< Acts 1 >

1 [Dear] Theophilus, In my first book [that I wrote for you], I wrote about many of the things that Jesus did and taught
I indeed made the former treatise, O Theophilus, about all things that Jesus began both to do and to teach,
2 until the day on which he was taken {[God] took him} up [to heaven]. Before [he went to heaven], saying what the Holy Spirit [told him], he told the apostles whom he had chosen [the things that he wanted them to know].
until a day in which he was taken up, having commanded, through the Holy Spirit, the apostles whom he chose,
3 After he had suffered [and died on the cross], [he became alive again]. As he appeared to them [often] during [the next] 40 days, the apostles saw him many times. He proved to them in many ways that he was alive again. He talked [with them] about [how] God would rule [MET] [the lives of people who accepted him as their king].
to whom he also presented himself living, after his suffering, by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days, and speaking the things about the kingdom of God.
4 [One time] while he was with them, he told them, “Do not leave Jerusalem [yet]. Instead, wait [here] until my Father sends [his Spirit] [MTY] [to you], as he promised [to do]. You have heard me speak [to you] about that.
And being assembled together, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, Which, he said, ye heard from me.
5 John baptized people in water [because they said that they wanted to change their lives], but after a few days [LIT] [God] will put the Holy Spirit within you(pl) [to truly change your lives].”
Because John indeed immersed in water, but ye will be immersed in the Holy Spirit after not many of these days.
6 One day when the [apostles] met together [with Jesus], they asked him, “Lord, will you [(sg)] now become the King [MET] over [us] Israelite people [like King David, who ruled long ago]?” (OR, “Lord, will you [(sg)] now [defeat the Romans and] restore the kingdom [to us] Israelite people?”)
Indeed therefore having come together, they questioned him, saying, Lord, do thou restore the kingdom to Israel at this time?
7 He replied to them, “You do not [need] to know the time [periods] and days [when that will happen]. My Father alone has decided [when he will make me king].
And he said to them, It is not for you to know times or seasons, which the Father established in his own authority.
8 But [you do need to know that] the Holy Spirit will make you [spiritually] strong when he comes to live in you. Then you will [powerfully] tell people about me in Jerusalem and in all [the other places in] Judea [district], in Samaria [district], and in places far away all over [IDM] the world.”
But ye will receive the power of the Holy Spirit that comes upon you. And ye will be witnesses to me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and as far as of the extremity of the earth.
9 After he said that, he was taken {[God] took him} up [to heaven], while they were watching. [He went up into] a cloud [PRS], which prevented them from seeing him [any more].
And having said these things, as they were watching, he was taken up, and a cloud received him from their eyes.
10 While [the apostles] were [still] staring towards the sky as he was going up, suddenly two men who were wearing white clothes stood beside them. [They were angels].
And while they were gazing at his going into the sky, behold, two men had also stood by them in white apparel,
11 One [of] them said, “You men from Galilee [district], (you do not need to stand [here any longer] looking up at the sky!/why do you still stand [here] looking up at the sky?) [RHQ] [Some day] this same Jesus, whom [God] took from you up to heaven, will come back [to earth]. He will return in the same manner as you [just now] saw him when he went up to heaven, [but he will not return now].”
who also said, Men, Galileans, why stand ye gazing into the sky? This Jesus who was taken up from you into the sky will so come, in that same way as ye saw him going into the sky.
12 Then [after the two angels left], the apostles returned to Jerusalem from Olive [Tree] Hill, which was about (a half mile/one kilometer) [MTY] from Jerusalem.
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mountain called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem having a sabbath day journey.
13 When they entered [the city], they went upstairs to the room [in the house] where they were staying. [Those who were there included] Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, [another] James [the son] of Alphaeus, Simon who belonged to the group that wanted to expel the Romans, and Judas [the son] of [another man named] James.
And when they came in, they went up into the upper floor where they were lodging, including, Peter and James and John and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James.
