Acts 3-4

Acts 3

¹One afternoon Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.

²And a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those entering the temple courts.

³When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money.

⁴Peter looked directly at him, as did John. “Look at us!” said Peter.

⁵So the man gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.

⁶But Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!”

⁷Taking him by the right hand, Peter helped him up, and at once the man’s feet and ankles were made strong.

⁸He sprang to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and leaping and praising God.

⁹When all the people saw him walking and praising God,

¹⁰they recognized him as the man who used to sit begging at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

¹¹While the man clung to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and ran to them in the walkway called Solomon’s Colonnade.

¹²And when Peter saw this, he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why are you surprised by this? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?

¹³The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus. You handed Him over and rejected Him before Pilate, even though he had decided to release Him.

¹⁴You rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.

¹⁵You killed the Author of life, but God raised Him from the dead, and we are witnesses of the fact.

¹⁶By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know has been made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through Him that has given him this complete healing in your presence.

¹⁷And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders.

¹⁸But in this way God has fulfilled what He foretold through all the prophets, saying that His Christ would suffer.

¹⁹Repent, then, and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away,

²⁰that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus, the Christ, who has been appointed for you.

²¹Heaven must take Him in until the time comes for the restoration of all things, which God announced long ago through His holy prophets.

²²For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to Him in everything He tells you.

²³Everyone who does not listen to Him will be completely cut off from among his people.’

²⁴Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have proclaimed these days.

²⁵And you are sons of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers when He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed.’

²⁶When God raised up His Servant, He sent Him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”

Acts 4

¹While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them,

²greatly disturbed that they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.

³They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in custody until the next day.

⁴But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.

⁵The next day the rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem,

⁶along with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and many others from the high priest’s family.

⁷They had Peter and John brought in and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”

⁸Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people!

⁹If we are being examined today about a kind service to a man who was lame, to determine how he was healed,

¹⁰then let this be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.

¹¹This Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’

¹²Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

¹³When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they marveled and took note that these men had been with Jesus.

¹⁴And seeing the man who had been healed standing there with them, they had nothing to say in response.

¹⁵So they ordered them to leave the Sanhedrin and then conferred together.

¹⁶“What shall we do with these men?” they asked. “It is clear to everyone living in Jerusalem that a remarkable miracle has occurred through them, and we cannot deny it.

¹⁷But to keep this message from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them not to speak to anyone in this name.”

¹⁸Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

¹⁹But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than God.

²⁰For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

²¹After further threats they let them go. They could not find a way to punish them, because all the people were glorifying God for what had happened.

²²For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.

²³On their release, Peter and John returned to their own people and reported everything that the chief priests and elders had said to them.

²⁴When the believers heard this, they lifted up their voices to God with one accord. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “You made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them.

²⁵You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of Your servant, our father David: ‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?

²⁶The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against His Anointed One.’

²⁷In fact, this is the very city where Herod and Pontius Pilate conspired with the Gentiles and the people of Israel against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed.

²⁸They carried out what Your hand and will had decided beforehand would happen.

²⁹And now, Lord, consider their threats, and enable Your servants to speak Your word with complete boldness,

³⁰as You stretch out Your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.”

³¹After they had prayed, their meeting place was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

³²The multitude of believers was one in heart and soul. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they owned.

³³With great power the apostles continued to give their testimony about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And abundant grace was upon them all.

³⁴There were no needy ones among them, because those who owned lands or houses would sell their property, bring the proceeds from the sales,

³⁵and lay them at the apostles’ feet for distribution to anyone as he had need.

³⁶Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (meaning Son of Encouragement),

³⁷sold a field he owned, brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.