Bible in Basic English
The Acts, 5
Apostles in Prison
5:1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, got money for his property,
5:2 And kept back part of the price, his wife having knowledge of it, and took the rest and put it at the feet of the Apostles.
5:3 But Peter said, Ananias, why has the Evil One put it into your heart to be false to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land ?
5:4 While you had it, was it not your property ? and after you had given it in exchange, was it not still in your power ? how has this purpose come into your mind? you have been false, not to men, but to God.
5:5 And at these words, Ananias went down on the earth, and his life went from him: and great fear came on all who were present.
5:6 And the young men went and made ready his body, and took it out, and put it in the earth.
5:7 And about three hours after, his wife, having no knowledge of what had taken place, came in.
5:8 And Peter said to her, Give me an answer : was this amount of money the price of the land ? And she said, Yes, it was.
5:9 But Peter said to her, Why have you made an agreement together to be false to the Spirit of the Lord? See, the feet of the young men who have put the body of your husband in the earth, are at the door, and they will take you out.
5:10 And straight away she went down at his feet, and her life went from her : and the young men came in and saw her dead, and they took her out and put her in the earth with her husband.
5:11 Then great fear came on all the church and on all who had knowledge of these things.
5:12 Now a number of signs and wonders were done among the people by the hands of the Apostles ; and they were all together in Solomon's covered way.
5:13 The others, in fear, kept back from joining them : but the people made much of them;
5:14 And a great number of men and women had faith, and were joined to the Lord;
5:15 And they even took into the streets people who were ill, and put them on beds, so that when Peter went by, some of them might be in his shade.
5:16 And numbers of people came together from the towns round about Jerusalem, with those who were ill and those who were troubled with unclean spirits : and they were all made well.
5:17 But the high priest and those who were with him (the Sadducees) were full of envy,
5:18 And they took the Apostles and put them in the common prison.
5:19 But in the night an angel of the Lord, opening the doors of the prison, took them out and said,
5:20 Go, take your place in the Temple and give the people all the teaching about this Life.
5:21 And hearing this, they went into the Temple at dawn, and were teaching. But the high priest and those who were with him got together the Sanhedrin and the representatives of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to get them.
5:22 But the men who were sent saw that they were not in the prison, and came back with the news,
5:23 Saying, The doors of the prison were safely shut, and the keepers were at the doors, but when they were open, there was nobody inside.
5:24 Now, at these words, the captain of the Temple and the chief priests were greatly troubled about what might be the end of this business.
5:25 And someone came and said to them, The men, whom you put in prison, are in the Temple teaching the people.
5:26 Then the captain and some of the police went and took them, but not violently, for fear that they might be stoned by the people.
5:27 And they took them into the Sanhedrin, and the high priest said to them,
5:28 We gave you very clear orders not to give teaching in this name : and now Jerusalem is full of your teaching, and you are attempting to make us responsible for this man's death.
5:29 But Peter and the Apostles, answering, said, We have to do the orders of God, not of man.
5:30 The God of our fathers gave Jesus back to life, whom you had put to death, hanging him on a tree.
5:31 Him God has put on high at his right hand, as a Ruler and a Saviour, to give to Israel a change of heart and forgiveness of sins.
5:32 And we are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who keep his laws.
5:33 But when these words came to their ears, they were cut to the heart, and had a mind to put them to death.
5:34 But one of the Sanhedrin, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a man of learning in the law, of whom all the people had a high opinion, got up and made a suggestion for the men to be put outside for a little time.
5:35 And he said to them, Men of Israel, take care what you do about these men.
5:36 For before this there was Theudas, who said he was someone important, to whom about four hundred men gave their support: he was put to death, and his band was broken up and came to nothing.
5:37 After this man, there was Judas of Galilee, at the time of the numbering, and some of the people went after him: he was put to death, and all his supporters were put to flight.
5:38 And now I say to you, Do nothing to these men, but let them be: for if this teaching or this work is of men, it will come to nothing :
5:39 But if it is of God, you will not be able to overcome them, and you are in danger of fighting against God.
5:40 And he seemed to them to be right: and they sent for the Apostles, and, after having them whipped and giving them orders to give no teaching in the name of Jesus, they let them go.
