Acts (GOD'S WORD)








































Acts 1:1-11, 15-26 (GOD'S WORD)

    1In my first book, Theophilus, I wrote about what Jesus began to do and teach. This included everything from the beginning {of his life}, 2until the day he was taken to heaven. Before he was taken to heaven, he gave instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles, whom he had chosen.
   3After his death Jesus showed the apostles a lot of convincing evidence that he was alive. For 40 days he appeared to them and talked with them about the kingdom of God.
    4Once, while he was meeting with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait there for what the Father had promised. Jesus said to them, "I've told you what the Father promises: 5John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."
    6So when the apostles came together, they asked him, "Lord, is this the time when you're going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"
    7Jesus told them, "You don't need to know about times or periods that the Father has determined by his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes to you. Then you will be my witnesses to testify about me in Jerusalem, throughout Juda and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
    9After he had said this, he was taken to heaven. A cloud hid him so that they could no longer see him.
    10They were staring into the sky as he departed. Suddenly, two men in white clothes stood near them. 11They asked, "Why are you men from Galilee standing here looking at the sky? Jesus, who was taken from you to heaven, will come back in the same way that you saw him go to heaven."
    15At a time when about 120 disciples had gathered together, Peter got up and spoke to them.
    He said, 16"Brothers, what the Holy Spirit predicted through David in Scripture about Judas had to come true. Judas led the men to arrest Jesus. 17He had been one of us and had been given an active role in this ministry. 18With the money he received from the wrong he had done, he bought a piece of land where he fell headfirst to his death. His body split open, and all his internal organs came out. 19Everyone living in Jerusalem knows about this. They even call that piece of land Akeldama, which means 'Field of Blood' in their dialect. 20You've read in Psalms, 'Let his home be deserted, and let no one live there,' and 'Let someone else take his position.'"
    "Therefore, someone must be added to our number to serve with us as a witness that Jesus came back to life. 21He must be one of the men who accompanied Jesus with us the entire time that the Lord Jesus was among us. 22This person must have been with us from the time that John was baptizing people to the day that Jesus was taken from us."
    23The disciples determined that two men were qualified. These men were Joseph (who was called Barsabbas and was also known as Justus) and Matthias. 24Then they prayed, "Lord, you know everyone's thoughts. Show us which of these two you have chosen. 25Show us who is to take the place of Judas as an apostle, since Judas abandoned his position to go to the place where he belongs."
    26They drew names to choose an apostle. Matthias was chosen and joined the eleven apostles.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 













Acts 1:9-11 (GOD'S WORD)

   9After he had said this, he was taken to heaven. A cloud hid him so that they could no longer see him.
   10They were staring into the sky as he departed. Suddenly, two men in white clothes stood near them. 11They asked, "Why are you men from Galilee standing here looking at the sky? Jesus, who was taken from you to heaven, will come back in the same way that you saw him go to heaven."
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 














Acts 2:1-4 (GOD'S WORD)

THE BELIEVERS ARE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT

1When Pentecost, the fiftieth day after Passover, came, all the believers were together in one place. 2Suddenly, a sound like a violently blowing wind came from the sky and filled the whole house where they were staying. 3Tongues that looked like fire appeared to them. The tongues arranged themselves so that one came to rest on each believer. 4All the believers were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak.
 
 







 




























Acts 2:22-24 (GOD'S WORD)

   22"Men of Israel, listen to what I say: Jesus from Nazareth was a man whom God brought to your attention. You know that through this man God worked miracles, did amazing things, and gave signs. 23By using men who don't acknowledge Moses' Teachings, you crucified Jesus, who was given over [to death] by a plan that God had determined in advance. 24But God raised him from death to life and destroyed the pains of death, because death had no power to hold him.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 



























 

Acts 4:5-26 (GOD'S WORD)

