Acts 1:2-17

²until the day he was taken up to heaven. This was after he'd given instructions through the Holy Spirit to his chosen apostles.

³Over the course of forty days after the death he suffered, he showed himself to them, proving that he was alive with convincing evidence. He appeared to them, and told them about the kingdom of God.

⁴While he was still with them he instructed them, “Do not leave Jerusalem. Wait to receive what the Father promised, just as you heard it from me.

⁵It's true that John baptized with water, but in just a few days' time you will be baptized by the Holy Spirit.”

⁶So when the disciples met with Jesus, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will re-establish Israel's kingdom?”

⁷“You don't need to know about the dates and times that are set by the Father's authority,” he told them.

⁸“But you will be given power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest places on earth.”

⁹After Jesus had told them this, he was taken up as they were watching and a cloud hid him from their sight.

¹⁰While they were staring intently at the sky as he ascended, two men dressed in white were suddenly standing beside them.

¹¹“Men of Galilee, why are you standing here staring at the sky?” they asked. “This same Jesus who has been taken up from you to heaven shall come in the same way you saw him go into heaven.”

¹²Then the disciples went back to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives which is about a Sabbath day's walk from Jerusalem.

¹³When they arrived, they went upstairs to the upper room where they were staying: Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.

¹⁴They all joined together in prayer, together with the women and Mary, Jesus' mother, and his brothers.

¹⁵At this time Peter stood up and addressed a crowd of around one hundred and twenty believers who had gathered together.

¹⁶“My brothers and sisters,” he said, “The Scriptures, spoken by the Holy Spirit through David, had to be fulfilled regarding Judas, who guided those who arrested Jesus.

¹⁷He was counted as one of us, and shared in this ministry.”