5:41 So they went away from the Sanhedrin, happy to undergo shame for the Name.
5:42 And every day, in the Temple and privately, they went on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.
The Acts, 6
Seven MoreApostiles
6:1 Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was increasing, protests were made by the Greek Jews against the Hebrews, because their widows were not taken care of in the distribution of food every day.
6:2 And the Apostles sent for all the disciples and said, It is not right for us to give up preaching the word of God in order to make distribution of food.
6:3 Take then from among you seven men of good name, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, to whom we may give control of this business.
6:4 Then we will give all our time to prayer and the teaching of the word.
6:5 And this saying was pleasing to all of them: and they made selection of Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip and Prochorus and Nicanor and Timon and Parmenas and Nicolas of Antioch, who had become a Jew:
6:6 These they took to the Apostles, who, after prayer, put their hands on them.
6:7 And the word of God was increasing in power; and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem became very great, and a great number of priests were in agreement with the faith.
6:8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.
6:9 But some of those who were of the Synagogue named that of the Libertines, and some of the men of Cyrene and of Alexandria and those from Cilicia and Asia, had arguments with Stephen.
6:10 But they were not able to get the better of him, for his words were full of wisdom and of the Spirit.
6:11 Then they got men to say, He has said evil against Moses and against God, in our hearing.
6:12 And the people, with the rulers and the scribes, were moved against him, and they came and took him before the Sanhedrin,
6:13 And they got false witnesses who said, This man is for ever saying things against this holy place and against the law :
6:14 For he has said in our hearing that this Jesus of Nazareth will put this place to destruction and make changes in the rules which were handed down to us by Moses.
6:15 And all those who were in the Sanhedrin, looking at him, saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
The Acts, 7
Stephen
7:1 Then the high priest said, Are these things true?
7:2 And he said, My brothers and fathers, give hearing. The God of glory came to our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he was living in Haran,
7:3 And said to him, Go out of your land, and away from your family, and come into the land to which I will be your guide.
7:4 Then he came out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and went into Haran; and from there, when his father was dead, he was guided by God into this land, where you are living now :
7:5 And God gave him no heritage in it, not even enough to put his foot on : but he gave him an undertaking that he would give it to him and to his children after him, though he had no child at that time.
7:6 And God said that his seed would be living in a strange land, and that they would make them servants, and be cruel to them for four hundred years.
7:7 And I will be the judge, said God, of that nation which made them servants : and after that, they will come out and give me worship in this place.
7:8 And he made with him the agreement of which circumcision was the sign. And so Abraham had a son, Isaac, and gave him circumcision on the eighth day; and Isaac had a son, Jacob, and Jacob was the father of the twelve heads of the families of Israel.
7:9 And the brothers, moved with envy against Joseph, gave him to the Egyptians for money : but God was with him,
7:10 And made him free from all his troubles, and gave him wisdom and the approval of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and all his house.
7:11 Now there was no food to be had in all Egypt and Canaan, and there was great trouble : and our fathers were not able to get food.
7:12 But Jacob, hearing that there was grain in Egypt, sent out our fathers the first time.
7:13 And the second time his brothers had a meeting with Joseph, and Pharaoh had knowledge of Joseph's family.
7:14 Then Joseph sent for Jacob his father and all his family, seventy-five persons.
7:15 And Jacob went down to Egypt, and came to his end there, and so did our fathers;
7:16 And they were taken over to Shechem, and put to rest in the place which Abraham got for a price in silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
7:17 But when the time was near for putting into effect the undertaking which God had given to Abraham, the people were increasing in Egypt,
7:18 Till another king came to power, who had no knowledge of Joseph.
7:19 He, having evil designs against our nation, was cruel to our fathers, and they were forced to put out their young children, so that they might not go on living.
7:20 At which time Moses came to birth, and he was very beautiful; and he was kept for three months in his father's house :
7:21 And when he was put out, Pharaoh's daughter took him and kept him as her son.
7:22 And Moses was trained in all the wisdom of Egypt, and was great in his words and works.
