When they heard it they were stricken to the heart, and they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles: Men and brothers, what shall we do? Peter said to them: Repent, and let each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit; since for you is the promise, and for your children and for all those far away whom the Lord our God summons to him.
And in many more words he charged them and exhorted them, saying: Be saved from this crooked generation. And those who accepted his word were baptized, and something like three thousand souls were brought over on that day. And they held fast to the teaching of the apostles, their life in common, their breaking of bread, and their prayers. And there was fear in every soul, and many portentous things and miracles were wrought by the apostles. And all those who believed had everything in one place and in common, and they sold their property and belongings and shared all as each one might have need; and every day they would attend at the temple together, and break their bread at home, and share their food in cheerfulness and innocence of heart, praising God and in favor with the whole population. And every day the Lord added more who were saved to their number.
1 Peter and John went up to the temple at the hour for prayer, the ninth hour; and there was a man being carried there who had been lame from his mother's womb. Every day they would lay him down by the gate of the temple which is called the Beautiful Gate, to beg for charity from the people going into the temple. When this man saw Peter and John about to enter the temple, he asked for charity. Peter, together with John, stared at him and said: Look at us. The man turned toward them, expecting to get something from them. But Peter said: I have no silver or gold. But what I do have, I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk. And he gripped him by the right hand and pulled him up; and suddenly his feet and his ankles became strong, and he sprang up and stood and walked, and went into the temple with them, walking and bounding and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God, and they knew that this was the man who had sat begging by the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
As he clung to Peter and John, aU the people, in wonderment, ran up to them at the porch which is called the Porch of Solomon. When Peter saw them he spoke forth to the people, saying: Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this? Or why do you stare at us as if by our own power or piety we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his son Jesus, whom you betrayed and denied before Pilate, when Pilate judged that he should be released; but you denied the holy and righteous man, and demanded that a murderer be given you as your gift; and you killed the author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And by faith in his name, his name gave strength to this man whom you see before your eyes, and the faith, through him, gave this man full health in the sight of you all.
Now I know, brothers, that you acted in ignorance, and so did your leaders; but God thus fulfilled the sufferings of his Christ which he had foretold through the mouths of all the prophets. Repent, therefore, and tum yourselves to wiping out your sins, so that times may come for relief from the face of the Lord and for him to send Jesus, appointed to be your Christ, whom heaven must receive until the time of the restoration of all things, time of which God has spoken from eternity through the mouths of his holy prophets. Moses said: The Lord God will raise up a prophet from among your brothers; as he did me. Listen to everything he says to you.
And every soul which does not listen to that prophet shall be eradicated from the people. And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors, have predicted these days. You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham: And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. It was for you first that God raised up his son and sent him to you to bless you by turning each one of you away from his wickedness.
1 As they were speaking to the people, the high priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees were upon them, angry because they were teaching the people and announcing in the name of Jesus the resurrection from the dead; and they laid hands on them and put them in prison until the next day, since it was now evening. But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of these men came to about five thousand.
And it happened that on the next morning the chief men and the elders and the scribes assembled in Jerusalem; and also Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas and John and Alexander and all who were of the high priest's family; and they stood them in their midst and questioned them, saying: By what power and in what name have you done this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: Chief men of the people and elders, if, in the matter of helping a sick man, we are being asked today by whom he has been saved, let it be known to you all and to all the people of Israel that it was in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead; it is through him that this man stands before you, a healthy man. He is the stone that was despised by you, the builders, which has come to be at the head of the corner. And salvation is not in anyone else, for there is no other name given to men under heaven by which we must be saved.
And seeing the boldness of Peter and John, and realizing that they were plain, unlettered men, they marveled, and they knew that they had been with Jesus, and when they saw the man standing with them, healed, they had nothing to say in reply. So they told them to leave the council, and they consulted together, saying: What shall we do with these men? Since a proved miracle has been done by them which is plain to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it; but to keep this from being spread about further among the people, let us order them under threat to say no more to anyone in this name. Then they called them back in and ordered them absolutely not to speak and not to teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them: Judge whether it is right before God to listen to you rather than to God; since we are not able to keep from speaking of what we have seen and heard. They threatened them and let them go without finding any way to punish them, because of the people, since all were glorifying God over what had happened; for the man whom this miracle of healing had befallen was over forty years old.
When they were let go they went back to their own people and reported to them what the high priests and the elders had said. When they heard, of one accord they raised their voices to God and said: Lord, you who made the sky and the earth and the sea and all things that are in them, you said through the Holy Spirit by the mouth of David, our father and your servant: Why were the nations enraged and the peoples full of vain designs? The kings of the earth came on, and their leaders were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ. For in truth in this city there were gathered against your holy son Jesus, whom you anointed, Herod and Pontius Pilate with the nations and peoples of Israel, to do what your hand and your will had foreordained to be done. And now, Lord, take note of their threats and grant to your slaves that they may speak your word with freedom, through your stretching out your hand to make healing and miracles and portents take place through the name of your holy son Jesus. And when they prayed, the place in which they were assembled was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with freedom.