Day 19 of 30

¹Now when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.

²Suddenly there came from the sky a sound like the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

³Tongues like fire appeared and were distributed to them, and one sat on each of them.

⁴They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak.

⁵Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under the sky.

⁶When this sound was heard, the multitude came together, and were bewildered, because everyone heard them speaking in his own language.

⁷They were all amazed and marveled, saying, "Behold, are not all these who speak Galileans?

⁸How do we hear, everyone in our own native language?

⁹Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia,

¹⁰Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the parts of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,

¹¹Cretans and Arabians: we hear them speaking in our languages the mighty works of God!"

¹²They were all amazed, and were perplexed, saying one to another, "What does this mean?"

¹³Others, mocking, said, "They are filled with new wine."

¹⁴But Peter, standing up with the Eleven, lifted up his voice, and spoke out to them, "You men of Judea, and all you who dwell at Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to my words.

¹⁵For these are not drunken, as you suppose, seeing it is only the third hour of the day.

¹⁶But this is what has been spoken through the prophet Joel:

¹⁷'It will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams.

¹⁸Yes, and on my servants and on my handmaidens in those days, I will pour out my Spirit, and they will prophesy.

¹⁹I will show wonders in the sky above, and signs on the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and billows of smoke.

²⁰The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.

²¹It will be, that whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.'

²²"Men of Israel, hear these words! Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved by God to you by mighty works and wonders and signs which God did by him in the midst of you, even as you yourselves know,

²³him, being delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, by the hand of lawless men, crucified and killed;

²⁴whom God raised up, having freed him from the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it.

²⁵For David says concerning him, 'I saw the Lord always before my face, For he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved.

²⁶Therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced. Moreover my flesh also will dwell in hope;

²⁷because you will not leave my soul in hell, neither will you allow your Holy One to see decay.

²⁸You made known to me the ways of life. You will make me full of gladness with your presence.'

²⁹"Brothers, I may tell you freely of the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.

³⁰Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that one of his descendants would sit on his throne,

³¹he foreseeing this spoke about the resurrection of the Messiah, that neither was he left in hell, nor did his flesh see decay.

³²This Jesus God raised up, to which we all are witnesses.

³³Being therefore exalted by the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this, which you see and hear.

³⁴For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself, 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit by my right hand,

³⁵until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."'

³⁶"Let all the house of Israel therefore know certainly that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified."

³⁷Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"

³⁸Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

³⁹For to you is the promise, and to your children, and to all who are far off, even as many as the Lord our God will call to himself."

⁴⁰With many other words he testified, and exhorted them, saying, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation!"

⁴¹Then those who received his word were baptized. There were added that day about three thousand souls.

⁴²They continued steadfastly in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and prayer.

⁴³Fear came on every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.

⁴⁴All who believed were together, and had all things in common.

⁴⁵They sold their possessions and goods, and distributed them to all, according as anyone had need.

⁴⁶Day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread at home, they took their food with gladness and singleness of heart,

⁴⁷praising God, and having favor with all the people. The Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

¹Peter and John were going up into the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.

²A certain man who was lame from his mother's womb was being carried, whom they put daily at the door of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask gifts for the needy of those who entered into the temple.

³Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive gifts for the needy.

⁴Peter, fastening his eyes on him, with John, said, "Look at us."

⁵He listened to them, expecting to receive something from them.

⁶But Peter said, "Silver and gold have I none, but what I have, that I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!"

⁷He took him by the right hand, and raised him up. Immediately his feet and his ankle bones received strength.

⁸Leaping up, he stood, and began to walk. He entered with them into the temple, walking, leaping, and praising God.

⁹All the people saw him walking and praising God.

¹⁰They recognized him, that it was he who used to sit begging for gifts for the needy at the Beautiful Gate of the temple. They were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

¹¹And as he held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch that is called Solomon's, greatly wondering.

¹²When Peter saw it, he responded to the people, "You men of Israel, why do you marvel at this man? Why do you fasten your eyes on us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made him walk?