7:23 But when he was almost forty years old, it came into his heart to go and see his brothers, the children of Israel.
7:24 And seeing one of them being attacked, he went to his help and gave the Egyptian a death-blow :
7:25 And he was hoping that his brothers would see that God had sent him to be their savior; but they did not see.
7:26 And the day after, he came to them, while they were having a fight, and would have made peace between them, saying, Sirs, you are brothers; why do you do wrong to one another ?
7:27 But the man who was doing wrong to his neighbor, pushing him away, said, Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?
7:28 Will you put me to death as you did the Egyptian yesterday ?
7:29 And at these words, Moses went in flight to the land of Midian, and was living there for a time, and had two sons.
7:30 At the end of forty years, an angel came to him in the waste land of Sinai, in the flame of a burning thorn-tree.
7:31 And Moses, seeing it, was full of wonder, and when he came up to have a nearer view of it, the voice of the Lord came to him, saying,
7:32 I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob. And Moses, shaking with fear, kept his eyes from looking at it.
7:33 And the Lord said, Take off the shoes from your feet, for the place where you are is holy.
7:34 Truly, I have seen the sorrows of my people in Egypt, and their cries have come to my ears, and I have come down to make them free : and now, come, I will send you to Egypt.
7:35 This Moses, whom they would not have, saying, Who made you a ruler and a judge? him God sent to be a ruler and a savior, by the hand of the angel whom he saw in the thorn-tree.
7:36 This man took them out, having done wonders and signs in Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the waste land, for forty years.
7:37 This is the same Moses, who said to the children of Israel, God will give you a prophet from among your brothers, like me.
7:38 This is the man who was in the church in the waste land with the angel who was talking to him in Sinai, and with our fathers ; and to him were given the living words of God, so that he might give them to you.
7:39 By whom our fathers would not be controlled; but they put him on one side, turning back in their hearts to Egypt,
7:40 And saying to Aaron, Make us gods to go before us : as for this Moses, who took us out of the land of Egypt, we have no idea what has become of him.
7:41 And they made the image of a young ox in those days, and made an offering to it, and had joy in the work of their hands.
7:42 But God was turned from them and let them give worship to the stars of heaven, as it says in the book of the prophets, Did you make offerings to me of sheep and oxen for forty years in the waste land, O house of Israel ?
7:43 And you took up the tent of Moloch and the star of the god Rephan, images which you made to give worship to them : and I will take you away, farther than Babylon.
7:44 Our fathers had the Tent of witness in the waste land, as God gave orders to Moses to make it after the design which he had seen.
7:45 Which our fathers, in their turn, took with them when, with Joshua, they came into the heritage of the nations whom God was driving out before the face of our fathers, till the time of David,
7:46 Who was pleasing to God; and he had a desire to make a holy tent for the God of Jacob.
7:47 But Solomon was the builder of his house.
7:48 But still, the Most High has not his resting-place in houses made with hands, as the prophet says,
7:49 Heaven is the seat of my power, and earth is a resting-place for my feet : what sort of house will you make for me, says the Lord, or what is my place of rest ?
7:50 Did not my hand make all these things ?
7:51 You whose hearts are hard and whose ears are shut to me ; you are ever working against the Holy Spirit ; as your fathers did, so do you.
7:52 Which of the prophets was not cruelly attacked by your fathers ? and they put to death those who gave them the news of the coming of the Upright One ; whom you have now given up and put to death;
7:53 You, to whom the law was given as it was ordered by angels, and who have not kept it.
7:54 Hearing these things, they were cut to the heart and moved with wrath against him.
7:55 But he was full of the Holy Spirit, and looking up to heaven, he saw the glory of God and Jesus at the right hand of God.
7:56 And he said, Now I see heaven open, and the Son of man at the right hand of God.
7:57 But with loud cries, and stopping their ears, they made an attack on him all together,
7:58 Driving him out of the town and stoning him : and the witnesses put their clothing at the feet of a young man named Saul.
7:59 And Stephen, while he was being stoned, made prayer to God, saying, Lord Jesus, take my spirit.
7:60 And going down on his knees, he said in a loud voice, Lord, do not make them responsible for this sin. And when he had said this, he went to his rest.
