Acts 1:9-26

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.”

¹⁸(Judas had bought a field with his ill-gotten gains. There he fell down headfirst, and his body burst apart, spilling out all his intestines.

¹⁹Everybody who lived in Jerusalem heard about this so that the field was called in their language “Akeldama,” which means, “Field of blood.”)

²⁰As it's written in the book of Psalms, “Let his home be abandoned, and no-one live there;” and “Let someone else take over his position.”

²¹“So now we have to choose someone who has been with us the whole time that Jesus was with us,

²²from the time John was baptizing up until the day Jesus was taken up to heaven from us. One of these must be chosen to join together with us as we witness, giving evidence of Jesus' resurrection.”

²³Two names were put forward: Joseph Justus, also known as Barsabbas, and Matthias.

²⁴They prayed together and said, “Lord, you know everyone's thoughts please show us which of these two you have chosen

²⁵to replace Judas as an apostle in this ministry that he gave up to go to where he belongs.”

²⁶They cast lots, and Matthias was chosen. He was counted as an apostle with the other eleven.