Acts 3
1 And Peter and John were going up together to the temple, at the hour of prayer, which is the ninth hour.
[One day] Peter and John were going to the Temple [courtyard]. It was three o’clock in the afternoon, which was the time when people prayed [there publicly].
2 And a certain man lame from his birth was carried along, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of those who entered the temple;
There was a man there who had been lame from the time he was born. He [was sitting by] the gate called Beautiful [Gate], at the entrance to the Temple [area]. People put him there every day, so that he could ask those who were entering [or leaving] the temple courtyard to give him some money.
3 who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked alms.
As Peter and John were about to enter [the Temple courtyard], the lame man saw them and asked them several times to give him some money. (OR, The lame man said to them several times, “Please give me some money!”)
4 And Peter fixing his eyes upon him, with John, said, Look upon us.
As Peter and John looked directly at him, Peter said to him, “Look at us!”
5 And he gave heed to them, expecting to receive something from them.
So he looked directly at them, expecting to get some [money] from them.
6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but what I have I give thee. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, rise up and walk.
Then Peter said to him, “I do not have any money [MTY], but what I [can do], I will [do] for you. Jesus Christ, [who was] from Nazareth [town], has authorized [MTY] me [to heal you! So get up and] walk!”
7 And grasping him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles received strength.
Then Peter grasped the man’s right hand and helped him to stand up. Immediately the man’s feet and ankles became strong.
8 And leaping forth he stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking and leaping, praising God.
He jumped up and began to walk! Then he entered the Temple [area] with them, walking and leaping and praising God!
9 And all the people saw him walking, and praising God;
All the people [there] saw that man walking and praising God.
10 and they recognized him as the man that sat for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened to him.
They recognized that he was the man who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate in the Temple [courtyard] and ask [people] for money! So all the people there were greatly amazed at what had happened to him.
11 And as he held fast to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch that is called Solomon's greatly wondering.
As the man clung to Peter and John, all the people were so surprised [that they did not know what to think] So they ran to the two apostles at the place [in the Temple courtyard] that is called {that [people] call} Solomon’s Porch.
12 But Peter seeing it, answered the people: Men of Israel, why wonder ye at this? Or why look ye earnestly on us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man to walk?
When Peter saw that, he said to the crowd, “Fellow Israelites, (you should not be surprised about what has happened to this man!/why are you so surprised about what has happened to this man?) [RHQ] And you should not stare at us, either! You seem to [RHQ] think that the two of us enabled this man to walk because we [(exc)] ourselves are powerful or because we please God very much!
13 The God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his servant Jesus, whom ye indeed delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him.
[So I will tell you what is really happening]. Our ancestors, including Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, worshipped God. And now he has greatly honored Jesus, who always served him. Your [leaders] brought Jesus [to the governor, Pilate], so that [his soldiers would kill him]. And [God considers that] in front of Pilate you [were the ones who rejected] Jesus [as your king], after Pilate had decided that he should release Jesus.
14 But ye denied the holy and righteous one, and asked that a murderer should be granted to you.
[Although Jesus] always did what was right/just and good, you rejected him. [Pilate wanted to release him, but] you urgently asked Pilate to release (a murderer/someone who had killed people)!
15 But the author of life ye killed; whom God raised from the dead, whereof we are witnesses.
[God considers that] you killed [Jesus], the one who gives people [eternal] life. But God has greatly honored him (by causing him to become alive again after he died/by raising him from the dead). Many of us saw [him after that, and now] we [(exc)] are telling [you] about it.
16 And his name, through faith in his name, made this man strong, whom ye see and know; yea, the faith which is through him gave him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
It is because [we two] trusted in what Jesus [MTY, PRS] [could do, that he] made this man, whom you see and know, strong again. Yes, it is because we [(exc)] trusted in Jesus that he has completely healed this man for all of you to see.”
17 And now, brethren, I know that ye acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers.
“Now, my fellow-countrymen, I know that you and your leaders did that [to Jesus] because you [and they] did not know [that he was the Messiah].
18 But God thus fulfilled what he had before announced by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ should suffer.
However, [your putting him to death] was what God had predicted that people would do. [Long ago] he told all the prophets [MTY] to write [what people would do to the Messiah. They wrote] that the Messiah, whom God [would send], would suffer [and die].
19 Repent therefore and turn from your ways, that your sins may be blotted out, in order that the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,
So, turn away from your sinful behavior and ask God [to help you] do what pleases [him], in order that he may completely forgive you for your sins.
20 and that he may send forth Christ Jesus, who was before appointed for you;
[If you do that], there will be times [when you will know that] the Lord [God is] helping [you]. And some day he will [again] send back [to earth] the Messiah, whom he appointed for you. That person is Jesus.
21 whom heaven indeed must receive until the times of a restoration of all things; of which times God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from the days of old. (aiōn g165)
Jesus must stay in heaven until the time when God will cause all that he has created to become new. Long ago God promised [to do that, and] he chose holy prophets to tell [that to people]. (aiōn g165)
22 Moses indeed said, “A prophet will the Lord your God raise up to you from among your brethren, as be raised up me; him shall ye hear in all things, whatever he shall speak to you.
For [example, the prophet] Moses said [this about the Messiah]: ‘The Lord (your God/the God whom you [worship]) will cause someone to become a prophet to tell you [God’s message. God will send him] as [he sent] me, [and he will be] from among your own people. You must listen to everything that this prophet tells you [and obey him] [SYN].
23 And it shall come to pass, that every soul which doth not hear that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.”
[Those who] do not listen to [that prophet and obey] him will no longer belong to God’s people, and [God] will get rid of them’.”
24 And all the prophets also, Samuel and those who followed, as many as spoke, announced these days.
[Peter continued], “All the prophets have told [about what would happen during] the time [MTY] [in which we(inc) are living. Those prophets include] Samuel [and all the others who] later also spoke [about these events] before they happened.
25 Ye are the sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, “And in thy posterity shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”
You [as well as we(exc)] are the people [to whom God sent the Messiah, as] the prophets said [MTY] [that he would]. And when God strongly promised [to bless] our ancestors, he also surely promised to bless you. He said to Abraham [concerning the Messiah], ‘[I] will bless all people on the earth as a result of [what] your descendant [will do].’”
26 To you first, God, having raised up his servant, sent him to bless you in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.
[Peter concluded], “[So] when God sent [to the earth] (Jesus, the one who always obeys him/his servant Jesus), he sent him first to you [Israelites] to bless you. [God will] enable you to stop doing what is wicked [and to start doing what pleases him].”
