Ananias and Sapphira

5 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ ^zfeet. 3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan ^afilled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.” 5 ^bWhen Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. 6 The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.

7 After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you¹ sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” 9 But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to ^ctest the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” 10 Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 And great ^dfear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

Many Signs and Wonders Done

12 Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. 13 None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. 14 And more than ever believers were ^eadded to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 15 so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his ^fshadow might fall on some of them. 16 The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all ^ghealed.

The Apostles Arrested and Freed

17 But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with ^hjealousy 18 they arrested the apostles and put them in the public ⁱprison. 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord ^jopened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, 20 “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this ^kLife.” 21 And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach.

Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. 22 But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, 23 “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.” 24 Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, ^lwondering what this would come to. 25 And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.” 26 Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, 28 saying, ^m“We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s ⁿblood upon us.” 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must ^oobey God rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a ^ptree. 31 God ^qexalted him ^rat his right hand as ^sLeader and ^tSavior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are ^uwitnesses to these things, ^vand so is the Holy Spirit, ^wwhom God has given to those who obey him.”

33 When they heard this, they were ^xenraged and wanted to kill them. 34 But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. 35 And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. 36 For before these days ^yTheudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. 37 After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of ^zthe census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. 38 So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice, 40 and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and ^acharged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 Then they left the presence of the council, ^brejoicing that they were ^ccounted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. 42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the ^dChrist is Jesus.

Seven Chosen to Serve

6 Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the ^eHellenists¹ arose against the ^fHebrews because their ^gwidows were being neglected in the ^hdaily distribution. 2 And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, ⁱ“It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. 3 Therefore, brothers,^{2 j}pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. 4 But we will ^kdevote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man ^lfull of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. 6 These they set before the apostles, and they ^mprayed and ⁿlaid their hands on them.

7 And the ^oword of God continued to increase, and the ^pnumber of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

Stephen Is Seized

8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was ^qdoing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. 10 But they ^rcould not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. 11 Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak ^sblasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12 And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, 13 and ^tthey set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against ^uthis holy place and the law, 14 for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will ^vdestroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.” 15 And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his ^wface was like the face of an angel.

Stephen’s Speech

7 And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” 2 And Stephen said:

“Brothers and fathers, hear me. ^xThe God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, 3 and said to him, ^y‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ 4 Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. 5 Yet he gave him no ^zinheritance in it, not even a foot’s length, but ^apromised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, ^bthough he had no child. 6 And God spoke to this effect—that ^chis offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them ^dfour hundred years. 7 ‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and ^eworship me in this place.’ 8 And he gave him ^fthe covenant of circumcision. And so ^gAbraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and ^hIsaac became the father of Jacob, and ⁱJacob of the twelve patriarchs.

9 “And the patriarchs, ^jjealous of Joseph, ^ksold him into Egypt; but ^lGod was ^mwith him 10 and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him ⁿfavor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. 11 ^oNow there came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. 12 ^pBut when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. 13 And on the second visit ^qJoseph made himself known to his brothers, and ^rJoseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. 14 ^sAnd Joseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, seventy-five persons in all. 15 And Jacob went down into Egypt, and ^the died, he and ^uour fathers, 16 and they were ^vcarried back to Shechem and laid in ^wthe tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver ^xfrom the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

17 “But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, ^ythe people increased and multiplied in Egypt 18 until ^zthere arose over Egypt another king who did not know Joseph. 19 ^aHe dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to ^bexpose their infants, so that they would not be kept alive. 20 At this time ^cMoses was born; and he was ^dbeautiful in God’s sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father’s house, 21 and ^ewhen he was exposed, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. 22 And Moses was ^finstructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was ^gmighty in his words and deeds.

23 ^h“When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. 24 And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. 25 He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. 26 ⁱAnd on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’ 27 But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 At this retort Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he ^jbecame the father of two sons.

30 “Now when forty years had passed, ^kan angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. 33 Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.’

35 “This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and ^lredeemer by the hand of the ^mangel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 This man led them out, ⁿperforming wonders and signs in Egypt and ^oat the Red Sea and in the ^pwilderness for forty years. 37 This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ^q‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.’ 38 This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at ^rMount Sinai, and with our fathers. ^sHe received living ^toracles to give to us. 39 ^uOur fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt, 40 saying to Aaron, ^v‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 41 ^wAnd they ^xmade a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands. 42 But God turned away and ^ygave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:

44 “Our fathers had the tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses directed him to make it, ^aaccording to the pattern that he had seen. 45 Our fathers in turn ^bbrought it in with Joshua when they ^cdispossessed the nations that God drove out before our fathers. So it was until the days of ^dDavid, 46 who found favor in the sight of God and ^easked to find ^fa dwelling place for the God of Jacob.¹ 47 But it was ^gSolomon who built a house for him. 48 Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says,

51 “You stiff-necked people, ⁱuncircumcised in heart and ^jears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not ^kpersecute? And they ^lkilled those who ^mannounced beforehand the coming of the ⁿRighteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law as delivered by ^oangels and did not keep it.”

The Stoning of Stephen

54 Now when they heard these things they were ^penraged, and they ground their teeth at him. 55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and ^qsaw the ^rglory of God, and Jesus ^sstanding at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see ^tthe heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the ^uright hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice and ^vstopped their ears and rushed together² at him. 58 Then they cast him ^wout of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, ^xreceive my spirit.” 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, ^y“Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell ^zasleep.

Saul Ravages the Church

8 And Saul approved of his execution.

And there arose on that day a great ^apersecution against the church in ^bJerusalem, and they were all ^cscattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was ^dravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

Philip Proclaims Christ in Samaria

4 Now those who were scattered went about ^epreaching the word. 5 Philip went down to the city¹ of ^fSamaria and ^gproclaimed to them the Christ. 6 And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was much joy in that city.

Simon the Magician Believes

9 But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced ^hmagic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. 10 They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, ⁱ“This man is the power of God that is called Great.” 11 And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. 12 But when they ^jbelieved Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the ^kname of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles² performed, he was amazed.

14 Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them that they might ^lreceive the Holy Spirit, 16 for he had not yet ^mfallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the ⁿname of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they ^olaid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. 18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, ^p“May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the ^qgift of God with money! 21 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22 ^rRepent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are in the gall³ of bitterness and in ^sthe bond of iniquity.” 24 And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

25 Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.

Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south⁴ to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. 27 And he rose and went. And there was an ^tEthiopian, a ^ueunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the ^vSpirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, ^w“How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: