which also our fathers having in succession received, did bring in with Joshua, into the possession of the nations whom God did drive out from the presence of our fathers, till the days of David,

and casting him out from the city, they began to stone him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man, called Saul:

But Saul was ravaging the church, entering from house to house. Dragging both men and women, he gave them over to prison.

Now those who were scattered went from place to place preaching the good news of the message.

Crowds of people, with one accord, gave attention to what they heard from him, listening, and witnessing the signs which he did.

for unclean spirits came forth from many who were possessed, crying with a loud voice, and many who have been paralytic and lame were healed,

But a certain man named Simon, from there in Samaria, who had been amazing the people with his magical powers, was claiming to be someone great.

They all paid attention to him, from the least of them to the greatest, and they said, “This man is called the Great Power of God!”

His influence over them arose from their having been, for a long time, bewildered by his sorceries.

When these two apostles had come [to Samaria] they prayed for some [of the disciples] to receive [miraculous power from] the Holy Spirit,

Then the apostles placed their hands on [some of] them [and prayed, see verse 15] and they received [miraculous power from] the Holy Spirit.

But Peter said to him, "You and your money will both be destroyed for thinking you could buy the gift from God with money.

reform, therefore, from this thy wickedness, and beseech God, if then the purpose of thy heart may be forgiven thee,

An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip: “Get up and go south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is the desert road.)

He arose and went; and behold, there was a man from Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasure, who had come to Jerusalem to worship.

Now he was returning home, seated in his chariot, and reading from the prophet Isaiah.

So, Philip ran over to it and [when he got near enough] he heard the Ethiopian eunuch reading from Isaiah the prophet and asked him, "Do you understand what you are reading?"

The passage of Scripture which he was reading was this--'Like a sheep, he was led away to slaughter, and as a lamb is dumb in the hands of its shearer, so he refrains from opening his lips.

In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.

So Philip proceeded to tell him the good news about Jesus, beginning from that Scripture.

As they were traveling down the road, they came to some water. The eunuch said, “Look, there’s water! What would keep me from being baptized?”

is absent from many manuscripts}}.

And when they went up from the water the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, and the eunuch saw him no more; for he went his way rejoicing.

Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord [and relentless in his search for believers], went to the high priest,

and requested letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women who belonged to the Way, he might bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:

And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.

“Get up and go to the street called Straight,” the Lord said to him, “to the house of Judas, and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, since he is praying there.

“Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard from many people about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem.

And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name.

And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.

But his disciples took him by night and let him down from the wall in a basket.

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

The Church, however, throughout the whole of Judaea, Galilee and Samaria, had peace and was spiritually built up; and grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord and receiving encouragement from the Holy Spirit.

As Peter was traveling from place to place, he also came down to the saints who lived in Lydda.

When the disciples heard that Peter was at Lydda (for Joppa is not far from Lydda), they sent two men to beg him to "Come on to us without delay."

And there was a certain man in Caesarea, by name Cornelius, a centurion from a band called Italian,

One afternoon, about three o'clock, he distinctly saw in a vision an angel from God come to him, and call him by name.

As he stared at [the angel] in fright, he asked, "What is it, Lord?" [Note: The word "Lord" here could also be translated "Sir," and its correct rendering depends on whether or not Cornelius understood the angel to be from God]. And the angel replied, "Your [continual] prayers and [generous] gifts to poor people have not gone unnoticed before God.

And when the angel who spoke to him departed, he summoned two of the household slaves and a devout soldier from those who attended him,

The next day, while those men were traveling on and not far from the town, Peter went up on the housetop about noon to pray.

Now while Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should mean, behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon's house, and stood before the gate,

Then Peter went down to the men which were sent unto him from Cornelius; and said, Behold, I am he whom ye seek: what is the cause wherefore ye are come?

And they said, Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God by an holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words of thee.

Then called he them in, and lodged them. And on the morrow Peter went away with them, and certain brethren from Joppa accompanied him.

And he said to them, "You people know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with, or even go near a person from another [i.e., non-Jewish] country, and yet God showed me that I should not consider any person ordinary or [ceremonially] unacceptable.

And Cornelius said, Four days from now I was in my house in prayer at the ninth hour; and I saw before me a man in shining clothing,

Immediately therefore I sent to thee; and thou hast well done that thou hast come. Now therefore we are all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee from God.

but that whoever respects Him and does what is right, whatever country he may be from, is acceptable to Him.

