Acts
Chapter 4: 1-22
Peter and John Before the Sanhedrin
1
The priests and the captain
of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking
to the people. 2They were greatly disturbed because the
apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 3They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put
them in jail until the next day. 4But many who heard the
message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.
5The next
day the rulers, elders and teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. 6Annas
the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and the other men of the
high priest's family. 7They had Peter and John brought before
them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”
8Then
Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! 9If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness
shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, 10then
know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands
before you healed. 11He is
“ ‘the stone you
builders rejected,
which has become the capstone.’ 12Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name
under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
13When they
saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men,
they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. 14But since they could see the man who had been healed standing
there with them, there was nothing they could say. 15So they
ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. 16“What are we going to do with these men?” they asked.
“Everybody living in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle, and we
cannot deny it. 17But to stop this thing from spreading any
further among the people, we must warn these men to speak no longer to anyone in this
name.”
18Then they
called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.
19But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves
whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. 20For
we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
21After
further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all
the people were praising God for what had happened. 22For the
man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.
