Chapter 1

Produced by Martin Ward

Weymouth New Testament in Modern Speech, Acts

Third Edition 1913

R. F. Weymouth

Book 44 Acts

001:001 My former narrative, Theophilus, dealt with all that Jesus did and taught as a beginning, down to the day on which,

001:002 after giving instruction through the Holy Spirit to the Apostles whom He had chosen, He was taken up to Heaven.

001:003 He had also, after He suffered, shown Himself alive to them with many sure proofs, appearing to them at intervals during forty days, and speaking of the Kingdom of God.

001:004 And while in their company He charged them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father's promised gift. "This you have heard of," He said, "from me.

001:005 For John indeed baptized with water, but before many days have passed you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit."

001:006 Once when they were with Him, they asked Him, "Master, is this the time at which you are about to restore the kingdom of Israel?"

001:007 "It is not for you," He replied, "to know times or epochs which the Father has reserved within His own authority;

001:008 and yet you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judaea and Samaria and to the remotest parts of the earth."

001:009 When He had said this, and while they were looking at Him, He was carried up, and a cloud closing beneath Him hid Him from their sight.

001:010 But, while they stood intently gazing into the sky as He went, suddenly there were two men in white garments standing by them,

001:011 who said, "Galilaeans, why stand looking into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken up from you into Heaven will come in just the same way as you have seen Him going into Heaven."

001:012 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mountain called the Oliveyard, which is near Jerusalem, about a mile off.

001:013 They entered the city, and they went up to the upper room which was now their fixed place for meeting. Their names were Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the brother of James.

001:014 All of these with one mind continued earnest in prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and His brothers.

001:015 It was on one of these days that Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren--the entire number of persons present being about 120--and said,

001:016 "Brethren, it was necessary that the Scripture should be fulfilled-- the prediction, I mean, which the Holy Spirit uttered by the lips of David, about Judas, who acted as guide to those who arrested Jesus.

001:017 For Judas was reckoned as one of our number, and a share in this ministry was allotted to him."

001:018 (Now having bought a piece of ground with the money paid for his wickedness he fell there with his face downwards, and, his body bursting open, he became disembowelled.

001:019 This fact became widely known to the people of Jerusalem, so that the place received the name, in their language, of Achel-damach, which means `The Field of Blood.')

001:020 "For it is written in the Book of Psalms, "`Let his encampment be desolate: let there be no one to dwell there'; and "`His work let another take up.'

001:021 "It is necessary, therefore, that of the men who have been with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us--

001:022 beginning from His baptism by John down to the day on which He was taken up again from us into Heaven--one should be appointed to become a witness with us as to His resurrection."

001:023 So two names were proposed, Joseph called Bar-sabbas-- and surnamed Justus--and Matthias.

001:024 And the brethren prayed, saying, "Thou, Lord, who knowest the hearts of all, show clearly which of these two Thou hast chosen

001:025 to occupy the place in this ministry and Apostleship from which Judas through transgression fell, in order to go to his own place."

001:026 Then they drew lots between them. The lot fell on Matthias, and a place among the eleven Apostles was voted to him.

002:001 At length, on the day of the Harvest Festival, they had all met in one place;

002:002 when suddenly there came from the sky a sound as of a strong rushing blast of wind. This filled the whole house where they were sitting;

002:003 and they saw tongues of what looked like fire distributing themselves over the assembly, and on the head of each person a tongue alighted.

002:004 They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in foreign languages according as the Spirit gave them words to utter.

002:005 Now there were Jews residing in Jerusalem, devout men from every part of the world.

002:006 So when this noise was heard, they came crowding together, and were amazed because everyone heard his own language spoken.

002:007 They were beside themselves with wonder, and exclaimed, "Are not all these speakers Galilaeans?

002:008 How then does each of us hear his own native language spoken by them?

002:009 Some of us are Parthians, Medes, Elamites. Some are inhabitants of Mesopotamia, of Judaea or Cappadocia, of Pontus or the Asian Province, of Phrygia or Pamphylia,

002:010 of Egypt or of the parts of Africa towards Cyrene. Others are visitors from Rome--being either Jews or converts from heathenism--and others are Cretans or Arabians.

002:011 Yet we all alike hear these Galilaeans speaking in our own language about the wonderful things which God has done."

