we may have salvation.

Now when they saw that Peter and John were without fear, though they were men of no education or learning, they were greatly surprised; and they took note of them that they had been with Jesus.

And, seeing that the man who had been made well was there with them, they were not able to say anything against it.

But when they had given them orders to go out of the Sanhedrin, they had a discussion among themselves,

Saying, What are we to do with these men? for certainly it is clear to all who are living in Jerusalem that a most important sign has been done by them, and it is not possible to say that it is not so.

But so that it may not go farther among the people, let us put them in fear of punishment if they say anything in future in this name.

And they sent for them, and gave them orders not to make statements or give teaching in the name of Jesus.

But Peter and John in answer said to them, It is for you to say if it is right in the eyes of God to give attention to you more than to God:

For it is not possible for us to keep from saying what we have seen and have knowledge of.

And when they had said more sharp words to them, they let them go, not seeing what punishment they might give them, because of the people; for all men were giving praise to God for what had taken place.

For the man on whom this act of power was done was more than forty years old.

And when they had been made free, they came back to their friends, and gave an account of all the things which the chief priests and the authorities had said to them.

And hearing it, they all, with one mind, made prayer to God and said, O Lord, maker of heaven and earth and the sea and all things in them:

Who has said, by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David your servant, Why are the nations so violently moved, and why are the thoughts of the people so foolish?

The kings of the earth were lifted up, the rulers came together, against the Lord, and against his Christ:

For, truly, in this town, against your holy servant, Jesus, who was marked out by you as Christ, Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, came together,

To do that which had been fixed before by your hand and your purpose.

And now, Lord, take note of their cruel words, and give your servants power to be preachers of your word without fear,

While your hand is stretched out to do works of mercy; so that signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.

And when their prayer was ended, the place where they were was violently moved, and they all became full of the Holy Spirit, preaching the word of God without fear.

And all those who were of the faith were one in heart and soul: and not one of them said that any of the things which he had was his property only; but they had all things in common.

And with great power the Apostles gave witness of the coming back of the Lord Jesus from the dead; and grace was on them all.

And no one among them was in need; for everyone who had land or houses, exchanging them for money, took the price of them,

And put it at the feet of the Apostles for distribution to everyone as he had need.

And Joseph, who was given by the Apostles the name of Barnabas (the sense of which is, Son of comfort), a Levite and a man of Cyprus by birth,

Having a field, got money for it and put the money at the feet of the Apostles.

Chapter 5

But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, got money for his property,

And kept back part of the price, his wife having knowledge of it, and took the rest and put it at the feet of the Apostles.

But Peter said, Ananias, why has the Evil One put it into your heart to be false to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land?

While you had it, was it not your property? and after you had given it in exchange, was it not still in your power? how has this purpose come into your mind? you have been false, not to men, but to God.

And at these words, Ananias went down on the earth, and his life went from him: and great fear came on all who were present.

And the young men went and made ready his body, and took it out, and put it in the earth.

And about three hours after, his wife, having no knowledge of what had taken place, came in.

And Peter said to her, Give me an answer: was this amount of money the price of the land? And she said, Yes, it was.

But Peter said to her, Why have you made an agreement together to be false to the Spirit of the Lord? See, the feet of the young men who have put the body of your husband in the earth, are at the door, and they will take you out.

And straight away she went down at his feet, and her life went from her: and the young men came in and saw her dead, and they took her out and put her in the earth with her husband.

Then great fear came on all the church and on all who had knowledge of these things.

Now a number of signs and wonders were done among the people by the hands of the Apostles; and they were all together in Solomon’s covered way.

The others, in fear, kept back from joining them: but the people made much of them;

And a great number of men and women had faith, and were joined to the Lord;

And they even took into the streets people who were ill, and put them on beds, so that when Peter went by, some of them might be in his shade.

And numbers of people came together from the towns round about Jerusalem, with those who were ill and those who were troubled with unclean spirits: and they were all made well.

But the high priest and those who were with him (the Sadducees) were full of envy,

And they took the Apostles and put them in the common prison.

But in the night an angel of the Lord, opening the doors of the prison, took them out and said,

Go, take your place in the Temple and give the people all the teaching about this Life.

And hearing this, they went into the Temple at dawn, and were teaching. But the high priest and those who were with him got together the Sanhedrin and the representatives of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to get them.

But the men who were sent saw that they were not in the prison, and came back with the news,

Saying, The doors of the prison were safely shut, and the keepers were at the doors, but when they were open, there was nobody inside.