¹³The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up, and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had determined to release him.

¹⁴But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a man who was a murderer to be granted to you,

¹⁵and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, to which we are witnesses.

¹⁶By faith in his name, his name has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which is through him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.

¹⁷"Now, brothers, I know that you did this in ignorance, as did also your rulers.

¹⁸But the things which God announced by the mouth of all his prophets, that Messiah should suffer, he thus fulfilled.

¹⁹"Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, so that there may come times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord,

²⁰and that he may send the Messiah Jesus, who was ordained for you before,

²¹whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God spoke long ago by the mouth of his holy prophets.

²²For Moses indeed said to the fathers, 'The Lord your God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, like me. You shall listen to him in all things whatever he says to you.

²³It will be, that every soul that will not listen to that prophet will be utterly destroyed from among the people.'

²⁴Yes, and all the prophets from Samuel and those who followed after, as many as have spoken, they also told of these days.

²⁵You are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, 'In your seed will all the families of the earth be blessed.'

²⁶God, having raised up his Servant, sent him to you first, to bless you, in turning away everyone of you from your wickedness."

¹As they spoke to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came to them,

²being upset because they taught the people and proclaimed in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

³They laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was now evening.

⁴But many of those who heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.

⁵It happened in the morning, that their rulers, elders, and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem.

⁶Annas the high priest was there, with Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and as many as were relatives of the high priest.

⁷When they had stood them in the middle of them, they inquired, "By what power, or in what name, have you done this?"

⁸Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people, and elders,

⁹if we are examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed,

¹⁰be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, in him does this man stand here before you whole.

¹¹He is 'the stone which was regarded as worthless by you, the builders, which has become the head of the corner.'

¹²And there is salvation in none other, for there is no other name under heaven, that is given among men by which we must be saved!"

¹³Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and had perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled. They recognized that they had been with Jesus.

¹⁴Seeing the man who was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.

¹⁵But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves,

¹⁶saying, "What shall we do to these men? Because indeed a notable miracle has been done through them, as can be plainly seen by all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.

¹⁷But so that this spreads no further among the people, let us threaten them, that from now on they do not speak to anyone in this name."

¹⁸They called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.

¹⁹But Peter and John answered them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, judge for yourselves,

²⁰for we cannot help telling the things which we saw and heard."

²¹When they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people; for everyone glorified God for that which was done.

²²For the man on whom this miracle of healing was performed was more than forty years old.

²³Being let go, they came to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them.

²⁴When they heard it, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, "Master, it is you who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all that is in them;

²⁵who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of your servant, David, said, 'Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing?

²⁶The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers take council together, against the Lord, and against his Messiah.'

²⁷"For truly, in this city against your holy servant, Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together

²⁸to do whatever your hand and your council foreordained to happen.

²⁹Now, Lord, look at their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness,

³⁰while you stretch out your hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy Servant Jesus."

³¹When they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were gathered together. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.

³²The multitude of those who believed were of one heart and soul. Not one of them claimed that anything of the things which he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.

³³With great power, the apostles gave their testimony of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Great grace was on them all.

³⁴For neither was there among them any who lacked, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold,

³⁵and put them at the apostles' feet, and distribution was made to each, according as anyone had need.

³⁶Joseph, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas (which is, being interpreted, Son of Encouragement), a Levite, a man of Cyprus by race,

³⁷having a field, sold it, and brought the money and put it at the apostles' feet.

¹But a certain man named Ananias, with Sappirah, his wife, sold a possession,

²and kept back part of the price, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part, and put it at the apostles' feet.

³But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land?

⁴While you kept it, did not it remain your own? After it was sold, was not it in your power? How is it that you have conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God."

⁵Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and died. Great fear came on all who heard it.

⁶The young men arose and wrapped him up, and they carried him out and buried him.

⁷About three hours later, his wife, not knowing what had happened, came in.

⁸Peter answered her, "Tell me whether you sold the land for so much." She said, "Yes, for so much."

