Acts 5

¹ Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property,

² and he kept back part of the proceeds for himself, with his wife's knowledge; he brought only a portion and laid it at the apostles' feet.

³ Then Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart so that you lied to the Holy Spirit and kept back part of the proceeds of the land?

⁴ Wasn't it yours while it remained unsold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you decide to do this? You have not lied to people but to God."

⁵ When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and died. And great fear came over all who heard about it.

⁶ The young men came forward, wrapped up his body, carried him out, and buried him.

⁷ About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

⁸ Peter said to her, "Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?" "Yes," she said, "that is the price."

⁹ Peter said to her, "How could you agree together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of those who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out too."

¹⁰ At once she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

¹¹ Great fear came over the whole church and over all who heard about these things.

¹² The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And the believers all met together in Solomon's Colonnade.

¹³ No one else dared to join them, even though the people held them in high regard.

¹⁴ Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number,

¹⁵ so that people even carried the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats, hoping that at least Peter's shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by.

¹⁶ Crowds also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and all of them were healed.

¹⁷ Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, rose up, filled with jealousy.

¹⁸ They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.

¹⁹ But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail, brought them out, and said,

²⁰ "Go, stand in the temple courts, and tell the people all about this new life."

²¹ At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach. When the high priest and his associates arrived, they convened the Sanhedrin—the full assembly of the elders of Israel—and sent to the jail for the apostles.

²² But on arriving, the officers did not find them in the jail. So they went back and reported,

²³ "We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside."

²⁴ When the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests heard this, they were perplexed about them, wondering what this might lead to.

²⁵ Then someone came and reported, "Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people."

²⁶ At that, the captain went with his officers and brought them back, but without force, because they were afraid the people would stone them.

²⁷ They brought the apostles in and made them stand before the Sanhedrin, and the high priest questioned them.

²⁸ "We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name," he said, "yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to bring this man's blood on us."

²⁹ Peter and the other apostles replied, "We must obey God rather than people.

³⁰ The God of our ancestors raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.

³¹ God exalted him to his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.

³² We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him."

³³ When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death.

³⁴ But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered the men to be put outside for a short while.

³⁵ Then he said to them, "Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do with these men.

³⁶ Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing.

³⁷ After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and drew people after him in revolt. He too perished, and all his followers were scattered.

³⁸ So in the present case I tell you: leave these men alone and let them go. For if this plan or this work is of human origin, it will fail.

³⁹ But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop them. You may even find yourselves fighting against God." They were persuaded by him.

⁴⁰ His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in, had them flogged, ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.

⁴¹ The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.

⁴² Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.