Gevurot 1

1 In the sefer harishon I wrote about everything, O Theophilus, about Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua, both what he began to do and the shiurim he began to say,2 Until HaYom, when he made aliyah ascent to Shomayim, having given Moshiach's mitzvot through the Ruach Hakodesh to the Shlichim whom he chose,3 To whom also he presented himself chai (alive), after his Messianic yissurim (sufferings), by many convincing proofs, during arba'im yamim appearing to his Shlichim and speaking concerning the Malchut Hashem:4 And, while gathering them at a yechidus, Moshiach gave instructions to them not to depart from Yerushalayim, but to wait for the havtachah (promise) of [Elohim] HaAv which he said, "You heard of from Me. [TEHILLIM 27:14]5 "For Yochanan gave a tevilah of teshuva with a mikveh mayim, but you will receive a tevilah in the Ruach Hakodesh not many yamim from now." [YOEL 3:1;(2:28)]6 And at yechidus, having come together, they were asking him saying, "Adoneinu, is it at this time that You are restoring the Malchut Hashem to Am Yisroel?"7 But he said to them, "It is not for you to have da'as of the itim (times) or moadim (seasons) which [Elohim] HaAv has set by His own samchut (authority). [Dt 29:29; Ps 107:13]8 "But you will receive ko'ach when the Ruach Hakodesh has come upon you, and you all will be the Eidus (the Witness) of me, in Yerushalayim, and in all Yehudah, and Shomron and as far as ad ketzeh ha'aretz."9 And having said these things, while they were looking on, in an aliyah ascent to Shomayim, Moshiach was taken up; and an anan (cloud) took him away from their eyes.10 And as they were gazing intently into Shomayim, while Moshiach was going-hinei--two beings, enrobed in white, had been present with them.11 Also, these said, "Men of the Galil, why do you stand looking into Shomayim? This Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua, the one having been taken up from you into Shomayim, will also come again in like manner as you saw him going into Shomayim."12 Then they returned to Yerushalayim from Har HaZeytim, which from Yerushalayim is a Shabbos walk.13 And when they entered, they went up to the aliyyah where they were staying, that is, Kefa and Yochanan and Ya'akov and Andrew and Philippos and T'oma and Bar-Talmai and Mattityahu and Ya'akov Ben Chalfai and Shimon the Zealot and Yehudah Ben Ya'akov.14 These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to tefillah, with the nashim and with Miryam the Em of Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach and with his achim.15 And at this time, having stood up, Kefa, in the midst of the Achim b'Moshiach (there were 120 persons in the place)16 Said, "Achim b'Moshiach, the Kitvei Hakodesh had to be fulfilled, which the Ruach Hakodesh foretold through the peh of Dovid Hamelech concerning Yehudah, who became a guide to the ones arresting Yehoshua.17 "For he had been numbered among us, and he received his ministry in the Messianic avodas kodesh of the Moshiach's Shlichim.18 (Now this man, therefore, acquired a sadeh out of the sachar [reward] of his peysha and, having fallen headlong, he plotst [burst] open in the middle and all the inward parts of him were poured out.19 And this became known to all the ones inhabiting Yerushalayim, so that the sadeh [field] became known in their language as 'Akeldama' --that is 'Sadeh of Dahm.')20 "For it has been written in the Sefer Tehillim, "TEHI the place of him NESHAMMAH (one being deserted)... V'AL YEHI YOSHEV" ("May his place be deserted and let him not be the one dwelling in it": TEHILLIM 69:26) and "PEKUDATO YIKACH ACHER" ("his place of leadership may another take". TEHILLIM 109:8)21 "It is necessary, therefore, that one of the anashim who accompanied us during all the time in which Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Adoneinu Yehoshua went in and went out among us,22 "Beginning from the tevilah of teshuva of Yochanan until the day when Moshiach was taken up from us--one of these should become Eidus (Witness) with us to the Techiyas HaMoshiach."23 And they put forward two anashim, Yosef Bar-Sabba, also called Justus, and Mattityahu.24 And having davened, they said, "Adonoi, you have da'as of the levavot of Kol B'nei Adam. Therefore, show which of these two is your bechirah [1Sm 14:41]25 "To take the place of this avodas kodesh ministry and Shlichus from which Yehudah turned aside to go to his own place."26 And they drew lots, and the lot fell to Mattityahu, and he was numbered with the Achad Asar of Moshiach's Shlichim. [T.N. Lukas wrote this work around 63 C.E., near the time of his awaiting the first hearing of Rav Sha'ul before Nero in Rome.]

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.