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
Dear Theophilus, in my previous book I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning
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 the day he was taken up to heaven. This was after he'd given instructions through the Holy Spirit to his chosen apostles.
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].
Over the course of forty days after the death he suffered, he showed himself to them, proving that he was alive with convincing evidence. He appeared to them, and told them 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.
While he was still with them he instructed them, “Do not leave Jerusalem. Wait to receive what the Father promised, just as you heard it 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].”
It's true that John baptized with water, but in just a few days' time you will be baptized by the Holy Spirit.”
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?”)
So when the disciples met with Jesus, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will re-establish Israel's kingdom?”
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].
“You don't need to know about the dates and times that are set by the Father's authority,” he told them.
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 you will be given power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest places on 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].
After Jesus had told them this, he was taken up as they were watching and a cloud hid him from their sight.
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].
While they were staring intently at the sky as he ascended, two men dressed in white were suddenly standing beside them.
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].”
“Men of Galilee, why are you standing here staring at the sky?” they asked. “This same Jesus who has been taken up from you to heaven shall come in the same way you saw him go into heaven.”
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 the disciples went back to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives which is about a Sabbath day's walk 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.
When they arrived, they went upstairs to the upper room where they were staying: Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the 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.
They all joined together in prayer, together with the women and Mary, Jesus' mother, and 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,
At this time Peter stood up and addressed a crowd of around one hundred and twenty believers who had gathered together.
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.
“My brothers and sisters,” he said, “The Scriptures, spoken by the Holy Spirit through David, had to be fulfilled regarding Judas, who guided 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.”
He was counted as one of us, and shared in 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.
(Judas had bought a field with his ill-gotten gains. There he fell down headfirst, and his body burst apart, spilling out all his intestines.
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].
Everybody who lived in Jerusalem heard about this so that the field was called in their language “Akeldama,” which means, “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.’”
As it's written in the book of Psalms, “Let his home be abandoned, and no-one live there;” and “Let someone else take over his position.”
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.
“So now we have to choose someone who has been with us the whole time that 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].”
from the time John was baptizing up until the day Jesus was taken up to heaven from us. One of these must be chosen to join together with us as we witness, giving evidence of Jesus' 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.
Two names were put forward: Joseph Justus, also known as Barsabbas, 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.”
They prayed together and said, “Lord, you know everyone's thoughts please show us which of these two you have chosen
to replace Judas as an apostle in this ministry that he gave up to go to where he belongs.”
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.
They cast lots, and Matthias was chosen. He was counted as an apostle with the other eleven.
