Acts 1

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¹The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, ✦ ²until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, ✦ ³to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. ✦ ⁴And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; ✦ ⁵for John truly baptized with water,but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” ✦ ⁶Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” ✦ ⁷And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. ✦ ⁸But you shall receive powerwhen the Holy Spirit has come upon you; andyou shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea andSamaria, and to theend of the earth.” ✦ ⁹Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. ✦ ¹⁰And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, ✦ ¹¹who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” ✦ ¹²Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey. ✦ ¹³And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying: Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot; and Judas the son of James. ✦ ¹⁴These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. ✦ ¹⁵And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples (altogether the number of names was about a hundred and twenty), and said, ✦ ¹⁶“Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus; ✦ ¹⁷for he was numbered with us and obtained a part in this ministry.” ✦ ¹⁸(Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out. ✦ ¹⁹And it became known to all those dwelling in Jerusalem; so that field is called in their own language, Akel Dama, that is, Field of Blood.) ✦ ²⁰“For it is written in the Book of Psalms: ‘Let his dwelling place be desolate, And let no one live in it’; and, ‘Let another take his office.’ ✦ ²¹“Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, ✦ ²²beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.” ✦ ²³And they proposed two: Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. ✦ ²⁴And they prayed and said, “You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen ✦ ²⁵to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.” ✦ ²⁶And they cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles. ✦

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Where this chapter connects

Acts 2 ·17 Luke 24 ·16 Acts 1 ·13 Acts 13 ·10 Acts 10 ·8 John 21 ·8 John 20 ·7 John 6 ·6

Christ at the center

Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.

How Acts 1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.
DocumentaryDrive Thru History: Acts to RevelationDave Stotts · Free · evangelical
Follows Paul's missionary journeys and the early church on location across the Mediterranean — free on Tubi, great for families.

Pastoral

★ Start hereSermonMLJ Trust — Martyn Lloyd-Jones sermonsMartyn Lloyd-Jones · Free · reformed
1,600+ free sermons from "the Doctor," including landmark verse-by-verse series (Romans, John, Ephesians, Acts) — a gold standard of expository preaching.
SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — Acts videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on Acts 1YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — Acts 1David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on ActsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Acts 1Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

Acts 2 →