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¹ BUT a certain man called An-a-ni''as, to gether with his wife named Shapphi''ra, sold his field.² And he took some of the price and hid it, and his wife also knew of it, and he brought some of the money and placed it at the disposal of the apostles.³ And Simon Peter said to him, An-a-ni''as, why has Satan so filled your heart that you should lie to the Holy Spirit and hide part of the money of the price of the field?⁴ Was it not your own before you sold it? And after it was sold, had you not the sole authority over its price? What made you think to do this thing? You have not only lied to men but to God.⁵ And when An-a-ni''as heard these words, he fell down and died; and great fear came upon all of those who heard these things.⁶ The younger men among them arose, and moved his body aside. Then they took him out and buried him.⁷ Three hours later his wife also came in, not knowing what had happened.⁸ Simon Peter said to her, Tell me if you sold the field for this price? She said, Yea, for this price.⁹ Then Simon Peter said to her, Because you have been partners to tempt the Spirit of the LORD, behold the feet of the men who have buried your husband are at the door, and they shall carry you out also.¹⁰ And in that very hour she fell down at their feet and died, and the young men came in and found her dead, and they picked her up and carried her away and buried her by the side of her husband.¹¹ And great fear came upon all the congregation and upon all who heard what had happened.

¹² Many miracles and signs were wrought among the people by the apostles, and they were all gathered together in the portico * of Solomon.¹³ And of the unbelievers, no one dared to interfere with them, but the people held them in respect.¹⁴ And the number of those who believed in the LORD was greatly increased by multitudes, both of men and women.¹⁵ They even brought out the sick into the streets and laid them on bed quilts so that when Simon Peter should happen to pass by, his shadow might fall upon them.¹⁶ Many came to them from other cities around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and mentally afflicted, and they were all healed.

¹⁷ Then the high priest was filled with jealousy and all of those who were with him, for they were adherents to the teachings of the Sad''du-cees,¹⁸ So they laid hold on the apostles and arrested them and bound them in prison.¹⁹ But during the night, the angel of the LORD opened the door of the prison and brought them forth and said to them,²⁰ Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all these words of life.²¹ Accordingly they went out early in morning and entered into the temple and taught the people. But the high priest and those who were with him called their associates and the elders of Israel, and sent to the prison to bring the apostles.²² And when those who were sent by them, went, and did not find them in the prison, they returned,²³ Saying, We found the prison carefully locked and also the guards standing at the doors; and we opened them but found no man there.²⁴ When the high priest and the leaders of the temple heard these words, they were astonished at them and they were reasoning how it could happen,²⁵ When a man came and informed them, Behold! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.

²⁶ Then the leaders went with the soldiers to bring them, not by force, for they were afraid that the people might stone them.²⁷ And when they had brought them, they made them stand before the whole council, and the high priest proceeded,²⁸ Saying, Did we not strictly command you not to teach any man in this name? And behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine; and intend to bring the blood of this man upon us.²⁹ Then Simon Peter with the rest of the apostles answered and said to them, We must obey God rather than men.³⁰ The God of our fathers has raised up Jesus whom you murdered when you crucified him on the cross.³¹ This very one God has appointed a Prince and a Saviour, and has lifted him up by his right hand so that he may grant repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.³² And we are the witnesses of these words; so is also the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who believe in him.³³ When they heard these words, they were enraged and thought to murder the apostles.³⁴ Then one of the Phar''i-sees whose name was Ga-ma''li-el, a teacher of the law and honored by all the people, rose up and ordered them to take the apostles outside for a little while;³⁵ Then he said to them, Men of Israel, take heed to yourselves, and find out what is the best for you to do about these men.³⁶ For before these days, rose up Theu''das, boasting himself to be a great man; and about four hundred men followed him: he was slain; and those who followed him were scattered and nothing came of them.³⁷ After him rose up Judas, the Gal-i-le''an, in the days when people were registering for the head tax, and he misled many people into following him. He died; and all of those who followed him were dispersed.³⁸ So now I tell you, Keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this thought and this work is of men, it will fail and pass away.³⁹ But if it be of God, you cannot suppress it, lest perchance you find yourself standing in opposition to God.⁴⁰ And they listened to him, and they called the apostles, and scourged them, and commanded them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.⁴¹ The apostles went out from the presence of the council rejoicing that they had been worthy to suffer abuse for the sake of his name.⁴² And they did not cease to teach daily in the temple and at home and to preach concerning our LORD Jesus Christ.