New Testament Plan

¹But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property,

²and kept back some of the proceeds for himself, with his wife’s full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles’ feet.

³But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the proceeds of the land?

⁴While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God.”

⁵And as he heard these words, Ananias collapsed and died; and great fear came over all who heard about it.

⁶The young men got up and covered him up, and after carrying him out, they buried him.

⁷Now an interval of about three hours elapsed, and his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

⁸And Peter responded to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for this price?” And she said, “Yes, for that price.”

⁹Then Peter said to her, “Why is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out as well.”

¹⁰And immediately she collapsed at his feet and died; and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

¹¹And great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard about these things.

¹²At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all together in Solomon’s portico.

¹³But none of the rest dared to associate with them; however, the people held them in high esteem.

¹⁴And increasingly believers in the Lord, large numbers of men and women, were being added to their number,

¹⁵to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on any of them.

¹⁶The people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together as well, bringing people who were sick or tormented with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed.

¹⁷But the high priest stood up, along with all his associates (that is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy.

¹⁸They laid hands on the apostles and put them in a public prison.

¹⁹But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the gates of the prison, and leading them out, he said,

²⁰“Go, stand and speak to the people in the temple area the whole message of this Life.”

²¹Upon hearing this, they entered into the temple area about daybreak and began to teach. Now when the high priest and his associates came, they called the Council together, that is, all the Senate of the sons of Israel, and sent orders to the prison for them to be brought.

²²But the officers who came did not find them in the prison; and they returned and reported,

²³saying, “We found the prison locked quite securely and the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.”

²⁴Now when the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them as to what would come of this.

²⁵But someone came and reported to them, “The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple area and teaching the people!”

²⁶Then the captain went along with the officers and proceeded to bring them back without violence (for they were afraid of the people, that they might be stoned).

²⁷When they had brought them, they had them stand before the Council. The high priest interrogated them,

²⁸saying, “We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this Man’s blood upon us.”

²⁹But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.

³⁰The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you put to death by hanging Him on a cross.

³¹He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.

³²And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”

³³But when they heard this, they became infuriated and nearly decided to execute them.

³⁴But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law, respected by all the people, stood up in the Council and gave orders to put the men outside for a short time.

³⁵And he said to them, “Men of Israel, be careful as to what you are about to do with these men.

³⁶For, some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and a group of about four hundred men joined him. But he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing.

³⁷After this man, Judas of Galilee appeared in the days of the census and drew away some people after him; he also perished, and all those who followed him were scattered.

³⁸And so in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and leave them alone, for if the source of this plan or movement is men, it will be overthrown;

³⁹but if the source is God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God.”

⁴⁰They followed his advice; and after calling the apostles in, they flogged them and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then released them.

⁴¹So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.

⁴²And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not stop teaching and preaching the good news of Jesus as the Christ.

¹Now at this time, as the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint developed on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food.

²So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables.

³Instead, brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task.

⁴But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

⁵The announcement found approval with the whole congregation; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch.

⁶And they brought these men before the apostles; and after praying, they laid their hands on them.

⁷The word of God kept spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.

⁸And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people.

⁹But some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and argued with Stephen.

¹⁰But they were unable to cope with his wisdom and the Spirit by whom he was speaking.

¹¹Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.”

¹²And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, and they came up to him and dragged him away, and brought him before the Council.

¹³They put forward false witnesses who said, “This man does not stop speaking against this holy place and the Law;

¹⁴for we have heard him say that this Nazarene, Jesus, will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses handed down to us.”

¹⁵And all who were sitting in the Council stared at him, and they saw his face, which was like the face of an angel.

¹Now the high priest said, “Are these things so?”

²And Stephen said, “Listen to me, brothers and fathers! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,

³and He said to him, ‘GO FROM YOUR COUNTRY AND YOUR RELATIVES, AND COME TO THE LAND WHICH I WILL SHOW YOU.’

⁴Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. And from there, after his father died, God had him move to this country in which you are now living.

⁵But He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground, and yet, He promised that He would give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him, even though he had no child.

⁶But God spoke to this effect, that his DESCENDANTS WOULD BE STRANGERS IN A LAND THAT WAS NOT THEIRS, AND THEY WOULD ENSLAVE AND MISTREAT them for four hundred years.

⁷‘AND WHATEVER NATION TO WHICH THEY ARE ENSLAVED I MYSELF WILL JUDGE,’ said God, ‘AND AFTER THAT THEY WILL COME OUT AND SERVE ME IN THIS PLACE.’

⁸And He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham fathered Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob, the twelve patriarchs.

⁹“The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt. Yet God was with him,

¹⁰and rescued him from all his afflictions, and granted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made him governor over Egypt and his entire household.

¹¹“Now a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction with it, and our fathers could find no food.

¹²But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time.

¹³And on the second visit, Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family was revealed to Pharaoh.

