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
THE former book have I written, O Theophilus concerning all the things which our Lord Jesus Messiah began to do and 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 the day when he was taken up, after he had instructed those legates whom he had chosen by the Holy Spirit.
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 also he showed himself alive after he had suffered, by numerous signs, during forty days, while he was seen by them, and spoke of 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 when he had eaten bread with them, he instructed them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which (said he) ye have 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].”
For John baptized with water; but ye will be baptized with the Holy Spirit after not many 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?”)
And they, when assembled, asked him and said to him: Our Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?
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].
He said to them: It is not yours, to know the time or times which God hath placed in his own power.
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 when the Holy Spirit shall come upon you, ye will receive energy, and will be witnesses for me in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and also among the Samaritans, and unto the ends 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 when he had said these things, while they beheld him, he was taken up, and a cloud received him, and he was hidden 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 looking toward heav, as he departed, two men were found standing near them, in white garments,
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].”
and saying to them: Ye Galilean men, why stand ye and look toward heaven? This Jesus, who is taken up from you to heaven, will so come, as ye have seen him ascend to 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.
And afterwards they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called the place of Olives, which was near to Jerusalem, and distant from it about seven furlongs.
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 had entered, they went to an upper chamber; where were Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, and Philip, and Thomas, and Matthew, and Bartholomew, and James the son of Alpheus, and Simon Zelotes, 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.
All these unitedly persevered in prayer, with one soul, together with the women, and with 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 stood up Simon Cephas in the midst of the disciples, (the persons there assembled being about one hundred and twenty, ) and 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, brethren, it was right that the scripture should be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spake, by the mouth of David, concerning Judas who was guide to them that apprehended 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.”
For he was numbered with us, and had a part 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.
He purchased a field with the wages of sin; and he fell upon his face on the ground, and burst in the middle, and all his entrails were poured 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 this was known to all that dwelt at Jerusalem; so that the field was called, in the language of the country, Aceldama, which is interpreted 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 be desolate, and let no resident be in it; and let another take his service.
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 should therefore be, that one of these persons, who have been with us all the time that our Lord Jesus went in and out 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].”
commencing from the baptism of John, unto the day he was taken up from us, should be, with us, a witness 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 proposed two, Joseph called Barsabas, whose surname was 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 when they had prayed, they said: Thou, Lord, knowest what is in the hearts of all, manifest which thou hast chosen of these two,
that he should take part in this ministry and legateship, from which Judas broke away, that he might 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 cast lots, and it came upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven legates.
