Gevurot 5
Orthodox Jewish Bible
5 And a certain man by the name Chananyah, with his wife Shappira, sold property
2 And he, with his wife in collusion as to da’as, misappropriated from the price, and having brought a certain part, laid it at the feet of the Moshiach’s Shlichim. [YEHOSHUA 7:11]
3 But Kefa said, "Chananyah, why has Hasatan filled your lev (heart) that you lied to the Ruach Hakodesh and misappropriated from the price of the land? [DEVARIM 23:21]
4 "While it remained with you, did it not remain yours? And after it was sold, were the proceeds not under your samchut (authority)? How is it that you have hatched this deed in your lev (heart)? Your sheker (lie) was not to Bnei Adam but to the Ruach Hakodesh." [DEVARIM 23:22; VAYIKRA 6:2]
5 And hearing these dvarim, having fallen down, Chananyah died; and there came great yirat Shomayim upon all the ones listening. [TEHILLIM 5:6]
6 And having got up, the bochrim threw the tachrichin shroud over him and, having carried him out, they buried him in a kever.
7 And there was an interval of lav davka (approximately) shloshah sha’ot and then his isha, not having da’as of what had happened, entered.
8 And in reply to her, Kefa said "Tell me, you sold the sadeh for such and such a price, did you?" And she said, "Ken, for such and such a price, that was the amount."
9 And Kefa said to her, "Why was it agreed by the two of you to put the Ruach Hakodesh of Hashem to the test? Hinei! The feet of the ones having buried your ba’al are at the petach (doorway), and they will carry you out."
10 And she fell immediately at his feet and died. And, the bochrim, having entered, found her dead; and, having carried her out, they buried her with her ba’al.
11 And there came great yirat Shomayim upon the whole Messianic kehillah and upon all the ones hearing these things.
12 Now by the hands of the Moshiach’s Shlichim were being effected many otot and moftim among the people and with a sense of achdus they were all in the Ulam Sh’lomo.
13 But none of the rest was daring to be mishtatef in a chavura (becoming involved, joining a fellowship) with them; however, the Am Yisroel held the Messianic Jews in high esteem.
14 And more and more ma’aminim hameshichiyim in Adoneinu were being added, multitudes of anashim and nashim,
15 So much so that even out into the rekhovot they would carry the cholim and put them on pallets and mats, that when Kefa came by, at least his shadow might fall upon some of them.
16 And also the multitudes from the shtetlach surrounding Yerushalayim were coming together, carrying the cholim and the ones being tormented by ruchot teme’ot (unclean spirits); and they were all receiving refu’ah shleimah.
17 But there was an uprising of the Kohen Gadol and all the ones with him of the Tzedukim kat, and they were filled with kinah.
18 And they laid their hands upon the Moshiach’s Shlichim and they put them in a public beis hasohar.
19 And a malach Adonoi (an angel of Hashem) opened the doors of the beis hasohar balailah, and having led them out, said, [BERESHIS 16:7; SHEMOT 3:2; TEHILLIM 34:7]
20 "Go and stand and speak in the Beis Hamikdash to the people kol divrei HaChayyim haelleh."
21 And having heard, the Moshiach’s Shlichim entered the Beis Hamikdash at Shachrit and were saying shiurim. And when the Kohen Gadol and the ones with him had come, they called together the Sanhedrin and all the assembly of Zekenim of the Bnei Yisroel, and they sent to the beis hasohar for the prisoners to be brought to them.
22 But their mesharetim, having come, did not find them in the beis hasohar. And having returned, they reported these things
23 Saying, "We found the beis hasohar locked tight and the shomrim standing at the doors; but when we opened up, we found no one inside."
24 And when the Sar Tzeva HaHeikhal of the Beis Hamikdash and the Rashei Hakohanim heard these words, they were perplexed about them, as far as what would come of all this.
25 But someone came and reported to them, "Hinei, the men whom you put in the beis hasohar are in the Beis Hamikdash standing and saying shiurim to the people."
26 Then the Sar Tzeva HaHeikhal went along with the mesharetim and brought the Moshiach’s Shlichim back, but not with force—for they feared the people, lest they should be stoned.