002:012 They were all astounded and bewildered, and asked one another, "What can this mean?"

002:013 But others, scornfully jeering, said, "They are brim-full of sweet wine."

002:014 Peter however, together with the Eleven, stood up and addressed them in a loud voice. "Men of Judaea, and all you inhabitants of Jerusalem," he said, "be in no uncertainty about this matter but pay attention to what I say.

002:015 For this is not intoxication, as you suppose, it being only the third hour of the day.

002:016 But that which was predicted through the Prophet Joel has happened:

002:017 "And it shall come to pass in the last days, God says, that I will pour out My Spirit upon all mankind; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall have dreams;

002:018 and even upon My bondservants, both men and women, at that time, I will pour out My Spirit, and they shall prophesy.

002:019 I will display marvels in the sky above, and signs on the earth below, blood and fire, and pillars of smoke.

002:020 The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, to usher in the day of the Lord--that great and illustrious day;

002:021 and every one who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'

002:022 "Listen, Israelites, to what I say. Jesus, the Nazarene, a man accredited to you from God by miracles and marvels and signs which God did among you through Him, as you yourselves know, Him--

002:023 delivered up through God's settled purpose and foreknowledge-- you by the hands of Gentiles have nailed to a cross and have put to death.

002:024 But God has raised Him to life, having terminated the throes of death, for in fact it was not possible for Him to be held fast by death.

002:025 For David says in reference to Him, "`I constantly fixed my eyes upon the Lord, because He is at my right hand in order that I may continue unshaken.

002:026 For this reason my heart is glad and my tongue exults. My body also shall rest in hope.

002:027 For Thou wilt not leave me in the Unseen World forsaken, nor give up Thy holy One to undergo decay.

002:028 Thou hast made known to me the ways of Life: Thou wilt fill me with gladness in Thy presence.'

002:029 "As to the patriarch David, I need hardly remind you, brethren, that he died and was buried, and that we still have his tomb among us.

002:030 Being a Prophet, however, and knowing that God had solemnly sworn to him to seat a descendant of his upon his throne,

002:031 with prophetic foresight he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, to the effect that He was not left forsaken in the Unseen World, nor did His body undergo decay.

002:032 This Jesus, God has raised to life--a fact to which all of us testify.

002:033 "Being therefore lifted high by the mighty hand of God, He has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out this which you see and hear.

002:034 For David did not ascend into Heaven, but he says himself, "`The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand

002:035 until I make thy foes a footstool under thy feet.'

002:036 "Therefore let the whole House of Israel know beyond all doubt that God has made Him both LORD and CHRIST-- this Jesus whom you crucified."

002:037 Stung to the heart by these words, they said to Peter and the rest of the Apostles, "Brethren, what are we to do?"

002:038 "Repent," replied Peter, "and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, with a view to the remission of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

002:039 For to you belongs the promise, and to your children, and to all who are far off, whoever the Lord our God may call."

002:040 And with many more appeals he solemnly warned and entreated them, saying, "Escape from this crooked generation."

002:041 Those, therefore, who joyfully welcomed his Message were baptized; and on that one day about three thousand persons were added to them;

002:042 and they were constant in listening to the teaching of the Apostles and in their attendance at the Communion, that is, the Breaking of the Bread, and at prayer.

002:043 Fear came upon every one, and many marvels and signs were done by the Apostles.

002:044 And all the believers kept together, and had everything in common.

002:045 They sold their lands and other property, and distributed the proceeds among all, according to every one's necessities.

002:046 And, day by day, attending constantly in the Temple with one accord, and breaking bread in private houses, they took their meals with great happiness and single-heartedness,

002:047 praising God and being regarded with favour by all the people. Also, day by day, the Lord added to their number those whom He was saving.

003:001 One day Peter and John were going up to the Temple for the hour of prayer--the ninth hour--and, just then,

003:002 some men were carrying there one who had been lame from birth, whom they were wont to place every day close to the Beautiful Gate (as it was called) of the Temple, for him to beg from the people as they went in.

003:003 Seeing Peter and John about to go into the Temple, he asked them for alms.

003:004 Peter fixing his eyes on him, as John did also, said, "Look at us."

003:005 So he looked and waited, expecting to receive something from them.