    5The next day the Jewish rulers, leaders, and scribes met in Jerusalem.
    6The chief priest Annas, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and the rest of the chief priest’s family were present. 7They made Peter and John stand in front of them and then asked, “By what power or in whose name did you do this?”
    8Then Peter, because he was filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and leaders of the people, 9today you are cross-examining us about
the good we did for a crippled man. You want to know how he was made well.
    10You and all the people of Israel must understand that this man stands in your presence with a healthy body because of the power of Jesus Christ from
Nazareth. You crucified Jesus Christ, but God has brought him back to life.
    11He is the stone that the builders rejected, the stone that has become the cornerstone. 12No one else can save us. Indeed, we can be saved only by the
power of the one named Jesus and not by any other person.”
    13After they found out that Peter and John had no education or special training, they were surprised to see how boldly they spoke. They realized that these men had been with Jesus. 14When they saw the man who was healed standing with Peter and John, they couldn’t say anything against the two apostles.
    15So they ordered Peter and John to leave the council room and began to discuss the matter among themselves. 16They said, “What should we do to these men? Clearly, they’ve performed a miracle that everyone in Jerusalem knows about. We can’t deny that. 17So let’s threaten them. Let’s tell them that they must never speak to anyone about the one named Jesus. Then the news about the
miracle that they have performed will not spread any further among the people.”
    18They called Peter and John and ordered them never to teach about Jesus or even mention his name.
    19Peter and John answered them, “Decide for yourselves whether God wants people to listen to you rather than to him. 20We cannot stop talking about what we’ve seen and heard.”
    21The authorities threatened them even more and then let them go. Since all the people were praising God for what had happened, the authorities couldn’t
find any way to punish Peter and John. 22(The man who was healed by this miracle was over 40 years old.)23When Peter and John were released, they went to the other apostles and told them everything the chief priests and leaders had said. 24 When the apostles heard this, they were united and loudly prayed to God, "Master, you made the sky, the land, the sea, and everything in them. 25 You said through the Holy Spirit, who spoke through your servant David (our ancestor),

    'Why do the nations act arrogantly?
    Why do their people devise useless plots?

    26    Kings take their stand.
            Rulers make plans together
                against the Lord and against his Messiah.' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 































Acts 5:1-11 (GOD'S WORD)

    11 A man named Ananias and his wife Sapphira sold some property. 2They agreed to hold back some of the money {they had pledged} and turned only part of it over to the apostles.
    3Peter asked, “Ananias, why did you let Satan fill you with the idea that you could deceive the Holy Spirit? You’ve held back some of the money you received for the land. 4While you had the land, it was your own. After it was sold, you could have done as you pleased with the money. So how could you do a thing like this? You didn’t lie to people but to God!”
    5When Ananias heard Peter say this, he dropped dead. Everyone who heard about his death was terrified. 6Some young men got up, wrapped his body in a sheet, carried him outside, and buried him.
    7About three hours later Ananias’ wife arrived. She didn’t know what had happened. 8So Peter asked her, “Tell me, did you sell the land for that price?”
    She answered, “Yes, that was the price.”
    9Then Peter said to her, “How could you and your husband agree to test the Lord’s Spirit? Those who buried your husband are standing at the door, and they will carry you outside for burial.”
    10Immediately, she dropped dead in front of Peter. When the young men came back, they found Sapphira dead. So they carried her outside and buried her next to her husband. 11The whole church and everyone else who heard about what had happened were terrified.









































Acts 5:37-42 (GOD'S WORD)

    37"After that man, at the time of the census, Judas from Galilee appeared and led people in a revolt. He, too, died, and all his followers were scattered.
    38"We should keep away from these men for now. We should leave them alone. I can guarantee that if the plan they put into action is of human origin, it will fail. 39However, if it's from God, you won't be able to stop them. You may even discover that you're fighting against God."
    40The council took his advice. They called the apostles, beat them, ordered them not to speak about the one named Jesus, and let them go.
    41The apostles left the council room. They were happy to have been considered  worthy to suffer dishonor for speaking about Jesus. 42Every day  in the temple courtyard and from house to house, they refused to stop teaching and telling the Good News that Jesus is the Messiah.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Acts 7:51-60 (GOD'S WORD)

   51"How stubborn can you be? How can you be so heartless and disobedient? You're just like your ancestors. They always opposed the Holy Spirit, and so do you! 52Was there ever a prophet your ancestors didn't persecute? They killed those who predicted that a man with God's approval would come. You have now become the people who betrayed and murdered that man. 53You are the people who received Moses' Teachings, which were put into effect by angels. But you haven't obeyed those teachings."

