Chronological
Jesus speaks to his apostles and he goes up to heaven
1 Jesus did many things when he was living on earth. He also taught people many things. I told you about all these things in the first book that I wrote for you, Theophilus.[a] 2 Those are the things that Jesus did before God took him up into heaven. Jesus had chosen some men to be his apostles. With the power of the Holy Spirit he told them what they must do. 3 After Jesus died on the cross, he became alive again. During the 40 days after that, he showed himself many times to his apostles. He showed himself in different ways. Then they could be really sure that he was alive again. During this time, Jesus spoke to his apostles about the kingdom of God.[b]
4 One time, when Jesus and his apostles were together, he said to them, ‘Do not leave Jerusalem yet. You must wait there until you receive my Father's gift. My Father promised to give it to you. I have already told you about it. 5 John baptized people with water, but after a few days God will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.’
6 While Jesus' apostles were together with him, they asked him, ‘Lord, at this time will you now give the kingdom back to us, the people of Israel?’
7 Jesus replied, ‘My Father decides when things will happen in the world. You do not need to know the day or the time when this will happen. 8 But the Holy Spirit will come to you, and he will give you power. The Holy Spirit will make your spirit strong. Then you will tell other people everywhere in the world about me. You will do that in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria and in places far away.’
9 When Jesus had finished speaking to his apostles, God took him up to heaven. The apostles watched Jesus while he went up. Then a cloud hid him and they could not see him any more.
10 The apostles were still looking carefully up into the sky when suddenly two men appeared.[c] They were wearing white clothes and they stood near the apostles.
11 The men said to the apostles, ‘You men from Galilee, you should not still be standing here and looking up into the sky. God has taken Jesus into heaven. You saw the way that Jesus went up to heaven. One day, he himself will return in the same way.’
The apostles choose Matthias
12 Then the apostles left the Mount of Olives.[d] They returned to Jerusalem. This was a walk of about 1 kilometre. 13 When the apostles arrived back in Jerusalem, they went to their room. The room where they were staying was upstairs. Those apostles were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; also James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas, the son of James.[e]
14 All these apostles often met together to pray. Mary who was Jesus' mother, other women and Jesus' brothers also met with them. 15 One day, about 120 people who believed in Jesus were meeting together. Peter stood up and he said to them, 16 ‘My friends, long ago, the Holy Spirit gave King David a message to speak from God.[f] He spoke about the things that Judas would do. Judas was the one who showed the soldiers how to catch Jesus. These things had to happen in the way that David wrote in the Bible long ago.[g] 17 Judas belonged to our group of disciples. Jesus chose him to work together with us.’
18 Judas received some money for the bad thing that he did. He bought a field with that money. But he fell down in that field and he died. His body broke open and the inside parts of his body poured out. 19 All the people who lived in Jerusalem heard about his death. So they called that field ‘Akeldama’ in their own language. ‘Akeldama’ means ‘The Field of Blood’.[h]
20 Peter then said, ‘This is what King David wrote in the book of Psalms:
“Let the house that he lived in become empty,
so that nobody lives in it.”[i]
David also wrote:
“Let somebody else do the job which he did.” ’[j]
21 Peter then said, ‘Because of this, we must choose another man instead of Judas. That man must have been one of our group all the time that the Lord Jesus was with us. 22 That is, from the time when John was baptizing people until the time when Jesus went up to heaven. He must be someone who saw Jesus become alive again after he died, as we did.’
23 So the apostles agreed the names of two men. One of them was Joseph. People also called him Barsabbas and sometimes people called him Justus. The other man was called Matthias. 24 Then the whole group prayed, ‘Lord, you know what everybody is really like. Please show us which man you have chosen. 25 Which of these two men do you want to be an apostle instead of Judas? Judas left his work as an apostle. He has now gone to the place where he belongs.’
26 Then the group used lots to choose the name of one man. It happened that they chose Matthias. So Matthias now became the 12th apostle, together with the other 11 men.
The Holy Spirit comes
2 Then the day of the Pentecost festival arrived. All the believers were meeting together in one place.[k] 2 Suddenly, as they were sitting together, they heard a noise. The noise came from the sky and it filled the whole house. It was like the sound of a strong wind. 3 Then they saw something that looked like many small fires. The separate fires moved and went to sit on each person there. 4 All the believers became full with the Holy Spirit. They began to speak in languages that they had not learned. They spoke whatever language the Holy Spirit helped them to speak.
