To these he also showed himself alive after he suffered, by many proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking about God's Kingdom.

[One day, as He was] gathered with these apostles, He urged them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there until they received what the Father had promised them. (Jesus had previously discussed this with them). [See Luke 24:49].

Because, John, indeed, immersed with water; but, ye, in Holy Spirit shall be immersed, - after not many of these days.

Then, indeed, these coming together, they asked Him, saying, Lord, do You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?

His answer was: "It is not for you to know times or hours, for the Father has reserved these for his own decision;

And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

When they came into the city, these men went to the upstairs room where they had been staying: Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.

These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.

And in these days Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren, and said (and there was a multitude of persons gathered together, about a hundred and twenty),

Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,

beginning from the baptism of John, unto the day that he was received up from us, of these must one become a witness with us of his resurrection.

And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen,

And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?

Yet we all alike hear these Galilaeans speaking in our own language about the wonderful things which God has done."

Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.

For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.

[In that day] the sun will become dark and the moon will [appear] as blood. [This will all happen] before the great and wonderful day when the Lord comes. [Note: Some view these last two verses as a reference to events occurring at the end of time. See Matt. 24:29-30].

Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:

Stung to the heart by these words, they said to Peter and the rest of the Apostles, "Brethren, what are we to do?"

And these [new converts] continued regularly [to listen] to the teaching of the apostles and to share with them; they broke bread [in memory of Jesus] and continued praying.

And they began selling [their] possessions and property, and distributing these [things] to all, to the degree that anyone had need.

But God, announced these things beforehand by the mouth of all his prophets, for Christ to suffer, he so completed.

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

You people are descendants of these prophets and [recipients] of the Agreement God made with your forefathers when He said to Abraham [Gen. 12:3], 'And through your seed [i.e., your descendant Jesus] all the people of the earth will receive the blessings [of God].'

So, these [Jewish] leaders arrested Peter and John and put them in jail until the next day because it was [already] evening.

And when these men had Peter and John brought before them, they asked, "By whose authority or in what name have you done this thing [i.e., healed the crippled man]?"

When they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and discovered that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized these men had been with Jesus.

Saying, What shall we do to these men? for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny it.

So, now Lord, take account of the threats [of these Jewish leaders] and give your servants all the boldness [we need] to speak your message,

And after they had prayed, the place where they were gathered shook, and these disciples were all filled with [the power of] the Holy Spirit and they were able to speak the message of God with boldness.

And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.

"How could you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord?" Peter asked her. "Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and these men will carry you outside as well."

And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.

With these orders they went into the temple about dawn and proceeded to teach. Meantime the high priest and his allies met, called the Sanhedrin together and the council of seniors belonging to the sons of Israel, and then sent to prison for the men.

Now when the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow.

And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.

But they, when they heard these things, were cut to the heart, and took counsel to kill them.

And said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men.

For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to nought.

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:

Now in these days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a murmuring of the Grecian Jews against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.

These words pleased the whole multitude. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch;

They brought these men before the apostles; and after praying, they laid their hands on them [to dedicate and commission them for this service].

Then said the high priest, Are these things so?

God's words were these--'Abraham's descendants shall live in a foreign country, where they will be enslaved and ill-treated for four hundred years.

and the nation to which they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God; and after these things they shall come forth and serve me in this place.

And God gave Abraham a covenant [a formal agreement to be strictly observed] of [which] circumcision [was the sign]; and so [under these circumstances] Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac [became the father] of Jacob, and Jacob [became the father] of the twelve patriarchs.

"[And when] these patriarchs, [still living in Canaan as young men], became jealous of [their brother] Joseph, they sold him [as a slave to traveling merchants who took him] to Egypt. But God was with him [during all that time],

will you kill me as you kill'd the Egyptian yesterday? at these words Moses fled,

And at these words, Moses went in flight to the land of Midian, and was living there for a time, and had two sons.

Our forefathers also brought this Tabernacle with them under Joshua's leadership when they entered [Canaan] to occupy the land of these Gentile nations. God removed these nations as our forefathers advanced through the land, up until the reign of King David,

Hath not my hand made all these things?

