Acts 1–2

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

1In the first book, O ^aTheophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began ^bto do and teach, ²until the day when ^che was taken up, after he ^dhad given commands ^ethrough the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. ^3fHe presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

⁴And while staying¹ with them ^ghe ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; ⁵for ^hJohn baptized with water, ^hbut you will be baptized ⁱwith² the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

The Ascension

⁶So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, ^jwill you at this time ^krestore the kingdom to Israel?” ⁷He said to them, ^l“It is not for you to know ^mtimes or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. ⁸But you will receive ⁿpower ^owhen the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and ^pyou will be ^qmy witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and ^rSamaria, and ^sto the end of the earth.” ⁹And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, ^the was lifted up, and ^ua cloud took him out of their sight. ¹⁰And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, ^vtwo ^wmen stood by them in ^xwhite robes, ¹¹and said, ^y“Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, ^zwill ^acome in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Matthias Chosen to Replace Judas

¹²Then ^bthey returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. ¹³And when they had entered, they went up to ^cthe upper room, where they were staying, ^dPeter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon ^ethe Zealot and Judas the son of James. ¹⁴All these ^fwith one accord ^gwere devoting themselves to prayer, together with ^hthe women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and ⁱhis brothers.³

¹⁵In those days Peter stood up among ^jthe brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, ¹⁶“Brothers, ^kthe Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, ^lwho became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. ¹⁷For ^mhe was numbered among us and was allotted his share in ⁿthis ministry.” ¹⁸(Now this man ^oacquired a field with ^pthe reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong⁴ he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. ¹⁹And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called ^qin their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) ²⁰“For it is written in the Book of Psalms,

^r“ ‘May his camp become desolate,

and let there be no one to dwell in it’;

and

^s“ ‘Let another take his office.’

²¹So one of the men who have accompanied us during ^tall the time that the Lord Jesus ^uwent in and out among us, ^22vbeginning from the baptism of John until the day when ^whe was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us ^xa witness to his resurrection.” ²³And they put forward two, Joseph called ^yBarsabbas, who was also called ^zJustus, and ^aMatthias. ²⁴And ^bthey prayed and said, “You, Lord, ^cwho know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen ²⁵to take the place in ^dthis ministry and ^eapostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” ²⁶And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

2When ^fthe day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. ²And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like ^ga mighty rushing wind, and ^hit filled the entire house where they were sitting. ³And divided tongues ⁱas of fire appeared to them and rested¹ on each one of them. ⁴And they were all ^jfilled with the Holy Spirit and began ^kto speak in other tongues ^las the Spirit gave them utterance.

⁵Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. ⁶And ^mat this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. ⁷And ⁿthey were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking ^oGalileans? ⁸And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? ⁹Parthians and ^pMedes and ^qElamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, ¹¹both Jews and ^rproselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” ¹²And ^sall were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” ¹³But others ^tmocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

Peter’s Sermon at Pentecost

¹⁴But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. ¹⁵For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, ^usince it is only the third hour of the day.^{2 16}But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:

^17v“ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,

^wthat I will pour out my Spirit ^xon all flesh,

and your sons and ^yyour daughters shall prophesy,

and your young men shall see visions,

and your old men shall dream dreams;

¹⁸even on my male servants and female servants

in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and ^zthey shall prophesy.

¹⁹And I will show wonders in the heavens above

and signs on the earth below,

blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;

^20athe sun shall be turned to darkness

and the moon to blood,

before ^bthe day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.

²¹And it shall come to pass that ^ceveryone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

²²“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, ^da man attested to you by God ^ewith ^fmighty works and wonders and signs that ^gGod did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— ²³this Jesus,^{4 h}delivered up according to ⁱthe definite plan and ^jforeknowledge of God, ^kyou crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. ^24lGod raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because ^mit was not possible for him to be held by it. ²⁵For David says concerning him,

ⁿ“ ‘I saw the Lord always before me,

for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken;

²⁶therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;

my flesh also will dwell ^oin hope.

²⁷For you will not abandon my soul to ^pHades,

^qor let your ^rHoly One ^ssee corruption.

²⁸You have made known to me the paths of life;

you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’

²⁹“Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about ^tthe patriarch David ^uthat he both died and ^vwas buried, and ^whis tomb is with us to this day. ^30xBeing therefore a prophet, and knowing that ^yGod had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, ³¹he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that ^zhe was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. ³²This Jesus ^aGod raised up, ^band of that we all are witnesses. ^33cBeing therefore ^dexalted at the right hand of God, and having received from ^ethe Father ^fthe promise of the Holy Spirit, ^ghe has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. ³⁴For ^hDavid did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,

ⁱ“ ‘The Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit at my right hand,

³⁵until I make your enemies your footstool.” ’

³⁶Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that ^jGod has made him ^kboth Lord and Christ, this Jesus ^lwhom you crucified.”

³⁷Now when ^mthey heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, ⁿwhat shall we do?” ³⁸And Peter said to them, ^o“Repent and ^pbe baptized every one of you ^qin the name of Jesus Christ ^rfor the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive ^sthe gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹For ^tthe promise is for you and ^ufor your children and for all ^vwho are far off, everyone ^wwhom the Lord our God calls to himself.” ⁴⁰And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, ^x“Save yourselves from this ^ycrooked generation.” ⁴¹So those who received his word were baptized, and ^zthere were added that day about three thousand souls.

The Fellowship of the Believers

⁴²And ^athey devoted themselves to the apostles’ ^bteaching and the ^cfellowship, to ^dthe breaking of bread and the prayers. ⁴³And awe⁵ came upon every soul, and ^emany wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. ⁴⁴And all who believed were together and ^fhad all things in common. ⁴⁵And ^fthey were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. ⁴⁶And day by day, ^gattending the temple ^htogether and ⁱbreaking bread in their homes, they received their food ^jwith glad and generous hearts, ⁴⁷praising God and ^khaving favor with all the people. And the Lord ^ladded to their number ^mday by day those who ⁿwere being saved.