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Ananias and Sapphira

¹There was a man named Ananias. His wife's name was Sapphira. Ananias sold some land he had, ²but he gave only part of the money to the apostlesa. He secretly kept some of the money for himself. His wife knew this, and she agreed with it.
³Peter said, "Ananias, why did you let Satanb fill your mind with such an idea? You kept part of the money for yourself and lied about it to the Holy Spiritc! ⁴Before you sold the field, it belonged to you, right? And even after you sold it, you could have used the money any way you wanted. How could you even think of doing such a thing? You lied to God, not to us!" ^5-⁶When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. Some young men came and wrapped his body. They carried it out and buried it. And everyone who heard about this was filled with fear.
⁷About three hours later his wife came in. Sapphira did not know about what had happened to her husband. ⁸Peter said to her, "Tell me how much money you got for your field. Was it this much?"
Sapphira answered, "Yes, that was all we got for the field."
⁹Peter said to her, "Why did you and your husband agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! Do you hear those footsteps? The men who buried your husband are at the door. They will carry you out in the same way." ¹⁰At that moment Sapphira fell down by his feet and died. The young men came in and saw that she was dead. They carried her out and buried her beside her husband. ¹¹The whole churchd and all the other people who heard about this were filled with fear.

Proofs From God ¹²The apostlesa were given the power to do many miraculous signse and wondersf among the people. They were together in Solomon's Porchg, and they all had the same purpose. ¹³None of the other people dared to stand with the apostles, but everyone was saying wonderful things about them. ¹⁴More and more people believed in the Lord, and many men and women were added to the group of believers. ¹⁵So the people brought those who were sick into the streets and put them on little beds and mats. They were hoping that Peter's shadow might fall on them as he walked by. ¹⁶People came from all the towns around Jerusalem. They brought those who were sick or troubled by evil spirits. All of them were healed.

The Apostles Are Arrested ¹⁷The high priesth and all his friends, a group called the Sadduceesi, became very jealous. ¹⁸They grabbed the apostlesa and put them in jail. ¹⁹But during the night, an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail. The angel led the apostles outside and said, ²⁰"Go and stand in the Templej area. Tell the people everything about this new life." ²¹When the apostles heard this, they did what they were told. They went into the Temple area about sunrise and began to teach the people.
The high priest and his friends came together and called a meeting of the high council and all the older Jewish leaders. They sent some men to the jail to bring the apostles to them. ²²When the men went to the jail, they could not find the apostles there. So they went back and told the Jewish leaders about this. ²³They said, "The jail was closed and locked. The guards were standing at the doors. But when we opened the doors, the jail was empty!" ²⁴The captain of the Temple guards and the leading priests heard this. They were confused and wondered what it all meant.
²⁵Then another man came and told them, "Listen! The men you put in jail are standing in the Temple area teaching the people." ²⁶The captain and his men went out and brought the apostles back. But the soldiers did not use force, because they were afraid of the people. They were afraid the people would stone them to death.
²⁷The soldiers brought the apostles in and made them stand before the council. The high priest questioned them. ²⁸He said, "We told you never again to teach using that namek. But look at what you have done! You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching. And you are trying to blame us for his death."
²⁹Peter and the other apostles answered, "We must obey God, not you! ³⁰You killed Jesus by nailing him to a cross. But God, the same God our fathersl had, raised Jesus up from death. ³¹Jesus is the one God honored by giving him a place at his right side. He made him our Leader and Savior. God did this to give all the people of Israelm the opportunity to change and turn to God to have their sins forgiven. ³²We saw all these things happen, and we can say that they are true. The Holy Spiritc also shows that these things are true. God has given this Spirit to all those who obey him."
³³When the council members heard this, they became very angry. They began to plan a way to kill the apostles. ³⁴But one member of the council, a Phariseen named Gamaliel, stood up. He was a teacher of the law, and all the people respected him. He told the men to make the apostles leave the meeting for a few minutes. ³⁵Then he said to them, "Men of Israel, be careful of what you are planning to do to these men. ³⁶Remember when Theudas appeared? He said he was an important man, and about 400 men joined him. But he was killed, and all who followed him were scattered and ran away. They were not able to do anything. ³⁷Later, during the time of the census, a man named Judas came from Galilee. Many people joined his group, but he was also killed, and all his followers were scattered. ³⁸And so now I tell you, stay away from these men. Leave them alone. If their plan is something they thought up, it will fail. ³⁹But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop them. You might even be fighting against God himself!"
The Jewish leaders agreed with what Gamaliel said. ⁴⁰They called the apostles in again. They beat them and told them not to speak anymore using the name of Jesus. Then they let them go free. ⁴¹The apostles left the council meeting. They were happy because they were given the honor of suffering dishonor for Jesus. ⁴²The apostles did not stop teaching the people. They continued to tell the Good Newso - that Jesus is the Messiahp. They did this every day in the Temple area and in people's homes.

