Acts 3:1–16

A Lame Man is Healed

3One day Peter and John went to the Temple at three o’clock in the afternoon, the hour for prayer. ²There at the Beautiful Gate, as it was called, was a man who had been lame all his life. Every day he was carried to the gate to beg for money from the people who were going into the Temple. ³When he saw Peter and John going in, he begged them to give him something. ⁴They looked straight at him, and Peter said, “Look at us!” ⁵So he looked at them, expecting to get something from them. ⁶But Peter said to him, “I have no money at all, but I give you what I have: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth I order you to get up and walk!” ⁷Then he took him by his right hand and helped him up. At once the man’s feet and ankles became strong; ⁸he jumped up, stood on his feet, and started walking around. Then he went into the Temple with them, walking and jumping and praising God. ⁹The people there saw him walking and praising God, ¹⁰and when they recognized him as the beggar who had sat at the Beautiful Gate, they were all surprised and amazed at what had happened to him.

Peter’s Message in the Temple

¹¹As the man held on to Peter and John in Solomon’s Porch, as it was called, the people were amazed and ran to them. ¹²When Peter saw the people, he said to them, “Fellow-Israelites, why are you surprised at this, and why do you stare at us? Do you think that it was by means of our own power or godliness that we made this man walk? ^13*The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has given divine glory to his Servant Jesus. But you handed him over to the authorities, and you rejected him in Pilate’s presence, even after Pilate had decided to set him free. ^14*He was holy and good, but you rejected him, and instead you asked Pilate to do you the favour of turning loose a murderer. ¹⁵You killed the one who leads to life, but God raised him from death—and we are witnesses to this. ¹⁶It was the power of his name that gave strength to this lame man. What you see and know was done by faith in his name; it was faith in Jesus that has made him well, as you can all see.