27 And when they had brought them, they stood the Moshiach’s Shlichim before the Sanhedrin, and the Kohen Gadol questioned them,
28 Saying, "Did we not with a strict command charge you not to say shiurim b’shem hazeh and, hinei, you have filled Yerushalayim with your torah and are determined to bring upon us the dahm of this man."
29 And in reply Kefa and the Moshiach’s Shlichim said, "It is necessary to obey Hashem rather than Bnei Adam. [SHEMOT 1:17]
30 "Elohei Avoteinu made Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua to stand up alive again, the very one whom you killed, having made him talui al haEtz (being hanged on the tree). [DEVARIM 21:23]
31 "This one Hashem exalted as Sar and Moshi’a (Oisleizer) to His right hand to grant teshuva to Yisroel and selicha (forgiveness) of chatta’im (averos, sins).
32 "And we are the eidus (witness) of these matters and so is the Ruach Hakodesh whom Hashem gave to the ones obeying Him."
33 And the ones having heard were cut to the quick and in fury were deciding to do away with them.
34 But a certain Parush got up in the Sanhedrin, a moreh of Torah by name Rabban Gamli’el, respected by kol Am Yisroel, and he gave orders to put the men outside for a little while.
35 And Rabban Gamli’el said to them, "Anshei Yisroel, pay attention to yourselves what you are about to do with these anashim.
36 "For at an earlier tekufa (era, period), there was the uprising of Theudas, who claimed to be somebody himself, with whom were associated a number of anashim lav davka (approximately) four hundred; who was done away with and as many as were obeying him were all dispersed and it came to nothing.
37 "After this there was Yehudah HaGelili in the yamim of the census; who misled the people to follow after him and that man perished and, as many as were obeying him, were all scattered.
38 "And now I say to you, stay away from these anashim, and leave them alone, because if this cheshbon (plan) or this matter is of Bnei Adam, it will be overthrown.
39 "But if it is from Hashem, you are not able to overthrow them—in that case you may even be found to be fighting keneged (against, opposing) Hashem." And they were persuaded by Rabban Gamli’el. [2Ch 13:12; Prov 21:30; Isa 46:10]
40 And having called together the Moshiach’s Shluchim and having flogged them, they warned them not to speak in the shem of Yehoshua, and they released them.
41 Therefore Moshiach’s Shluchim were going rejoicing from the presence of the Sanhedrin, that they were considered worthy to suffer shame for ha-Shem (the Name).
42 And every day in the Beis Hamikdash and from bais to bais they did not stop saying shiurim and drashot about Yehoshua as Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach.
Acts 5
The Voice
This portrait of the early church as an unselfish community is captivating and inspiring. It presents a challenge for many followers of the Anointed One who want to show sacrificially their love to Him and His church. Many today wonder how to translate this into a modern culture so shaped by consumerism and self-interest, but no translation is necessary. These problems weren’t foreign to the early community. In contrast to the generosity and sincerity of some like Barnabas, Luke now explains that others gave not out of love, but out of a desire to be honored by the community.
5 Once a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira fully cooperating, committed fraud. He sold some property 2 and kept some of the proceeds, but he pretended to make a full donation to the Lord’s emissaries.[a]
Peter: 3 Ananias, have you allowed Satan to influence your lies to the Holy Spirit and hold back some of the money? 4 Look, it was your property before you sold it, and the money was all yours after you sold it. Why have you concocted this scheme in your heart? You weren’t just lying to us; you were lying to God.
5 Ananias heard these words and immediately dropped to the ground, dead; fear overcame all those who heard of the incident. 6 Some young men came, wrapped the body, and buried it immediately. 7 About three hours had passed when Sapphira arrived. She had no idea what had happened.
Peter: 8 Did you sell the land for such-and-such a price?
Sapphira: Yes, that was the price.
Peter: 9 Why did the two of you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Do you hear those footsteps outside? Those are the young men who just buried your husband, and now they will carry you out as well.
10 She—like her husband—immediately fell dead at Peter’s feet. The young men came in and carried her corpse outside and buried it beside her husband. 11 The whole church was terrified by this story, as were others who heard it.
