Acts 1

Prologue

1 The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,2 until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen,3 to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

The Holy Spirit Promised

4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, which, He said, you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?7 And He said to them, It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

Jesus Ascends to Heaven

9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel,11 who also said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.

The Upper Room Prayer Meeting

12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath days journey.13 And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying: Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot; and Judas the son of James.14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

Matthias Chosen

15 And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples (altogether the number of names was about a hundred and twenty), and said,16 Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus;17 for he was numbered with us and obtained a part in this ministry.18 (Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out.19 And it became known to all those dwelling in Jerusalem; so that field is called in their own language, Akel Dama, that is, Field of Blood.)20 For it is written in the Book of Psalms: Let his dwelling place be desolate, And let no one live in it ; and, Let another take his office.21 Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,22 beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.23 And they proposed two: Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias.24 And they prayed and said, You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen25 to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.26 And they cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

ACTS 1

1  t Theophilus, I first wrote to yout about all that Jesus did and taught from the very first

2 until he was taken up to heaven. But before he was taken up, he gave orders to the apostles he had chosen with the help of the Holy Spirit.
3 For 40 days after Jesus had suffered and died, he proved in many ways that he had been raised from death. He appeared to his apostles and spoke to them about God's kingdom.

4 t While he was still with them, he said:
Don't leave Jerusalem yet. Wait here for the Father to give you the Holy Spirit, just as I told you he has promised to do.

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

Jesus Is Taken to Heaven

6 While the apostles were still with Jesus, they asked him, “Lord, are you now going to give Israel its own king again?”t
7 Jesus said to them, “You don't need to know the time of those events that only the Father controls. 8 t But the Holy Spirit will come upon you and give you power. Then you will tell everyone about me in Jerusalem, in all Judea, in Samaria, and everywhere in the world.” 9 t After Jesus had said this and while they were watching, he was taken up into a cloud. They could not see him,

10 but as he went up, they kept looking up into the sky.
Suddenly two men dressed in white clothes were standing there beside them.

11 They said, “Why are you men from Galilee standing here and looking up into the sky? Jesus has been taken to heaven. But he will come back in the same way you have seen him go.”

Someone To Take the Place //of Judas

12-13  t The Mount of Olives was about a kilometer from Jerusalem. The apostles who had gone there were Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon, known as the Eager One, t and Judas the son of James.
After the apostles returned to the city, they went upstairs to the room where they had been staying.
14 The apostles often met together and prayed with a single purpose in mind.t The women and Mary the mother of Jesus would meet with them, and so would his brothers. 15 One day there were about 120 of the Lord's followers meeting together, and Peter stood up to speak to them.

16-17 He said:
My friends, long ago by the power of the Holy Spirit, David said something about Judas, and what he said has now happened. Judas was one of us and had worked with us, but he brought the mob to arrest Jesus. 18 t Then Judas bought some land with the money he was given for doing that evil thing. He fell headfirst into the field. His body burst open, and all his insides came out.

19 When the people of Jerusalem found out about this, they called the place Akeldama, which in the local language means “Field of Blood.”

20  t In the book of Psalms it says,
“Leave his house empty,
and don't let anyone
live there.”
It also says,
“Let someone else
have his job.”

21-22  t So we need someone else to help us tell others that Jesus has been raised from death. He must also be one of the men who was with us from the very beginning. He must have been with us from the time the Lord Jesus was baptized by John until the day he was taken to heaven.
23 Two men were suggested: One of them was Joseph Barsabbas, known as Justus, and the other was Matthias. 24 Then they all prayed, “Lord, you know what everyone is like! Show us the one you have chosen 25 to be an apostle and to serve in place of Judas, who got what he deserved.” 26 They drew names, and Matthias was chosen to join the group of the eleven apostles.