New Testament · Gospels and Acts

Acts chapter 5

But a man named , along with his wife , sold a piece of .He some of the money for himself — his wife fully knew about it — and brought only a portion, laying it at the feet of the .Peter said, “Ananias, why has filled your heart to lie to and keep back part of the money from the land?”While it remained unsold, wasn’t it still yours? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think up this in your heart? You didn’t lie to people — you lied to God.When Ananias heard these words, he . And everyone who heard about it was gripped with .The got up, wrapped his body, carried him out, and buried him.About three hours later, his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.Peter asked her, “Tell me — is this the full price you and Ananias got for the land?” She said, “Yes, that’s the full amount.”Peter said to her, “How could you two agree together to ? Listen — the footsteps of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out too.”Immediately she collapsed at his feet and died. When the young men came in, they found her dead, carried her out, and buried her beside her husband.And a came over the entire gathered community and everyone else who heard about these things.Many remarkable were being done among the people through the hands of the apostles. And they would all meet together in .No one else them, yet the people held them in high esteem.Yet more and more people who kept being added — large numbers of both men and women.People even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, so that when Peter walked by, at least his might fall on some of them.Crowds also gathered from the towns surrounding Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those tormented by , and every one of them was healed.Then the and everyone with him — the group known as the — were filled with .They arrested the apostles and threw them into the .But during the night, opened the prison doors, led them out, and said,“Go stand in the and tell the people everything about .”When they heard this, they entered the Temple at daybreak and began teaching. Meanwhile, the high priest and his allies arrived, called together — the full council of Israel’s elders — and sent orders to the jail to have the apostles brought in.But when the arrived at the jail, they didn’t find them there. They returned and reported,“We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at their posts at the doors, but when we opened them, no one was inside.”When the and the chief priests heard this, they were completely baffled, wondering where all this was heading.Then someone arrived and reported, “The men you put in jail — they’re standing in the Temple, teaching the people!”So the Temple captain went with his officers and brought them back — but without force, because they were afraid the people would .They brought them in and made them stand before the Sanhedrin. The high priest questioned them:“Didn’t we give you strict orders not to teach in ? And look — you’ve filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you’re trying to pin !”Peter and the apostles answered, “We have to .”The God of our ancestors raised Jesus back to life — the one you killed by .God lifted him up to his right hand as and , to give Israel the chance to and receive the .We are of these things, and so is , which God has given to those who obey him.When they heard this, they were and wanted to execute them.But a in the Sanhedrin named — a who was respected by everyone — stood up and ordered that the men be taken outside for a moment.Then he addressed the council: “Men of Israel, think carefully about what you’re planning to do with these people.”Some time ago, appeared, claiming to be somebody important, and about four hundred men rallied around him. He was killed, all his followers scattered, and the whole thing came to nothing.After him, appeared during the time of the and drew people to follow him. He was also killed, and all his followers were scattered.So in this case, here’s my advice: stay away from these men and leave them alone. Because if this or this is of human origin, it will fall apart on its own.But if it’s from God, you won’t be able to stop them. You might even find yourselves !”They were persuaded by his argument. They called the apostles back in, had them , ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and released them.The apostles left the Sanhedrin because they had been considered for the sake of .And every day, both in the Temple and , they never stopped teaching and that Jesus is .