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The Acts of the Apostles 4

4 While Peter and John were still speaking to the people, several men walked up and confronted them. They included priests who served in the temple, the officer in charge of the temple guard, and some members of the Sadducee group. 2 These men were very angry because these two men were teaching the people. They were telling the people that what God did for Jesus shows that God causes people to live again after they die. 3 So these men arrested Peter and John and put them in jail. They did this because it was already evening, and the Jewish council would have to wait until the next day to question them. 4 However, many people who had heard Peter speak put their faith in Jesus. The number of men who believed in Jesus increased to about 5,000.

5 The next day the high priest called the other chief priests, the teachers of the Jewish laws, and the other members of the Jewish council. They all assembled in one place in Jerusalem. 6 Annas, the former high priest, was there. Caiaphas, the new high priest, was also there. And so were John and Alexander and other men who were related to the high priest. 7 They commanded guards to bring Peter and John into the room, and then they asked Peter and John, “Who gave you the right or the ability to do this?”

8 As the Holy Spirit gave him power, Peter said to them in response, “You fellow Israelites who rule us and all of you elders, listen to me! 9 Today you are questioning us about a good deed we did for a man who could not walk. You want to know how he became able to walk. 10 So we want this whole council and all the other Israelites to know what has happened. This man is able to stand before you because Jesus from Nazareth, the Messiah, healed him. You were responsible for the Romans executing Jesus by nailing him to a cross. But God brought Jesus back to life after they executed him.

11 Jesus the Messiah of Nazareth is the one of whom the Scriptures say,

‘The stone that the builders threw away has become the most important stone in the building.’

12 So you should no longer reject him, because only Jesus can save us. For God has given us no other person in the world who can save us from the guilt of our sins!”

13 The Jewish leaders recognized that Peter and John were not afraid of them. They also realized that these two men were ordinary people who had not studied in schools. So the leaders were amazed. They knew that these men had spent time with Jesus. 14 They also saw the man who had become able to walk again standing there with Peter and John. So they were not able to say anything to contradict them.

15 The Jewish leaders told guards to take Peter, John, and this man outside of the room where they were meeting. After they did so, the leaders talked with each other about Peter and John. 16 They said, “There is nothing that we can do to punish these two men! The news of the amazing miracle that they have done has spread widely in Jerusalem. So we cannot tell people that it did not happen! 17 However, we must not allow any more people to hear what they have been teaching about this Jesus. So we must tell these men that we will punish them if they continue to tell other people about the one who they say gave them the power to heal this man.” 18 So the Jewish leaders told the guards to bring them into the room again. After the guards had done so, they told them both that they were completely forbidden to speak or teach about Jesus.

19 But Peter and John told them in response, “In order to obey your command, we would have to disobey God, who commanded us to tell everyone about Jesus. We will let you decide whether you think God would want us to obey you instead of him. 20 But as for us, we cannot obey you. We will not stop telling people about what we saw Jesus do and what we heard him teach.”

21 Then the Jewish leaders again told Peter and John not to disobey them. But then they let them go without punishing them. The leaders knew that throughout Jerusalem people were praising God for what had happened to the man who could not walk, and they did not want to upset the people. 22 The people were praising God because this was a remarkable miracle. The man whom Peter and John had healed by doing this miracle was over forty years old, and he had never before walked in his life.

23 After Peter and John left the council, they met with the others who believed in Jesus and told them everything that the people on the ruling council had said to them. 24 When the others who believed in Jesus heard this, they prayed together aloud to God, “O Lord! You made the sky, the earth, the oceans, and everything in them. 25 Your Holy Spirit caused our ancestor, King David, who served you, to write these words:

‘Why did the people groups of the world become angry

and why did they plan uselessly against God?

26 The kings in the world prepared to fight,

and the rulers joined with them

to oppose the Lord God and the one whom he had chosen to be the Messiah.’

27 What David said is true! Both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with people who were Israelites and people who were not, joined together in this city of Jerusalem to oppose Jesus. They opposed him even though he had done nothing wrong and even though you, God, had sent him as the Messiah. 28 But when they opposed Jesus, they did no more than you allowed because it was what you had decided long ago would happen. 29 So now, Lord, listen to what they are saying about how they will punish us! Help us who serve you to speak about Jesus without being afraid at all! 30 Use your power to do great healings and many other miraculous deeds that will show the authority you have given to Jesus, your chosen Messiah!”

31 When the believers had finished praying, the place where they were meeting started to shake. The Holy Spirit gave them all power to tell people about Jesus as God had commanded, and they did that with great courage.

32 Those in the group of people who believed in Jesus were in complete agreement about what they believed and what they wanted. Not one of them said that he was the sole owner of anything. Instead, they shared what they had with one another. 33 The Representatives continued to preach powerfully that God had caused the Lord Jesus to live again after he died. And God was helping all the believers very much. 34 Here is one way God was helping them. No one among the believers was lacking anything. This was because other believers who owned fields or houses would sell some of their property to help them. They would bring the proceeds from the sale 35 and they would give it to the Representatives, who would then give out the money to the believers who needed it.

36 Now there was a man named Joseph who belonged to the tribe of Levi and who came from the island of Cyprus. The Representatives called him Barnabas. In the language of the Jews, that name means a person who always encourages others. 37 Barnabas sold a field that belonged to him, and he brought the money to the Representatives for them to give to other believers.

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