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 went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.
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 lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into 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 seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms.
4 As Peter and John looked directly at him, Peter said to him, “Look at us!”
And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.
5 So he looked directly at them, expecting to get some [money] from them.
And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of 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!”
Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise 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 he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.
8 He jumped up and began to walk! Then he entered the Temple [area] with them, walking and leaping and praising God!
And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.
9 All the people [there] saw that man walking and praising God.
And 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 knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto 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.
And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon’s, greatly 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!
And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?
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 of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.
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)!
But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto 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.
And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof 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.”
And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness 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].
And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did 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 those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so 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 ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
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 he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
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 the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. (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 Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto 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’.”
And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed 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.
Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of 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].’”
Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth 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].”
Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.