003:006 "I have no silver or gold," Peter said, "but what I have, I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene--walk!"

003:007 Then taking his hand Peter lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were strengthened.

003:008 Leaping up, he stood upright and began to walk, and went into the Temple with them, walking, leaping, and praising God.

003:009 All the people saw him walking and praising God;

003:010 and recognizing him as the man who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple asking for alms, they were filled with awe and amazement at what had happened to him.

003:011 While he still clung to Peter and John, the people, awe-struck, ran up crowding round them in what was known as Solomon's Portico.

003:012 Peter, seeing this, spoke to the people. "Israelites," he said, "why do you wonder at this man? Or why gaze at us, as though by any power or piety of our own we had enabled him to walk?

003:013 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our forefathers, has conferred this honour on His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to let Him go.

003:014 Yes, you disowned the holy and righteous One, and asked as a favour the release of a murderer.

003:015 The Prince of Life you put to death; but God has raised Him from the dead, and we are witnesses as to that.

003:016 It is His name--faith in that name being the condition-- which has strengthened this man whom you behold and know; and the faith which He has given has made this man sound and strong again, as you can all see.

003:017 "And now, brethren, I know that it was in ignorance that you did it, as was the case with your rulers also.

003:018 But in this way God has fulfilled the declarations He made through all the Prophets, that His Christ would suffer.

003:019 Repent, therefore, and reform your lives, so that the record of your sins may be cancelled, and that there may come seasons of revival from the Lord,

003:020 and that He may send the Christ appointed beforehand for you--even Jesus.

003:021 Heaven must receive Him until those times of which God has spoken from the earliest ages through the lips of His holy Prophets-- the times of the reconstitution of all things.

003:022 Moses declared, "`The Lord your God will raise up a Prophet for you from among your brethren as He has raised me. In all that He says to you, you must listen to Him.

003:023 And every one, without exception, who refuses to listen to that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the People.'

003:024 Yes, and all the Prophets, from Samuel onwards--all who have spoken-- have also announced the coming of this present time.

003:025 "You are the heirs of the Prophets, and of the Covenant which God made with your forefathers when He said to Abraham, `And through your posterity all the families of the world shall be blessed.'

003:026 It is to you first that God, after raising His Servant from the grave, has sent Him to bless you, by causing every one of you to turn from your wickedness."

004:001 While they were saying this to the people, the Priests, the Commander of the Temple Guard, and the Sadducees came upon them,

004:002 highly incensed at their teaching the people and proclaiming in the case of Jesus the Resurrection from among the dead.

004:003 They arrested the two Apostles and lodged them in custody till the next day; for it was already evening.

004:004 But many of those who had listened to their preaching believed; and the number of the adult men had now grown to be about 5,000.

004:005 The next day a meeting was held in Jerusalem of their Rulers, Elders, and Scribes,

004:006 with Annas the High Priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and the other members of the high-priestly family.

004:007 So they made the Apostles stand in the centre, and demanded of them, "By what power or in what name have you done this?"

004:008 Then Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he replied, "Rulers and Elders of the people,

004:009 if we to-day are under examination concerning the benefit conferred on a man helplessly lame, as to how this man has been cured;

004:010 be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that through the name of Jesus the Anointed, the Nazarene, whom *you* crucified, but whom *God* has raised from among the dead--through that name this man stands here before you in perfect health.

004:011 This Jesus is the Stone treated with contempt by you the builders, but it has been made the Cornerstone.

004:012 And in no other is the great salvation to be found; for, in fact, there is no second name under Heaven that has been given among men through which we are to be saved."

004:013 As they looked on Peter and John so fearlessly outspoken-- and also discovered that they were illiterate persons, untrained in the schools--they were surprised; and now they recognized them as having been with Jesus.

004:014 And seeing the man standing with them--the man who had been cured-- they had no reply to make.

004:015 So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin while they conferred among themselves.

004:016 "What are we to do with these men?" they asked one another; for the fact that a remarkable miracle has been performed by them is well known to every one in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.

004:017 But to prevent the matter spreading any further among the people, let us stop them by threats from speaking in the future in this name to any one whatever."

004:018 So they recalled the Apostles, and ordered them altogether to give up speaking or teaching in the name of Jesus.

