Peter Heals a Crippled Man
3 One day Peter and John went to the Temple at three o’clock, the time set each day for the afternoon prayer service. 2 There, at the Temple gate called Beautiful Gate, was a man who had been crippled all his life. Every day he was carried to this gate to beg for money from the people going into the Temple. 3 The man saw Peter and John going into the Temple and asked them for money. 4 Peter and John looked straight at him and said, “Look at us!” 5 The man looked at them, thinking they were going to give him some money. 6 But 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!” 7 Then Peter took the man’s right hand and lifted him up. Immediately the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8 He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk. He went into the Temple with them, walking and jumping and praising God. 9-10 All the people recognized him as the crippled man who always sat by the Beautiful Gate begging for money. Now they saw this same man walking and praising God, and they were amazed. They wondered how this could happen.
Peter Speaks to the People
11 While the man was holding on to Peter and John, all the people were amazed and ran to them at Solomon’s Porch. 12 When Peter saw this, he said to them, “People of Israel, why are you surprised? You are looking at us as if it were our own power or goodness that made this man walk. 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, gave glory to Jesus, his servant. But you handed him over to be killed. Pilate decided to let him go free, but you told Pilate you did not want Jesus. 14 You did not want the One who is holy and good but asked Pilate to give you a murderer instead. 15 And so you killed the One who gives life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses to this. 16 It was faith in Jesus that made this crippled man well. You can see this man, and you know him. He was made completely well because of trust in Jesus, and you all saw it happen!
17 “Brothers and sisters, I know you did those things to Jesus because neither you nor your leaders understood what you were doing. 18 God said through the prophets that his Christ would suffer and die. And now God has made these things come true in this way. 19 So you must change your hearts and lives! Come back to God, and he will forgive your sins. Then the Lord will send the time of rest. 20 And he will send Jesus, the One he chose to be the Christ. 21 But Jesus must stay in heaven until the time comes when all things will be made right again. God told about this time long ago when he spoke through his holy prophets. 22 Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will give you a prophet like me, who is one of your own people. You must listen to everything he tells you. 23 Anyone who does not listen to that prophet will die, cut off from God’s people.’ 24 Samuel, and all the other prophets who spoke for God after Samuel, told about this time now. 25 You are descendants of the prophets. You have received the agreement God made with your ancestors. He said to your father Abraham, ‘Through your descendants all the nations on the earth will be blessed.’ 26 God has raised up his servant Jesus and sent him to you first to bless you by turning each of you away from doing evil.”
Footnotes
- 3:14
- 3:22–23
- 3:25
