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Acts · Chapter 1

Acts 1

Berean Standard Bible · Public domain · Source credits

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Prologue

(Luke 1:1–4)

1In my first book, O Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach,

2until the day He was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles He had chosen.

3After His suffering, He presented Himself to them with many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a span of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.

4And while they were gathered together, He commanded them: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift the Father promised, which you have heard Me discuss.*

5For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”*

The Ascension

(Mark 16:19–20; Luke 24:50–53)

6So when they came together, they asked Him, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”

7Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority.

8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

9After He had said this, they watched as He was taken up, and a cloud hid Him from their sight.

10They were looking intently into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.

11“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.”

Matthias Replaces Judas

12Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is near the city, a Sabbath day’s journey away.*

13When they arrived, they went to the upper room where they were staying: Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James.

14With one accord they all continued in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

15In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (a gathering of about a hundred and twenty) and said,

16“Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit foretold through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus.

17He was one of our number and shared in this ministry.”

18(Now with the reward for his wickedness Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong and burst open in the middle, and all his intestines spilled out.

19This became known to all who lived in Jerusalem, so they called that field in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)

20“For it is written in the book of Psalms:‘May his place be deserted;let there be no one to dwell in it,’ and,‘May another take his position.’*

21Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have accompanied us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,

22beginning from John’s baptism until the day Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”

23So they proposed two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias.

24And they prayed, “Lord, You know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two You have chosen

25to take up this ministry and apostleship, which Judas abandoned to go to his rightful place.”

26Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.

Source notes

  1. 1:4 Or eating together
  2. 1:5 Or For John baptized in water, but in a few days you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit; cited in Acts 11:16 Read Acts 11:16
  3. 1:12 A Sabbath day’s journey is 2,000 cubits (approximately 3,000 feet or 914.4 meters)
  4. 1:20 Psalms 69:25 Psalms 109:8 Read Psalms 69:25 Read Psalms 109:8

Old Testament references

References from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. Text from the Berean Standard Bible.

Psalms 69:25

May their place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in their tents.

Psalms 109:8

May his days be few; may another take his position.

Isaiah 11:2

The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him— the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the LORD.

Isaiah 11:3

And He will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what His eyes see, and He will not decide by what His ears hear,

Isaiah 42:1

“Here is My Servant, whom I uphold, My Chosen One, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will bring justice to the nations.

Isaiah 48:16

Come near to Me and listen to this: From the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time it happened, I was there.” And now the Lord GOD has sent me, accompanied by His Spirit.

Isaiah 59:20

“The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the LORD.

Isaiah 59:21

“As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the LORD. “My Spirit will not depart from you, and My words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth or from the mouths of your children and grandchildren, from now on and forevermore,” says the LORD.

Isaiah 61:1

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners,

Deuteronomy 9:9

When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the LORD made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I ate no bread and drank no water.

Deuteronomy 9:18

Then I fell down before the LORD for forty days and forty nights, as I had done the first time. I did not eat bread or drink water because of all the sin you had committed in doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD and provoking Him to anger.

1 Kings 19:8

So he got up and ate and drank. And strengthened by that food, he walked forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.

Daniel 2:44

In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will shatter all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself stand forever.

Daniel 2:45

And just as you saw a stone being cut out of the mountain without human hands, and it shattered the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold, so the great God has told the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true, and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

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