⁹But Peter asked her, "How is it that you have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out."

¹⁰She fell down immediately at his feet, and died. The young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her by her husband.

¹¹Great fear came on the whole church, and on all who heard these things.

¹²By the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. They were all with one accord in Solomon's porch.

¹³None of the rest dared to join them, however the people honored them.

¹⁴More believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women.

¹⁵They even carried out the sick into the streets, and put them on cots and mattresses, so that as Peter came by, at the least his shadow might overshadow some of them.

¹⁶Multitudes also came together from the cities around Jerusalem, bringing sick people, and those who were tormented by unclean spirits: and they were all healed.

¹⁷But the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy,

¹⁸and laid hands on the apostles, and put them in public custody.

¹⁹But an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors by night, and brought them out, and said,

²⁰"Go stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life."

²¹When they heard this, they entered into the temple about daybreak, and taught. But the high priest came, and those who were with him, and called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.

²²But the officers who came did not find them in the prison. They returned and reported,

²³"We found the prison shut and locked, and the guards standing before the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside!"

²⁴Now when the captain of the temple, and the chief priests heard these words, they were very perplexed about them and what might become of this.

²⁵One came and told them, "Behold, the men whom you put in prison are in the temple, standing and teaching the people."

²⁶Then the captain went with the officers, and brought them without violence, for they were afraid that the people might stone them.

²⁷When they had brought them, they set them before the council. The high priest questioned them,

²⁸saying, "Did not we strictly command you not to teach in this name? Behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and intend to bring this man's blood on us."

²⁹But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men.

³⁰The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you killed, hanging him on a tree.

³¹God exalted him with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins.

³²We are witnesses of these things; and so also is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him."

³³But they, when they heard this, were cut to the heart, and wanted to kill them.

³⁴But one stood up in the council, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law, honored by all the people, and commanded to put the men out for a little while.

³⁵He said to them, "You men of Israel, be careful concerning these men, what you are about to do.

³⁶For before these days Todah rose up, making himself out to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were dispersed, and came to nothing.

³⁷After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the enrollment, and drew away some people after him. He also perished, and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered abroad.

³⁸Now I tell you, withdraw from these men, and leave them alone. For if this counsel or this work is of man, it will be overthrown.

³⁹But if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them, and you would be found even to be fighting against God!"

⁴⁰They agreed with him. Summoning the apostles, they beat them and commanded them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.

⁴¹They therefore departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name.

⁴²Every day, in the temple and at home, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming Jesus, the Messiah.

¹Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, a complaint arose from the Hellenists against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily service.

²The twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, "It is not appropriate for us to forsake the word of God and serve tables.

³Therefore select from among you, brothers, seven men of good report, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.

⁴But we will continue steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the word."

⁵These words pleased the whole multitude. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch;

⁶whom they set before the apostles. When they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.

⁷The word of God increased and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem exceedingly. A great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.

⁸Stephen, full of grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people.

⁹But some of those who were of the synagogue called "The Libertines," and of the Cyrenians, of the Alexandrians, and of those of Cilicia and Asia arose, disputing with Stephen.

¹⁰They weren't able to withstand the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.

¹¹Then they secretly induced men to say, "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God."

¹²They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, and came against him and seized him, and brought him in to the council,

¹³and set up false witnesses who said, "This man never stops speaking blasphemous words against this holy place and the Law.

¹⁴For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place, and will change the customs which Moses delivered to us."

¹⁵All who sat in the council, fastening their eyes on him, saw his face like it was the face of an angel.

¹The high priest said, "Are these things so?"

²He said, "Brothers and fathers, listen. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,

³and said to him, 'Get out of your land, and from your relatives, and come into a land which I will show you.'

⁴Then he came out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and lived in Haran. From there, when his father was dead, God moved him into this land, where you are now living.

⁵He gave him no inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on. He promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when he still had no child.

⁶God spoke in this way: that his seed would live as foreigners in a strange land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years.

