THE HOLY SPIRIT PROMISED

4 While he wasA with them, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father’s promise.d “Which,” he said, “you have heard me speak about; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit in a few days.”e

6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?”

7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.f 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”g

THE ASCENSION

9 After he had said this, he was taken up as they were watching, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 While he was going, they were gazing into heaven, and suddenly two men in white clothes stood by them.h 11 They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen him going into heaven.”i

UNITED IN PRAYER

12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is near Jerusalem—a Sabbath day’s journey away. 13 When they arrived, they went to the roomj upstairs where they were staying: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.k 14 They all were continually unitedl in prayer,B along with the women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.m