5 At that time, Jews who came from many different countries in the world were staying in Jerusalem. They were Jews who carefully obeyed God's Law. 6 When these Jews heard the noise, a large crowd of them came together in that place. As the believers spoke, each person in the crowd could hear the message in their own language. This confused them. 7 They were very surprised and they said to each other, ‘These men who are speaking our languages are all from Galilee. 8 But each of us can hear them speak in the language of our own home country. How can this happen? 9 Some of us are from Parthia, Media and Elam. Some of us live in Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia. Some of us are from Pontus and Asia. 10 Some of us are from Phrygia and Pamphylia. Some of us are from Egypt. Some of us are from the country of Libya, near the town of Cyrene. Some of us have come from Rome to visit Jerusalem. 11 Some of us were born as Jews. Others of us are Gentiles who now obey God as the Jews do. Some of us are from Crete and some of us are from Arabia. But we all hear these people speaking in our own languages. They are speaking about all the great things that God has done.’
12 All the people were very surprised. They did not understand what was happening. ‘What does all this mean?’ they asked each other. 13 But some other people laughed at the disciples. They said, ‘These people have drunk too much wine!’
Peter speaks to the crowd
14 Peter was there with the other 11 apostles and he stood up with them. He began to speak to the crowd with a loud voice. He said, ‘You people who are Jews like us, listen carefully to me. All of you who live here in Jerusalem, you also listen to me. I will explain to you everything that is happening. 15 Some of you think that my friends here are drunk. But they are not drunk, because it is only nine o'clock in the morning.[l] 16 No, something different is happening here. Long ago, the prophet Joel spoke God's message about all this. This is what he said:[m]
17 God says “This is what I will do in the last days.
I will give my Spirit to all people.
Your sons and daughters will speak my message to people.
Your young men will see visions in their minds.
And your old men will see things in their dreams.
18 At that time, I will give my Spirit to all my servants,
both men and women.
Then they will speak my message to people.
19 I will cause special things to appear in the sky.
I will cause special things to appear on the earth too.
Those things will show how great I am.
There will be blood, fire and thick dark smoke.
20 The sun will become dark to people.
The moon will become dark red like the colour of blood.
These things will happen before the great day of the Lord arrives.
That will be a wonderful day!
21 The Lord will save everyone who asks him to help them.” ’
22 Peter then said, ‘People of Israel, listen to what I am saying! Jesus, the man from Nazareth, came with God's authority to do his work. God did many powerful and special things through him. These miracles showed you clearly that God had sent him. You know about all this. These things happened here, and you saw them. 23 God knew that Jesus' enemies would give him to you. God had decided that this should happen. You let people who do not obey God's Law fix him to the cross. In that way you killed him. 24 But after his death, God caused him to become alive again. God saved Jesus from the power of death. It was impossible for death to keep hold of him. 25 A long time ago, King David spoke about the Messiah in this way:
“I saw the Lord near me all the time.
He is next to me, on my right side,
so nothing will cause me trouble.
26 Because of this, I am very happy,
and I will praise you, God.
I am human and one day I will die,
but I know that you will help me while I live.
27 When I die, you will not leave me in Hades, the place for dead people.
You will not let anything destroy the body of your Holy One.
28 You have shown me the paths that lead to life with you.
I will be completely happy because you will be with me for ever.” ’[n]
29 Peter then said, ‘Friends, people of Israel, I must speak clearly to you about our ancestor, King David. He died and people buried his body in the ground. You can still see the place where people buried him. 30 He was a prophet. He knew what God had promised to do for him. He knew that one of his descendants would be king of God's people one day. 31 David understood what God would do in a future time. He did not speak about himself, but he spoke about the Messiah. He said that God would cause this man to become alive again after his death. God would not let him remain in Hades, the place for dead people. Nothing would destroy his body. 32 This man that David talked about is Jesus. After his death, God caused him to become alive again. We ourselves saw this happen. All of us saw it. 33 God took Jesus back up to heaven. He caused Jesus to sit at his right side, the place of great honour. Jesus received the Holy Spirit from his Father God, so that he could give the Spirit to us. This is what God had promised to do. God has poured his Holy Spirit on us. Now you are seeing and hearing the result of this. 34 King David himself did not go up into heaven like Jesus did. But David said:
“The Lord God said to my Lord:
Sit at my right side until I beat your enemies completely.
35 Then you will be able to put your feet on them.”[o]
36 So all you people of Israel must be sure to know this: It is this same Jesus that God has chosen to be the Messiah. God has made him to be our Lord. But you fixed him to a cross and you killed him.’
37 The people heard what Peter said to them. They were very upset. So they said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Friends, tell us what we should do.’
38 Peter said to them, ‘Each of you must stop doing wrong things. You must change how you live. If you believe in Jesus Christ, then we will baptize you. God will forgive you for the wrong things that you have done. Then you will receive the Holy Spirit, who is God's gift to you. 39 God has promised to do all this for you and your children. He has also promised this to people who live far away in other places. The Lord our God will do it for all the people that he has called to come to him.’
40 Peter also told them many other things. He continued to speak strongly to them. He told them to be careful and he said, ‘People who are alive today do not do what is right. Save yourselves from the punishment that God will send on them.’
