I have given an earlier account, O Theophilus, of all the things which Jesus did, and of his teaching from the first,

from the day on which, having given commandment through the Holy Ghost to the apostles whom He had chosen, He was received up.

Now, following His death on the cross [and resurrection], Jesus appeared alive [to His apostles] for forty days, and demonstrated by many convincing proofs [that He had been raised bodily from the dead]. [During that time] He also spoke to them about the [coming] kingdom of God.

And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.

For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized and empowered and united with the Holy Spirit, not long from now.”

But ye shall receive power from the holy Spirit coming upon you: and ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth.

And these things having said -- they beholding -- he was taken up, and a cloud did receive him up from their sight;

Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey.

Truly this therefore purchased a place from the wages of iniquity; and being bent forward, he brake in pieces in the midst, and all his entrails were poured out.

“Therefore, from among the men who have accompanied us during the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us—

Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.

And they prayed and said, You, Lord, knower of all hearts, show which one You chose from these two,

That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.

And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

Now there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven.

Being so amazed and astounded [at something so unusual happening], they exclaimed, "Look! are not all these men who are speaking from [the country of] Galilee?

And how is it that every one of us is hearing their words in the language which was ours from our birth?

Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia,

in Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt and the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and sojourners from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,

And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, I will pour out from my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;

And also upon my servants and upon my maids in those days will I pour out from my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:

"Listen, Israelites, to what I say. Jesus, the Nazarene, a man accredited to you from God by miracles and marvels and signs which God did among you through Him, as you yourselves know, Him--

But God raised Him up, releasing Him and bringing an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in death’s power.

For David says of Him,

‘I saw the Lord constantly before me;
For He is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken [from my state of security].

Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn to him with an oath, that from the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;

He, having knowledge of the future, was talking of the coming again of Christ from the dead, that he was not kept in hell and his body did not see destruction.

So, God raised this Jesus up [from the dead] and we [apostles] are all witnesses [of it].

at the right hand then of God having been exalted -- also the promise of the Holy Spirit having received from the Father -- he was shedding forth this, which now ye see and hear;

For David ascended not into the heavens: and he himself says, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit from my right hand,

And Peter said to them, “Repent [change your old way of thinking, turn from your sinful ways, accept and follow Jesus as the Messiah] and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ because of the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.

They would sell their lands and other property, and distribute the proceeds among all, just as any one from time had need.

And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,

praising God continually, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord kept adding to their number daily those who were being saved.

One day, as Peter and John were going up into the Temple Courts for the three o'clock Prayers, a man, who had been lame from his birth, was being carried by.

And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple;

And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something from them.

However, Peter said, "I don't have any silver or gold, but I'll give you what I do have. In the name of Jesus the Messiah from Nazareth, walk!"

Then he seized the man’s right hand with a firm grip and raised him up. And at once his feet and ankles became strong and steady,

and leaping up he stood firm, and walked; and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.

And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.

And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, this one whom you see and know, His name made firm. And the faith which came through Him has given him this perfect soundness before you.

And yet, my Brothers, I know that you acted as you did from ignorance, and your rulers also.

Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;

so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and he may send the Christ appointed for you--Jesus,

whom the heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, whereof God spake by the mouth of His holy prophets that have been from of old.

Moses indeed said, A prophet shall the Lord God raise up unto you from among your brethren, like unto me. To him shall ye hearken in all things whatsoever he shall speak unto you.

And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.

Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.

Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.

Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

and Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all those who were from the high priest's family.

Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.

So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin while they conferred among themselves.

But so that this spreads no further among the people, let's threaten them, that from now on they don't speak to anyone in this name."

for as for us we cannot refrain from speaking of the things which we have seen and heard.

And who, by the lips of our ancestor, your servant David, who spoke under the influence of the Holy Spirit, have said-- 'Why did the nations rage, and the peoples form vain designs?

When they had prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken, and all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak messages from God boldly.

And with great power the Apostles gave witness of the coming back of the Lord Jesus from the dead; and grace was on them all.

There was not a needy person among them, because those who were owners of land or houses were selling them, and bringing the proceeds of the sales

And Joseph, who was called by the apostles, Barnabas (which means "son of encouragement"), was a descendant of the Jewish tribe of Levi, whose family originated from [the island of] Cyprus.

sold a farm which he had, and brought the money and gave it to the Apostles.

But a man named Ananias who, with his wife Sapphira, sold a farm of his,

and kept back a part from the price, his wife knowing it along with him; and having brought a certain part, laid it at the feet of the apostles.

But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and [secretly] keep back for yourself some of the proceeds [from the sale] of the land?

And at these words, Ananias went down on the earth, and his life went from him: and great fear came on all who were present.

And Peter answered to her, Tell me, if for so much ye sold the farm? And she said, Yes, for so much.

then Peter said to her, how comes it that you have conspir'd together, to tempt the spirit of the Lord? see there at the door the men that are come from burying thy husband, and they shall carry thee out likewise.

And straight away she went down at his feet, and her life went from her: and the young men came in and saw her dead, and they took her out and put her in the earth with her husband.

The others, in fear, kept back from joining them: but the people made much of them;

And there also came together the multitudes from the cities round about Jerusalem, bring sick folk, and them that were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one.

Then the high priest and all those from the sect of the Sadducees who were with him were filled with jealousy. So they went out,

But an angel from the Lord one night [miraculously] opened the jail doors and released them, saying,

And then brought them before the Council. The High Priest demanded an explanation from them.

The God of our forefathers raised up Jesus [from the dead], whom you put to death by hanging Him on a tree [i.e., the cross].

God exalted Him to His right hand as Prince and Savior and Deliverer, in order to grant repentance to Israel, and [to grant] forgiveness of sins.

But a Pharisee of the name of Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law, held in honour by all the people, rose from his seat and requested that they should be sent outside the court for a few minutes.

And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought:

but if it be from God, ye will not be able to put them down, lest ye be found also fighters against God.

after the apostles were called in, and scourged, they charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then releas'd them. out they went from the council,

And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.

Every day, both in the temple [courts] and from house [to house], they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the good news [that] the Christ [was] Jesus.

Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, a complaint arose from the Hellenists against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily service.

So the Twelve called the whole group of disciples together and said, "It is not desirable for us to neglect messages from God in order to wait on tables.

Look ye out therefore, brethren, from among you seven men of good report, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.

The suggestion pleased the whole congregation; and they selected Stephen, a man full of faith [in Christ Jesus], and [filled with and led by] the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas (Nikolaos), a proselyte (Gentile convert) from Antioch.

and there arose certain of those of the synagogue, called of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia, and Asia, disputing with Stephen,

For we have heard him say that this Jesus from Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us."

And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.

Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell.

and He rescued him from all his suffering, and gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made Joseph governor over Egypt and over his entire household.

and they were carried over into Sychem, and were laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a price in money from the sons of Emmor, of Sychem.

He took a cunning method with our race; he oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to expose their infants, to prevent them from surviving.

At which time Moses was born, and was endued with singular beauty from God, who was brought up three months in the house of his father:

assuming his relatives would understand that God was using him to rescue them [from such abuse], but they did not [seem to] understand.

Then he who did his neighbour wrong thrust him from him, saying, Who appointed thee a ruler and a judge over us?

"Alarmed at this question, Moses fled from the country and went to live in the land of Midian. There he became the father of two sons.

But when Moses saw it, he marvelled at the sight: and as he was drawing nearer to observe it, a voice from the Lord came to him,

I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob. And Moses, shaking with fear, kept his eyes from looking at it.