First ReadingActs 1:1-11
From the Acts of the Apostles
1The first book I wrote,Theophilus, concerned allthat Jesus began both to do and to teach,2until the day in which he was received up,after he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.3To these he also showed himself alive after he suffered,by many proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty daysand speaking about God’s Kingdom.4Being assembled together with them,he commanded them,“Don’t depart from Jerusalem,but wait for the promise of the Father,which you heard from me.5For John indeed baptized in water,but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
6Therefore, when they had come together,they asked him, “Lord,are you now restoring the kingdom to Israel?”
7He said to them, “It isn’t for you to know times or seasonswhich the Father has set within his own authority.8But you will receive powerwhen the Holy Spirit has come upon you.You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem,in all Judea and Samaria,and to the uttermost parts of the earth.”
9When he had said these things,as they were looking,he was taken up,and a cloud received him out of their sight.10While they were looking steadfastly into the sky as he went,behold, two men stood by them in white clothing,11who also said, “You men of Galilee,why do you stand looking into the sky?This Jesus, who was received up from you into the sky,will come back in the same way as you saw him going into the sky.”