That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached;

Jesus who is from Nazareth -- how God did anoint him with the Holy Spirit and power; who went through, doing good, and healing all those oppressed by the devil, because God was with him;

Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead.

And those believers from the circumcision who had accompanied Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles,

“Can anyone withhold water and prevent these people from being baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”

But, when Peter went up to Jerusalem, those who were converts from Judaism began to attack him,

But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it by order unto them, saying,

I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, A certain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came even to me:

But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.

And, behold, immediately there were three men already come unto the house where I was, sent from Caesarea unto me.

The Spirit told me to go with them without hesitating. These six brothers went with me, too, and we entered the house of the man from Caesarea.

he will bring a message to you by which you will be saved [and granted eternal life], you and all your household.’

So, when the apostles and the brothers from Judea heard these things, they stopped arguing [See verse 2] and gave honor to God, saying, "[This means] that God has permitted the Gentiles also [as well as the Jews] to repent [i.e., change their hearts and lives] so they, too, could have [the promise of never ending] life."

Those, indeed, therefore, having been scattered abroad, from the tribulation that came after Stephen, went through unto Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to none except to Jews only;

But some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, [when they] came to Antioch, began to speak to the Hellenists also, proclaiming the good news about the Lord Jesus.

And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch.

and one from among them, by name Agabus, rose up and signified by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine over all the inhabited earth, which also came to pass under Claudius.

So from the disciples, {according to their ability to give}, each one of them determined to send [financial aid] for support to the brothers who lived in Judea,

Now at that time, Herod the king laid hands on some of those from the church to harm [them].

And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands.

The chains dropped from his wrists, and then the angel said: "Put on your girdle and sandals." When Peter had done so, the angel added: "Throw your cloak round you and follow me."

When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him.

And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.

and having known the voice of Peter, from the joy she did not open the porch, but having run in, told of the standing of Peter before the porch,

And he, beckoning to them with his hand to keep silent, related how the Lord led him out from the prison: and said, Proclaim these things to James, and the brethren. And having gone out, he departed into another place.

And when Herod had sought for him, and found him not, he examined the keepers, and commanded that they should be put to death. And he went down from Judaea to Caesarea, and there abode.

He had been very angry with the Tyrians and Sidonians. Together they presented themselves before him. They won over Blastus, who was in charge of the king’s bedroom, and through him they asked for peace, because their country was supplied with food from the king’s country.

And then, on a particular day, Herod, dressed in his royal robes, delivered a speech [to the people] from his throne.

Suddenly, an angel from God struck him [with a terrible condition] because he refused to honor God [by what he said in his speech], so he was consumed by worms and died.

And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, when they had fulfilled their ministry, and took with them John, whose surname was Mark.

Now there were some men from the congregation that was in Antioch, prophets and teachers, including Barnabas, and Simeon called Niger, and Lucius the Cyrenian, and Manaen reared with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus.

But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith.

and said, "thou heap of imposture and mischief, offspring of the devil, and enemy to all justice, wilt thou not cease to pervers men from the right ways of the Lord?

The proconsul believed [the message of salvation] when he saw what had happened, being astonished at the teaching concerning the Lord.

Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem.

But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down.

So after the reading from the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent [word] to them, saying, "Men [and] brothers, if there is any message of exhortation by you for the people, say [it]."

the God of Israel made choice of our fathers, and exalted the people when they sojourn'd in Egypt, from whence he conducted them by the terror of his arm.

And then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man from the tribe of Benjamin, [for] forty years.

And when God removed him [from the throne of Israel] He raised up David to be their king. God said about him, 'I have found David, the son of Jesse, to be a man close to my heart [i.e., whom I loved very much] and he will do all that I want him to.'

“From this man’s descendants, according to the promise, God brought the Savior, Jesus, to Israel.

They found no ground at all for putting him to death, and yet demanded his execution from Pilate;

And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre.

But God raised him from the dead:

And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people.

God hath fulfilled to us their children, in raising up Jesus [from the dead]; as it is also written in the first Psalm: "Thou art my Son; I have this day begotten thee."

And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David.

But Jesus, whom God raised up [from the dead], never did decay.

"Therefore let it be known to you, men [and] brothers, that through this one forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and from all [the things] from which you were not able to be justified by the law of Moses,

and everyone who believes in Him is justified from everything that you could not be justified from through the law of Moses.