1 I wrote the first volume, Theophilus, about all that Yeshua began to do and teach—
2 up to the day He was taken up, after He had given orders by the Ruach ha-Kodesh to the emissaries He had chosen.
3 To them He showed Himself to be alive after His suffering through many convincing proofs, appearing to them for forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
4 Now while staying with them, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father promised—which, He said, “you heard from Me.
5 For John immersed with water, but you will be immersed in the Ruach ha-Kodesh not many days from now.”
6 So when they gathered together, they asked Him, “Lord, are You restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?”
7 He said to them, “It is not your place to know the times or seasons which the Father has placed under His own control.
8 But you will receive power when the Ruach ha-Kodesh has come upon you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and through all Judah, and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
9 After saying all this—while they were watching—He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
10 While they were staring into heaven as He went up, suddenly two men stood with them in white clothing.
11 They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you keep standing here staring into heaven? This Yeshua, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven.”
12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives (which is near Jerusalem, a Shabbat day’s journey).
13 When they had entered, they went up to the upper room where they were staying—Peter and John and Jacob and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; Jacob son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judah son of Jacob.
14 All these with one mind were continuing together in prayer—along with the women and Miriam, Yeshua’s mother, and His brothers.
15 In those days, Peter stood up among the brothers and sisters (the number of names all together was about a hundred and twenty) and said,
16 “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Ruach ha-Kodesh foretold by the mouth of David, concerning Judah—who became a guide to those who seized Yeshua.
17 For he was counted among us and received his share of this office.”
18 (Now this man Judah bought a field with the reward of his wickedness. Falling headfirst, he burst open in the middle and his intestines splattered out.
19 And it became known to all those living in Jerusalem, so in their own language that field was called Akeldama—that is, ‘Field of Blood.’)
20 For it is written in the Book of Psalms, ‘Let his dwelling place become desolate, and let there be no one living in it’ and ‘Let another take his position.’
21 “Therefore one of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Yeshua went in and out among us—
22 beginning with His immersion by John until the day He was taken up from us—must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”
23 So they nominated two—Joseph, called Barsabbas (also called Justus), and Matthias.
24 And they prayed and said, “You, O Lord, who knows the hearts of all men, show us which of these two You have chosen
25 to take the position in this office as emissary, from which Judah turned aside to go to his own place.”
26 Then they cast lots for them, and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was added to the eleven emissaries.