Peter and John before the Jewish_Council
1Peter and John were talking to the people when the priests and the officer of the temple-guards and Sadducees came to them. 2They were very angry and upset because Peter and John told the people that if they believed in Jesus, then they would live again after they had died. 3The temple-guards arrested Peter and John and put them in jail until the next day because evening came and it was getting dark. 4But a lot of people who heard what Peter and John said started to believe in Christ. There were about 5 000 men who believed in Him. 5The next morning the Jewish_leaders and family leaders and the teachers_of_the_Laws came to Jerusalem. 6Annas was the high-priest and with him were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and all the other men who were family of the high-priest. 7They told Peter and John to stand in the middle of the leaders and they asked them: ‘Who gave you the power when you healed the cripple man? Who sent you to do it? What name did you use?’
8Peter was full of the Holy_Spirit and he said: ‘Leaders of our people and family leaders, 9you accuse us today because we have done something good to a sick man, and you want to know how we healed the cripple man. 10There is something that you and all the Israelites must know. It was Jesus of Nazareth who healed this man. You crucified Jesus, but God has raised Him again. He is alive. 11This Jesus
“is the stone and you are the builders.
You did not want to use this stone,
but He is the most important stone of all.”
12Only Jesus has the power to save people. His name is the only name in all the world that can save a person. God has not given any other name to save us.’
13The Jewish_leaders were surprised when they saw that Peter and John were not afraid to talk about Jesus. They knew that Peter and John had not gone to school and they did not know the laws of Moses well, and that they had not learned to speak in front of other people. They also knew that Peter and John were disciples of Jesus. 14But they saw that the cripple man was healed. He was standing with Peter and John and that is why they could say nothing against the apostles. 15Then they told Peter and John to go and wait outside the Jewish_Council and they talked to each other. 16They said: ‘What can we do with these men? Everyone in Jerusalem knows that God has helped them to do this miracle, and we can not say it did not happen. 17But we must stop them. They must never tell anyone about Jesus again.’
18They called Peter and John to come and stand before them again and they told Peter and John that they must never speak or preach about Jesus again. 19But Peter and John answered them: ‘What do you think: Must we listen to you or must we listen to God? What does God want? You can decide. 20But we can not keep quiet about what we saw and heard. We will go on telling people about Jesus.’
21The Jewish_leaders warned Peter and John again and they let them go, because the leaders did not know why they could punish Peter and John. The leaders were also afraid of the people because everyone praised God for what had happened. 22They also let Peter and John go away because the cripple man, who had been healed by this miracle, was more than 40 years old.
The prayer of the believers
23The Jewish_leaders said Peter and John could go home. They went to the other believers and told them everything that the chief_priests and family leaders had told them. 24When the believers heard this, they prayed to God and said: ‘Lord, you have made the heaven and the earth, the sea and everything on earth. 25Your Holy_Spirit talked to David, our forefather, and David wrote:
“Why are all the Gentiles angry?
Why did they make plans that did not help them?
26The kings of the world have rebelled,
and the rulers have come together
to make plans against God
and his anointed one.”
27This is what really happened here in Jerusalem. King Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the Israelites came together against your holy Servant, Jesus, the One that You have anointed. 28They did what You had decided long ago. And what You decide will happen.
29Lord, they keep on saying that they will punish us. You must please help us now. Help us, your servants, not to be afraid to tell the people about your message. 30Show the people your power and heal them. Let signs and miracles happen when we say the name of your holy Servant Jesus.’
31When they had finished praying, God did a miracle and the house where they were started to shake. They were filled with the Holy_Spirit, and they were not afraid. They preached the Word of God to all the people.
The believers help other believers
32The group of believers all felt the same way about everything. They shared everything. 33The apostles preached with power and they told the people that after Jesus had died, God had made Him come alive again. God was very good to all the believers. 34They had everything that they needed. The believers who had farms or houses sold them and they gave the money 35to the apostles, who gave the money to the poor people who needed something. 36There was a man whose name was Joseph, but the apostles named him Barnabas. The name Barnabas means ‘Someone who helps other people and makes them strong’.
Barnabas was a Levite. He came from the Island of Cyprus. 37He was one of the believers who sold his land and gave the money to the apostles.
