In the account I put together previously, I wrote about everything that Jesus did and taught from the time he began his ministry2 up to the day when, after giving instructions by the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen for himself, he was taken up. 3 To these men he also presented himself alive again, after his suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking to them about the things written concerning the Kingdom of God. 4 On one occasion while he was with them, he told them that they were Jerusalem not to leave, but were to wait for what was promised by the Father. “This promise ᵖyou have heard me talk about,” he said. 5 “Whereas John baptized with+ water, ᵖyou will be baptized in just a few days from now with the Holy Spirit.”

6 Therefore, while the apostles, on the one hand, when they had gathered together, kept asking him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the Kingdom to Israel?”, 7 Jesus replied to them, “It is not for ᵖyou yourselves to know the appointed times and seasons that the Father has set by his own authority. 8 Yet ᵖyou will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and will bear solemn witness about me in Jerusalem and throughout Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.”

9 And these things having said, while they were watching, Jesus was taken up, and a cloud lifted him up from their view. 10 They were staring very intently into the sky as he was going, when suddenly there standing near them were two men, dressed in white clothing. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here looking into the sky? Jesus, who was taken up from ᵖyou into heaven, will come back in this same way—the very way you saw him going up into the sky.”

12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives (which is near Jerusalem, about a half a mile away), 13 and upon arriving it was the upstairs room to which they went, located in the tower above the house where they were temporarily staying. They were Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. 14 These men, all of them, were constantly gathering and praying together, along with the women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and Jesus’ brothers.

15 During this period, Peter stood up where the other believers could see him (it was a gathering of about a hundred and twenty people) and said, 16 “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, namely, the passage where the Holy Spirit spoke in advance by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became the guide for those who arrested Jesus— 17 he belonged to our group and was allotted a share in this ministry.” 18 (Now then, this man purchased a field with the money he received for his wicked act, and falling headfirst, his belly burst open and all his intestines spilled out. 19 News of what happened became to all the residents of Jerusalem well-known. As a result, that field is referred to in their own language as Hakeldama, which means, “Field of Blood.”) 20 “Indeed,” Peter continued, “it is written in the Book of Psalms: