Acts 1
1 I have given an earlier account, O Theophilus, of all the things which Jesus did, and of his teaching from the first,
My former narrative, Theophilus, dealt with all that Jesus did and taught as a beginning, down to the day on which,
2 Till the day when he was taken up to heaven after he had given his orders, through the Holy Spirit, to the Apostles of whom he had made selection:
after giving instruction through the Holy Spirit to the Apostles whom He had chosen, He was taken up to Heaven.
3 And to whom he gave clear and certain signs that he was living, after his death; for he was seen by them for forty days, and gave them teaching about the kingdom of God:
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.
4 And when they were all together, with him, he gave them orders not to go away from Jerusalem, but to keep there, waiting till the word of the Father was put into effect, of which, he said, I have given you knowledge:
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.
5 For the baptism of John was with water, but you will have baptism with the Holy Spirit, after a little time.
For John indeed baptized with water, but before many days have passed you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit."
6 So, when they were together, they said to him, Lord, will you at this time give back the kingdom to Israel?
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?"
7 And he said to them, It is not for you to have knowledge of the time and the order of events which the Father has kept in his control.
"It is not for you," He replied, "to know times or epochs which the Father has reserved within His own authority;
8 But you will have power, when the Holy Spirit has come on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judaea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
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."
9 And when he had said these things, while they were looking, he was taken up, and went from their view into a cloud.
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.
10 And while they were looking up to heaven with great attention, two men came to them, in white clothing,
But, while they stood intently gazing into the sky as He went, suddenly there were two men in white garments standing by them,
11 And said, O men of Galilee, why are you looking up into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken from you into heaven, will come again, in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.
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."
12 Then they went back to Jerusalem from the mountain named Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away.
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mountain called the Oliveyard, which is near Jerusalem, about a mile off.
13 And when they came in, they went up into the room where they were living; Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James, the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas, the son of James.
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.
14 And they all with one mind gave themselves up to prayer, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
All of these with one mind continued earnest in prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and His brothers.
15 And in those days Peter got up among the brothers (there were about one hundred and twenty of them), and said,
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,
16 My brothers, the word of God had to be put into effect, which the Holy Spirit had said before, by the mouth of David, about Judas, who was guide to those who took Jesus,
"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.
17 For he was numbered among us, and had his part in our work.
For Judas was reckoned as one of our number, and a share in this ministry was allotted to him."
18 (Now this man, with the reward of his evil-doing, got for himself a field, and falling head first, came to a sudden and violent end there.
(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.
19 And this came to the knowledge of all those who were living in Jerusalem, so that the field was named in their language, Akel-dama, or, The field of blood.)
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.')
20 For in the book of Psalms it says, Let his house be waste, and let no man be living in it: and, Let his position be taken by another.
"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.'
21 For this reason, of the men who have been with us all the time, while the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,
"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--
22 Starting from the baptism of John till he went up from us, one will have to be a witness with us of his coming back from death.
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."
23 And they made selection of two, Joseph, named Barsabbas, whose other name was Justus, and Matthias.
So two names were proposed, Joseph called Bar-sabbas--and surnamed Justus--and Matthias.
24 And they made prayers and said, Lord, having knowledge of the hearts of all men, make clear which of these two has been marked out by you,
And the brethren prayed, saying, "Thou, Lord, who knowest the hearts of all, show clearly which of these two Thou hast chosen
25 To take that position as a servant and Apostle, from which Judas by his sin was shut out, so that he might go to his place.
to occupy the place in this ministry and Apostleship from which Judas through transgression fell, in order to go to his own place."
26 And they put it to the decision of chance, and the decision was given for Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven Apostles.
Then they drew lots between them. The lot fell on Matthias, and a place among the eleven Apostles was voted to him.
