< 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
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].
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].
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.
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].”
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?”)
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].
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.”
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].
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].
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].”
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.
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.
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.
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,
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.
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.”
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.
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].
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.’”
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.
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].”
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.
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.”
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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.
