Peter Heals a Crippled Man

3 ¹One day Peter and John went to the temple* area. It was three o'clock in the afternoon. This was the time for the daily temple prayer service. ²When they were going into the temple yard, a man was there. This man had been crippled all his life. He could not walk, so some friends carried him. His friends brought him to the temple every day. They put the crippled man by one of the gates outside the temple. It was called Beautiful Gate. There the man begged for money from the people going to the temple. ³[That day] the man saw Peter and John going into the temple yard. He asked them for money. ⁴Peter and John looked at the crippled man and said, "Look at us!" ⁵The man looked at them; he thought they would give him some money. ⁶But Peter said, "I don't have any silver or gold, but I do have something else I can give you: By the power of Jesus Christ from Nazareth--stand up and walk!" ⁷Then Peter held the man's right hand and lifted him up. Immediately the man's feet and legs became strong. ⁸The man jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk. He went into the temple yard with them. The man was walking and jumping, and he was praising God. ^9-10All the people recognized him. The people knew he was the crippled man who always sat by Beautiful Gate to beg for money. Now they saw this same man walking and praising God. The people were amazed. They could not understand how this could happen.

Peter Speaks to the People

¹¹The man was holding on to Peter and John. All the people were amazed [because the man was healed]. They ran to Peter and John at Solomon's Porch.* ¹²When Peter saw this, he said to the people, "My Jewish brothers, why are you surprised at this? You are looking at us like it was our power that made this man walk. Do you think this was done because we are good? ¹³No! God did it! He is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.* He is the God of all our fathers.* He gave glory to Jesus, his special servant. But you gave Jesus to be killed. Pilate decided to let Jesus go free. But you told Pilate you did not want Jesus. ¹⁴Jesus was pure and good (innocent), but you said you did not want him. You told Pilate to give you a murderer* instead of Jesus. ¹⁵And so you killed the One that gives life! But God raised him from death. We are witnesses of this--we saw this with our own eyes. ¹⁶It was the power of Jesus that made this crippled man well. This happened because we trusted in the power of Jesus. You can see this man, and you know him. He was made completely well because of trust in Jesus. You all saw it happen! ¹⁷"My brothers, I know you did those things to Jesus because you did not understand what you were doing. Your leaders also did not understand. ¹⁸God said that these things would happen. God said through the prophets* that his Christ* would suffer and die. I have told you how God made this happen. ¹⁹So you must change your hearts and lives! Come back to God and he will forgive your sins. ²⁰Then the Lord (God) will give you times of spiritual rest. He will give you Jesus, the One he chose to be the Christ. ²¹But Jesus must stay in heaven until the time when all things will be made right again. God told about this time long ago when he spoke through his holy prophets.* ²²Moses said, 'The Lord your God will give you a prophet.* That prophet will come from among your own people (the Jews). He will be like me. You must obey everything that prophet tells you. ²³And if any person refuses to obey that prophet, then that person will die, separated from God's people.'* ²⁴Samuel, and all the other prophets who spoke for God after Samuel, talked about this time now. ²⁵You have received the things the prophets talked about. You have received the agreement that God made with your fathers.* God said to your father Abraham,* 'Every nation on earth will be blessed through your descendants.*'* ²⁶God has sent his special servant (Jesus). God sent him to you first. God sent Jesus to bless you. He does this by making each of you turn away from doing bad things."

temple The special building in Jerusalem for Jewish worship. Solomon's Porch An area on the east side of the temple. It was covered by a roof. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob Three of the most important Jewish leaders during the time of the Old Testament. father(s) Important ancestors of the Jews; the leaders of the twelve Jewish family groups. murderer Barabbas, the man the Jews asked Pilate to let go free instead of Jesus (Lk. 23:18). prophets People that spoke for God. Some of them wrote books that are part of the Old Testament. Christ The "anointed one" (Messiah) or chosen one of God. 'The Lord ... people' Quote from Deut. 18:15, 19. Abraham The most respected ancestor of the Jews. descendants All the people born in a person's family after that person dies. 'Every ... descendants' Quote from Gen. 22:18; 26:24.