"In this very city they did gather together against thy holy Servant, Jesus whom thou hast anointed??erod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and also the tribes of Israel??28 "to do all that thy power and thy will had predetermined should be done.

to do all that your hand and will had predetermined to take place.

And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,

By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.

And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.

Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold,

And Joseph, which was also called of the apostles Barnabas - that is to say, the son of consolation - being a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus,

sold a field that belonged to him, brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet.

And Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan so completely possessed your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and kept back for yourselves a part of the money received for the land?

while it remained, did it not remain thine? and having been sold, in thy authority was it not? why is it that thou didst put in thy heart this thing? thou didst not lie to men, but to God;'

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

And it came to pass, about three hours after, that his wife, not knowing what hath happened, came in,

Peter said to her, "Tell me, did you sell the land for such and such a sum?" She answered, "Yes, that is it."

Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.

And great fear was on all the assembly [church], and on all that heard of these things.

and believers were more than ever added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women;)

Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them.

And a great number out of the cities round about also came together to Jerusalem, bringing those that were infirm and that were troubled with impure spirits; and they were all cured.

Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, (which is the sect of the Sadducees,) and were filled with indignation,

And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught. But the high priest came, and they that were with him, and called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.

But the officers that came found them not in the prison; and they returned, and told,

Saying, That we truly found the prison shut with all security, and the watch standing without before the doors: and having opened, we found none within.

But somebody came by and reported to them, "The men that you put in jail are standing right here in the temple square, teaching the people."

Then the captain and some of the police went and took them, but not violently, for fear that they might be stoned by the people.

Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us.

Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

"We must obey God rather than man. The God of our fathers has raised up Jesus, whom you slew by hanging him on a tree.

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

When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them.

But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law [of Moses], highly esteemed by all the people, stood up in the Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court) and ordered that the men be taken outside for a little while.

For in the days gone by Theudas appeared, claiming that he was a man of importance, and a considerable number of men, about four hundred, espoused his cause, but he was slain and all his followers were dispersed and as a party annihilated.

After that man, at the time of the census, Judas the Galilean appeared and got people to follow him. He, too, died, and all his followers were scattered.

but if it has its origin in God, you can never stop it. It is to be feared that you may find yourselves fighting God."

And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.

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

Every day in the Temple and from house to house they kept teaching and proclaiming that Jesus is the Messiah.

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

Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.

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.

So, the message of God increased [in its influence] and the disciples multiplied in number greatly in Jerusalem, [so that even] a large number of [Jewish] priests became obedient to [the message of] the faith.

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

but as they were not able to withstand the force of that sublime knowledge which appeared in his discourse,

Then they induced some men to assert that they had heard Stephen saying blasphemous things against Moses, and against God;

For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us.

And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.

And, upon that, Stephen spoke as follows: "Brothers and Fathers, hear what I have to say. God, who manifests himself in the Glory, appeared to our ancestor Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, and before he settled in Haran, and said to him--

and He said to him, Go forth out of thy land, and out of thy kindred, and come to a land that I shall shew thee.

Then came he out of the land of Chaldea and dwelt in Haran. And after that, as soon as his father was dead, he brought him into this land, in which ye now dwell,

And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child.

And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years.

And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that shall they come forth, and serve me in this place.

"[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],

Then came there a dearth over all the land of Egypt, and Canaan, and great affliction, that our fathers found no sustenance.

But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first.

And were carried over into Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor the father of Sychem.

"Now as the time approached for the fulfillment of the promise that God had made to Abraham, the people's population increased a great deal in Egypt.

The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live.

At that time Moses was born, and was beautiful in the sight of God, and was nourished three months in his father's house;

But when he was about forty years old he felt led to visit his relatives, the Israelites [i.e., called Hebrews at that time].

And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian:

For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not.

the next day seeing some that were fighting, he would have persuaded them to agree, saying, sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye injure one another?

But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us?

Do you mean to make away with me as you did yesterday with that Egyptian?'

And Moses fled at that saying, and lived a stranger in the land of Midian, where he begat two sons.

'I am the God of your forefathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.' Moses was so terrified that he did not dare to look at the bush.

seeing I have seen the affliction of My people that is in Egypt, and their groaning I did hear, and came down to deliver them; and now come, I will send thee to Egypt.

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.

He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years.

This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear.

This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:

Yet our ancestors refused him obedience; more than that, they rejected him, and in their hearts turned back to Egypt,

saying unto Aaron, Make us gods that shall go before us: for as for this Moses, who led us forth out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him.

"At that time they even made a calf to be their idol, offered a sacrifice to it, and delighted in what they had made with their hands.

Then God turned himself, and gave them up, that they should worship the stars of the sky, as it is written in the book of the prophets, 'O ye of the house of Israel: gave ye to me sacrifices and meat offerings by the space of forty years in the wilderness?

and ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan -- the figures that ye made to bow before them, and I will remove your dwelling beyond Babylon.

Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen.

Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David;

which found favour before God, and desired that he would faine have made a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.

it was Solomon however that built him a temple.

Howbeit, he that is highest of all dwelleth not in temples made with hands, as saith the prophet,

'Heaven is my seat, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build for me, saith the Lord? Or what place is it that I should rest in?

Was it not my hand that made them all?"'

Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they killed those who before published the tidings of the coming of that Righteous Person; of whom ye have now been the betrayers and murderers:

You received the law that was ordained through [the medium of] angels [See Gal. 3:19] and yet have not obeyed its requirements."

When they heard that, they were enraged and ground their teeth at him.

And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.

Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.

the multitudes also were giving heed to the things spoken by Philip, with one accord, in their hearing and seeing the signs that he was doing,

For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed.

And there was great joy in that city.

But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:

to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is that power of God which is called Great.

And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries.

Even Simon believed, and after he was baptized he became devoted to Philip. He was amazed to see the signs and great miracles that were happening.

Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:

Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost:

For up to that time he had not come on any of them; only baptism had been given to them in the name of the Lord Jesus.

And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money,

Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.