Acts 1-3

Easy-to-Read Version

Luke Writes Another Book

1 Dear Theophilus,

The first book I wrote was about everything Jesus did and taught from the beginning ² until the day he was carried up into heaven. Before he went, he talked to the apostles he had chosen. With the help of the Holy Spirit, he told them what they should do. ³ This was after his death, but he showed them that he was alive, proving it to them in many ways. The apostles saw Jesus many times during the 40 days after he was raised from death. He spoke to them about God’s kingdom. ⁴ One time when Jesus was eating with them, he told them not to leave Jerusalem. He said, “Wait here until you receive what the Father promised to send. Remember, I told you about it before. ⁵ John baptized people with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Jesus Is Carried Up Into Heaven

⁶ The apostles were all together. They asked Jesus, “Lord, is this the time for you to give the people of Israel their kingdom again?”

⁷ Jesus said to them, “The Father is the only one who has the authority to decide dates and times. They are not for you to know. ⁸ But the Holy Spirit will come on you and give you power. You will be my witnesses. You will tell people everywhere about me—in Jerusalem, in the rest of Judea, in Samaria, and in every part of the world.”

⁹ After Jesus said this, he was lifted up into the sky. While they were watching, he went into a cloud, and they could not see him. ¹⁰ They were staring into the sky where he had gone. Suddenly two men wearing white clothes were standing beside them. ¹¹ They said, “Men from Galilee, why are you standing here looking into the sky? You saw Jesus carried away from you into heaven. He will come back in the same way you saw him go.”

A New Apostle Is Chosen

¹² Then the apostles went back to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. This mountain is about a half mile^[a] from Jerusalem. ¹³ When they entered the city, they went to the upstairs room where they were staying. These are the ones who were there: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James (the son of Alphaeus), Simon, the Zealot, and Judas (the son of James).

¹⁴ The apostles were all together. They were constantly praying with the same purpose. Some women, Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers were there with the apostles.

¹⁵ After a few days there was a meeting of the believers. There were about 120 of them. Peter stood up and said, ^16-17 “Brothers and sisters, in the Scriptures the Holy Spirit said through David that something must happen. He was talking about Judas, one of our own group. Judas served together with us. The Spirit said that Judas would lead men to arrest Jesus.”

¹⁸ (Judas was paid money for doing this. His money was used to buy him a field. But he fell on his head, his body broke open, and all his intestines poured out. ¹⁹ And all the people of Jerusalem learned about this. That is why they named that field Akeldama, which in their language means “field of blood.”)

²⁰ Peter said, “In the book of Psalms, this is written about Judas:

And it is also written:

^21-22 “So now another man must join us and be a witness of Jesus’ resurrection. He must be one of those men who were part of our group during all the time the Lord Jesus was with us. He must have been with us from the time John was baptizing people until the day when Jesus was carried up from us into heaven.”

²³ They put two men before the group. One was Joseph Barsabbas. He was also called Justus. The other man was Matthias. ^24-25 They prayed, “Lord, you know the minds of all people. Show us which one of these two men you choose to do this work. Judas turned away from it and went where he belongs. Lord, show us which man should take his place as an apostle!” ²⁶ Then they used lots to choose one of the two men. The lots showed that Matthias was the one the Lord wanted. So he became an apostle with the other eleven.

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

2 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ² Suddenly a noise came from heaven. It sounded like a strong wind blowing. This noise filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ They saw something that looked like flames of fire. The flames were separated and stood over each person there. ⁴ They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak different languages. The Holy Spirit was giving them the power to do this.

⁵ There were some godly Jews in Jerusalem at this time. They were from every country in the world. ⁶ A large crowd came together because they heard the noise. They were surprised because, as the apostles were speaking, everyone heard in their own language.

⁷ They were all amazed at this. They did not understand how the apostles could do this. They said, “Look! These men we hear speaking are all from Galilee.^{[b] 8} But we hear them in our own languages. How is this possible? We are from all these different places: ⁹ Parthia, Media, Elam, Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the areas of Libya near the city of Cyrene, Rome, ¹¹ Crete, and Arabia. Some of us were born Jews, and others have changed their religion to worship God like Jews. We are from these different countries, but we can hear these men in our own languages! We can all understand the great things they are saying about God.”

¹² The people were all amazed and confused. They asked each other, “What is happening?” ¹³ But others were laughing at the apostles, saying they were drunk from too much wine.

Peter Speaks to the People

¹⁴ Then Peter stood up with the other eleven apostles. He spoke loudly so that all the people could hear. He said, “My Jewish brothers and all of you who live in Jerusalem, listen to me. I will tell you something you need to know. Listen carefully. ¹⁵ These men are not drunk as you think; it’s only nine o’clock in the morning. ¹⁶ But Joel the prophet wrote about what you see happening here today. This is what he wrote:

²² “My fellow Israelites, listen to these words: Jesus from Nazareth was a very special man. God clearly showed this to you. He proved it by the miracles, wonders, and miraculous signs he did through Jesus. You all saw these things, so you know this is true. ²³ Jesus was handed over to you, and you killed him. With the help of evil men, you nailed him to a cross. But God knew all this would happen. It was his plan—a plan he made long ago. ²⁴ Jesus suffered the pain of death, but God made him free. He raised him from death. There was no way for death to hold him. ²⁵ David said this about him:

