Acts 3–4

A Lame Man Healed

3Now Peter and John went up together ^ato the temple at the hour of prayer, ^bthe ninth hour. ²And ^ca certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, ^dto ¹ask alms from those who entered the temple; ³who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. ⁴And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.” ⁵So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. ⁶Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: ^eIn the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” ⁷And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. ⁸So he, ^fleaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God. ^9gAnd all the people saw him walking and praising God. ¹⁰Then they knew that it was he who ^hsat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Preaching in Solomon’s Portico

¹¹Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch ⁱwhich is called Solomon’s, greatly amazed. ¹²So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? ^13jThe God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, ^kglorified His Servant Jesus, whom you ^ldelivered up and ^mdenied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. ¹⁴But you denied ⁿthe Holy One ^oand the Just, and ^pasked for a murderer to be granted to you, ¹⁵and killed the ²Prince of life, ^qwhom God raised from the dead, ^rof which we are witnesses. ^16sAnd His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.

¹⁷“Yet now, brethren, I know that ^tyou did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers. ¹⁸But ^uthose things which God foretold ^vby the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. ^19wRepent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, ²⁰and that He may send ³Jesus Christ, who was ⁴preached to you before, ^21xwhom heaven must receive until the times of ^yrestoration of all things, ^zwhich God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since ⁵the world began. ²²For Moses truly said to the fathers, ^a‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. ²³And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ ²⁴Yes, and ^ball the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also ⁶foretold these days. ^25cYou are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ^d‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ ²⁶To you ^efirst, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, ^fin turning away every one of you from your iniquities.”

Peter and John Arrested

4Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the ^aSadducees came upon them, ²being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. ³And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. ⁴However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.

Addressing the Sanhedrin

⁵And it came to pass, on the next day, that their rulers, elders, and scribes, ⁶as well as ^bAnnas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. ⁷And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, ^c“By what power or by what name have you done this?”

^8dThen Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: ⁹If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, ¹⁰let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, ^ethat by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, ^fwhom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. ¹¹This is the ^g‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ ^12hNor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

The Name of Jesus Forbidden

¹³Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, ⁱand perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus. ¹⁴And seeing the man who had been healed ^jstanding with them, they could say nothing against it. ¹⁵But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, ¹⁶saying, ^k“What shall we do to these men? For, indeed, that a ¹notable miracle has been done through them is ^levident ²to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. ¹⁷But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this name.”

^18mSo they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. ¹⁹But Peter and John answered and said to them, ⁿ“Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. ^20oFor we cannot but speak the things which ^pwe have seen and heard.” ²¹So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them, ^qbecause of the people, since they all ^rglorified God for ^swhat had been done. ²²For the man was over forty years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed.

Prayer for Boldness

²³And being let go, ^tthey went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. ²⁴So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, ^uYou are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, ²⁵who ³by the mouth of Your servant David have said:

^v‘Why did the nations rage,

And the people plot vain things?

²⁶The kings of the earth took their stand,

And the rulers were gathered together

Against the Lord and against His Christ.’

²⁷“For ^wtruly against ^xYour holy Servant Jesus, ^ywhom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together ^28zto do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done. ²⁹Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants ^athat with all boldness they may speak Your word, ³⁰by stretching out Your hand to heal, ^band that signs and wonders may be done ^cthrough the name of ^dYour holy Servant Jesus.”

³¹And when they had prayed, ^ethe place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, ^fand they spoke the word of God with boldness.

Sharing in All Things

³²Now the multitude of those who believed ^gwere of one heart and one soul; ^hneither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. ³³And with ⁱgreat power the apostles gave ^jwitness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And ^kgreat grace was upon them all. ³⁴Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; ^lfor all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, ^35mand laid them at the apostles’ feet; ⁿand they distributed to each as anyone had need.

³⁶And ⁴Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated Son of ⁵Encouragement), a Levite of the country of Cyprus, ^37ohaving land, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.