Acts 4:23–31

The Believers Pray for Boldness

²³After they were released, they went to their own people and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. ²⁴When they heard it, they raised their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth, the sea, and everything in them,^{* 25}it is you who said by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant:ⁱ

‘Why did the gentiles rage

and the peoples imagine vain things?^*

²⁶The kings of the earth took their stand,

and the rulers have gathered together

against the Lord and against his Messiah.’^j*

²⁷“For in this city, in fact, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the gentiles and the peoples of Israel, gathered together against your holy servant^k Jesus, whom you anointed,^{* 28}to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. ²⁹And now, Lord, look at their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness,^{* 30}while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant^l Jesus.”^{* 31}When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.^*