Chapter 5

Fate of Ananias and Sapphira

1 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property,

2 and akept back some of the price for himself, with his wife’s 1full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he blaid it at the apostles’ feet.

3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has aSatan filled your heart to lie bto the Holy Spirit and to ckeep back some of the price of the land?

4 “While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not 1under your control? Why is it that you have 2conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but ato God.”

5 And as he heard these words, Ananias afell down and breathed his last; and bgreat fear came over all who heard of it.

6 The young men got up and acovered him up, and after carrying him out, they buried him.

7 Now there elapsed an interval of about three hours, and his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

8 And Peter responded to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land 1afor such and such a price?” And she said, “Yes, 1that was the price.”

9 Then Peter said to her, “Why is it that you have agreed together to aput bthe Spirit of the Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out as well.”

10 And immediately she afell at his feet and breathed her last, and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

11 And agreat fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard of these things.

12 1At the hands of the apostles many asigns and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one accord in bSolomon’s portico.

13 But none of the rest dared to associate with them; however, athe people held them in high esteem.

14 And all the more abelievers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly badded to their number,

15 to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by aat least his shadow might fall on any one of them.

16 Also the 1people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick 2or afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed.

Imprisonment and Release

17 But the high priest rose up, along with all his associates (that is athe sect of bthe Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy.

18 They laid hands on the apostles and aput them in a public jail.

19 But during the night aan angel of the Lord opened the gates of the prison, and taking them out he said,

20 “Go, stand and 1speak to the people in the temple 2athe whole message of this Life.”

21 Upon hearing this, they entered into the temple aabout daybreak and began to teach.

Now when bthe high priest and his associates came, they called cthe 1Council together, even all the Senate of the sons of Israel, and sent orders to the prison house for them to be brought.

22 But athe officers who came did not find them in the prison; and they returned and reported back,

23 saying, “We found the prison house locked quite securely and the guards standing at the doors; but when we had opened up, we found no one inside.”

24 Now when athe captain of the temple guard and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them as to what 1would come of this.

25 But someone came and reported to them, “The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!”

26 Then athe captain went along with bthe officers and proceeded to bring them back without violence (for cthey were afraid of the people, that they might be stoned).

27 When they had brought them, they stood them 1before athe Council. The high priest questioned them,

28 saying, “We gave you astrict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and 1yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and bintend to bring this man’s blood upon us.”

29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “aWe must obey God rather than men.

30 “aThe God of our fathers braised up Jesus, 1whom you had cput to death by hanging Him on a 2cross.

31 “aHe is the one whom God exalted 1to His right hand as a 2bPrince and a cSavior, to grant drepentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.

32 “And we are awitnesses 1of these things; and bso is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”

Gamaliel’s Counsel

33 But when they heard this, they were acut 1to the quick and intended to kill them.

34 But a Pharisee named aGamaliel, a bteacher of the Law, respected by all the people, stood up in cthe Council and gave orders to put the men outside for a short time.

35 And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you propose to do with these men.

36 “For some time ago Theudas rose up, aclaiming to be somebody, and a group of about four hundred men joined up with him. 1But he was killed, and all who 2followed him were dispersed and came to nothing.

37 “After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of athe census and drew away some people after him; he too perished, and all those who 1followed him were scattered.

38 “So in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or 1action ais of men, it will be overthrown;

39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found afighting against God.”

40 They 1took his advice; and after calling the apostles in, they aflogged them and ordered them not to 2speak in the name of Jesus, and then released them.

41 So they went on their way from the presence of the 1aCouncil, brejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame cfor His name.

42 aAnd every day, in the temple and 1from house to house, they 2kept right on teaching and 3bpreaching Jesus as the 4Christ.

Chapter 6

Choosing of the Seven

1 Now 1at this time while the adisciples were bincreasing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the 2cHellenistic Jews against the native dHebrews, because their ewidows were being overlooked in fthe daily serving of food.

2 So the twelve summoned the 1congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables.

3 “Therefore, abrethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, bfull of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task.

4 “But we will adevote ourselves to prayer and to the 1ministry of the word.”

5 The statement found approval with the whole 1congregation; and they chose aStephen, a man bfull of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and cPhilip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and 2Nicolas, a 3dproselyte from eAntioch.

6 And these they brought before the apostles; and after apraying, they blaid their hands on them.

7 aThe word of God kept on spreading; and bthe number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to cthe faith.

8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great awonders and 1signs among the people.

9 But some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including both aCyrenians and bAlexandrians, and some from cCilicia and 1dAsia, rose up and argued with Stephen.

10 But they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.

11 Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”

12 And they stirred up the people, the elders and the scribes, and they acame up to him and dragged him away and brought him 1before bthe 2Council.

13 They put forward afalse witnesses who said, “This man incessantly speaks against this bholy place and the Law;

14 for we have heard him say that athis Nazarene, Jesus, will destroy this place and alter bthe customs which Moses handed down to us.”

15 And fixing their gaze on him, all who were sitting in the 1aCouncil saw his face like the face of an angel.

Chapter 7

Stephen’s Defense

1 The high priest said, “Are these things so?”

2 And he said, “Hear me, abrethren and fathers! bThe God of glory cappeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in 1Haran,

3 and said to him, ‘aLeave your country and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.’

