God Is King over All the Earth

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of ^wthe Sons of Korah.

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

1 In the first book, O ^aTheophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began ^bto do and teach, 2 until the day when ^che was taken up, after he ^dhad given commands ^ethrough the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 ^fHe presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

4 And while staying¹ with them ^ghe ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for ^hJohn baptized with water, ^hbut you will be baptized ⁱwith² the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

The Ascension

6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, ^jwill you at this time ^krestore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, ^l“It is not for you to know ^mtimes or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive ⁿpower ^owhen the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and ^pyou will be ^qmy witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and ^rSamaria, and ^sto the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, ^the was lifted up, and ^ua cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, ^vtwo ^wmen stood by them in ^xwhite robes, 11 and said, ^y“Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, ^zwill ^acome in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

44 Then he said to them, ^k“These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, ^lthat everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then ^mhe opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus ⁿit is written, ^othat the Christ should suffer and on the third day ^prise from the dead, 47 and that ^qrepentance for¹ the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed ^rin his name ^sto all nations, ^tbeginning from Jerusalem. 48 ^uYou are witnesses of these things. 49 And behold, I am sending ^vthe promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you ^ware clothed with ^xpower ^yfrom on high.”

The Ascension

50 And ^zhe led them out as far as ^aBethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. 51 While he blessed them, ^bhe parted from them and was carried up into heaven. 52 And they ^cworshiped him and ^zreturned to Jerusalem ^dwith great joy, 53 and ^ewere continually in the temple ^fblessing God.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

15 For this reason, ^mbecause I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love¹ toward all the saints, 16 I ⁿdo not cease to give thanks for you, ^oremembering you in my prayers, 17 that ^pthe God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, ^qmay give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 ^rhaving the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is ^sthe hope to which he has called you, what are ^tthe riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, ^uaccording to the working of ^vhis great might 20 that he worked in Christ ^wwhen he raised him from the dead and ^xseated him at his right hand ^yin the heavenly places, 21 ^zfar above ^aall rule and authority and power and dominion, and above ^bevery name that is named, not only in ^cthis age but also in the one to come. 22 And ^dhe put all things under his feet and gave him as ^ehead over all things to the church, 23 ^fwhich is his body, ^gthe fullness of him ^hwho fills ⁱall in all.