After saying this, He was taken up while they were looking at Him, and a cloud swept under Him and carried Him out of their sight.

And while they were gazing after Him into heaven, two men dressed in white suddenly stood beside them,

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, which is near Jerusalem, only half a mile away.

When they reached the city, they went to the room upstairs where they had been staying; they were: Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alpheus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.

With one mind they were all continuing to devote themselves to prayer, with the women and Mary and His brothers.

Then they nominated two men, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias.

And they prayed, saying, "Lord, you who know the hearts of all, show us which one of these two men you have chosen

They then drew lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was added to the eleven apostles.

When the day of Pentecost had now come, they were all meeting in one mind,

when suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a terrific blast of wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting,

And they saw tongues like flames of fire separating and resting on their heads, one to each of them,

and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in foreign languages as the Spirit granted them to utter divine things.

They were perfectly astounded, and in bewilderment they continued to say, "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans?

And thus they all continued to be astounded and bewildered, and continued to say to each other, "What can this mean?"

But others in derision were saying, "They are running over with new wine."

Even on my slaves, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will become prophets.

When they heard this, they were stabbed to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"

So they accepted his message and were baptized, and about three thousand persons united with them on that day.

And they devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to fellowship with one another, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

And all the believers lived together and held all they had as common goods to be shared by one another.

And so they continued to sell their property and goods and to distribute the money to all, as anyone had special need.

Day after day they regularly attended the temple; they practiced breaking their bread together in their homes, and eating their food with glad and simple hearts,

and recognized him as the very man who used to sit at The Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg, they were completely astounded and bewildered at what occurred to him.

While they were talking to the people, the high priests, the military commander of the temple, and the Sadducees came down upon them,

because they were very much disturbed over their continuing to teach the people and to declare in the case of Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

So they arrested them and put them into prison until next morning, for it was already evening.

They had the men stand before them and repeatedly inquired of them, "By what sort of power and authority have you done this?"

They were surprised to see the courage shown by Peter and John and to find that they were uneducated men, and especially untrained in the schools, but they recognized the fact that they had been companions of Jesus,

and since they saw the man who had been cured standing with them, they had nothing to say in reply.

But they ordered the prisoners to step outside the council, and they conferred together

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

So, after further threatening them, they turned them loose, because they could not find any way to punish them, on account of the people, because they all continued to praise God for what had taken place,

When they were turned loose, the apostles went back to their companions and told them what the high priests and elders had said to them.

When they heard this, with one united prayer to God they said: "O Lord, you are the Maker of heaven, earth, and sea, and everything that is in them, and the One

"For in this city they actually met against your holy Servant Jesus, whom you had consecrated -- Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the heathen and the peoples of Israel,

When they had prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and continued courageously to speak God's message.

Now there was but one heart and soul in the vast number of those who had become believers, and not one of them claimed that anything that he had was his own, but they shared everything that they had as common property.

Peter said to her, "How could both of you agree in such a way to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door; they will carry you out, too."

She instantly fell dead at his feet. When the young men came in, they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

Many signs and wonders were continuously performed by the apostles among the people. And by common consent they all used to meet in Solomon's portico.

so that they kept bringing out into the streets their sick ones and putting them on little couches or pallets, that at least the shadow of Peter, as he went by, might fall on some of them.

Even from the towns around Jerusalem crowds continued coming in to bring their sick ones and those troubled with foul spirits, and they were all cured.

they had the apostles arrested and put into the common jail.

So they obeyed, and about the break of day they went into the temple square and began to teach. The high priest and his party arrived and called a meeting of the council and the whole senate of the sons of Israel, and sent to the prison to have the men brought in.

When the military commander of the temple square and the high priest heard this, they were utterly at a loss to know how this might turn out.

Then the military commander went with his attendants and brought them back, but without any violence, for they were afraid of being pelted with stones by the people.

So they brought them and had them stand before the council. And the high priest asked them,

When they heard this, they were furious, and wanted to kill them.

They were convinced by him, and after calling the apostles in and having them flogged, they charged them to stop speaking on the authority of Jesus, and then turned them loose.

So they went out from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer disgrace for Jesus' name;

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

This suggestion was approved by the whole body, and so they selected Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, Philip, Procorus, Nikanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas of Antioch, who was a convert to Judaism.