¹⁴Then Joseph sent word and invited his father Jacob and all his relatives to come to him, seventy-five people in all.

¹⁵And Jacob went down to Egypt, and he and our fathers died there.

¹⁶And they were brought back from there to Shechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

¹⁷“But as the time of the promise which God had assured to Abraham was approaching, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt,

¹⁸until ANOTHER KING AROSE OVER EGYPT WHO DID NOT KNOW JOSEPH.

¹⁹It was he who shrewdly took advantage of our nation and mistreated our fathers in order that they would abandon their infants in the Nile, so that they would not survive.

²⁰At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful to God. He was nurtured for three months in his father’s home.

²¹And after he had been put outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and nurtured him as her own son.

²²Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was proficient in speaking and action.

²³But when he was approaching the age of forty, it entered his mind to visit his countrymen, the sons of Israel.

²⁴And when he saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended and took vengeance for the oppressed man by fatally striking the Egyptian.

²⁵And he thought that his brothers understood that God was granting them deliverance through him; but they did not understand.

²⁶And on the following day he appeared to them as they were fighting each other, and he tried to reconcile them to peace, by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers, why are you injuring each other?’

²⁷But the one who was injuring his neighbor pushed him away, saying, ‘WHO MADE YOU A RULER AND JUDGE OVER US?

²⁸YOU DO NOT INTEND TO KILL ME AS YOU KILLED THE EGYPTIAN YESTERDAY, DO YOU?’

²⁹At this remark, MOSES FLED AND BECAME A STRANGER IN THE LAND OF MIDIAN, where he fathered two sons.

³⁰“After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning thorn bush.

³¹When Moses saw it, he was astonished at the sight; and as he approached to look more closely, the voice of the Lord came:

³²‘I AM THE GOD OF YOUR FATHERS, THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND ISAAC, AND JACOB.’ Moses shook with fear and did not dare to look closely.

³³But the LORD said to him, ‘REMOVE YOUR SANDALS FROM YOUR FEET, FOR THE PLACE ON WHICH YOU ARE STANDING IS HOLY GROUND.

³⁴I HAVE CERTAINLY SEEN THE OPPRESSION OF MY PEOPLE WHO ARE IN EGYPT, AND HAVE HEARD THEIR GROANING, AND I HAVE COME DOWN TO RESCUE THEM; AND NOW COME, I WILL SEND YOU TO EGYPT.’

³⁵“This Moses whom they disowned, saying, ‘WHO MADE YOU A RULER AND A JUDGE?’ is the one whom God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the help of the angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush.

³⁶This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years.

³⁷This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR COUNTRYMEN.’

³⁸This is the one who was in the assembly in the wilderness together with the angel who spoke to him at length on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received living words to pass on to you.

³⁹Our fathers were unwilling to be obedient to him; on the contrary they rejected him and turned back to Egypt in their hearts,

⁴⁰saying to Aaron, ‘MAKE US A GOD WHO WILL GO BEFORE US; FOR THIS MOSES WHO LED US OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT—WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM.’

⁴¹At that time they made a calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in the works of their hands.

⁴²But God turned away and gave them over to serve the heavenly lights; as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘YOU DID NOT OFFER ME VICTIMS AND SACRIFICES FOR FORTY YEARS IN THE WILDERNESS, DID YOU, HOUSE OF ISRAEL?

⁴³YOU ALSO TOOK ALONG THE TABERNACLE OF MOLOCH AND THE STAR OF YOUR GOD ROMPHA, THE IMAGES WHICH YOU MADE TO WORSHIP. I ALSO WILL DEPORT YOU BEYOND BABYLON.’

⁴⁴“Our fathers had the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as He who spoke to Moses directed him to make it according to the pattern which he had seen.

⁴⁵Our fathers in turn received it, and they also brought it in with Joshua upon dispossessing the nations that God drove out from our fathers, until the time of David.

⁴⁶David found favor in God’s sight, and asked that he might find a dwelling place for the house of Jacob.

⁴⁷But it was Solomon who built a house for Him.

⁴⁸However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet says:

⁴⁹‘HEAVEN IS MY THRONE, AND THE EARTH IS THE FOOTSTOOL OF MY FEET; WHAT KIND OF HOUSE WILL YOU BUILD FOR ME?’ says the Lord, ‘OR WHAT PLACE IS THERE FOR MY REST?

⁵⁰WAS IT NOT MY HAND THAT MADE ALL THESE THINGS?’

⁵¹“You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did.

⁵²Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, and you have now become betrayers and murderers of Him;

⁵³you who received the Law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.”

⁵⁴Now when they heard this, they were infuriated, and they began gnashing their teeth at him.

⁵⁵But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God;

⁵⁶and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

⁵⁷But they shouted with loud voices, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one mind.

⁵⁸When they had driven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and the witnesses laid aside their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul.

⁵⁹They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”

⁶⁰Then he fell on his knees and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he fell asleep.