Acts 5 - Easy To Read Version

¹ There was a man named Ananias. His wife’s name was Sapphira. Ananias sold some land that he had.

² But he gave only part of the money to the apostles. {\cf2\super [84]} He secretly kept some of the money for himself. His wife knew this, and she agreed with it.

³ Peter said, “Ananias, why did you let Satan (the devil) rule your heart? You lied and tried to deceive (fool) the Holy Spirit. {\cf2\super [85]} You sold your field, but why did you keep part of the money for yourself?

^4-6 Before you sold the field, it belonged to you. And even after you sold it, you could have used the money any way you wanted. Why did you think of doing this bad thing? You lied to God, not to us men!”

⁷ About three hours later his wife (Sapphira) came in. Sapphira did not know about this thing that had happened to her husband.

⁸ Peter said to her, “Tell me how much money you got for your field. Was it this much (the amount Ananias had said)?”

⁹ Peter 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 that buried your husband are at the door! They will carry you out in the same way.”

¹⁰ At that moment Sapphira fell down by his feet and died. The young men came in and saw that she was dead. The men carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

¹¹ All the believers and all the other people that heard about these things were filled with fear.

¹² The apostles {\cf2\super [86]} did many miracles {\cf2\super [87]} and powerful things. All the people saw these things. The apostles were together in Solomon’s Porch {\cf2\super [88]} ; they all had the same purpose.

¹³ None of the other people felt worthy to stand with them. All the people were saying good things about the apostles.

¹⁴ And more and more people believed in the Lord (Jesus)—many men and women were added to the group of believers.

¹⁵ So the people brought their sick people into the streets. \{The people heard that\} Peter was coming by. So the people put their sick on little beds and mattresses. They thought that if the sick people could be close enough for Peter’s shadow to touch them, it would be enough to heal them.

¹⁶ People came from all the towns around Jerusalem. They brought their sick people and those that were bothered by evil spirits \{from the devil\}. All of these people were healed.

¹⁷ The high priest {\cf2\super [89]} and all his friends (a group called the Sadducees {\cf2\super [90]})became very jealous.

¹⁸ They grabbed the apostles {\cf2\super [91]} and put them in jail.

¹⁹ But 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 temple {\cf2\super [92]} yard. Tell the people everything about this new life \{in Jesus\}.”

²¹ When the apostles heard this, they obeyed and went to the temple area. It was early in the morning. The apostles began to teach the people.

²² When the men went to the jail, they could not find the apostles there. So they went back and told the Jewish leaders about this.

²³ The men said, “The jail was closed and locked. The guards were standing at the doors. But when we opened the doors, the jail was empty!”

²⁴ The captain of the temple guards and the leading priests heard this. They were confused. They wondered, “What will happen because of this?”

²⁵ Then another man came and told them, “Listen! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple yard. They are teaching the people!”

²⁶ Then the 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. The soldiers were afraid that the people would \{become angry and\} kill them (the soldiers) with rocks.

²⁷ The soldiers brought the apostles {\cf2\super [96]} to the meeting and made them stand before the Jewish leaders. The high priest {\cf2\super [97]} questioned the apostles.

²⁸ He said, “We told you never to teach about this man (Jesus)! But look what you have done! You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching. You are trying to make us responsible (guilty) for the death of this man (Jesus).”

²⁹ Peter and the other apostles {\cf2\super [98]} answered, “We must obey God, not you!

³⁰ You killed Jesus. You hung him on a cross. But God, the same God our fathers {\cf2\super [99]} had, raised Jesus up from death!

³¹ Jesus is the One that God raised to his right side. God made Jesus our Leader and Savior. God did this so that all Jews can change their hearts and lives. Then God can forgive their sins.

³² We saw all these things happen, and we can say these things are true. The Holy Spirit {\cf2\super [100]} also shows that these things are true. God has given the Spirit to all people that obey him.”

³³ The Jewish leaders heard these words. They became very angry. They began to plan a way to kill the apostles. {\cf2\super [101]}

³⁴ One of the Pharisees {\cf2\super [102]} in the meeting stood up. His name was Gamaliel. 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.

³⁵ Then he said to them, “Men of Israel, be careful of what you are planning to do to these men!

³⁶ Remember when Theudas appeared? He said that he was an important man. About 400 men joined him. But he was killed. And all who followed him were scattered and ran away. They were able to do nothing.

³⁷ Later, a man named Judas came from Galilee. It was at the time of the registration. {\cf2\super [103]} He led a group of followers, too. He was also killed. And all his followers were scattered and ran away.

³⁸ And so now I tell you: Stay away from these men. Leave them alone. If their plan comes from men, it will fail.

³⁹ But if this is from God, then you will not be able to stop them. You might even be fighting against God himself!”

⁴⁰ They called the apostles {\cf2\super [104]} in again. They beat the apostles and told them not to talk to people about Jesus again. Then they let the apostles go free.

⁴¹ The apostles left the meeting. The apostles were happy because they were given the honor of suffering dishonor (shame) for the name \{of Jesus\}.

⁴² The apostles did not stop teaching people. The apostles continued to tell the people the Good News—that Jesus is the Christ. {\cf2\super [105]} They did this every day in the temple {\cf2\super [106]} yard and in people’s homes.