    54As council members listened to Stephen, they became noticeably furious. 55But Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit. He looked into heaven, saw God's glory, and Jesus in the position of authority that God gives. 56So Stephen said, "Look, I see heaven opened and the Son of Man in the position of authority that God has given him!
    57But the council members shouted and refused to listen. Then they rushed at Stephen with one purpose in mind, 58and after they had thrown him out of the city, they began to stone him to death. The witnesses left their coats with a young man named Saul.
    59While council members were executing Stephen, he called out, "Lord Jesus, welcome my spirit." 60Then he knelt down and shouted, "Lord, don't hold this sin against them." After he had said this, he died.


































Acts 8:32-33 (GOD'S WORD)

   32This was the part of the Scriptures that the official was reading:

            "He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.
             He was like a sheep that is silent
                when its wool is cut off.
                   He didn't open his mouth.
    33      When he humbled himself,
                   he was not judged fairly.
             Who from his generation
                   will talk about his life on earth being cut short?"


































Acts 9:3-9 (GOD'S WORD)

   3As Saul was coming near the city of Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly flashed around him.4He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul! Why are you persecuting me?"    5Saul asked, "Who are you, sir?" The person replied, "I'm Jesus, the one you're persecuting.6Get up! Go into the city, and you'll be told what you should do."  7Meanwhile, the men traveling with him were speechless. They heard the voice but didn't see anyone.  8Saul was helped up from the ground. When he opened his eyes, he was blind. So his companions led him into Damascus.9For three days he couldn't see and didn't eat or drink.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 






































Acts 10:38-43 (GOD'S WORD)

     34Then Peter said, “Now I understand that God doesn’t play favorites.
    35Rather, whoever respects God and does what is right is acceptable to him in any nation.36 God sent his word to the people of Israel and brought them the Good News of peace through Jesus Christ. This Jesus Christ is everyone’s Lord. 37You know what happened throughout Judea. Everything began in Galilee after John spread the news about baptism. 38You know that God anointed
Jesus from Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Jesus went everywhere and did good things, such as healing everyone who was under the devil’s power. Jesus did these things because God was with him. 39We can testify to everything Jesus did in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. People hung him on a cross and killed him, 40but God brought him back to life on the
third day. God didn’t show him 41to all the people. He showed Jesus to witnesses, apostles he had already chosen. We apostles are those men who ate and drank with Jesus after he came back to life.         42He ordered us to warn the people, ‘God has appointed Jesus to judge the living and the dead.’ 43In addition, all the prophets testify that people who believe in the one named Jesus
receive forgiveness for their sins through him.”


























 

















 

Acts 12:20-23 (GOD'S WORD)

      20Peter told Simon, “May your money be destroyed with you because you thought you could buy God’s gift. 21You won’t have any share in this because God can see how twisted your thinking is. 22So change your wicked thoughts, and ask the Lord if he will forgive you for thinking like this. 23I can see that you are bitter with jealousy and wrapped up in your evil ways.” 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 





























Acts 14:8-20 (GOD'S WORD)

