Acts 3
1 [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].
Now Peter and John were going up together into the temple at the hour (the ninth) of prayer.
2 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.
And a certain man, who had actually been lame from his mother's womb, was being carried (they would lay him daily at the temple gate, the one called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple),
3 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!”)
who, upon seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, began asking for alms.
4 As Peter and John looked directly at him, Peter said to him, “Look at us!”
So Peter, with John, fastening his gaze on him said, “Look at us.”
5 So he looked directly at them, expecting to get some [money] from them.
So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.
6 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!”
But Peter said: “I do not have silver and gold, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ the Natsorean, get up and walk!”
7 Then Peter grasped the man’s right hand and helped him to stand up. Immediately the man’s feet and ankles became strong.
And grasping him by his right hand he lifted him up; immediately his feet and ankles were strengthened.
8 He jumped up and began to walk! Then he entered the Temple [area] with them, walking and leaping and praising God!
So jumping up he stood, and began to walk! And he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.
9 All the people [there] saw that man walking and praising God.
Well all the people saw him walking and praising God;
10 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.
and they recognized him—that he was the one who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, with a view to alms—and they were filled with wonder and amazement because of what had happened to him.
11 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.
Now as the lame man who had been healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the portico, the one called ‘Solomon's’, really wondering.
12 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!
So upon observing this Peter responded to the people: “Men of Israel, why are you marveling at this, or why are you staring at us as if we have made him walk by our own power or godliness?
13 [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.
The God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up; and you repudiated Him to Pilate's face, when he was intending to release Him.
14 [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)!
Yes you repudiated the holy and righteous One, and you asked that a murderer be granted to you,
15 [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.
while you killed the Originator of the Life, whom God raised from among the dead, to which we are witnesses.
16 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.”
Well His name, based on faith in His name, made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith that is through Him has given him this wholeness in the presence of you all.
17 “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].
“So now, brothers, I know that you did it in ignorance, as also your rulers.
18 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].
But the things that God foretold through the mouth of all His prophets, that the Messiah would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.
19 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.
Repent therefore, and turn around, so that your sins may be erased, in order that times of refreshing may come from the Lord's face
20 [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.
and that He may send Jesus, who had been ordained to be your Messiah,
21 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)
whom Heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, of which times God spoke long ago by the mouth of all His holy prophets. (aiōn g165)
22 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].
“For example, Moses said to the fathers: ‘The Lord our God will raise up for you a Prophet, like me, from among your brothers. You must listen to Him, in all that He may say to you.
23 [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’.”
It will be that every person who will not listen to that Prophet will be extirpated from among the people.’
24 [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.
“Yes and all the prophets, from Samuel on down, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days.
25 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].’”
You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘Yes, in your seed all the families of the earth will be blessed.’
26 [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].”
God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to you first, to bless you by turning each of you away from your iniquities.”
