The Living Bible (342 page)
Authors: Inc. Tyndale House Publishers
Tags: #BIBLES / Other Translations / Text
While they were talking to the people, the chief priests, the captain of the Temple police, and some of the Sadducees
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came over to them,
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very disturbed that Peter and John were claiming that Jesus had risen from the dead.
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They arrested them and since it was already evening, jailed them overnight.
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But many of the people who heard their message believed it, so that the number of believers now reached a new high of about five thousand men!
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The next day it happened that the Council of all the Jewish leaders was in session in Jerusalem—
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Annas the High Priest was there, and Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and others of the High Priest’s relatives.
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So the two disciples were brought in before them.
“By what power, or by whose authority have you done this?” the Council demanded.
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Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Honorable leaders and elders of our nation,
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if you mean the good deed done to the cripple, and how he was healed,
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let me clearly state to you and to all the people of Israel that it was done in the name and power of Jesus from Nazareth, the Messiah, the man you crucified—but God raised back to life again. It is by his authority that this man stands here healed!
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For Jesus the Messiah is (the one referred to in the Scriptures when they speak of ) a ‘stone discarded by the builders which became the capstone of the arch.’
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There is salvation in no one else! Under all heaven there is no other name for men to call upon to save them.”
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When the Council saw the boldness of Peter and John and could see that they were obviously uneducated non-professionals, they were amazed and realized what being with Jesus had done for them!
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And the Council could hardly discredit the healing when the man they had healed was standing right there beside them!
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So they sent them out of the Council chamber and conferred among themselves.
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“What shall we do with these men?” they asked each other. “We can’t deny that they have done a tremendous miracle, and everybody in Jerusalem knows about it.
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But perhaps we can stop them from spreading their propaganda. We’ll tell them that if they do it again we’ll really throw the book at them.”
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So they called them back in, and told them never again to speak about Jesus.
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But Peter and John replied, “You decide whether God wants us to obey you instead of him!
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We cannot stop telling about the wonderful things we saw Jesus do and heard him say.”
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The Council then threatened them further and finally let them go because they didn’t know how to punish them without starting a riot. For everyone was praising God for this wonderful miracle—
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the healing of a man who had been lame for forty years.
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As soon as they were freed, Peter and John found the other disciples and told them what the Council had said.
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Then all the believers united in this prayer:
“O Lord, Creator of heaven and earth and of the sea and everything in them—
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you spoke long ago by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor King David, your servant, saying, ‘Why do the heathen rage against the Lord, and the foolish nations plan their little plots against Almighty God? The kings of the earth unite to fight against him and against the anointed Son of God!’
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“That is what is happening here in this city today! For Herod the king, and Pontius Pilate the governor, and all the Romans—as well as the people of Israel—are united against Jesus, your anointed Son, your holy servant.
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They won’t stop at anything that you in your wise power will let them do.
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And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and grant to your servants great boldness in their preaching,
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and send your healing power, and may miracles and wonders be done by the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
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After this prayer, the building where they were meeting shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and boldly preached God’s message.
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All the believers were of one heart and mind, and no one felt that what he owned was his own; everyone was sharing.
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And the apostles preached powerful sermons about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and there was warm fellowship among all the believers,
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and no poverty—for all who owned land or houses sold them and brought the money to the apostles to give to others in need.
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For instance, there was Joseph (the one the apostles nicknamed “Barnabas, the encourager.” He was of the tribe of Levi, from the island of Cyprus).
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He was one of those who sold a field he owned and brought the money to the apostles for distribution to those in need.
But there was a man named Ananias (with his wife Sapphira) who sold some property
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and brought only part of the money, claiming it was the full price. (His wife had agreed to this deception.)
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But Peter said, “Ananias, Satan has filled your heart. When you claimed this was the full price, you were lying to the Holy Spirit.
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The property was yours to sell or not, as you wished. And after selling it, it was yours to decide how much to give. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us, but to God.”
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As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor, dead! Everyone was terrified,
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and the younger men covered him with a sheet and took him out and buried him.
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About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.
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Peter asked her, “Did you people sell your land for such and such a price?”
“Yes,” she replied, “we did.”
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And Peter said, “How could you and your husband even think of doing a thing like this—conspiring together to test the Spirit of God’s ability to know what is going on?
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Just outside that door are the young men who buried your husband, and they will carry you out too.”
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Instantly she fell to the floor, dead, and the young men came in and, seeing that she was dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband.
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Terror gripped the entire church and all others who heard what had happened.
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Meanwhile, the apostles were meeting regularly at the Temple in the area known as Solomon’s Hall, and they did many remarkable miracles among the people.
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The other believers didn’t dare join them, though, but all had the highest regard for them.
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And more and more believers were added to the Lord, crowds both of men and women.
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Sick people were brought out into the streets on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow would fall across some of them as he went by!
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And crowds came in from the Jerusalem suburbs, bringing their sick folk and those possessed by demons; and every one of them was healed.
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The High Priest and his relatives and friends among the Sadducees reacted with violent jealousy
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and arrested the apostles, and put them in the public jail.
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But an angel of the Lord came at night, opened the gates of the jail and brought them out. Then he told them,
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“Go over to the Temple and preach about this Life!”
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They arrived at the Temple about daybreak and immediately began preaching! Later that morning
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the High Priest and his courtiers arrived at the Temple, and, convening the Jewish Council and the entire Senate, they sent for the apostles to be brought for trial.
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But when the police arrived at the jail, the men weren’t there, so they returned to the Council and reported,
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“The jail doors were locked, and the guards were standing outside, but when we opened the gates, no one was there!”
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When the police captain
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and the chief priests heard this, they were frantic, wondering what would happen next and where all this would end!
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Then someone arrived with the news that the men they had jailed were out in the Temple, preaching to the people!
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The police captain went with his officers and arrested them (without violence, for they were afraid the people would kill them if they roughed up the disciples) and brought them in before the Council.
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“Didn’t we tell you never again to preach about this Jesus?” the High Priest demanded. “And instead you have filled all Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring the blame for this man’s death on us!”
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But Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men.
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The God of our ancestors brought Jesus back to life again after you had killed him by hanging him on a cross.
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Then, with mighty power, God exalted him to be a Prince and Savior, so that the people of Israel would have an opportunity for repentance, and for their sins to be forgiven.
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And we are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit, who is given by God to all who obey him.”
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At this, the Council was furious and decided to kill them.
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But one of their members, a Pharisee named Gamaliel (an expert on religious law and very popular with the people), stood up and requested that the apostles be sent outside the Council chamber while he talked.
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Then he addressed his colleagues as follows:
“Men of Israel, take care what you are planning to do to these men!
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Some time ago there was that fellow Theudas, who pretended to be someone great. About four hundred others joined him, but he was killed, and his followers were harmlessly dispersed.
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“After him, at the time of the taxation, there was Judas of Galilee. He drew away some people as disciples, but he also died, and his followers scattered.
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“And so my advice is, leave these men alone. If what they teach and do is merely on their own, it will soon be overthrown.
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But if it is of God, you will not be able to stop them, lest you find yourselves fighting even against God.”
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The Council accepted his advice, called in the apostles, had them beaten, and then told them never again to speak in the name of Jesus, and finally let them go.
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They left the Council chamber rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer dishonor for his name.
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And every day, in the Temple and in their home Bible classes, they continued to teach and preach that Jesus is the Messiah.