They presented these men to the apostles, and after they had prayed, they laid their hands upon them.

but they could not cope with his good practical sense and the spiritual power with which he usually spoke.

So they instigated men to say, "We have heard him speaking abusive words against Moses and God."

By this means they excited the people, the elders, and the scribes, and so they rushed upon him, seized him, and brought him before the council.

Then they put up false witnesses who said, "This man never stops saying things against this holy place and against the law,

But God further promised: 'I will pass sentence on the nation that enslaves them, and after that they will leave that country and worship me on this very spot.'

By taking a cunning advantage of our race he oppressed our forefathers by forcing them to expose their infants so that they should not live.

He supposed that his brothers would understand that God through his instrumentality was going to deliver them, but they did not.

That very Moses whom they refused, saying, 'Who made you our ruler and referee?' was the man whom God sent to be both their ruler and deliverer, by the help of the angel who had appeared to him in the bush.

But our forefathers would not listen to him, but pushed him aside, and in their hearts they hankered after Egypt;

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

In those days they even made a calf, and offered sacrifice to their idol, and held a celebration over the works of their own hands.

This tent our forefathers brought in and passed on when under Joshua they dispossessed the nations which God drove out before them, and it remained until the time of David.

Which of the prophets did your forefathers fail to persecute? They killed the prophets who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have betrayed and murdered Him,

As they continued to listen to this address, they were becoming infuriated and began to grind their teeth at him.

But they raised a great shout and held their ears, and all together rushed upon him,

They continued stoning Stephen as he continued praying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!"

As the crowds continued to listen to his message and continued to see his wonder-works which he was performing, with one mind they became interested in what was said by Philip.

They kept running after him, because for a long time he had thrilled them with his magical performances.

When the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted God's message, they sent Peter and John there.

They came and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit,

for as yet He had not come upon any of them, but they had been baptized merely in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Then they laid their hands upon them, and one by one they received the Holy Spirit.

So after they had given their testimony and spoken the Lord's message, they started back to Jerusalem, and on the way continued to tell the good news in many Samaritan villages.

As they continued down the road, they came to some water, and the official said, "Look! here is some water! What is there to keep me from being baptized?"

When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away; the official saw him no more, for he went on home rejoicing;

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

Then Saul got up off the ground, but he could not see anything, although his eyes were wide open. So they took him by the hand and led him into Damascus,

but their plot was found out by Saul. Day and night they kept guarding the city gates, to murder him,

Now when Saul arrived at Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples there, but they were all afraid of him, because they did not believe that he was really a disciple.

and he continued to speak courageously in the name of the Lord, and to speak and debate with the Greek-speaking Jews. But they kept trying to murder him.

So when the brothers found this out, they took him down to Caesarea, and from there sent him back to Tarsus.

Then all the people who lived at Lydda and Sharon saw him, and so they turned to the Lord.

Just at that time it happened that she had been taken ill and had died. They washed her body and laid her out in a room upstairs.

So Peter at once got up and went with them. When he reached there, they took him to the room upstairs, and all the widows took their stand around him, crying and showing him the shirts and coats that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

But he got very hungry and wanted something to eat. While they were getting it ready, he fell into a trance

and they called and inquired if Simon who was called Peter was staying there.

They answered, "Cornelius, a colonel in the army, an upright man and one who reveres God, and a man of high reputation with the whole Jewish nation, was instructed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to listen to a message you would bring."

The next day he started off with them, and some of the brothers in Joppa went along with him. The day after that they reached Caesarea. Cornelius was waiting for him, as he had invited in his kinsmen and close friends.

We are witnesses of everything that He did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. Yet they murdered Him by hanging Him upon a tree.

for they heard them speaking in foreign languages and telling of the greatness of God. Then Peter asked,

"No one can refuse the use of water, can he, for these to be baptized, since they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did ourselves?"

So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they begged him to stay on there a few days.

When they heard this, they had no answer to make, but gave God the glory, saying, "So God has given even the heathen the repentance that leads to life."

Now the news about them came to the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and so they sent Barnabas all the way to Antioch.

and after he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. Now for a whole year their meeting with the church lasted, and they taught large numbers of people. It was at Antioch too that the disciples first came to be known as "Christians."

And this they did and sent it to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.

They passed the first guard, then the second, and at last came to the iron gate which led into the city. The gate of itself opened to them, and they passed out and proceeded one block when all at once the angel left him.