Acts 5:17-42.

Acts 5:17-42 (Good News Translation)

 17Then the High Priest and all his companions, members of the local party
of the Sadducees, became extremely jealous of the apostles; so they
decided to take action.
          18They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.
          19But that night an angel of the Lord opened the prison gates,
led the apostles out, and said to them,

          20"Go and stand in the Temple, and tell the people all about
this new life."
          21The apostles obeyed, and at dawn they entered the Temple and
started teaching.

         The High Priest and his companions called together all the
Jewish elders for a full meeting of the Council; then they sent orders to
the prison to have the apostles brought before them.
          22But when the officials arrived, they did not find the
apostles in prison, so they returned to the Council and reported,

          23"When we arrived at the jail, we found it locked up tight and
all the guards on watch at the gates; but when we opened the gates, we
found no one inside!"
          24When the chief priests and the officer in charge of the
Temple guards heard this, they wondered what had happened to the apostles.
          25Then a man came in and said to them,
         "Listen! The men you put in prison are in the Temple teaching
the people!"
          26So the officer went off with his men and brought the apostles
back. They did not use force, however, because they were afraid that the
people might stone them.
          27They brought the apostles in, made them stand before the
Council, and the High Priest questioned them.


          28"We gave you strict orders not to teach in the name of this
man," he said;
         "but see what you have done! You have spread your teaching all
over Jerusalem, and you want to make us responsible for his death!"
          29Peter and the other apostles answered,
         We must obey God, not men.
          30The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from death, after you
had killed him by nailing him to a cross.
          31God raised him to his right side as Leader and Savior, to
give the people of Israel the opportunity to repent and have their sins
forgiven.
          32We are witnesses to these things—we and the Holy Spirit,
who is God's gift to those who obey him.

          33When the members of the Council heard this, they were so
furious that they wanted to have the apostles put to death.
          34But one of them, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, who was a teacher
of the Law and was highly respected by all the people, stood up in the
Council. He ordered the apostles to be taken out for a while,
          35and then he said to the Council,
         Fellow Israelites, be careful what you do to these men.
          36You remember that Theudas appeared some time ago, claiming to
be somebody great, and about four hundred men joined him. But he was
killed, all his followers were scattered, and his movement died out.
          37After that, Judas the Galilean appeared during the time of
the census; he drew a crowd after him, but he also was killed, and all his
followers were scattered.
          38And so in this case, I tell you, do not take any action
against these men. Leave them alone! If what they have planned and done is
of human origin, it will disappear,

          39but if it comes from God, you cannot possibly defeat them.
You could find yourselves fighting against God!


         The Council followed Gamaliel's advice.
          40They called the apostles in, had them whipped, and ordered
them never again to speak in the name of Jesus; and then they set them
free.
          41As the apostles left the Council, they were happy, because
God had considered them worthy to suffer disgrace for the sake of Jesus.
          42And every day in the Temple and in people's homes they
continued to teach and preach the Good News about Jesus the Messiah.

God bless you.

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Prayer

Matthew 5:23-24