The Acts, 8
Word in Samaria
8:1 And Saul gave approval to his death. Now at that time a violent attack was started against the church in Jerusalem; and all but the Apostles went away into all parts of Judea and Samaria.
8:2 And God-fearing men put Stephen's body in its last resting-place, making great weeping over him.
8:3 But Saul was burning with hate against the church, going into every house and taking men and women and putting them in prison.
8:4 But those who had gone in flight went everywhere preaching the word.
8:5 And Philip went down to Samaria and was teaching them about Christ.
8:6 And all the people gave attention to the words which Philip said, when they saw the signs which he did.
8:7 For unclean spirits came out from those who had them, crying with a loud voice; and a number of those who were ill and broken in body were made well.
8:8 And there was much joy in that town.
8:9 But there was a certain man named Simon, who in the past had been a wonder-worker and a cause of surprise to the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was a great man :
8:10 To whom they all gave attention, from the smallest to the greatest, saying, This man is that power of God which is named Great.
8:11 And they gave attention to him, because for a long time his wonder-working powers had kept them under his control.
8:12 But when they had faith in the good news given by Philip about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, a number of men and women had baptism.
8:13 And Simon himself had faith and, having had baptism, he went with Philip and, seeing the signs and the great wonders which he did, he was full of surprise.
8:14 Now when the Apostles at Jerusalem had news that the people of Samaria had taken the word of God into their hearts, they sent to them Peter and John ;
8:15 Who, when they came there, made prayer for them, that the Holy Spirit might be given to them :
8:16 For up to that time he had not come on any of them; only baptism had been given to them in the name of the Lord Jesus.
8:17 Then they put their hands on them, and the Holy Spirit came on them.
8:18 Now when Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given through the touch of the Apostles' hands, he made them an offering of money, saying,
8:19 Give me this power, so that when I put my hands on anyone he may get the Holy Spirit.
8:20 But Peter said, May your money come to destruction with you, because you had the idea that what is freely given by God may be got for a price.
8:21 You have no part in this business, because your heart is not right before God.
8:22 Let your heart be changed, and make prayer to God that you may have forgiveness for your evil thoughts.
8:23 For I see that you are prisoned in bitter envy and the chains of sin.
8:24 And Simon, answering, said, Make prayer for me to the Lord, so that these things which you have said may not come on me.
8:25 So they, having given their witness and made clear the word of the Lord, went back to Jerusalem, giving the good news on their way in a number of the small towns of Samaria.
8:26 But an angel of the Lord said to Philip, Get up, and go to the south, to the road which goes from Jerusalem to Gaza, through the waste land.
8:27 And he went and there was a man of Ethiopia, a servant of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, and controller of all her property, who had come up to Jerusalem for worship;
8:28 He was going back, seated in his carriage, and was reading the book of the prophet Isaiah.
8:29 And the Spirit said to Philip, Go near, and get on his carriage.
8:30 And Philip, running up to him, saw that he was reading Isaiah the prophet, and said to him, Is the sense of what you are reading clear to you?
8:31 And he said, How is that possible when I have no guide? And he made Philip get up by his side.
8:32 Now the place in the book where he was reading was this : He was taken, like a sheep, to be put to death ; and as a lamb is quiet when its wool is being cut, so he made no sound :
8:33 Being of low degree, his cause was not given a hearing : who has knowledge of his family? for his life is cut off from the earth.
8:34 And the Ethiopian said to Philip, About whom are these words said by the prophet? about himself, or some other?
8:35 So Philip, starting from this writing, gave him the good news about Jesus.
8:36 And while they were going on their way, they came to some water, and the Ethiopian said, See, here is water ; why may I not have baptism?
(8:37)
8:38 And he gave orders for the carriage to be stopped, and the two of them went down into the water, and Philip gave him baptism.
8:39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away ; and the Ethiopian saw him no more, for he went on his way full of joy.
8:40 But Philip came to Azotus, and went through all the towns, preaching the good news, till he came to Caesarea.
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8:37 .Some authorities add :And Philip said, "If you have belief with all your heart, you may." And he replied, "I have belief that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."
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