The Arrest and Trial of Peter and John

4:1 While Peter and John1 were speaking to the people, the priests and the commander2 of the temple guard3 and the Sadducees4 came up5 to them, 4:2 angry6 because they were teaching the people and announcing7 in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 4:3 So8 they seized9 them and put them in jail10 until the next day (for it was already evening). 4:4 But many of those who had listened to11 the message12 believed, and the number of the men13 came to about five thousand.

4:5 On the next day,14 their rulers, elders, and experts in the law15 came together16 in Jerusalem.17 4:6 Annas the high priest was there, and Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and others who were members of the high priest’s family.18 4:7 After19 making Peter and John20 stand in their midst, they began to inquire, “By what power or by what name21 did you do this?” 4:8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit,22 replied,23 “Rulers of the people and elders,24 4:9 if25 we are being examined26 today for a good deed27 done to a sick man—by what means this man was healed28—4:10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ29 the Nazarene whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, this man stands before you healthy. 4:11 This Jesus30 is the stone that was rejected by you,31 the builders, that has become the cornerstone.32 4:12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people33 by which we must34 be saved.”

4:13 When they saw the boldness35 of Peter and John, and discovered36 that they were uneducated37 and ordinary38 men, they were amazed and recognized these men had been with Jesus. 4:14 And because they saw the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say against this.39 4:15 But when they had ordered them to go outside the council,40 they began to confer with one another, 4:16 saying, “What should we do with these men? For it is plain41 to all who live in Jerusalem that a notable miraculous sign42 has come about through them,43 and we cannot deny it. 4:17 But to keep this matter from spreading any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more44 to anyone in this name.” 4:18 And they called them in and ordered45 them not to speak or teach at all in the name46 of Jesus. 4:19 But Peter and John replied,47 “Whether it is right before God to obey48 you rather than God, you decide, 4:20 for it is impossible49 for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.” 4:21 After threatening them further, they released them, for they could not find how to punish them on account of the people, because they were all praising50 God for what had happened. 4:22 For the man, on whom this miraculous sign51 of healing had been performed,52 was over forty years old.