In these formative days, God sends some strong messages about His work in the church: the power to heal, the beauty of life in the Spirit, and His hatred for arrogant religion. If God does not rebuke the married couple who chooses to make a show of their supposed generosity, then Christianity might drift in the wrong direction. While the Jewish leaders are using religion as a means to gain power and increase their reputations, the teachings of Jesus lead down a path toward the kingdom of God rather than toward human advancement. God chooses to expose these bad motives quickly, so that the church can give out of pure motives rather than out of a desire to appear righteous.
12 Those were amazing days—with many signs and wonders being performed through the apostles among the people. The church would gather as a unified group in Solomon’s Porch, 13 enjoying great respect by the people of the city—though most people wouldn’t risk publicly affiliating with them. 14 Even so, record numbers of believers—both men and women—were added to the Lord. 15 The church’s renown was so great that when Peter walked down the street, people would carry out their sick relatives hoping his shadow would fall on some of them as he passed. 16 Even people from towns surrounding Jerusalem would come, bringing others who were sick or tormented by unclean spirits, all of whom were cured.
17 Of course, this popularity elicited a response: the high priest and his affiliates in the Sadducean party were jealous, 18 so they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. 19 But that night, a messenger of the Lord opened the doors of the prison and led them to freedom.
Messenger of the Lord: 20 Go to the temple, and stand up to tell the people the whole message about this way of life from Jesus.
21 At dawn they did as they were told; they returned to their teaching in the temple.
Meanwhile the council of Jewish elders was gathering—convened by the high priest and his colleagues. They sent the temple police to the prison to have the Lord’s emissaries[b] brought for further examination; 22 but of course, the temple police soon realized they weren’t there. They returned and reported,
Temple Police: 23 The prison was secure and locked, and the guards were standing in front of the doors; but when we unlocked the doors, the cell was empty.
24 The captain of the temple police and the senior priests were completely mystified when they heard this. They had no idea what had happened. 25 Just then, someone arrived with this news:
Temple Messenger: You know those men you put in prison last night? Well, they’re free. At this moment, they’re at it again, teaching our people in the temple!
26 The temple police—this time, accompanied by their captain—rushed over to the temple and brought the emissaries[c] of the Lord to the council. They were careful not to use violence, because the people were so supportive of them that the police feared being stoned by the crowd if they were too rough. 27 Once again the men stood before the council. The high priest began the questioning.
High Priest: 28 Didn’t we give you strict orders to stop teaching in this name? But here you are, spreading your teaching throughout Jerusalem. And you are determined to blame us for this man’s death.
Peter and the Apostles: 29 If we have to choose between obedience to God and obedience to any human authority, then we must obey God. 30 The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from death. You killed Jesus by hanging Him on a tree, 31 but God has lifted Him high, to God’s own right hand, as the Prince, as the Liberator. God intends to bring Israel to a radical rethinking of our lives and to a complete forgiveness of our sins. 32 We are witnesses to these things. There is another witness, too—the Holy Spirit—whom God has given to all who choose to obey Him.
33 The council was furious and would have killed them; 34 but Gamaliel, a Pharisee in the council respected as a teacher of the Hebrew Scriptures, stood up and ordered the men to be sent out so the council could confer privately.
Gamaliel: 35 Fellow Jews, you need to act with great care in your treatment of these fellows. 36 Remember when a man named Theudas rose to notoriety? He claimed to be somebody important, and he attracted about 400 followers. But when he was killed, his entire movement disintegrated and nothing came of it. 37 After him came Judas, that Galilean fellow, at the time of the census. He also attracted a following; but when he died, his entire movement fell apart. 38 So here’s my advice: in this case, just let these men go. Ignore them. If this is just another movement arising from human enthusiasm, it will die out soon enough. 39 But then again, if God is in this, you won’t be able to stop it—unless, of course, you’re ready to fight against God!
40 The council was convinced, so they brought the apostles back in. They were flogged, again told not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then released. 41 As they left the council, they weren’t discouraged at all. In fact, they were filled with joy over being considered worthy to suffer disgrace for the sake of His name. 42 And constantly, whether in public, in the temple, or in their homes, they kept teaching and proclaiming Jesus as the Anointed One, the Liberating King.
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