Acts 3–6

Chapter 3

Healing the Lame Beggar

¹Now ^aPeter and John were going up to the temple at the ¹ninth hour, ^bthe hour of prayer.

²And ^aa man who had been lame from his mother’s womb was being carried along, whom they ^bused to set down every day at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, ^cin order to beg ¹alms of those who were entering the temple.

³When he saw ^aPeter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms.

⁴But Peter, along with John, ^afixed his gaze on him and said, “Look at us!”

⁵And he began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.

⁶But Peter said, “I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: ^aIn the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene—walk!”

⁷And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened.

^81aWith a leap he stood upright and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.

⁹And ^aall the people saw him walking and praising God;

¹⁰and they were taking note of him as being the one who used to ^asit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg alms, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Peter’s Second Sermon

¹¹While he was clinging to ^aPeter and John, all the people ran together to them at the so-called ^1bportico of Solomon, full of amazement.

¹²But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, “Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk?

¹³“^aThe God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, ^bthe God of our fathers, has glorified His ^1cservant Jesus, the one whom ^dyou delivered and disowned in the presence of ^ePilate, when he had ^fdecided to release Him.

¹⁴“But you disowned ^athe Holy and Righteous One and ^basked for a murderer to be granted to you,

¹⁵but put to death the ^1aPrince of life, the one whom ^bGod raised from the dead, a fact to which we are ^cwitnesses.

¹⁶“And on the basis of faith ^ain His name, it is ¹the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.

¹⁷“And now, brethren, I know that you acted ^ain ignorance, just as your ^brulers did also.

¹⁸“But the things which ^aGod announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, ^bthat His ¹Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.

¹⁹“Therefore ^arepent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that ^btimes of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;

²⁰and that He may send Jesus, the ¹Christ appointed for you,

^21awhom heaven must receive until the ¹period of ^brestoration of all things about which ^cGod spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.

²²“Moses said, ‘^aThe Lord God will raise up for you a prophet ¹like me from your brethren; to Him you shall give heed to everything He says to you.

²³‘^aAnd it will be that every ^bsoul that does not heed that prophet ^cshall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’

²⁴“And likewise, ^aall the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also announced these days.

²⁵“It is you who are ^athe sons of the prophets and of the ^bcovenant which God ¹made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘^cAnd in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’

²⁶“For you ^afirst, God ^braised up His ¹Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”

Chapter 4

Peter and John Arrested

¹As they were speaking to the people, the priests and ^athe captain of the temple guard and ^bthe Sadducees ^ccame up to them,

²being greatly disturbed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming ^1ain Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

³And they laid hands on them and ^aput them in jail until the next day, for it was already evening.

⁴But many of those who had heard the ¹message believed; and ^athe number of the men came to be about five thousand.

⁵On the next day, their ^arulers and elders and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem;

⁶and ^aAnnas the high priest was there, and ^bCaiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of high-priestly descent.

⁷When they had placed them in the center, they began to inquire, “By what power, or in what name, have you done this?”

⁸Then Peter, ^1afilled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “^2bRulers and elders of the people,

⁹if we are ¹on trial today for ^aa benefit done to a sick man, ²as to how this man has been made well,

¹⁰let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that ^1aby the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom ^bGod raised from the dead—by ²this name this man stands here before you in good health.

¹¹“^1aHe is the ^bstone which was ^crejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief corner stone.

¹²“And there is salvation in ^ano one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

Threat and Release

¹³Now as they observed the ^aconfidence of ^bPeter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and ^cbegan to recognize them ¹as having been with Jesus.

¹⁴And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in reply.

¹⁵But when they had ordered them to leave the ^1aCouncil, they began to confer with one another,

¹⁶saying, “^aWhat shall we do with these men? For the fact that a ^bnoteworthy ¹miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.

¹⁷“But so that it will not spread any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no longer to any man ^ain this name.”

¹⁸And when they had summoned them, they ^acommanded them not to speak or teach at all ¹in the name of Jesus.

¹⁹But ^aPeter and John answered and said to them, “^bWhether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge;

²⁰for ^awe cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

²¹When they had threatened them further, they let them go (finding no basis on which to punish them) ^aon account of the people, because they were all ^bglorifying God for what had happened;

²²for the man was more than forty years old on whom this ¹miracle of healing had been performed.

²³When they had been released, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them.

²⁴And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said, “O ¹Lord, it is You who ^amade the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that is in them,

²⁵who ^aby the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Your servant, said,

‘^bWhy did the ¹Gentiles rage,

And the peoples devise futile things?

²⁶‘^aThe kings of the earth ¹took their stand,

And the rulers were gathered together

Against the Lord and against His ^2bChrist.’

²⁷“For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy ^1aservant Jesus, whom You anointed, both ^bHerod and ^cPontius Pilate, along with ^dthe ²Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,

²⁸to do whatever Your hand and ^aYour purpose predestined to occur.

²⁹“And ¹now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may ^aspeak Your word with all ^bconfidence,

³⁰while You extend Your hand to heal, and ^1asigns and wonders take place through the name of Your holy ^2bservant Jesus.”

³¹And when they had prayed, the ^aplace where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all ^bfilled with the Holy Spirit and began to ^cspeak the word of God with ^dboldness.

Sharing among Believers

³²And the ¹congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them ²claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but ^aall things were common property to them.

³³And ^awith great power the apostles were giving ^btestimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all.

³⁴For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses ^awould sell them and bring the ¹proceeds of the sales

³⁵and ^alay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be ^bdistributed to each as any had need.

³⁶Now Joseph, a Levite of ^aCyprian birth, who was also called ^bBarnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of ^1cEncouragement),

³⁷and who owned a tract of land, sold it and brought the money and ^alaid it at the apostles’ feet.

Chapter 5

Fate of Ananias and Sapphira

¹But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property,

²and ^akept back some of the price for himself, with his wife’s ¹full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he ^blaid it at the apostles’ feet.

³But Peter said, “Ananias, why has ^aSatan filled your heart to lie ^bto the Holy Spirit and to ^ckeep back some of the price of the land?

⁴“While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not ¹under your control? Why is it that you have ²conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but ^ato God.”

⁵And as he heard these words, Ananias ^afell down and breathed his last; and ^bgreat fear came over all who heard of it.

⁶The young men got up and ^acovered him up, and after carrying him out, they buried him.

⁷Now there elapsed an interval of about three hours, and his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

⁸And Peter responded to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land ^1afor such and such a price?” And she said, “Yes, that was the price.”

⁹Then Peter said to her, “Why is it that you have agreed together to ^aput ^bthe Spirit of the Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out as well.”

¹⁰And immediately she ^afell at his feet and breathed her last, and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

¹¹And ^agreat fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard of these things.

¹²¹At the hands of the apostles many ^asigns and…