Acts 5

5 ¹Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property. ²He kept back part of the proceeds for himself, with his wife aware, and brought only a portion, laying it at the apostles' feet. ³But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the land's price? ⁴Wasn't it yours while unsold? After selling, wasn't the money yours to control? Why did you plan this in your heart? You didn't lie to people, but to our Father." ^a a v4 When Peter says lying to the Holy Spirit is lying to our Father, he shows the Spirit is fully God — not a force, but a divine Person.

⁵Hearing these words, Ananias fell down and died; great fear seized all who heard. ⁶Then the young men rose, wrapped up his body, carried him out, and buried him. ⁷About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. ⁸Peter asked her, "Tell me, did you sell the land for this much?" She said, "Yes, for that much."

⁹Then Peter said to her, "Why did you conspire to test the Spirit of our Father? Look, the feet of those who buried your husband are at the door, and they'll carry you out too."

¹⁰At once she fell at his feet and died. The young men came in, found her dead, carried her out, and buried her beside her husband. ¹¹And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

Signs and Wonders Through the Apostles

¹²Many signs and wonders happened among the people through the apostles' hands. They all gathered together in Solomon's Portico. ¹³None of the rest dared to join them, but the people held them in high honor. ¹⁴Even more believers were added to the Lord—crowds of men and women, ¹⁵so they even carried the sick into the streets and put them on cots and mats, hoping that at least Peter's shadow might fall on some of them as he passed. ¹⁶Crowds also came from towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and all were healed.

Arrested, Freed, and Returned

¹⁷The high priest rose up, and all with him, the Sadducee party, and they were filled with jealousy. ¹⁸They arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. ¹⁹But at night an angel of our Father opened the prison doors, led them out, and said, ²⁰"Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life."

²¹Hearing this, they went into the temple at dawn and began teaching. When the high priest and those with him arrived, they convened the council—the full assembly of elders of Israel—and sent to the jail to have them brought. ²²But the guards found no one there when they arrived; they returned and reported, ²³"We found the prison locked tight, guards standing at the doors, but opening them, found no one inside."

²⁴Hearing this, the temple guard captain and chief priests were baffled, wondering where it would lead. ²⁵Someone came and reported, "Look, the men you jailed are standing in the temple teaching the people!" ²⁶Then the captain and officers went and brought them, without force, fearing the people would stone them. ²⁷When they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, ²⁸saying, "We strictly ordered you not to teach in this name, yet you've filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man's blood on us."

²⁹But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey our Father rather than men. ³⁰The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. ³¹Our Father exalted him to his own right hand as Ruler and Savior, to give Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins. ³²We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom our Father gave to those who obey him."

³³When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. ³⁴But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a law teacher honored by all the people, stood up in the council and ordered the men taken outside briefly. ³⁵He told them, "Israelites, think carefully about what you're about to do with these men. ³⁶Before this, Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody; about 400 men followed him. He was killed, his followers all scattered, and it came to nothing. ³⁷After him, Judas the Galilean rose up during the census and drew people away after him. He too died, and all who followed him were scattered. ³⁸Now I tell you: stay away from these men and leave them alone. If this plan or work is from men, it will fail. ³⁹But if it's from our Father, you won't be able to overthrow them; you might even find yourselves fighting our Father." So they were persuaded by him.

⁴⁰Persuaded by him, they called in the apostles, beat them, ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and released them. ⁴¹So they left the council, rejoicing they'd been counted worthy to be shamed for the name. ⁴²Every day, in the temple and house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news: the Christ is Jesus.