    8A man who was born lame was in Lystra. He was always sitting because he had never been able to walk. 9He listened to what Paul was saying. Paul observed him closely and saw that the man believed he could be made well. 10So Paul said in a loud voice, "Stand up." The man jumped up and began to walk.
    11The crowds who saw what Paul had done shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come to us, and they look human." 12They addressed Barnabas as Zeus and Paul as Hermes because Paul did most of the talking.  13Zeus' temple was at the entrance to the city. The priest of the god Zeus brought bulls with flowery wreaths around their necks to the temple gates. The priest and the crowd  wanted to offer a sacrifice [to Paul and Barnabas].
    14When the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard what was happening, they were very upset. They rushed into the crowd 15and said, "Men, what are you doing? We're human beings like you. We're spreading the Good News to you to turn you away from these worthless gods to the living God. The living God made the sky, the land, the sea, and everything in them. 16In the past God allowed all people to live as they pleased. 17Yet, by doing good, he has given evidence of his existence. He gives you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons. He fills you with food and your lives with happiness." 18Although Paul and Barnabus said these things, they hardly kept the crowd from sacrificing to them.
    19However, Jews from the cities of Antioch and Iconium arrived in Lystra and won the people over. They tried to stone Paul to death and dragged him out of the city when they thought that he was dead. 20But when the disciples gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Acts 14:19-23 (GOD'S WORD)

    19However, Jews from the cities of Antioch and Iconium arrived in Lystra and won the people over. They tried to stone Paul to death and dragged him out of the city when they thought that he was dead. 20But when the disciples gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city.
    The next day Paul and Barnabas left for the city of Derbe. 21They spread the Good News in that city and won many disciples. Then they went back to the cities of Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch (which is in Pisidia). 22They strengthened the disciples in these cities and encouraged the disciples to remain faithful. Paul and Barnabas told them, "We must suffer a lot to enter the kingdom of God." 23They had the disciples in each church choose spiritual leaders, and with prayer and fasting they entrusted the leaders to the Lord in whom they believed.
 
 
 
 
 
 

































 

Acts 15:12-21 (GOD'S WORD)

      12 The whole crowd was silent. They listened to Barnabas and Paul tell about all the miracles and amazing things that God had done through them among non-Jewish people.
    13 After they finished speaking, James responded, “Brothers, listen to me. 14Simon has explained how God first showed his concern by taking from non-Jewish people those who would honor his name. 15This agrees with what the prophets said. Scripture says,
    16 ‘Afterwards, I will return.
            I will set up David’s fallen tent again.
            I will restore its ruined places again.
            I will set it up again
    17         so that the survivors and all the people who aren’t Jewish
                    over whom my name is spoken,
                        may search for the Lord, declares the Lord.
    18     He is the one who will do these things that have always been known!’

    19 “So I’ve decided that we shouldn’t trouble non-Jewish people who are turning to God. 20Instead, we should write a letter telling them to keep away from things polluted by false gods, from sexual sins, from eating the meat of strangled animals, and from eating bloody meat. 21After all, Moses’ words have been spread to every city for generations. His teachings are read in synagogues on every day of worship.”
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
























Acts 16:14 (GOD'S WORD)

14A woman named Lydia was present. She was a convert to Judaism from the city of Thyatira and sold purple dye for a living. She was listening because the Lord made her willing to pay attention to what Paul said.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 



















 

Acts 21:27-30 (GOD'S WORD)

   27 When the seven days were almost over, the Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul in the temple courtyard. They stirred up the whole crowd and
grabbed Paul. 28Then they began shouting, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere to turn against the Jewish people,
Moses’ Teachings, and this temple. He has even brought Greeks into the temple courtyard and has made this holy place unclean.” 29They had seen Trophimus from Ephesus with him in the city earlier and thought Paul had taken him into the temple courtyard.
    30 The whole city was in chaos, and a mob formed. The mob grabbed Paul and dragged him out of the temple courtyard. The courtyard doors were immediately shut.









































Acts 22:17-21 (GOD'S WORD)

   17"After that, I returned to Jerusalem, While I was praying in the temple courtyards, I fell into a trance 18and saw the Lord. He told me, 'Hurry! Get out of Jerusalem immediately. The people here won't accept your testimony about me."
    19"I said, "Lord, people here know that I went from synagogue to synagogue to imprison and whip those who believe in you. 20When Stephen, who witnessed about you, was being killed, I was standing there. I approved of his death and guarded the coats of those who were murdering him.'
    21"But the Lord told me, 'Go! I'll send you on a mission. You'll go far away to people who aren't Jewish.'"