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The Promise of the Holy Spirit

In my first book[a] I told you, Theophilus, about everything Jesus began to do and teach until the day he was taken up to heaven after giving his chosen apostles further instructions through the Holy Spirit. During the forty days after he suffered and died, he appeared to the apostles from time to time, and he proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive. And he talked to them about the Kingdom of God.

Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. John baptized with[b] water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

The Ascension of Jesus

So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”

He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. 10 As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!”

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Footnotes

  1. 1:1 The reference is to the Gospel of Luke.
  2. 1:5 Or in; also in 1:5b.

Jesus Taken Up Into Heaven

In my former book,(A) Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach(B) until the day he was taken up to heaven,(C) after giving instructions(D) through the Holy Spirit to the apostles(E) he had chosen.(F) After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them(G) over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.(H) On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait(I) for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.(J) For John baptized with[a] water,(K) but in a few days you will be baptized with[b] the Holy Spirit.”(L)

Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore(M) the kingdom to Israel?”

He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.(N) But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you;(O) and you will be my witnesses(P) in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria,(Q) and to the ends of the earth.”(R)

After he said this, he was taken up(S) before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white(T) stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,”(U) they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back(V) in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 1:5 Or in
  2. Acts 1:5 Or in