Now, at these words, the captain of the Temple and the chief priests were greatly troubled about what might be the end of this business.

And someone came and said to them, The men, whom you put in prison, are in the Temple teaching the people.

Then the captain and some of the police went and took them, but not violently, for fear that they might be stoned by the people.

And they took them into the Sanhedrin, and the high priest said to them,

We gave you very clear orders not to give teaching in this name: and now Jerusalem is full of your teaching, and you are attempting to make us responsible for this man’s death.

But Peter and the Apostles, answering, said, We have to do the orders of God, not of man.

The God of our fathers gave Jesus back to life, whom you had put to death, hanging him on a tree.

Him God has put on high at his right hand, as a Ruler and a Saviour, to give to Israel a change of heart and forgiveness of sins.

And we are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who keep his laws.

But when these words came to their ears, they were cut to the heart, and had a mind to put them to death.

But one of the Sanhedrin, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a man of learning in the law, of whom all the people had a high opinion, got up and made a suggestion for the men to be put outside for a little time.

And he said to them, Men of Israel, take care what you do about these men.

For before this there was Theudas, who said he was someone important, to whom about four hundred men gave their support: he was put to death, and his band was broken up and came to nothing.

After this man, there was Judas of Galilee, at the time of the numbering, and some of the people went after him: he was put to death, and all his supporters were put to flight.

And now I say to you, Do nothing to these men, but let them be: for if this teaching or this work is of men, it will come to nothing:

But if it is of God, you will not be able to overcome them, and you are in danger of fighting against God.

And he seemed to them to be right: and they sent for the Apostles, and, after having them whipped and giving them orders to give no teaching in the name of Jesus, they let them go.

So they went away from the Sanhedrin, happy to undergo shame for the Name.

And every day, in the Temple and privately, they went on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.

Chapter 6

Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was increasing, protests were made by the Greek Jews against the Hebrews, because their widows were not taken care of in the distribution of food every day.

And the Apostles sent for all the disciples and said, It is not right for us to give up preaching the word of God in order to make distribution of food.

Take then from among you seven men of good name, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, to whom we may give control of this business.

Then we will give all our time to prayer and the teaching of the word.

And this saying was pleasing to all of them: and they made selection of Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip and Prochorus and Nicanor and Timon and Parmenas and Nicolas of Antioch, who had become a Jew:

These they took to the Apostles, who, after prayer, put their hands on them.

And the word of God was increasing in power; and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem became very great, and a great number of priests were in agreement with the faith.

And Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.

But some of those who were of the Synagogue named that of the Libertines, and some of the men of Cyrene and of Alexandria and those from Cilicia and Asia, had arguments with Stephen.

But they were not able to get the better of him, for his words were full of wisdom and of the Spirit.

Then they got men to say, He has said evil against Moses and against God, in our hearing.

And the people, with the rulers and the scribes, were moved against him, and they came and took him before the Sanhedrin,

And they got false witnesses who said, This man is for ever saying things against this holy place and against the law:

For he has said in our hearing that this Jesus of Nazareth will put this place to destruction and make changes in the rules which were handed down to us by Moses.

And all those who were in the Sanhedrin, looking at him, saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

Chapter 7

Then the high priest said, Are these things true?

And he said, My brothers and fathers, give hearing. The God of glory came to our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he was living in Haran,

And said to him, Go out of your land, and away from your family, and come into the land to which I will be your guide.

Then he came out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and went into Haran; and from there, when his father was dead, he was guided by God into this land, where you are living now:

And God gave him no heritage in it, not even enough to put his foot on: but he gave him an undertaking that he would give it to him and to his children after him, though he had no child at that time.

And God said that his seed would be living in a strange land, and that they would make them servants, and be cruel to them for four hundred years.

And I will be the judge, said God, of that nation which made them servants: and after that, they will come out and give me worship in this place.

And he made with him the agreement of which circumcision was the sign. And so Abraham had a son, Isaac, and gave him circumcision on the eighth day; and Isaac had a son, Jacob, and Jacob was the father of the twelve heads of the families of Israel.

And the brothers, moved with envy against Joseph, gave him to the Egyptians for money: but God was with him,

And made him free from all his troubles, and gave him wisdom and the approval of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and all his house.

Now there was no food to be had in all Egypt and Canaan, and there was great trouble: and our fathers were not able to get food.

But Jacob, hearing that there was grain in Egypt, sent out our fathers the first time.