²⁹ “My brothers, I can tell you for sure about David, our great ancestor. He died, was buried, and his tomb is still here with us today. ³⁰ He was a prophet and knew something that God had said. God had promised David that someone from his own family would sit on David’s throne as king.^{[e] 31} David knew this before it happened. That is why he said this about that future king:

David was talking about the Messiah rising from death. ³² So Jesus is the one God raised from death. We are all witnesses of this. We saw him. ³³ Jesus was lifted up to heaven. Now he is with God, at God’s right side. The Father has given the Holy Spirit to him, as he promised. So Jesus has now poured out that Spirit. This is what you see and hear. ³⁴ David was not the one who was lifted up to heaven. David himself said,

³⁶ “So, all the people of Israel should know this for certain: God has made Jesus to be Lord and Messiah. He is the man you nailed to the cross!”

³⁷ When the people heard this, they felt very, very sorry. They asked Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”

³⁸ Peter said to them, “Change your hearts and lives and be baptized, each one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ. Then God will forgive your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ This promise is for you. It is also for your children and for the people who are far away. It is for everyone the Lord our God calls to himself.”

⁴⁰ Peter warned them with many other words; he begged them, “Save yourselves from the evil of the people who live now!” ⁴¹ Then those who accepted what Peter said were baptized. On that day about 3000 people were added to the group of believers.

The Believers Share

⁴² The believers spent their time listening to the teaching of the apostles. They shared everything with each other. They ate^[g] together and prayed together. ⁴³ Many wonders and miraculous signs were happening through the apostles, and everyone felt great respect for God. ⁴⁴ All the believers stayed together and shared everything. ⁴⁵ They sold their land and the things they owned. Then they divided the money and gave it to those who needed it. ⁴⁶ The believers shared a common purpose, and every day they spent much of their time together in the Temple area. They also ate together in their homes. They were happy to share their food and ate with joyful hearts. ⁴⁷ The believers praised God and were respected by all the people. More and more people were being saved every day, and the Lord was adding them to their group.

Peter Heals a Crippled Man

3 One day Peter and John went to the Temple area. It was three o’clock in the afternoon, which was the time for the daily Temple prayer service. ² As they were entering the Temple area, a man was there who had been crippled all his life. He was being carried by some friends who brought him to the Temple every day. They put him by one of the gates outside the Temple. It was called Beautiful Gate. There he begged for money from the people going to the Temple. ³ That day he saw Peter and John going into the Temple area. He asked them for money.

⁴ Peter and John looked at the crippled man and said, “Look at us!” ⁵ He looked at them; he thought they would give him some money. ⁶ But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold, but I do have something else I can give you. By the power of Jesus Christ from Nazareth—stand up and walk!”

⁷ Then Peter took the man’s right hand and lifted him up. Immediately his feet and legs became strong. ⁸ He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk. He went into the Temple area with them. He was walking and jumping and praising God. ^9-10 All the people recognized him. They knew he was the crippled man who always sat by the Beautiful Gate to beg for money. Now they saw this same man walking and praising God. They were amazed. They did not understand how this could happen.

Peter Speaks to the People

¹¹ The man was holding on to Peter and John. All the people were amazed. They ran to Peter and John at Solomon’s Porch.

¹² When Peter saw this, he said to the people, “My Jewish brothers, why are you surprised at this? You are looking at us as if it was our power that made this man walk. Do you think this was done because we are good? ¹³ No, God did it! He is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He is the God of all our fathers. He gave glory to Jesus, his special servant. But you handed him over to be killed. Pilate decided to let him go free. But you told Pilate you did not want him. ¹⁴ Jesus was holy and good, but you said you did not want him. You told Pilate to give you a murderer^[h] instead of Jesus. ¹⁵ And so you killed the one who gives life! But God raised him from death. We are witnesses of this—we saw it with our own eyes.

¹⁶ “This crippled man was healed because we trusted in Jesus. It was Jesus’ power that made him well. You can see this man, and you know him. He was made completely well because of faith in Jesus. You all saw it happen!

¹⁷ “My brothers, I know that what you did to Jesus was done because you did not understand what you were doing. And your leaders did not understand any more than you did. ¹⁸ But God said these things would happen. Through the prophets he said that his Messiah would suffer and die. I have told you how God made this happen. ¹⁹ So you must change your hearts and lives. Come back to God, and he will forgive your sins. ²⁰ Then the Lord will give you times of spiritual rest. He will send you Jesus, the one he chose to be the Messiah.

²¹ “But Jesus must stay in heaven until the time when all things will be made right again. God told about this time when he spoke long ago through his holy prophets. ²² Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will give you a prophet. That prophet will come from among your own people. He will be like me. You must obey everything he tells you. ²³ And anyone who refuses to obey that prophet will die, separated from God’s people.’^[i]

²⁴ “Samuel, and all the other prophets who spoke for God after Samuel, said that this time would come. ²⁵ And what those prophets talked about is for you, their descendants. You have received the agreement that God made with your fathers. God said to your father Abraham, ‘Every nation on earth will be blessed through your descendants.’^{[j] 26} God has sent his special servant Jesus. He sent him to you first. He sent him to bless you by causing each of you to turn away from your evil ways.”