Acts 1–2

Prologue

1The former account I made, O ^aTheophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, ^2buntil the day in which ¹He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit ^chad given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, ^3dto whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many ²infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

The Holy Spirit Promised

^4eAnd being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have ^fheard from Me; ^5gfor John truly baptized with water, ^hbut you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” ⁶Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” ⁷And He said to them, ⁱ“It is not for you to ^jknow times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. ^8kBut you shall receive power ^lwhen the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and ^myou shall be ³witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and ⁿSamaria, and to the ^oend of the earth.”

Jesus Ascends to Heaven

^9pNow when He had spoken these things, while they watched, ^qHe was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. ¹⁰And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them ^rin white apparel, ¹¹who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, ^swill so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”

The Upper Room Prayer Meeting

^12tThen they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey. ¹³And when they had entered, they went up ^uinto the upper room where they were staying: ^vPeter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and ^wSimon the Zealot; and ^xJudas the son of James. ^14yThese all continued with one ⁴accord in prayer ⁵and supplication, with ^zthe women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with ^aHis brothers.

Matthias Chosen

¹⁵And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the ⁶disciples (altogether the number ^bof names was about a hundred and twenty), and said, ¹⁶“Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, ^cwhich the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, ^dwho became a guide to those who arrested Jesus; ¹⁷for ^ehe was numbered with us and obtained a part in ^fthis ministry.”

^18g(Now this man purchased a field with ^hthe ⁷wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his ⁸entrails gushed out. ¹⁹And it became known to all those dwelling in Jerusalem; so that field is called in their own language, Akel Dama, that is, Field of Blood.)

²⁰“For it is written in the Book of Psalms:

ⁱ‘Let his dwelling place be ⁹desolate,

And let no one live in it’;

and,

^j‘Let another take his ¹office.’

²¹“Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, ²²beginning from the baptism of John to that day when ^kHe was taken up from us, one of these must ^lbecome a witness with us of His resurrection.”

²³And they proposed two: Joseph called ^mBarsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. ²⁴And they prayed and said, “You, O Lord, ⁿwho know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen ^25oto take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.” ²⁶And they cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

Coming of the Holy Spirit

2When ^athe Day of Pentecost had fully come, ^bthey were all ¹with one accord in one place. ²And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and ^cit filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³Then there appeared to them ²divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. ⁴And ^dthey were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began ^eto speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

The Crowd’s Response

⁵And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, ^fdevout men, from every nation under heaven. ⁶And when this sound occurred, the ^gmultitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. ⁷Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak ^hGalileans? ⁸And how is it that we hear, each in our own ³language in which we were born? ⁹Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and ⁱCappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, ¹¹Cretans and ⁴Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.” ¹²So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?”

¹³Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.”

Peter’s Sermon

¹⁴But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. ¹⁵For these are not drunk, as you suppose, ^jsince it is only ⁵the third hour of the day. ¹⁶But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

¹⁷‘And ^kit shall come to pass in the last days, says God,

^lThat I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;

Your sons and ^myour daughters shall prophesy,

Your young men shall see visions,

Your old men shall dream dreams.

¹⁸And on My menservants and on My maidservants

I will pour out My Spirit in those days;

ⁿAnd they shall prophesy.

^19oI will show wonders in heaven above

And signs in the earth beneath:

Blood and fire and vapor of smoke.

^20pThe sun shall be turned into darkness,

And the moon into blood,

Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.

²¹And it shall come to pass

That ^qwhoever calls on the name of the Lord

Shall be saved.’

²²“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you ^rby miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—²³Him, ^sbeing delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, ^tyou ⁶have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; ^24uwhom God raised up, having ⁷loosed the ⁸pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. ²⁵For David says concerning Him:

^v‘I foresaw the Lord always before my face,

For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken.

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

Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope.

²⁷For You will not leave my soul in Hades,

Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see ^wcorruption.

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

You will make me full of joy in Your presence.’

²⁹“Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you ^xof the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. ³⁰Therefore, being a prophet, ^yand knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, ⁹according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, ³¹he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, ^zthat His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. ^32aThis Jesus God has raised up, ^bof which we are all witnesses. ³³Therefore ^cbeing exalted ¹to ^dthe right hand of God, and ^ehaving received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He ^fpoured out this which you now see and hear.

³⁴“For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself:

^g‘The Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit at My right hand,

³⁵Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” ’

³⁶“Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

³⁷Now when they heard this, ^hthey were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”

³⁸Then Peter said to them, ⁱ“Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the ²remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹For the promise is to you and ^jto your children, and ^kto all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

A Vital Church Grows

⁴⁰And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this ³perverse generation.” ⁴¹Then those who ⁴gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. ^42lAnd they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ ⁵doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. ⁴³Then fear came upon every soul, and ^mmany wonders and signs were done through the apostles. ⁴⁴Now all who believed were together, and ⁿhad all things in common, ⁴⁵and ⁶sold their possessions and goods, and ^odivided ⁷them among all, as anyone had need.

^46pSo continuing daily with one accord ^qin the temple, and ^rbreaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, ⁴⁷praising God and having favor with all the people. And ^sthe Lord added ⁸to the church daily those who were being saved.