4:1 | WHILE they were still talking to the people the priests, the captain of the Temple guard and the Sadducees moved towards them, |
4:2 | thoroughly incensed that they should be teaching the people and should assure them that the resurrection of the dead had been proved through the rising of Jesus. |
4:3 | So they arrested them and, since it was now evening, kept them in custody until the next day. |
4:4 | Nevertheless, many of those who had heard what they said believed, and the number of men alone rose to about five thousand. |
4:5 | Next day the leading members of the council, the elders and scribes, |
4:6 | met in Jerusalem with Annas the High Priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and the whole of the High Priest's family. |
4:7 | They had the apostles brought in to stand before them and they asked them formally, "By what power and in whose name have you done this thing?" |
4:8 | At this Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, spoke to them, "Leaders of the people and elders, |
4:9 | if we are being called in question today over the matter of a kindness done to a helpless men and as to how he was healed, |
4:10 | it is high time that all of you and the whole people of Israel knew that it was done in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth! He is the one whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, and it is by his power that this man at our side stands in your presence perfectly well. |
4:11 | He is the 'stone which you builders rejected, which has now become the head of the corner'. |
4:12 | In no one else can salvation be found. For in all the world no other name has been given to men but this, and it is by this name that we must be saved!" |
4:13 | When they saw the complete assurance of Peter and John, who were in their view uneducated and untrained men, they were staggered, recognizing them as men who had been with Jesus. |
4:14 | Yet since they could see the man who had been cured standing beside them, they could find no effective reply. |
4:15 | All they could do was to order them out of the Sanhedrin and hold a conference among themselves. |
4:16 | "What are we going to do with these men?" they said to each other. "It is evident to everyone living in Jerusalem that an extraordinary miracle has taken place through them, and that is something we cannot deny. |
4:17 | Nevertheless, to prevent such a thing spreading further among the people, let us warn them that if they say anything more to anyone in this name it will be at their peril." |
4:18 | So they called them in and ordered them bluntly not to speak or teach a single further word to anyone in the name of Jesus. |
4:19 | But Peter and John gave them this reply: "Whether it is right in the eyes of God for us to listen to what you say rather than to what he says, you must decide; |
4:20 | for we cannot help speaking about what we have actually seen and heard!" |
4:21 | After further threats they let them go. They could not think of any way of punishing them because of the attitude of the people. Everybody was thanking God for what had happened |
4:22 | that this miracle of healing had taken place in a man who was more than forty years old. |
4:23 | After their release the apostles went hack to their friends and reported to them what the chief priests and elders had said to them. |
4:24 | When they heard it they raised their voices to God in united prayer and said, "Almighty Lord, thou art the one who hast made the heaven and the earth, the sea and all that is in them. |
4:25 | It was thou who didst speak by the Holy Spirit through the lips of our forefather David thy servant in the words: Why did the gentiles rage, and the peoples imagine vain things? |
4:26 | The kings of the earth set themselves in array, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord, and against his anointed: |
4:27 | For indeed in this city the rulers have joined together against thy holy servant, Jesus, thine anointedyes, Herod and Pontius Pilate, the gentiles and the peoples of Israel have gathered together |
4:28 | to carry out what thine hand and will had planned to happen. |
4:29 | And now, O Lord, observe their threats and give thy servants courage to speak thy word fearlessly, |
4:30 | while thou dost stretch out thine hand to heal, and cause signs and wonders to be performed in the name of thy holy servant Jesus." |
4:31 | When they had prayed their meetingplace was shaken; they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the Word of God fearlessly. |
4:32 | Among the large number who had become believers there was complete agreement of heart and soul. Not one of them claimed any of his possessions as his own but everything was common property. |
4:33 | The apostles continued to give their witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus with great force, and a wonderful spirit of generosity pervaded the whole fellowship. |
4:34 | Indeed, there was not a single person in need among them. For those who owned land or property would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales |
4:35 | and place them at the apostles' feet. They would distribute to each one if he were in need. |
4:36 | It was at this time that Barnabas (the name, meaning son of comfort, given by the apostles to Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus) |
4:37 | sold his farm and put the proceeds at the apostles' disposal. |