And once when he ate with them, he instructed them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised. "You have heard me speak of it," he said,

He said to them, "It is not for you to know times and dates which the Father has fixed by his own authority,

It was at that time that Peter got up among the brothers??here were about a hundred and twenty persons present??nd said,

They were perfectly amazed and said in their astonishment, "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans?

These men are not drunk as you suppose, for it is only nine in the morning.

But God set aside the pain of death and raised him up, for death could not control him.

For David says of him, 'I constantly regarded the Lord before me, For he is at my right hand, so that I may not be displaced.

For you will not desert my soul in death, You will not let your Holy One be destroyed.

he foresaw the resurrection of the Christ and told of it, for he was not deserted in death and his body was not destroyed.

"For David did not go up to heaven, but he said, 'The Lord said to my lord, Sit at my right hand,

Yet I know, brothers, that you did not know what you were doing, any more than your leaders did;

Anyone that will not listen to that prophet will be annihilated from among the people.'

So they called them in and ordered them not to speak or teach at all about the name of Jesus.

And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and give your slaves the power to utter your message fearlessly,

There was but one heart and soul in the multitude who had become believers, and not one of them claimed anything that belonged to him as his own, but they shared everything they had with one another.

and put them at the disposal of the apostles; then they were shared with everyone in proportion to his need.

As long as it was unsold was it not yours, and after it was sold was not the money under your control? How could you think of doing such a thing? You did not lie to men but to God!"

But an angel of the Lord opened the jail doors in the night and let them out, and said to them,

But the attendants who went for them could not find them in the jail, and they came back and reported,

but if it is from God, you will not be able to stop it. You may actually find yourselves fighting God!"

They were convinced by him, and they called the apostles in and had them flogged, and warned them not to speak about the name of Jesus, and then let them go.

and they did not for a single day stop teaching and preaching in the Temple and in private houses the good news of Jesus, the Christ.

So the Twelve called in the whole body of disciples and said to them, "It is not desirable that we should give up preaching the word of God to keep accounts.

but they could not meet his wisdom and the inspiration with which he spoke.

He gave him no property in it, not a single foot, but he promised to give it to him and his posterity after him permanently, though he had no children at that time.

Then a famine spread all over Egypt and Canaan, and there was great suffering, and our forefathers could not find any food.

He took advantage of our people and oppressed our forefathers, making them abandon their infant children, so that they should not live.

He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was using him as the means of delivering them, but they did not.

'I am the God of your forefathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.' Moses was terrified and did not dare to look at it.

Yet our forefathers would not listen to him, but thrust him off, and their hearts turned back to Egypt,

for they said to Aaron, 'Make us gods to march in front of us, for as for this Moses, who brought us out of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him!'

But the Most High does not live in buildings made by human hands. As the prophet says,

Was it not my hand that made it all?'

Which of the prophets did your forefathers not persecute? They killed the men who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and killed??53 you who had the Law given to you by angels, and did not obey it!"

Then falling on his knees, he cried out, "Lord, do not lay this sin up against them!" With these words he fell asleep.

for it had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

You have no share or part in this movement, for your heart is not honest in the sight of God.

So repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord, to see if you may not be forgiven for thinking of such a thing.

This was the passage of Scripture that he was reading: "Like a sheep he was led away to be slaughtered, And just as a lamb is dumb before its shearer, He does not open his mouth.

Saul's fellow-travelers stood speechless, for they heard the voice but could not see anyone.

and for three days he could not see, and neither ate nor drank.

Everyone was astonished, and said, "Is not he the man who made such havoc of the people in Jerusalem who call upon that name, and who came here especially for the purpose of arresting such persons and taking them before the high priests?"

but Saul found out about the plot. They watched the city gates day and night, in order to kill him,

but his disciples took him one night and let him down over the wall, lowering him in a basket.

When he reached Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, and they were all afraid of him, for they could not believe that he was really a disciple.

But Peter said, "Never, sir! For I have never eaten anything that was not ceremonially cleansed."

The voice came to him again a second time, "Do not call what God has cleansed unclean."

and he said to them, "You know that it is against the Law for a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit one; but God has taught me not to call anyone vulgar or unclean.

not by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had designated beforehand, that is, by us, who ate and drank with him after he had risen from the dead.

charging him with having visited and eaten with men who were not Jews.

But I said, 'Never, sir! For nothing that was not ceremonially cleansed has ever passed my lips.'

Then the voice from heaven answered again, 'Do not call what God has cleansed unclean!'

and the Spirit told me not to hesitate to go with them. These six brothers here also went with me, and we went to the man's house.

