¹ The former record I made, O Theophilus, of all things that Jesus began both to do and to teach,

² till the day on which he was taken up, after he had, through the Holy Spirit, given commandments to the apostles whom he had chosen.

³ To whom, after he had suffered, he also showed himself alive, by many indubitable proofs; appearing to them for forty days, and speaking of the things that pertain to the kingdom of God.

⁴ And calling them together, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of my Father, which, said he, you have heard from me;

⁵ for John indeed immersed in water, but you shall be immersed in the Holy Spirit, not many days hence.

⁶ Therefore, when they came together, they asked him, saying: Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?

⁷ But he said to them: It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has reserved under his own control.

⁸ But you shall receive power, after the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses for me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and to the most distant part of the earth.

⁹ And when he had spoken these things, while they were looking on him, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight.

¹⁰ And while they were looking earnestly toward heaven, as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white raiment,

¹¹ who also said: Men of Galilee, why stand you gazing up into heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, shall come in the same manner in which you saw him go into heaven.

¹² Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath-day’s journey.

¹³ And when they had come in, they went up into an upper room, in which dwelt Peter and James, and John and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphæus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.

¹⁴ All these, with one mind, continued in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

¹⁵ And in those days Peter arose in the midst of the disciples, (the number of the names together was about a hundred and twenty,) and said:

¹⁶ Brethren, it was necessary for this scripture to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit had before spoken by the mouth of David, concerning Judas, who was a guide to those who took Jesus:

¹⁷ for he was numbered with us, and had been appointed to this ministry.

¹⁸ Therefore he purchased a field with the reward of his iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.

¹⁹ And it was known to all that dwelt in Jerusalem, so that the field is called, in their own language, Akeldama, that is, The field of blood.

²⁰ For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no one dwell in it, and, His office let another take.

²¹ Therefore, of these men who have associated with us during the whole time in which the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,

²² beginning from the immersion of John till the day on which he was taken up from us, must one be appointed as a witness with us of his resurrection.

²³ And they set apart two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias;

²⁴ and praying, they said: Thou, Lord, who knowest the hearts of all, make known which of these two thou hast chosen,

²⁵ that he may be appointed to this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.

²⁶ And they gave in their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias: and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.