Acts 5:17–29

The Apostles Persecuted

¹⁷Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party^t of the Sadducees,^u were filled with jealousy. ¹⁸They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.^{v 19}But during the night an angel^w of the Lord opened the doors of the jail^x and brought them out.^{y 20}“Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.”^z

²¹At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people.

When the high priest and his associates^a arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin^b—the full assembly of the elders of Israel—and sent to the jail for the apostles. ²²But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there.^c So they went back and reported, ²³“We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” ²⁴On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests^d were at a loss, wondering what this might lead to.

²⁵Then someone came and said, “Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people.” ²⁶At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. They did not use force, because they feared that the people^e would stone them.

²⁷The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin^f to be questioned by the high priest. ²⁸“We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,”^g he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”^h

²⁹Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings!ⁱ