The night before Herod was going to bring him out, Peter was asleep between two soldiers, and fastened with two chains, and watchmen were at the door, guarding the jail,

and when she recognized Peter's voice, in her joy she did not stop to open the door, but ran in and told them that Peter was standing outside.

Herod had inquiries made for him, and when he could not find him, he examined the guards and ordered them to be put to death. Then he left Judea for Caesarea, and stayed there.

and the people shouted in applause, "It is a god's voice, not a man's!"

But the angel of the Lord struck him down immediately, because he did not give the honor to God; and he was eaten by worms and died.

Toward the end of his career, John said, 'What do you suppose that I am? I am not he! No! Someone is coming after me, the shoes on whose feet I am not fit to untie!'

For in another psalm he says, 'You will not let your Holy One undergo decay.'

but he whom God raised to life did not undergo it.

and that through union with him everyone who believes is cleared of every charge of which the Law of Moses could not clear you.

Take care, therefore, that what is said in the prophets does not prove true of you:

In the streets of Lystra a man used to sit who had not the use of his feet. He had been lame from his birth, and had never been able to walk.

though he did not fail to give some evidence about himself, through his kindnesses to you, in sending you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, giving you food and happiness to your heart's content."

Some people came down from Judea and began to teach the brothers that unless they were circumcised as Moses prescribed, they could not be saved.

In my opinion, therefore, we ought not to put obstacles in the way of those of the heathen who are turning to God,

For the holy Spirit and we have decided not to lay upon you any burden but this indispensable one,

But Paul did not approve of taking with them a man who had deserted them in Pamphylia instead of going on with them to their work.

and when they reached Mysia they tried to get into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not permit it,

There Paul had a vision one night; a Macedonian was standing appealing to him and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us."

But Paul shouted out, "Do not do yourself any harm! We are all here!"

And right then in the night, he took them and washed their wounds, and he and all his household were baptized immediately.

As they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the town magistrates, shouting, "The men who have made trouble all over the world have come here too,

The brothers sent Paul and Silas away immediately, in the course of the following night, to Berea. On arriving there they went to the Jewish synagogue.

God who created the world and all that is in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples built by human hands,

nor is he waited on by human hands as though he were in need of anything, for he himself gives all men life and breath and everything.

So if we are God's children we ought not to imagine that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, wrought by human art and thought.

But as they contradicted and abused him, he shook his clothes in protest, and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am not to blame for it! After this I will go to the heathen."

One night the Lord said to Paul in a vision, "Do not be afraid! Go on speaking and do not give up,

They asked him to stay longer, but he would not consent.

and you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but almost all over Asia, this man Paul has persuaded and drawn away numbers of people, telling them that gods made by human hands are not gods at all.

There is danger, therefore, not only that this business of ours will be discredited, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be neglected and the magnificence of her whom all Asia and the world worship will be a thing of the past!"

Paul wanted to go before the people himself, but the disciples would not allow it.

Some of the religious authorities also, who were friends of his, sent to him and begged him not to venture into the theater.

At last the recorder quieted the mob and said, "Men of Ephesus, who in the world does not know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis, and of the image that fell down from the sky?

So as these facts are undeniable, you must be calm, and not do anything reckless.

For you have brought these men here, though they have not been guilty of disloyalty nor uttered any blasphemy against our goddess.

For we are in danger of being charged with rioting in connection with today's events, though there is really nothing about this commotion that we will not be able to explain."

But Paul went downstairs, and threw himself upon him, and put his arms around him. "Do not be alarmed," he said, "he is still alive."

For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he would not have to lose any time in Asia, for he was hurrying to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of the Harvest Festival.

I am here now on my way to Jerusalem, for the Spirit compels me to go there, though I do not know what will happen to me there,

But my life does not matter, if I can only finish my race and do the service intrusted to me by the Lord Jesus, of declaring the good news of God's favor.

Therefore I declare to you today that I am not responsible for the blood of any of you,

for I have not shrunk from letting you know God's purpose without reserve.

I know that after I am gone savage wolves will get in among you and will not spare the flock,

So you must be on your guard and remember that for three years, night and day, I never stopped warning any of you, even with tears.

So we looked up the disciples there and stayed a week with them. Instructed by the Spirit, they warned Paul not to set foot in Jerusalem.

When we heard this, we and the people there all begged him not to go up to Jerusalem.

Then Paul answered, "What do you mean by crying and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound at Jerusalem but to die there for the sake of the Lord Jesus."