^aapostle A follower of Jesus chosen to represent him in a special way. During his earthly ministry, Jesus named twelve men as apostles. They had the specific responsibility and authority to represent him and proclaim his message throughout the world. Later, he appeared to Paul and gave him a similar commission, especially to non-Jewish people. Barnabas, Paul’s missionary companion, and James, the brother of Jesus, are also called apostles, as well as several others in the New Testament. Some of these occurrences of the word, however, have the more general sense of “messenger” or “representative.”
^bSatan A name for the devil meaning “the enemy,” or “the accuser.”
^cHoly Spirit Also called the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and the Comforter. In union with God and Christ, he does God’s work among people in the world.
^dchurch Literally, “assembly” or “community,” the people who have been brought together as God’s family through their common faith in Jesus Christ. The word often refers to a group of believers who meet together or who live in the same area, but it is also used to mean the worldwide community of all believers in Christ.
^emiraculous sign An amazing act that demonstrates the power of God.
^fwonders Miracles that cause people to react with amazement and fear of God.
^gSolomon’s Porch An area on the east side of the Temple, covered by a roof.
^hhigh priest The most important priest and leader of the Israelites or the Jews, God’s people under the “old agreement.” Under the “new agreement” the high priest for God’s people is Jesus Christ. Read Heb. 7:11-8:13.
ⁱSadducees A leading Jewish religious group. They accepted only the first five books of the Old Testament and believed that people will not live again after death.
^jTemple The permanent building in Jerusalem that replaced the portable “Holy Tent” that was used by the Israelites from the time of their wandering in the desert to the reign of King Solomon, when the first Temple was built. Like the Holy Tent, the Temple was the center of Israelite worship, although provision was made for it to be “a house of prayer for all nations” (Isa. 56:7).
^k5:28 that name That is, Jesus’ name. The Jewish leaders avoided saying his name. See Acts 4:17, 18.
^lfathers Important ancestors of the Jewish people, especially the leaders of the tribes of Israel.
^mIsrael Another name for Jacob (see Gen. 32:24-28) and for the nation God chose to accomplish his plan of blessing the world through the Messiah (see “Messiah”). The people of Israel were the descendants of Jacob’s twelve sons. In the New Testament this name is sometimes used in a broader sense to mean all of God’s people.
ⁿPharisee A person who belonged to a Jewish religious group that claimed to follow carefully all Jewish laws and customs.
^oGood News In the Gospels this is usually the news about the coming of God’s kingdom (see above) or its representative Jesus the Messiah. In other places it is, more specifically, the news or message of God’s grace - that he has made a way through Jesus Christ for people to be made right with him and enjoy his blessings now and forever.
^pMessiah A Hebrew word that has the same meaning as the Greek word Christ (see “Christ”). It was a title for the kings of God’s people in the Old Testament and for the special king God promised to send as a “savior” to defeat evil and establish the reign of God. Many prophets made it clear that this new kingdom would be eternal; that is, not only would the promised Messiah bring about a time of justice and right living among God’s people here on earth, but also his kingdom would extend beyond this world to life forever with God. However, most Jews of the first century expected the Messiah to be a political ruler here on earth who would defeat the other nations and return the nation of Israel to a position of great glory and power. But God intended his Messiah to establish a new “Israel,” an eternal kingdom that would bless all the nations.