And the second time his brothers had a meeting with Joseph, and Pharaoh had knowledge of Joseph’s family.

Then Joseph sent for Jacob his father and all his family, seventy-five persons.

And Jacob went down to Egypt, and came to his end there, and so did our fathers;

And they were taken over to Shechem, and put to rest in the place which Abraham got for a price in silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

But when the time was near for putting into effect the undertaking which God had given to Abraham, the people were increasing in Egypt,

Till another king came to power, who had no knowledge of Joseph.

He, having evil designs against our nation, was cruel to our fathers, and they were forced to put out their young children, so that they might not go on living.

At which time Moses came to birth, and he was very beautiful; and he was kept for three months in his father’s house:

And when he was put out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and kept him as her son.

And Moses was trained in all the wisdom of Egypt, and was great in his words and works.

But when he was almost forty years old, it came into his heart to go and see his brothers, the children of Israel.

And seeing one of them being attacked, he went to his help and gave the Egyptian a death-blow:

And he was hoping that his brothers would see that God had sent him to be their saviour; but they did not see.

And the day after, he came to them, while they were having a fight, and would have made peace between them, saying, Sirs, you are brothers; why do you do wrong to one another?

But the man who was doing wrong to his neighbour, pushing him away, said, Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?

Will you put me to death as you did the Egyptian yesterday?

And at these words, Moses went in flight to the land of Midian, and was living there for a time, and had two sons.

At the end of forty years, an angel came to him in the waste land of Sinai, in the flame of a burning thorn-tree.

And Moses, seeing it, was full of wonder, and when he came up to have a nearer view of it, the voice of the Lord came to him, saying,

I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob. And Moses, shaking with fear, kept his eyes from looking at it.

And the Lord said, Take off the shoes from your feet, for the place where you are is holy.

Truly, I have seen the sorrows of my people in Egypt, and their cries have come to my ears, and I have come down to make them free: and now, come, I will send you to Egypt.

This Moses, whom they would not have, saying, Who made you a ruler and a judge? him God sent to be a ruler and a saviour, by the hand of the angel whom he saw in the thorn-tree.

This man took them out, having done wonders and signs in Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the waste land, for forty years.

This is the same Moses, who said to the children of Israel, God will give you a prophet from among your brothers, like me.

This is the man who was in the church in the waste land with the angel who was talking to him in Sinai, and with our fathers; and to him were given the living words of God, so that he might give them to you.

By whom our fathers would not be controlled; but they put him on one side, turning back in their hearts to Egypt,

And saying to Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: as for this Moses, who took us out of the land of Egypt, we have no idea what has become of him.

And they made the image of a young ox in those days, and made an offering to it, and had joy in the work of their hands.

But God was turned from them and let them give worship to the stars of heaven, as it says in the book of the prophets, Did you make offerings to me of sheep and oxen for forty years in the waste land, O house of Israel?

And you took up the tent of Moloch and the star of the god Rephan, images which you made to give worship to them: and I will take you away, farther than Babylon.

Our fathers had the Tent of witness in the waste land, as God gave orders to Moses to make it after the design which he had seen.

Which our fathers, in their turn, took with them when, with Joshua, they came into the heritage of the nations whom God was driving out before the face of our fathers, till the time of David,

Who was pleasing to God; and he had a desire to make a holy tent for the God of Jacob.

But Solomon was the builder of his house.

But still, the Most High has not his resting-place in houses made with hands, as the prophet says,

Heaven is the seat of my power, and earth is a resting-place for my feet: what sort of house will you make for me, says the Lord, or what is my place of rest?

Did not my hand make all these things?

You whose hearts are hard and whose ears are shut to me; you are ever working against the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.

Which of the prophets was not cruelly attacked by your fathers? and they put to death those who gave them the news of the coming of the Upright One; whom you have now given up and put to death;

You, to whom the law was given as it was ordered by angels, and who have not kept it.

Hearing these things, they were cut to the heart and moved with wrath against him.

But he was full of the Holy Spirit, and looking up to heaven, he saw the glory of God and Jesus at the right hand of God.

And he said, Now I see heaven open, and the Son of man at the right hand of God.

But with loud cries, and stopping their ears, they made an attack on him all together,

Driving him out of the town and stoning him: and the witnesses put their clothing at the feet of a young man named Saul.

And Stephen, while he was being stoned, made prayer to God, saying, Lord Jesus, take my spirit.

And going down on his knees, he said in a loud voice, Lord, do not make them responsible for this sin. And when he had said this, he went to his rest.