Công Vụ Các Sứ Đồ 4

Peter and John taken into custody

¹Peter and John were still speaking to the people when the priests, the commander of the temple guard and the Sadducees confronted them. ²These men were deeply irritated that the apostles were teaching the people and declaring that in Jesus there is resurrection from the dead. ³They took hold of them and, because evening had already come, kept them under guard until the next day. ⁴Even so, many who heard the message came to believe, and the count of men rose to about 5,000.^a

No other name under heaven

⁵The next day the people’s rulers, elders and experts in the law met together in Jerusalem. ⁶Annas the high priest was there, with Caiaphas, John, Alexander and all the others from the high priest’s family. ⁷They had the two men stand in the center of the gathering and began questioning them: “What sort of power, or what sort of name, did you use to do this?”^{b 8}Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Leaders of the people and elders, ⁹since we are being questioned today about a kindness done for a disabled man, and how he was made well, ¹⁰then all of you, and the whole people of Israel, must understand this. It was done in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified and whom God raised from the dead. Through him this man is standing in front of you, sound and whole.^{c 11}He is the stone that you builders scorned as worthless, and he has become the head of the corner. ¹²Salvation comes through no one but him. Under all of heaven God has given humankind no other name through which we are to be saved.”

We cannot stop speaking

¹³The council members saw how freely Peter and John spoke, and they realized these were men without formal schooling, just ordinary people. This astonished them, and they recognized that the two had been companions of Jesus. ¹⁴But with the healed man standing right there beside them, they could say nothing to refute it. ¹⁵So they ordered them to step out of the council room, and then they talked the matter over among themselves. ¹⁶They said, “What can we do with these men? A remarkable sign has clearly been done through them; the whole population of Jerusalem can see it, and there is no way we can say it did not happen. ¹⁷Still, this must not spread more widely among the people. Let us threaten them, so that they never again speak to anyone in this name.” ¹⁸They called the two men back and gave them a strict order: they were not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus in any way at all. ¹⁹But Peter and John answered them, “You must decide whether, in God’s sight, it is right to heed you rather than God. ²⁰For our part, we cannot stay silent about the things we have seen and heard.” ²¹The council threatened them still more and then set them free. They could see no way to punish them because of the people, who were all giving glory to God for what had happened. ²²This sign of healing had happened to a man more than forty years old.

The believers pray for boldness

²³As soon as they were set free, the two went back to their fellow believers and gave an account of everything the chief priests and elders had told them. ²⁴When they heard it, they lifted their voices to God together and prayed: “Sovereign Master, maker of heaven and earth, of the sea, and of everything they hold! ²⁵It was you who spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of our father David, your servant: ‘Why were the nations in an uproar, and why did the peoples scheme for nothing?^{d 26}The kings of the earth took up their positions, and the rulers joined forces against the Lord and against his Christ.’ ²⁷In truth, here in this very city, Herod and Pontius Pilate assembled with the nations and with the peoples of Israel against your holy servant Jesus, the one you anointed. ²⁸They carried out everything that your power and your purpose had already settled must take place. ²⁹Now, Lord, take notice of their threats. Let your slaves speak your word with complete boldness, ³⁰while you put out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” ³¹When they finished praying, the place where they had met shook, and every one of them was filled with the Holy Spirit, and they went on proclaiming God’s word fearlessly.

One heart and soul

³²The whole company of believers shared a single heart and soul. Not one of them treated anything they owned as theirs alone; everything they had belonged to them all. ³³With mighty power the apostles went on declaring that the Lord Jesus had risen, and God’s grace rested richly on them all.^{e 34}No one among them lacked anything, since any who owned fields or houses would sell them and bring what the sale had raised. ³⁵They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was shared out to each person as each one had need. ³⁶One of them was Joseph, a Levite born in Cyprus, to whom the apostles gave the name Barnabas, meaning “one who encourages.” ³⁷He sold a field that he owned, then brought the money and set it down at the apostles’ feet.