When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.

Then, rising on his knees, he cried aloud, "Lord, do not reckon this sin against them." And with these words he fell asleep.

With these words he fell asleep. And Saul fully approved of his murder. On this very day there broke out a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostle were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.

These two went down and prayed for them so that they would receive the Holy Spirit.

Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me.

And the Ethiopian said to Philip, About whom are these words said by the prophet? about himself, or some other?

So Ananias went off and entered the house, laying his hands on him with these words, "Saul, my brother, I have been sent by the Lord, by Jesus who appeared to you on the road, to let you regain your sight and be filled with the holy Spirit."

And after a number of days had passed [these] Jews conspired together to kill Saul,

And when the angel who said these words to him had gone away, he sent for two of his house-servants, and a God-fearing man of the army, one of those who were waiting on him at all times;

And when he had declared all these things unto them, he sent them to Joppa.

And on the morrow, as these were journeying and drawing near to the city, Peter went up on the house to pray, about the sixth hour.

And he was hungry, and would have eaten: and these making ready, a deep trance fell upon him,

And saying these words, he went in, and saw that a great number of people had come together;

While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.

Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?

And the spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered into the man's house:

When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.

Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch.

On coming there he saw to his great joy these tokens of the loving-kindness of God, and encouraged them all to make up their minds to be faithful to the Lord--

where they resided a whole year with that church, and instructed abundance of disciples, and these disciples were the first that were denominated Christians.

And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch.

Finding that this gratified the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also; these being the days of Unleavened Bread.

But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go shew these things unto James, and to the brethren. And he departed, and went into another place.

Now Herod was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon [Note: These were seaport cities not under his jurisdiction]. They came to him as a group, having befriended Blastus, an officer of the king [Herod], and tried to arrange a peaceful relationship [with him] because the country was dependant on him for their food supply.

Now there were these prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen (a close friend of Herod the tetrarch from childhood) and Saul.

As these men were ministering to the Lord [i.e., this probably means worshiping] and fasting, the Holy Spirit said [to one of them by way of inspiration]: "Set Barnabas and Saul apart for Me, [commissioning them] to do the work for which I have called them."

Then, as these prophets and teachers fasted and prayed [for the two men], they placed their hands on them [signifying their appointment for this ministry] and sent them away.

These, indeed, then, having been sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia, thence also they sailed to Cyprus,

and after these things he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.

For those who live in Jerusalem, and their rulers, who failed to recognize or understand both Jesus and the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled these [very prophecies] by condemning Him.

and for many days he appeared to those who had come with him to Jerusalem from Galilee. These are now his witnesses to the people.

And about his coming back from the dead, never again to go to destruction, he has said these words, I will give you the holy and certain mercies of David.

So take care that these words of the prophets do not come true for you;

And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath.

For these are the Lord's orders to us: I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the end of the earth."

But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard it, they rent their clothes and sprang in among the people, crying out and saying, Sirs, why do ye these things?

And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein:

And with these sayings scarce restrained they the people, that they had not done sacrifice unto them.

And when Paul and Barnabas had appointed elders [for the churches] in every congregation and had prayed and fasted [over these elders], they committed them to [the care of] the Lord, in whom they had come to trust.

Between these new comers and Paul and Barnabas there was no little disagreement and controversy, until at last it was decided that Paul and Barnabas and some other brethren should go up to consult the Apostles and Elders in Jerusalem on this matter.

But some of the Pharisees, who were of the faith, got up and said, It is necessary for these to have circumcision and to keep the law of Moses.

Now, therefore, why try an experiment upon God, by laying on the necks of these disciples a yoke which neither our forefathers nor we have been able to bear?

After these things I will return, And I will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen; And I will build again the ruins thereof, And I will set it up:

That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.

Saith the Lord, who maketh these things known from of old.

"Therefore, I have decided that we should not trouble these gentiles who are turning to God.

Then the apostles, the elders, and the whole church decided to choose some of their men to send with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch. These were Judas, who was called Barsabbas, and Silas, who were leaders among the brothers.

They wrote these things by their hand: "The apostles, the elders, and the brothers, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: greetings.