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Introduction

¹ The first ^(F1)account I made, ^(C1)Theophilus, was a continuous report about all the things that Jesus ^(C2)began to do and to ^(F2)teach ^(VR1)2 until the day when He ^(C1)ascended to heaven, after He ^(C2)had by the Holy Spirit given instruction to ^(C3)the apostles (special messengers) whom He had ^(C4)chosen.³ To these men ^(C1)He also showed Himself alive after His suffering in Gethsemane and on the cross, by a series of many infallible proofs and unquestionable demonstrations, appearing to them over a period of forty days and talking to them about ^(C2)the things concerning the kingdom of God.⁴ While being together and eating with them, He commanded them ^(C1)not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for ^(C2)what the Father had promised, "Of which," He said, "you have heard Me speak. ^(VR1)5 "For ^(C1)John baptized with water, but you will be baptized and empowered and united with the Holy Spirit, ^(C2)not long from now."

⁶ So when they had come together, they asked Him repeatedly, "Lord, are You ^(C1)at this time reestablishing the kingdom and restoring it to Israel?"⁷ He said to them, "It is not for you to know the times or epochs which ^(C1)the Father has fixed by His own authority.⁸ "But you will receive power and ability ^(C1)when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be ^(C2)My witnesses to tell people about Me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and ^(C3)Samaria, and even to ^(C4)the ends of the earth."

The Ascension

The Upper Room

¹² Then the disciples ^(C1)returned to Jerusalem from the ^(C2)mount called Olivet (Olive Grove), which is near Jerusalem, only a Sabbath day's journey (less than one mile) away.¹³ When they had entered the city, they went upstairs to ^(C1)the upper room where they were staying indefinitely; ^(C2)that is, Peter, and John and his brother James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew (Nathanael) and Matthew, ^(F1)James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and ^(C3)Judas (Thaddaeus) the son of James.¹⁴ All these with one mind and one purpose were ^(C1)continually devoting themselves to prayer, waiting together along with ^(C2)the women, and Mary the ^(C3)mother of Jesus, and with His ^(C3)brothers.

¹⁵ Now on one of these days Peter stood up among ^(C1)the brothers and sisters (a gathering of about a hundred and twenty believers was there) and he said,¹⁶ "Brothers and sisters, it was necessary that ^(C1)the Scripture be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the lips of David king of Israel about Judas Iscariot, ^(C2)who acted as guide to those who arrested Jesus.¹⁷ "For he (Judas) was ^(C1)counted among us and received his share by divine allotment in ^(C2)this ministry."¹⁸ (Now Judas Iscariot ^(F1)(C1)acquired a piece of land indirectly with ^(C2)the money paid him as a reward for his treachery, and falling headlong, his body burst open in the middle and all his intestines poured out.¹⁹ All the people in Jerusalem learned about this, so in ^(C1)their own dialect—Aramaic—they called the piece of land Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)²⁰ "For in the book of Psalms it is written,

'^(C1)LET HIS PLACE OF RESIDENCE BECOME DESOLATE,
AND LET THERE BE NO ONE TO LIVE IN IT';
and again,
'^(C2)LET ANOTHER TAKE HIS POSITION AS OVERSEER.' ^(VR1)