As it was cold the slaves and attendants had made a charcoal fire, and stood about it warming themselves. And Peter also was among them, standing and warming himself.

When he said this, one of the attendants who stood near struck him and said, "Is that the way you answer the high priest?"

Jesus replied, "If I have said anything wrong, testify to it; but if what I have said is true, why do you strike me?"

One of the high priest's slaves, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, "Did I not see you with him in the garden?"

Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not a kingdom of this world. If my kingdom were a kingdom of this world, my men would have fought to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom has no such origin."

Pilate said to him, "Then you are a king?" Jesus answered, "As you say, I am a king. It was for this that I was born and for this that I came to the world, to give testimony for truth. Everyone who is on the side of truth listens to my voice."

Pilate said to him, "What is truth!" With these words he went outside again to the Jews, and said to them, "I can find nothing to charge him with.

But it is your custom to have me release one man for you at Passover time. Do you want me therefore to release the king of the Jews for you?"

So Jesus came out, still wearing the wreath of thorns and the purple coat. And Pilate said to them, "Here is the man!"

Then Pilate said to him, "Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you not know that it is in my power to release you or to have you crucified?"

It was the day of Preparation for the Passover, and it was about noon. And Pilate said to the Jews, "There is your king!"

So they said to one another, "Let us not tear it, but let us draw for it, to see who gets it." This was to fulfil what the Scripture says: "They divided my garments among them, And for my clothing they cast lots." This was what the soldiers did.

So Jesus, seeing his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing near, said to his mother, "There is your son!"

Then he said to his disciple, "There is your mother!" And from that time his disciple took her into his home.

When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, "It is finished!" Then bowing his head he gave up his spirit.

As it was the day of Preparation for the Passover, in order that the bodies might not be left on the crosses over the Sabbath, for that Sabbath was an especially important one, the Jews asked Pilate to have the men's legs broken and the bodies removed.

The man who saw it testifies to it??is testimony is true; he knows that he is telling the truth??o lead you also to believe.

But Mary stood just outside the tomb, weeping. And as she wept she looked down into the tomb,

As she said this she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was he.

Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you! Just as my Father sent me forth so I now send you."

As he said this he breathed upon them, and said,

Jesus said to him, "Is it because you have seen me that you believe? Blessed be those who believe without having seen me!"

But these have been recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and through believing you may have life as his followers.

But just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the beach, though the disciples did not know that it was he.

Then the disciple who was dear to Jesus said to Peter, "It is the Master!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Master, he put on his clothes, for he had taken them off, and sprang into the sea.

Peter turned and saw following them the disciple who was very dear to Jesus, who at the supper leaned back on Jesus' breast and said, "Master, who is it that is going to betray you?"

It is this disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down, and we know that his testimony is true.

So those who were present asked him, "Master, is this the time when you are going to re-establish the kingdom for Israel?"

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

As he said this, he was caught up before their eyes and a cloud took him up from their sight.

Then they went back to Jerusalem from the hill called the Olive-orchard, which is near Jerusalem, half a mile away.

"Brothers, the prediction of the Scriptures had to come true that the holy Spirit uttered by the lips of David, about Judas, who acted as guide for the men that arrested Jesus??17 for he was one of our number and a share in this ministry of ours fell to his lot."

"For in the Book of Psalms it is written, 'Let his estate be desolate, with no one to live on it,' and 'Let someone else take his position.'

"So one of the men who has been associated with us all the time that the Lord Jesus moved about among us,

from his baptism by John to the time when he was caught up from us, must join us as a witness to his resurrection."

Then they proposed two men, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was known as Justus, and Matthias.

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

to take this place of service as an apostle which Judas left to go where he belonged."

Then how is it that each of us hears his own native tongue?

Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, of Judea and Cappadocia, of Pontus, and Asia,

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

But this is what was predicted by the prophet Joel,

"Men of Israel, listen to what I say. Jesus of Nazareth, as you know, was a man whom God commended to you by the wonders, portents, and signs that God did right among you through 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.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices, And my body will still live in hope.

"Brothers, one may say to you confidently of the patriarch David that he died and was buried, and his grave is here among us to this very day.

But as he was a prophet, and knew that God had promised him with an oath that he would put one of his descendants upon his throne,

He is Jesus, whom God raised from the dead, and to whose resurrection we are all witnesses.