004:019 But Peter and John replied, "Judge whether it is right in God's sight to listen to you instead of listening to God.

004:020 As for us, what we have seen and heard we cannot help speaking about."

004:021 The Court added further threats and then let them go, being quite unable to find any way of punishing them on account of the people, because all gave God the glory for the thing that had happened.

004:022 For the man was over forty years of age on whom this miracle of restoration to health had been performed.

004:023 After their release the two Apostles went to their friends, and told them all that the High Priests and Elders had said.

004:024 And they, upon hearing the story, all lifted up their voices to God and said, "O Sovereign Lord, it is Thou who didst make Heaven and earth and sea, and all that is in them,

004:025 and didst say through the Holy Spirit by the lips of our forefather David Thy servant, "`Why have the nations stamped and raged, and the peoples formed futile plans?

004:026 The kings of the earth came near, and the rulers assembled together against the Lord and against His Anointed.'"

004:027 "They did indeed assemble in this city in hostility to Thy holy Servant Jesus whom Thou hadst anointed--Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and also the tribes of Israel--

004:028 to do all that Thy power and Thy will had predetermined should be done.

004:029 And now, Lord, listen to their threats, and enable Thy servants to proclaim Thy Message with fearless courage,

004:030 whilst Thou stretchest out Thine arm to cure men, and to give signs and marvels through the name of Thy holy Servant Jesus."

004:031 When they had prayed, the place in which they were assembled shook, and they were, one and all, filled with the Holy Spirit, and proceeded to tell God's Message with boldness.

004:032 Among all those who had embraced the faith there was but one heart and soul, so that none of them claimed any of his possessions as his own, but everything they had was common property;

004:033 while the Apostles with great force of conviction delivered their testimony as to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus; and great grace was upon them all.

004:034 And, in fact, there was not a needy man among them, for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the money which they realised,

004:035 and gave it to the Apostles, and distribution was made to every one according to his wants.

004:036 In this way Joseph, whom the Apostles gave the name of Bar-nabas-- signifying `Son of Encouragement'--a Levite, a native of Cyprus,

004:037 sold a farm which he had, and brought the money and gave it to the Apostles.

005:001 There was a man of the name of Ananias who, with his wife Sapphira, sold some property but,

005:002 with her full knowledge and consent, dishonestly kept back part of the price which he received for it, though he brought the rest and gave it to the Apostles.

005:003 "Ananias," said Peter, "why has Satan taken possession of your heart, that you should try to deceive the Holy Spirit and dishonestly keep back part of the price paid you for this land?

005:004 While it remained unsold, was not the land your own? And when sold, was it not at your own disposal? How is it that you have cherished this design in your heart? It is not to men you have told this lie, but to God."

005:005 Upon hearing these words Ananias fell down dead, and all who heard the words were awe-struck.

005:006 The younger men, however, rose, and wrapping the body up, carried it out and buried it.

005:007 About three hours had passed, when his wife came in, knowing nothing of what had happened.

005:008 Peter at once questioned her. "Tell me," he said, "whether you sold the land for so much." "Yes," she replied, "for so much."

005:009 "How was it," replied Peter, "that you two agreed to try an experiment upon the Spirit of the Lord? The men who have buried your husband are already at the door, and they will carry you out."

005:010 Instantly she fell down dead at his feet, and the young men came in and found her dead. So they carried her out and buried her by her husband's side.

005:011 This incident struck terror into the whole Church, and into the hearts of all who heard of it.

005:012 Many signs and marvels continued to be done among the people by the Apostles; and by common consent they all met in Solomon's Portico.

005:013 But none of the others dared to attach themselves to them. Yet the people held them in high honour--

005:014 and more and more believers in the Lord joined them, including great numbers both of men and women--

005:015 so that they would even bring out their sick friends into the streets and lay them on light couches or mats, in order that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on one or other of them.

005:016 The inhabitants, too, of the towns in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem came in crowds, bringing sick persons and some who were harassed by foul spirits, and they were cured, one and all.

005:017 This roused the High Priest. He and all his party--the sect of the Sadducees--were filled with angry jealousy

005:018 and laid hands upon the Apostles, and put them into the public jail.

005:019 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said,

005:020 "Go and stand in the Temple, and go on proclaiming to the people all this Message of Life."