Ananias and Sapphira are Punished

5 But then a man named Ananias, with the consent of his wife Sapphira, sold some property. ² With his wife’s full knowledge, he kept back some of the money for himself and brought the remainder and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

³ Peter asked, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart so that you should lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back some of the money you got for the land? ⁴ As long as it remained unsold, wasn’t it your own? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? So how could you have thought of doing what you did? You didn’t lie only^[a] to men, but also^[b] to God!”

⁵ When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and died. And great fear seized everyone who heard about it. ⁶ The young men got up, wrapped him up, carried him outside, and buried him. ⁷ After an interval of about three hours, Ananias’^[c] wife came in, not knowing what had happened. ⁸ So Peter asked her, “Tell me, did you sell the land for that price?”

She answered, “Yes, that was the price.”

⁹ “How could you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord?” Peter asked her. “Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and these men^[d] will carry you outside as well.” ¹⁰ She instantly fell down at Peter’s^[e] feet and died. When the young men came in, they found her dead. So they carried her out and buried her next to her husband. ¹¹ And great fear seized the whole church and everyone else who heard about this.

The Apostles Perform Many Miracles

¹² Now many signs and wonders were being performed by the apostles among the people, who were gathered together in Solomon’s Colonnade. ¹³ None of the others dared join them, although the rest of the people continued to hold them in high regard. ¹⁴ Nevertheless, believers were being added to the Lord in increasing numbers—both men and women. ¹⁵ As a result, people^[f] kept carrying their sick into the streets and placing them on stretchers and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he went by. ¹⁶ Crowds continued coming in—even from the towns around Jerusalem—bringing their sick and those who were troubled by unclean spirits, and all of them were healed.

The Apostles are Tried before the Jewish Council

¹⁷ Then the high priest and all those from the sect of the Sadducees who were with him were filled with jealousy. So they went out, ¹⁸ arrested the apostles, and put them in the city jail. ¹⁹ But at night the angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and led them out. The angel^[g] told them, ²⁰ “Go, stand in the Temple, and keep on telling the people the whole message about this life they can have.”^[h]

²¹ After the apostles^[i] heard this, they went into the Temple at daybreak and began to teach. The high priest and those who were with him arrived, called the Council^[j] and all the elders of Israel together, and sent word^[k] to the prison to have the men brought in. ²² When the Temple police got there, they did not find them in the prison. They came back and reported, ²³ “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” ²⁴ When the commander of the Temple guards and the high priests heard these words, they were utterly at a loss as to what could have happened to them.

²⁵ Then someone came and told them, “Look! The men you put in prison are standing in the Temple and teaching the people!” ²⁶ So the commander of the Temple guards went with his men to bring them back without force, because they were afraid of being stoned to death by the people. ²⁷ When they brought them back, they made them stand before the Council,^[l] and the high priest began to question them. ²⁸ He said, “We gave you strict orders not to teach in his name, didn’t we? Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to bring this man’s blood on us!”

²⁹ But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men! ³⁰ The God of our ancestors raised Jesus to life after you killed him by hanging him on a tree. ³¹ God has exalted to his right hand this very man as our Leader and Savior in order to extend repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. ³² We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who keep on obeying him.”

³³ When the Council^[m] heard this, they became furious and wanted to kill them. ³⁴ But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law who was respected by all the people, stood up in the Council^[n] and ordered the men to be taken outside for a little while. ³⁵ Then he told them, “Fellow Israelis, consider carefully what you propose to do to these men. ³⁶ For in the recent past Theudas appeared, claiming that he was important, and about 400 men joined him. He was killed, and all his followers were dispersed and disappeared. ³⁷ After that man, at the time of the census, Judas the Galilean appeared and got people to follow him. He, too, died, and all his followers were scattered.

³⁸ “I’m telling you to keep away from these men for now. Leave them alone, because if this plan or movement is of human origin, it will fail. ³⁹ However, if it’s from God, you won’t be able to stop them, and you may even discover that you are fighting against God!”

So they were convinced by him. ⁴⁰ After calling in the apostles and beating them, they again^[o] ordered them to stop speaking in the name of Jesus and let them go. ⁴¹ They left the Council,^[p] rejoicing to have been considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the Name. ⁴² Every day in the Temple and from house to house they kept teaching and proclaiming that Jesus is the Messiah.^[q]