41 Many of the people who listened to Peter believed his message. So the apostles baptized those people. About three thousand people who now believed in Jesus joined the group that same day.
How the believers lived
42 These new believers listened carefully to what the apostles taught them. They joined with everyone else in the group. They prayed together and they ate meals together.[p]
43 The apostles did many miracles which showed that the power of God was with them. As a result, all the people were very surprised and afraid. 44 All the believers continued to meet together often. They shared all their things with each other. 45 They sold some of their own things. Then they gave that money to any believers who needed it. 46 The whole group of believers met together every day in the yard of the temple. They shared their food and they ate meals together in each other's homes. They were very happy and they were honest with each other. 47 All the time, they praised God. All the other people thought that the believers were good people. Every day, the Lord saved more people so that the group of believers grew bigger.
A man walks again!
3 One day, Peter and John went to the temple in Jerusalem. It was three o'clock in the afternoon. This was the time that everyone went there to pray. 2 There was a man who could not walk. He had never been able to walk. Every day, his friends put him at the gate of the temple. It was called the Beautiful Gate. As people were going in through the gate, the man asked them for money. His friends were carrying him there when Peter and John arrived. 3 The man saw Peter and John as they were coming through the gate. So he asked them to give him some money. 4 Peter looked carefully at the man and so did John. Peter said to him, ‘Look at us!’ 5 So the man looked at Peter and John. He thought that they would give him some money.
6 Then Peter said to the man, ‘I do not have any money. But I do have something else that I will give to you. Jesus Christ from Nazareth gave me authority to do this. So now I tell you to walk!’ 7 Peter held the man's right hand and he helped him to stand up. Immediately the man's feet and ankles became strong. 8 The man jumped up and he stood on his feet. Then he began to walk about. He went into the temple with Peter and John. He was walking and jumping and he was praising God. 9 A large crowd of people were there. They saw the man walking. They heard him praising God. 10 ‘Look!’ they said. ‘We know this man. He usually sits at the Beautiful Gate of the temple and he asks people for money. What has happened to him?’ They were all very surprised.
Peter speaks to the crowd in the temple
11 The man was still holding Peter and John as they went into the yard of the temple. All the people were very surprised about what they saw. So they ran to Peter and John at the place called Solomon's porch. 12 Peter saw all the people who had come together. So he said to them, ‘People of Israel, you should not be so surprised about what you have seen. You should not look at us as if we ourselves are powerful. It is not because we obey God that we could cause this man to walk again. 13 It happened because of Jesus, who was the special servant of God. That is the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and our other ancestors who lived long ago.[q] God has raised his servant Jesus up to a place of honour.
You helped the rulers to take hold of Jesus. The Roman ruler Pilate had decided to let Jesus go free. But you turned against Jesus. 14 Jesus was God's Holy One who always did what was right. But you did not accept him. You told Pilate to let another man go free instead of Jesus. That man was in prison because he had killed people. 15 But Jesus is the person who leads people to true life. When you refused him, it meant that you killed him. But God made him alive again and raised him up from death. We ourselves saw him alive after he had died and we are telling you about it.
16 It is the power of Jesus that has made this man completely well again. We believe in him. We know that he has authority. You know this man. You saw that he had weak legs. Jesus has caused this man's legs to become strong. You can all see for yourselves what has happened. Yes, he is now well because we havetrusted Jesus and his power.
17 Friends, when you did all this to Jesus, you did not really know what you were doing. Your leaders also did not understand. 18 Jesus was God's Messiah. A long time ago, many of God's prophets spoke about him. They spoke God's message about what would happen to the Messiah. They said that he would suffer. God has now caused these things to happen. 19 So you must stop doing wrong things. Change how you live and turn to God. Then God will forgive you for all the wrong things that you have done. 20 The Lord God will help you. Times will come when he will cause your spirit to be strong. He has already chosen Jesus as the one to help you. He is God's Messiah, and God will send him back to you again. 21 Jesus must stay in heaven until the day that God will cause everything to become new again. Long ago God gave his prophets a message about this, and they told that message to people. 22 For example, Moses said this about the Messiah a long time ago: “The Lord your God will send you a prophet. He will be one of your own people. He will speak God's message as I have done. You must obey everything that he says to you. 23 God will punish anyone who does not obey that prophet. He will no longer be one of God's people and God will destroy him.” ’[r]
24 Peter then said, ‘All of God's prophets spoke about what is happening in these days. Samuel was one of them, and all the prophets who came later also spoke the same message. 25 You are the people who receive that message from God today. The promise that God made to bless our ancestors is the same promise that he makes to you. God said to our ancestor Abraham, “Through your descendants, I will bless all the people on the earth.”[s]
26 God chose Jesus to be his special servant. God sent him to you first. He wants to help you, so that you stop doing bad things. That is how he will bless you.’
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