Knox Bible

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But there was a man called Ananias who, with his wife Sapphira, sold an estate,

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and kept back some of the money, with his wife’s knowledge, only bringing a part of it to lay at the feet of the apostles.

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Whereupon Peter said, Ananias, how is it that Satan has taken possession of thy heart, bidding thee defraud the Holy Spirit by keeping back some of the money that was paid thee for the land?

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Unsold, the property was thine; after the sale, the money was at thy disposal; what has put it into thy heart so to act? It is God, not man, thou hast defrauded.

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At these words, Ananias fell down and died; and a great fear came upon all those who heard it.

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So the young men rose and took him up, and carried him out to burial.

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It was about three hours later that his wife came in, knowing nothing of what had happened;

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and Peter said to her, Tell me, woman, was it for so much that you sold the estate? Yes, she said, for so much.

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Then Peter said to her, What is this conspiracy between you, to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Even now I hear at the door the footsteps of those who have been burying thy husband; they will carry thee out too.

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And all at once she fell at his feet and died; so that when the young men came in they found her a corpse, and carried her out to bury her with her husband.

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Great fear came upon the church and upon all who heard the story.

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And there were many signs and miracles done by the apostles before the people. They used to gather with one accord in Solomon’s porch.

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No one else✻ dared to join them, although the people held them in high honour,

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and the number of those who believed in the Lord, both men and women, still increased;

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they even used to bring sick folk into the streets, and lay them down there on beds and pallets, in the hope that even the shadow of Peter, as he passed by, might fall upon one of them here and there, and so they would be healed of their infirmities.

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From neighbouring cities, too, the common people flocked to Jerusalem, bringing with them the sick and those who were troubled by unclean spirits; and all of them were cured.

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This roused the high priest and those who thought with him, that is, the party of the Sadducees.

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Full of indignation, they arrested the apostles and shut them up in the common gaol.

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But, in the night, an angel of the Lord came and opened the prison doors, and led them out;

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Go, he said, and take your stand in the temple; preach fully to the people the message of true life.✻

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So, at his word, they went into the temple at dawn, and began preaching. Meanwhile the high priest and his followers met, and summoned the Council, with all the elders of the Jewish people; and they sent to the prison-house to have them brought in.

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When they came to look in the prison, the officers could not find them there; so they went back and reported,

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We found the prison-house locked up with all due care, and the guards at their posts before the door; but when we opened it there was no one to be found within.

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At hearing this, the temple superintendent and the chief priests were at a loss to know what had become of them;

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until an eye-witness told them, The men you put in prison are standing in the temple, teaching the people there.

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So the superintendent and his officers went and fetched them, using no violence, because they were afraid of being stoned by the people;

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and they brought them in and bade them stand before the Council, where the high priest questioned them.

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We warned you in set terms, he said, not to preach in this man’s name, and you have filled all Jerusalem with your preaching; you are determined to lay this man’s death at our door.

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Peter and the other apostles answered, God has more right to be obeyed than men.

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It was the God of our fathers that raised up Jesus, the man you hung on a gibbet to die.

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It is God that has raised him up to his own right hand, as the prince and Saviour who is to bring Israel repentance, and remission of sins.

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Of this, we are witnesses; we and the Holy Spirit God gives to all those who obey him.

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On hearing this they were cut to the quick, and designed to kill them.

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But now one of the Pharisees in the Council, a lawyer named Gamaliel, who was held in esteem by all the people, rose and bade them send the apostles out for a little;

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then he said to them, Men of Israel, think well what you mean to do with these men.

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There was Theodas, who appeared in days gone by and claimed to be someone of importance, and was supported by about four hundred men; he was killed, and all his followers were dispersed, and came to nothing.✻

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And after him Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the registration; he persuaded the people to rebel under his leadership, but he too perished, and all his followers were scattered.

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And my advice is still the same; have nothing to do with these men, let them be. If this is man’s design or man’s undertaking, it will be overthrown;

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if it is God’s, you will have no power to overthrow it. You would not willingly be found fighting against God. And they fell in with his opinion;

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so they sent for the apostles and, after scourging them, let them go with a warning that they were not on any account to preach in the name of Jesus.

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And they left the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer indignity for the sake of Jesus’ name.

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And every day, both in the temple and from house to house, their teaching and their preaching was continually of Jesus Christ.