Acts 5:3

Then Peter said to him, “Ananias, why did you listen to Satan, the boss over the bad spirits? Why did you let him be your boss? He even got you to lie to the Holy Spirit. You kept some of that money for yourself, the money you got for that land.

Plain English Version

In The King James Version

But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?

In Context

2but they kept some of the money for themselves. Ananias only gave some of it to Peter and to Jesus’s other special workers, for them to share it with the other Christians. Ananias lied to them. He said, “This is all the money we got for our land.” His wife knew what he was doing, and she agreed to it.

4Look, that land was yours, and you didn’t have to sell it. But you sold it, and you got some money. Then you could do anything you liked with that money. You didn’t have to bring it to us. So why did you think you could trick us, and tell us that this little bit of money was all you got for that land? You lied to us. But you didn’t only lie to people, you lied to God too.”

Read all of Acts 5

Cross References

Genesis 3:13Then God said to the woman, “Why did you do that bad thing?” The woman said, “That snake tricked me. That’s the reason why I ate that fruit.”

Matthew Henry on Acts 5:2-12

The Case of Ananias and Sapphira. 1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, 2 And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet. 3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? 4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine… Read the whole commentary →

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