14 All these apostles agreed concerning the things about which they continually were praying [together. Others who prayed with them] included the women [who had accompanied Jesus], Mary who was Jesus’ mother, and his [younger] brothers.
All these men were continuing with one accord in prayer and supplication, with women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
15 During those days Peter stood up among his fellow believers. There were [at that place] a group of about 120 of [Jesus’ followers]. Peter said,
And in those days, Peter, having stood up in the midst of the disciples (and there was a multitude of names at the same place, about a hundred twenty), he said,
16 “My fellow believers, [there are words that King] David wrote [MTY] in the Scriptures long ago that needed to be fulfilled {to happen [as he said they would]}. The Holy Spirit, [who knew that Judas would be the one who would fulfill those words], told David what to write.
Men, brothers, it was necessary for this scripture to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold through the mouth of David about Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus,
17 [Although] Judas had been chosen {[Jesus] had chosen Judas}, along with [the rest of] us [(exc)] to serve [as an apostle], Judas was the person who led to Jesus the people who seized him.”
because he was numbered with us, and received a share of this ministry.
18 [The Jewish leaders] gave Judas money when he [promised to] treacherously/wickedly [betray Jesus. Later Judas returned that money to them]. When Judas [hanged himself], his body fell down [to the ground]. His abdomen burst open, and all his intestines spilled out. [So] the [Jewish leaders] bought a field [using] that money.
(Indeed therefore this man obtained a field from the reward of his unrighteousness, and having become headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out.
19 All the people who reside in Jerusalem heard [about that], so they called that field in their own [Aramaic] language, Akeldama, which means ‘Field of Blood’, [because it was where someone bled and died].
And it became known to all those dwelling at Jerusalem, so as to call that field in their own dialect, Akeldama, that is, The field of blood.)
20 [Peter also said], “[I perceive that what happened to Judas is like what the writer of] Psalms [desired to happen]: ‘May his house become deserted, and may there be no one to live in it.’ (OR, ‘[Judge him, Lord, so that neither he nor] anyone [else] may live in his house!)’ And it seems that [these other words that David wrote also refer to Judas: ] ‘Let someone else take over his work as a leader.’”
For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation become desolate, and let no man be dwelling in it, and, Let another take his office.
21 “So it is necessary [for us apostles] to choose a man [to replace Judas. He must be one who] accompanied [MTY] us all the time when the Lord Jesus was with us.
It is necessary therefore, of the men who accompanied us during all the time during which the Lord Jesus went in and went out among us,
22 [That would be] from [the time when] John [the Baptizer] baptized [Jesus] until the day when Jesus was taken {when [God] took Jesus} from us up [to heaven]. He must be one who saw Jesus alive again [after he died].”
having begun from the immersion of John to the day that he was taken up from us, for one of these to become a witness with us of his resurrection.
23 So the [apostles and other believers] suggested [the names of two men who qualified. One man was] Joseph, who was called {whom people called} Barsabbas (OR, Joseph Barsabbas) who [also] had the [Roman] name Justus. The other man was Matthias.
And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias.
24 Then they prayed like this: “Lord [Jesus], Judas stopped being an apostle. [He died and] went to the place where he [deserved to be] [EUP]. [So we(exc) need to choose someone] to replace [Judas in order] that he can serve [you(sg) by becoming] an apostle. You [(sg)] know what everyone is really like. So [please] show us which of these two men you have chosen.”
And having prayed, they said, Thou, Lord, knowing the hearts of all men, show which one of these two thou have chosen
to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas transgressed to go to his own place.
26 Then they cast lots [to choose between the two of] them, and the lot fell for Matthias. (OR, Then [one of] the [apostles] shook [in a container] small objects/stones [that] they [had marked to determine which man God had chosen]. And the small object/stone [that they had marked] for Matthias fell [out of the container]). So Matthias was considered {they considered Matthias} [to be an apostle] along with the [other] eleven apostles.
And they gave their lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

< Acts 1 >