1 I have given an earlier account, O Theophilus, of all the things which Jesus did, and of his teaching from the first,
2 Till the day when he was taken up to heaven after he had given his orders, through the Holy Spirit, to the Apostles of whom he had made selection:
3 And to whom he gave clear and certain signs that he was living, after his death; for he was seen by them for forty days, and gave them teaching about the kingdom of God:
4 And when they were all together, with him, he gave them orders not to go away from Jerusalem, but to keep there, waiting till the word of the Father was put into effect, of which, he said, I have given you knowledge:
5 For the baptism of John was with water, but you will have baptism with the Holy Spirit, after a little time.
6 So, when they were together, they said to him, Lord, will you at this time give back the kingdom to Israel?
7 And he said to them, It is not for you to have knowledge of the time and the order of events which the Father has kept in his control.
8 But you will have power, when the Holy Spirit has come on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judaea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
9 And when he had said these things, while they were looking, he was taken up, and went from their view into a cloud.
10 And while they were looking up to heaven with great attention, two men came to them, in white clothing,
11 And said, O men of Galilee, why are you looking up into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken from you into heaven, will come again, in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.
12 Then they went back to Jerusalem from the mountain named Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away.
13 And when they came in, they went up into the room where they were living; Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James, the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas, the son of James.
14 And they all with one mind gave themselves up to prayer, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
15 And in those days Peter got up among the brothers (there were about one hundred and twenty of them), and said,
16 My brothers, the word of God had to be put into effect, which the Holy Spirit had said before, by the mouth of David, about Judas, who was guide to those who took Jesus,
17 For he was numbered among us, and had his part in our work.
18 (Now this man, with the reward of his evil-doing, got for himself a field, and falling head first, came to a sudden and violent end there.
19 And this came to the knowledge of all those who were living in Jerusalem, so that the field was named in their language, Akel-dama, or, The field of blood.)
20 For in the book of Psalms it says, Let his house be waste, and let no man be living in it: and, Let his position be taken by another.
21 For this reason, of the men who have been with us all the time, while the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,
22 Starting from the baptism of John till he went up from us, one will have to be a witness with us of his coming back from death.
23 And they made selection of two, Joseph, named Barsabbas, whose other name was Justus, and Matthias.
24 And they made prayers and said, Lord, having knowledge of the hearts of all men, make clear which of these two has been marked out by you,
25 To take that position as a servant and Apostle, from which Judas by his sin was shut out, so that he might go to his place.
26 And they put it to the decision of chance, and the decision was given for Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven Apostles.
1 Teófilo:No meu primeiro escrito falei-te na vida e nos ensinamentos de Jesus e contei como ele voltou para o céu depois de ter dado aos apóstolos que escolheu instruções pelo Espírito Santo.
3 Durante os quarenta dias que se seguiram à sua crucificação, apareceu diversas vezes, vivo, sem sombra de dúvida, aos apóstolos, a quem provou de muitas maneiras ser realmente ele aquele que viam. E nessas ocasiões falou-lhes no reino de Deus.
4 Num desses encontros, enquanto tomava uma refeição com eles, Jesus disse-lhes que não saíssem de Jerusalém enquanto o Espírito Santo não descesse sobre eles em cumprimento da promessa do Pai, assunto de que já tinha falado. João baptizou-vos com água, lembrou-lhes, mas vocês serão baptizados com o Espírito Santo dentro de poucos dias.
6 Noutra ocasião em que lhes apareceu, perguntaram-lhe: Senhor, é agora que vais restaurar o reino de Israel?
7 É o Pai quem determina os tempos, respondeu, e não vos compete conhecê-los. Mas quando o Espírito Santo tiver descido sobre vocês, receberão poder para falar de mim ao povo de Jerusalém, e em toda a Judeia e Samaria, até aos extremos da Terra.
9 Pouco depois Jesus subiu ao céu e desapareceu numa nuvem, enquanto o seguiam com os olhos. De súbito apareceram no meio deles dois homens vestidos de branco, que disseram: Homens da Galileia, porque estão aí de olhos postos no firmamento? Jesus foi para o céu e um dia voltará tal como o viram partir!
12 Isto aconteceu quando se encontravam no Monte das Oliveiras. Regressando a Jerusalém, que ficava quase a um quilómetro de distância, foram para uma sala no andar superior da casa onde estavam a ficar. Estavam ali: Pedro, João, Tiago, André, Filipe, Tomé, Bartolomeu, Mateus, Tiago (filho de Alfeu), Simão (a quem também chamavam o Zelota), Judas (filho de Tiago).
14 Todos se reuniam constantemente em oração, juntamente com Maria, a mãe de Jesus, várias outras mulheres, e os irmãos de Jesus.
15 Por esta altura, numa ocasião em que estavam presentes cerca de cento e vinte pessoas, Pedro levantou-se e disse-lhes o seguinte:
16 Irmãos, era necessário que se cumprissem as Escrituras acerca de Judas, que servia de guia para aqueles que prenderam Jesus, pois isso já tinha sido anunciado há muito pelo Espírito Santo falando através do rei David.
17 Judas tinha sido um dos nossos, e, como nós, escolhido para ser apóstolo.
18 (Com o dinheiro que recebeu em paga da traição, ele comprou um campo, onde se suicidou, rompendo-se-lhe as entranhas. A notícia da sua morte depressa se espalhou em Jerusalém, tanto que o povo até deu ao local o nome de Campo de Sangue.)
20 A predição do rei David acerca deste acontecimento vem no livro dos Salmos, onde diz: 'Que a sua casa fique abandonada, sem ninguém que nela habite,' e ainda: 'Que o seu trabalho seja confiado a outra pessoa.'
21 Agora temos de escolher alguém, em lugar de Judas, que se junte a nós para ser testemunha da ressurreição de Jesus. Escolhamos um homem que tenha estado connosco todo o tempo em que o Senhor andou entre nós, desde o seu baptismo por João até ao dia em que foi levado para o céu.
23 A assembleia apontou dois homens: José Justo (também chamado Barsabás) e Matias. Feito isto, oraram : Senhor, tu conheces os corações; indica-nos qual destes homens escolheste como apóstolo para substituir Judas, que foi para o lugar que merecia.
26 Tiraram então sortes, sendo escolhido Matias, que passou a ser apóstolo com os outros onze.