So he has been exalted to God's right hand, and has received from his Father and poured over us the holy Spirit that had been promised, as you see and hear.

for the promise of it belongs to you and your children, as well as to all those far away whom the Lord our God calls to him."

when a man who had been lame from his birth was carried by. He used to be placed every day at what was known as the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, to beg from the people on their way into the Temple,

Peter fixed his eyes on him, as John did also, and said to him, "Look at us!"

and recognized him as the man who used to sit and beg at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, they were perfectly astonished and amazed at what had happened to him.

And as he still clung to Peter and John, all the people crowded about them in the utmost astonishment in what was known as Solomon's Colonnade.

When Peter saw this, he said to the people. "Men of Israel, why are you so surprised at this? Why do you stare so at us, as though it were some power or some piety of ours that had made him able to walk?

and killed the very source of life. But God raised him from the dead, as we can testify.

It is by his power and through faith in him that this man whom you see and recognize has been made strong again, and it is faith inspired by him that has given him the perfect health you all see.

Moses said, 'The Lord God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, as he raised me up. You must listen to everything that he tells you.

As they were talking in this way to the people, the high priests, the commander of the Temple, and the Sadducees came up to them,

They arrested them, and as it was already evening, they shut them up until next morning.

if it is for a benefit conferred upon a helpless man, and as to how he was cured, that we are called to account here today,

you and the people of Israel must all know that it is through the power of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that he stands here before you well.

He is the stone that you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.

There is no salvation through anyone else, for there is no one else in the world who has been named to men as their only means of being saved."

They were amazed to see how outspoken Peter and John were, and to find that they were uneducated men with no advantages. They recognized them as companions of Jesus,

They said, "What are we to do with these men? For it is plain to everyone in Jerusalem that an extraordinary wonder has been done by them. We cannot deny that.

But to keep it from spreading farther among the people, let us warn them to say nothing to anyone else at all about this person."

But Peter and John answered them, "You must decide whether it is right in the sight of God to obey you instead of him,

But after further threats they let them go, as they could find no way to punish them, on account of the people, who were all giving honor to God for what had happened,

When they heard it, with one impulse they all raised their voices to God and said, "Master, it was you who made heaven, earth, and sea, and everything that is in them,

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.

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!"

so that people would carry their sick out into the streets, and lay them down on beds and mats, to have at least Peter's shadow fall on some of them as he went by.

When the commander of the Temple and the high priests heard this report, they were very much at a loss as to what would come of it.

"We strictly forbade you," he said, "to teach on this authority, and here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and propose to hold us responsible for this man's death!"

God took him up to his right hand as our leader and savior, in order to give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.

So in the present case, I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this idea or movement is of human origin, it will come to naught,

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

In those days, as the number of the disciples was increasing, complaints were made by the Greek-speaking Jews against the native Jews that their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food.

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.

You, brothers, must pick out from your number seven men of good standing, who are wise and full of the Spirit, and we will put them in charge of this matter,

But members of the synagogue known as that of the Libyans, Cyreneans, and Alexandrians, and men from Cilicia and Asia undertook to debate with Stephen,

So they instigated people to say, "We have heard him use abusive language about Moses and about God."

Then they brought forward false witnesses, who said, "This man is constantly saying things against this holy place and against the Law,

for we have heard him say that Jesus of Nazareth will tear this place down and change the customs that have been handed down to us by Moses."

The high priest said, "Is this statement true?"

As the time drew near for the fulfilment of the promise God had made to Abraham, the people became more and more numerous in Egypt,

When he was abandoned, the daughter of Pharaoh adopted him and brought him up as her own son.

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

Do you mean to kill me as you did that Egyptian yesterday?'

Then the Lord said to him, 'Take off your shoes, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.

This was the Moses who said to the descendants of Israel, 'God will make a prophet rise from among your brothers to teach you, just as he made me rise.'

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!'

So God turned his back on them and left them to worship the starry host, just as the Book of the Prophets says, " 'Was it victims and sacrifices that you offered to me, O house of Israel, Those forty years in the desert?

In the desert our forefathers had the Tent of the Testimony built like the model Moses had seen, just as he who spoke to him told him to make it.

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

" 'The sky is my throne, And the earth a footstool for my feet. What house can you build for me? says the Lord, Or what place is there where I can rest?

You stubborn people, with heathen hearts and ears, you are always opposing the holy Spirit, just as your forefathers did!

As they stoned Stephen, he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!"

Everyone there, high and low, made much of him, and said, "He must be what is known as the Great Power of God!"