Acts 5
1 And a certain man whose name was Ananias, with his wife whose name was Sapphira, sold his field,
There was a man of the name of Ananias who, with his wife Sapphira, sold some property but,
2 and carried away part of the price and concealed it, his wife consenting; and he brought a part of the money, and laid it before the feet of the legates.
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.
3 And Simon said to him: Ananias, why hath Satan so filled thy heart, that thou shouldst lie against the Holy Spirit, and conceal of the money of the price of the field?
"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?
4 Was it not thine own before it was sold? And when sold, again thou hadst authority over the price of it. Why hast thou set thy heart to do this purpose? Thou hast not lied against men, but against God.
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."
5 And when Ananias heard these words, he fell down, and died. And great fear was upon all them that heard of it.
Upon hearing these words Ananias fell down dead, and all who heard the words were awe-struck.
6 And the young men among them arose, and gathered him up, and carried him out, and buried him.
The younger men, however, rose, and wrapping the body up, carried it out and buried it.
7 And when three hours had passed, his wife also came in, without knowing what had occurred.
About three hours had passed, when his wife came in, knowing nothing of what had happened.
8 Simon said to her: Tell me, if ye sold the field for this price? And she said: Yes, for this price.
Peter at once questioned her. "Tell me," he said, "whether you sold the land for so much." "Yes," she replied, "for so much."
9 Simon said to her: Since ye have been equals in tempting the Spirit of the Lord, lo, the feet of the buriers of thy husband are at the door, and they will carry thee out.
"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."
10 And immediately she fell before their feet, and died. And those young men came in, and found her dead; and they took up, carried forth, and buried her by the side of her husband.
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.
11 And great fear was on all the assembly, and on all them that heard it.
This incident struck terror into the whole Church, and into the hearts of all who heard of it.
12 And there were many signs and prodigies wrought by the legates among the people. And they were all assembled together in the porch of Solomon.
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.
13 And of the others, no one ventured to come near them; but the people magnified them.
But none of the others dared to attach themselves to them. Yet the people held them in high honour--
14 And the more were those added who feared the Lord, a multitude both of men and of women.
and more and more believers in the Lord joined them, including great numbers both of men and women--
15 So that they brought out into the streets the sick, laid on beds, that when Simon should pass, at least his shadow might cover them.
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.
16 And many came to them from other cities around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those who had unclean spirits; and they were all cured.
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.
17 And the high priest was filled with indignation, and all those with him who were of the doctrine of the Sadducees.
This roused the High Priest. He and all his party--the sect of the Sadducees--were filled with angry jealousy
18 And they laid hands on the legates, and took and bound them in prison.
and laid hands upon the Apostles, and put them into the public jail.
19 Then the angel of the Lord, by night, opened the door of the prison, and let them out; and said to them:
But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said,
20 Go, stand in the temple, and speak to the people all these words of life.
"Go and stand in the Temple, and go on proclaiming to the people all this Message of Life."
21 And in the morning, they went and entered into the temple, and taught. And the high priest and those with him, convoked their associates and the Elders of Israel, and sent to the prison to bring forth the legates.
Having received that command they went into the Temple, just before daybreak, and began to teach: So when the High Priest and his party came, and had called together the Sanhedrin as well as all the Elders of the descendants of Israel, they sent to the jail to fetch the Apostles.
22 And when those sent by them went, they found them not in the prison; and they returned and came back,
But the officers went and could not find them in the prison. So they came back and brought word,
23 and said: We found the prison carefully closed, and also the keepers standing before the doors; and we opened, but found no one there.
saying, "The jail we found quite safely locked, and the warders were on guard at the doors, but upon going in we found no one there."
24 And when the chief priests and rulers of the temple heard these words, they were astonished at them; and they studied what this could mean.
When the Commander of the Temple Guards and the High Priests heard this statement, they were utterly at a loss with regard to it, wondering what would happen next.
25 And one came and informed them: Those men, whom ye shut up in the prison, lo, they are standing in the temple, and teaching the people.
And some one came and brought them word, saying, "The men you put in prison are actually in the Temple, standing there, teaching the people."
26 Then went the rulers with attendants, to bring them without violence; for they feared, lest the people should stone them.
Upon this the Commander went with the officers, and brought the Apostles; but without using violence; for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.
27 And when they had brought them, they placed them before the whole council; and the high priest began to say to them:
So they brought them and made them stand in front of the Sanhedrin. And then the High Priest questioned them.
28 Did we not strictly charge you, to teach no person in this name? And behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine; and ye would bring the blood of this man upon us.
"We strictly forbad you to teach in that name--did we not?" he said. "And see, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and are trying to make us responsible for that man's death!"
29 And Simon, with the legates, answered and said to them: God is to be obeyed, rather than men.
Peter and the other Apostles replied, "We must obey God rather than man.
30 The God of our fathers hath raised up that Jesus, whom ye slew when ye hanged him on a tree.
The God of our forefathers has raised Jesus to life, whom you crucified and put to death.
31 Him hath God established as a head and vivifier; and hath exalted him to his own right hand, so that he might give repentance and remission of sins to Israel.
God has exalted Him to His right hand as Chief Leader and as Saviour, to give Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins.
32 And we are the witnesses of these things; and also the Holy Spirit, whom God giveth to them that believe in him.
And we--and the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him--are witnesses as to these things."
33 And when they heard these things, they burned with indignation, and thought of putting them to death.
Infuriated at getting this answer, they were disposed to kill the Apostles.
34 Then rose up one of the Pharisees whose name was Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, and honored by all the people; and he directed them to put the legates aside for a short time.
But a Pharisee of the name of Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law, held in honour by all the people, rose from his seat and requested that they should be sent outside the court for a few minutes.
35 And he said, to them: Men, sons of Israel, take heed to yourselves, and consider what ye ought to do in regard to these men.
"Israelites," he said, "be careful what you are about to do in dealing with these men.
36 For before this time, rose up Theudas, and said of himself, that he was some great one; and there went after him about four hundred men. And he was slain; and they who went after him, were dispersed and became as nothing.
Years ago Theudas appeared, professing to be a person of importance, and a body of men, some four hundred in number, joined him. He was killed, and all his followers were dispersed and annihilated.
37 And after him, rose up Judas a Galilean, in the days when the people were enrolled for the capitation tax; and he seduced much people after him. And he died, and all they that went after him were dispersed.
After him, at the time of the Census, came Judas, the Galilaean, and was the leader in a revolt. He too perished, and all his followers were scattered.
38 And now, I say to you: Desist from these men, and let them lone. For if this device and this work originate from men, they will dissolve and come to nothing.
And now I tell you to hold aloof from these men and leave them alone--for if this scheme or work is of human origin, it will come to nothing.
39 But if it be from God, it is not in your power to frustrate it: that ye may not be found placing yourselves in opposition to God. And they, assented to him.
But if it is really from God, you will be powerless to put them down--lest perhaps you find yourselves to be actually fighting against God."
40 And they called the legates, and scourged them, and commanded them not to teach in the name of Jesus, and dismissed them.
His advice carried conviction. So they called the Apostles in, and--after flogging them--ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then let them go.
41 And they went from before them, rejoicing that they were worthy to suffer abuse on account of that name.
They, therefore, left the Sanhedrin and went their way, rejoicing that they had been deemed worthy to suffer disgrace on behalf of the NAME.
42 And they ceased not to teach daily, in the temple and at home, and to preach concerning our Lord Jesus Messiah.
But they did not desist from teaching every day, in the Temple or in private houses, and telling the Good News about Jesus, the Christ.