4 “aThen he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in 1Haran. bFrom there, after his father died, God had him move to this country in which you are now living.

5 “But He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground, and yet, even when he had no child, aHe promised that He would give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him.

6 “But aGod spoke to this effect, that his descendants would be aliens in a foreign land, and that they would 1be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years.

7 “ ‘And whatever nation to which they will be in bondage I Myself will judge,’ said God, ‘and aafter that they will come out and 1serve Me in this place.’

8 “And He agave him 1the covenant of circumcision; and so bAbraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and cIsaac became the father of Jacob, and dJacob of the twelve epatriarchs.

9 “The patriarchs abecame jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt. Yet God was with him,

10 and rescued him from all his afflictions, and agranted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made him governor over Egypt and all his household.

11 “Now aa famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction with it, and our fathers 1could find no food.

12 “But awhen Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time.

13 “On the second visit aJoseph 1made himself known to his brothers, and bJoseph’s family was disclosed to Pharaoh.

14 “Then aJoseph sent word and invited Jacob his father and all his relatives to come to him, bseventy-five 1cpersons in all.

15 “And aJacob went down to Egypt and there he and our fathers died.

16 “From there they were removed to 1aShechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of 2Hamor in 1Shechem.

17 “But as the atime of the promise was approaching which God had assured to Abraham, bthe people increased and multiplied in Egypt,

18 until athere arose another king over Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph.

19 “It was he who took ashrewd advantage of our race and mistreated our fathers so that they would 1bexpose their infants and they would not survive.

20 “It was at this time that aMoses was born; and he was lovely 1in the sight of God, and he was nurtured three months in his father’s home.

21 “And after he had been set outside, aPharaoh’s daughter 1took him away and nurtured him as her own son.

22 “Moses was educated in all athe learning of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds.

23 “But when he was approaching the age of forty, ait entered his 1mind to visit his brethren, the sons of Israel.

24 “And when he saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended him and took vengeance for the oppressed by striking down the Egyptian.

25 “And he supposed that his brethren understood that God was granting them 1deliverance 2through him, but they did not understand.

26 “aOn the following day he appeared to them as they were fighting together, and he tried to reconcile them in peace, saying, ‘Men, you are brethren, why do you injure one another?’

27 “But the one who was injuring his neighbor pushed him away, saying, ‘aWho made you a ruler and judge over us?

28 ‘aYou do not mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday, do you?’

29 “At this remark, aMoses fled and became an alien in the land of 1Midian, where he bbecame the father of two sons.

30 “After forty years had passed, aan angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning thorn bush.

31 “When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he approached to look more closely, there came the voice of the Lord:

32 ‘aI am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.’ Moses shook with fear and would not venture to look.

33 “aBut the Lord said to him, ‘bTake off the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.

34 ‘aI have certainly seen the oppression of My people in Egypt and have heard their groans, and I have come down to rescue them; 1bcome now, and I will send you to Egypt.’

35 “This Moses whom they adisowned, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one whom God 1sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the 2help of the angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush.

36 “aThis man led them out, performing bwonders and 1signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the cwilderness for forty years.

37 “This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘aGod will raise up for you a prophet 1like me from your brethren.’

38 “This is the one who was in athe 1congregation in the wilderness together with bthe angel who was speaking to him on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received cliving doracles to pass on to you.

39 “Our fathers were unwilling to be obedient to him, but arepudiated him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt,

40 asaying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us; for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt—we do not know what happened to him.’

41 “1At that time athey made a 2calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in bthe works of their hands.

42 “But God aturned away and delivered them up to 1serve the 2host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, ‘bIt was not to Me that you offered victims and sacrifices cforty years in the wilderness, was it, O house of Israel?

43 ‘aYou also took along the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of the god 1Rompha, the images which you made to worship. I also will remove you beyond Babylon.’

44 “Our fathers had athe tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as He who spoke to Moses directed him to make it baccording to the pattern which he had seen.

45 “And having received it in their turn, our fathers abrought it in with 1Joshua upon dispossessing the 2nations whom God drove out before our fathers, until the time of David.

46 “aDavid found favor in God’s sight, and basked that he might find a dwelling place for the 1God of Jacob.

47 “But it was aSolomon who built a house for Him.

48 “However, athe Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet says:

49 ‘aHeaven is My throne,

And earth is the footstool of My feet;

What kind of house will you build for Me?’ says the Lord,

‘Or what place is there for My repose?

50 ‘aWas it not My hand which made all these things?’

51 “You men who are astiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did.

52 “aWhich one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of bthe Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers cyou have now become;

53 you who received the law as aordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.”

Stephen Put to Death

54 Now when they heard this, they were acut to the quick, and they began gnashing their teeth at him.

55 But being afull of the Holy Spirit, he bgazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing cat the right hand of God;

56 and he said, “Behold, I see the aheavens opened up and bthe Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

57 But they cried out with a loud voice, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one impulse.

58 When they had adriven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and bthe witnesses claid aside their robes at the feet of da young man named Saul.

59 They went on stoning Stephen as he acalled on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”

60 Then afalling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, bdo not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he 1cfell asleep.