⁷'I will judge the nation to which they will be in bondage,' said God, 'and after that will they come out, and serve me in this place.'

⁸He gave him the covenant of circumcision. So Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.

⁹"The patriarchs, moved with jealousy against Joseph, sold him into Egypt. God was with him,

¹⁰and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He made him governor over Egypt and all his house.

¹¹Now a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction. Our fathers found no food.

¹²But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers the first time.

¹³On the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph's race was revealed to Pharaoh.

¹⁴Then Joseph sent, and summoned Jacob, his father, and all his relatives, seventy-five souls.

¹⁵Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, himself and our fathers,

¹⁶and they were brought back to Shechem, and placed in the tomb that Abraham bought for a price in silver from the children of Hamor in Shechem.

¹⁷"But as the time of the promise came close which God had made to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,

¹⁸until there arose a different king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.

¹⁹The same took advantage of our race, and mistreated our fathers, and forced them to throw out their babies, so that they would not stay alive.

²⁰At that time Moses was born, and was exceedingly handsome. He was nourished three months in his father's house.

²¹When he was thrown out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and reared him as her own son.

²²Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. He was mighty in his words and works.

²³But when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel.

²⁴Seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him who was oppressed, striking the Egyptian.

²⁵He supposed that his brothers understood that God, by his hand, was giving them deliverance; but they did not understand.

²⁶"The day following, he appeared to them as they fought, and urged them to be at peace again, saying, 'Sirs, you are brothers. Why do you wrong one another?'

²⁷But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, 'Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?

²⁸Do you want to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?'

²⁹Moses fled at this saying, and became a stranger in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.

³⁰"When forty years were fulfilled, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush.

³¹When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight. As he came close to see, a voice of the Lord came,

³²'I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob.' Moses trembled, and dared not look.

³³The Lord said to him, 'Take your sandals off of your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.

³⁴I have surely seen the affliction of my people that is in Egypt, and have heard their groaning. I have come down to deliver them. Now come, I will send you into Egypt.'

³⁵"This Moses, whom they refused, saying, 'Who made you a ruler and a judge?'-God has sent him as both a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush.

³⁶This man led them out, having worked wonders and signs in Egypt, in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years.

³⁷This is that Moses, who said to the children of Israel, 'God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, like me.'

³⁸This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel that spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, who received words of life to give to us,

³⁹to whom our fathers would not be obedient, but rejected him, and turned back in their hearts to Egypt,

⁴⁰saying to Aaron, 'Make us gods that will go before us, for as for this Moses, who led us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.'

⁴¹They made a calf in those days, and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their hands.

⁴²But God turned, and abandoned them to serve the hosts of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets, 'Did you offer to me slain animals and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

⁴³You took up the tabernacle of Moloch, the star of your god Rephan, the figures which you made to worship. I will carry you away beyond Babylon.'

⁴⁴"Our fathers had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, even as he who spoke to Moses commanded him to make it according to the pattern that he had seen;

⁴⁵which also our fathers, in their turn, brought in with Joshua when they entered into the possession of the nations, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers, to the days of David,

⁴⁶who found favor in the sight of God, and asked to find a habitation for the God of Jacob.

⁴⁷But Solomon built him a house.

⁴⁸However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says,

⁴⁹'heaven is my throne, and the earth a footstool for my feet. What kind of house will you build me?' says the Lord; 'or what is the place of my rest?

⁵⁰Did not my hand make all these things?'

⁵¹"You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so you do.

⁵²Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you have now become betrayers and murderers.

⁵³You received the Law as it was ordained by angels, and did not keep it!"

⁵⁴Now when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth.

⁵⁵But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,

⁵⁶and said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!"

⁵⁷But they shouted out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and rushed at him with one accord.

⁵⁸They threw him out of the city, and stoned him. The witnesses placed their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.

⁵⁹They stoned Stephen as he called out, saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!"

⁶⁰He kneeled down, and shouted out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them!" When he had said this, he fell asleep.