The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament (132 page)

²¹
So one of the men who have
accompanied us
during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,
²²
beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection."
 
*
²³
And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsab'bas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthi'as.
²⁴
And they prayed and said, "Lord, you know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two you have chosen
²⁵
to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside, to go to his own place."
²⁶
And they
cast lots
for them, and the lot fell on Matthi'as; and he was enrolled with the eleven apostles.

The Coming of the Holy Spirit [
Map
]

2
  
When the day of
Pentecost
had come, they were all together in one place.
²
And suddenly
a sound
came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
³
And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them.
⁴
And they were all
filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

5
 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews,
devout men
from every nation under heaven.
⁶
And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.
⁷
And they were amazed and wondered, saying, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
⁸
And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?
⁹
Par'thians and Medes and E'lamites and residents of Mesopota'mia, Judea and Cappado'cia, Pontus and Asia,
¹⁰
Phryg'ia and Pamphyl'ia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyre'ne, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and
proselytes
,
¹¹
Cretans and Arabians, we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God."
¹²
And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?"
¹³
But others mocking said, "They are filled with new wine."

Peter Addresses the Crowd

14
 But Peter, 
*
standing with the Eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them, "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words.
¹⁵
For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only
the third hour
of the day;
¹⁶
but this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

¹⁷
'
And
in
the last days
it shall be, God declares,

  
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,

  
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

  
and your young men shall see visions,

  
and your old men shall dream dreams;

¹⁸
yes, and on my menservants and my maidservants in those days

  
I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.

¹⁹
And I will show wonders in the heaven above

  
and signs on the earth beneath,

  
blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;

²⁰
the sun shall be turned into darkness

  
and the moon into blood,

  
before the
day of the Lord
comes,

  
the great and manifest day.

²¹
And it shall be that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'

22
 "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs which God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—
²³
this Jesus, delivered up according to
the definite plan
and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
²⁴
But God raised him up, having loosed the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
²⁵
For David says concerning him,

  
'
I saw the Lord
always before me,

  
for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken;

²⁶
therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;

  
moreover my flesh will dwell in hope.

²⁷
For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,

  
  nor let your Holy One see corruption.

²⁸
You have made known to me the ways of life;

  
you will make me full of gladness with your presence.'

29
 "Brethren, I may say to you confidently of the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
³⁰
Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with
an oath
to him that he would set one of his descendants upon his throne,
³¹
he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.
³²
This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.
³³
Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which you see and hear.
³⁴
For David did not ascend into the heavens; but he himself says,

  
'
The Lord said to my Lord
, Sit at my right hand,

³⁵
till I make your enemies a stool for your feet.'

³⁶
Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God has made him both
Lord
and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified."

The First Converts

37
 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?"
³⁸
And Peter said to them, "
Repent, and be baptized
every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
³⁹
For the promise is to you
and to your children
and to all that are far off, every one whom the Lord our God calls to him."
⁴⁰
And he testified with many other words and exhorted them, saying, "Save yourselves from
this crooked generation
."
⁴¹
So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
⁴²
And they held steadfastly to the apostles'
teaching and fellowship
, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers.

Life among the Believers

43
 And fear came upon every soul; and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
⁴⁴
And all who believed were together and had all things in common;
⁴⁵
and they sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all, as any had need.
⁴⁶
And day by day, attending
the temple
together and breaking bread in their homes, they partook of food with glad and generous hearts,
⁴⁷
praising God and having favor with all the people. And
the Lord added
to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Peter Heals a Lame Beggar

3
  
Now
Peter and John
were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 
*
²
And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at that gate of the temple which is
called Beautiful
to ask alms of those who entered the temple.
³
Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked for alms.
⁴
And Peter directed his gaze at him, with John, and said, "Look at us."
⁵
And he fixed his attention upon them, expecting to receive something from them.
⁶
But Peter said, "I have no silver and gold, but I give you what I have; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise and walk."
⁷
And he took him by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.
⁸
And leaping up he stood and walked and entered the temple with them, walking and
leaping and praising God
.
⁹
And all the people saw him walking and praising God,
¹⁰
and recognized him as the one who sat for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Peter Addresses the Peoplein Solomon's Portico

11
 While he clung to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the
portico called Solomon's
, astounded.
¹²
And when Peter saw it he addressed the people, "Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk?
¹³
The
God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob
, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant
^c
Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him.
¹⁴
But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for
a murderer
to be granted to you,
¹⁵
and killed
the Author of life
, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.
¹⁶
And his name, by faith in his name, has made this man strong whom you see and know; and the faith which is through Jesus
^d
has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.

17
 "And now, brethren, I know that you
acted in ignorance
, as did also your rulers.
¹⁸
But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ should suffer, he thus fulfilled.
¹⁹
Repent therefore, and turn again, that your
sins may be blotted out
, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,
²⁰
and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus,
²¹
whom heaven must receive until the time for establishing all that God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old.
²²
Moses said, '
The Lord God will raise
up for you a prophet from your brethren as he raised me up. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you.
²³
And it shall be that every soul that does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.'
²⁴
And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came afterwards, also proclaimed these days.
²⁵
You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God gave to your fathers, saying to Abraham, '
And in your posterity
shall all the families of the earth be blessed.'
²⁶
God, having raised up his servant,
^c
sent him to you first, to bless you in turning every one of you from your wickedness."