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.

"Then he gave him a covenant of circumcision, and under this covenant he became the father of Isaac, whom he circumcised on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve Patriarchs.

after this, Joseph sent to invite his father Jacob to come with all his kindred, being threescore and fifteen persons.

Till another king arose, who knew not Joseph. This king formed crafty schemes against our nation,

this one, having dealt subtilely with our kindred, did evil to our fathers, causing to expose their babes, that they might not live;

At this time Moses was born. He was a divinely beautiful child. For three months he was cared for in his father's house.

for he supposed his brethren would have perceiv'd by this, that God design'd to make him the instrument of their deliverance; but they did not perceive it.

Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons.

Moses was astonished at this vision: and as he drew near to observe it, he heard the voice of the Lord, which said to him,

This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush.

this one did bring them forth, having done 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:

Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

"And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to this idol, and began to rejoice over what they had made with their hands.

This tent our forefathers brought in and passed on when under Joshua they dispossessed the nations which God drove out before them, and it remained until the time of David.

But [eventually] it was Solomon who [actually] built this house [for God].

Did not my hand make this universe?

As they continued to listen to this address, they were becoming infuriated and began to grind their teeth at him.

At this, with a loud shout, they stopped their ears and all rushed upon him, forced him outside the city,

And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, 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.

But there was a certain man, named Simon, who had, be fore this time, been practicing magic in the city, and astonishing the people of Samaria, saying that he was some great one;

To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.

And [this] Simon also believed [Philip's message] and was immersed. [After that] he continued [to travel] with Philip and was amazed by the [supernatural] signs and great miracles he saw [him perform].

Before this, he had not come on any of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Now when Simon saw that through the placing of the apostles' hands [on people] the Holy Spirit was given [Note: The fact that Simon "saw" something happen suggests it was supernatural and therefore highly desirable by Simon], he offered to pay them money [for this power],

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

Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.

So repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord, to see if this thought of your heart may be forgiven you.

after this the apostles having certified and preached the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel by the way in many villages of the Samaritans.

Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Get up and go south by the road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza; this is the desert road."

Upon this he rose and went. Now, as it happened, an Ethiopian eunuch who was in a position of high authority with Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, as her treasurer, had visited Jerusalem to worship there,

Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.

The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:

And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?

Then Philip opened his mouth, and starting from this passage, he told him the good news about Jesus.

[This verse in not in the majority of the manuscripts.]

And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.

The Lord told him, "Get up, go to the street called Straight, and in the home of Judas look for a man from Tarsus named Saul. At this very moment he's praying.

Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem:

"In this city, too, he has authority from the chief priests to arrest all those who call upon thy name."

And the Lord said unto him, 'Be going on, because a choice vessel to Me is this one, to bear My name before nations and kings -- the sons also of Israel;

Instantly there dropped from his eyes what seemed to be scales, and he could see once more. Upon this he rose and received baptism;

He immediately started to preach about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "This is the Son of God."

But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests?

But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ.

But this project was known to Saul. And they observed narrowly the gates day, and also night, that they might kill him.

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

Then after that, Peter traveled throughout the entire region until he came down to visit God's holy people who lived in Lydda. [Note: This was a town on the west coast of Palestine].

Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did.

She happened to take ill and die at this time, and after washing her body they laid it in an upper room.

This became known all over Joppa, and many came to believe in the Lord.

About three o'clock one afternoon [Note: This is based on Jewish time calculations; if Roman time were employed, it would have been

Then looking stedfastly on him, and being terrified, he said, What means this, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.

this one doth lodge with a certain Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea; this one shall speak to thee what it behoveth thee to do.'

In this were all kinds of four-footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts and creeping things and birds of the air.

This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven.

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,

While Peter thought on this vision, the spirit said unto him, "Behold, men seek thee: arise therefore, get thee down,

Upon hearing this, Peter invited them in, and gave them a lodging. The next day he set out with them, some of the brethren from Jaffa going with him,

To them he said: "You know, yourselves, that it is illegal for a Jew to associate with or to visit one of another nation; but God has taught me that I should not call any man common or unclean. For this reason, when sent for, I came without demur.

For this reason, when I was sent for, I came without making objection. I ask, therefore, for what purpose have you sent for me?

And Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and, behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing,

send, therefore, to Joppa, and call for Simon, who is surnamed Peter; this one doth lodge in the house of Simon a tanner, by the sea, who having come, shall speak to thee;

From this therefore sent I to thee: and thou didst well being present. Now therefore are all we present before God, to hear all commanded thee of God.

He has sent his word to the descendants of Israel and brought them the good news of peace through Jesus the Messiah. This man is the Lord of everyone.

This word you know, which was throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached;

This message was about Jesus from Nazareth and how God specially chose Him [and signified it] by giving Him the Holy Spirit and power. He traveled all over doing good [for people] and healing everyone who was [being] oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

'This one God did raise up the third day, and gave him to become manifest,

He also ordered us to proclaim to the people and solemnly to testify that this is the One whom God has appointed to be the Judge of the living and the dead.

To this very One all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in Him is to receive the forgiveness of sins through His name."

While Peter was still making this statement, the Holy Spirit fell on all the people who were listening to his message.

Now the Jewish believers who had accompanied Peter were amazed that the gift of the holy Spirit had actually been poured out on the Gentiles ??46 for they heard them speak with 'tongues' and magnify God. At this Peter asked,

For they heard them speaking with 'tongues' and extolling God. At this Peter asked:

This took place three times; then all at once the whole thing was drawn back into the sky.

And, behold, from this three men stood at the house in which I was, sent from Cesarea to me.

When they heard this, they had no answer to make, but gave God the glory, saying, "So God has given even the heathen the repentance that leads to life."

When the church in Jerusalem heard this news, they sent Barnabas all the way to Antioch.

Now at this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.

One of them named Agabus got up and predicted by the Spirit that there would be a severe famine all over the world. This happened during the reign of Claudius.

[In response to this prediction], the disciples decided to send as much relief as they could to help the brothers living in Judea.

And this they did and sent it to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.

But at this time king Herod reached forth his hands to persecute some of those from the church.

and when he saw that this was agreeable to the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter too -- it was at the time of the feast of Unleavened Bread.

Then the angel told him, "Tuck in your shirt and put on your sandals!" He did this. Then the angel told him, "Put on your coat and follow me!"

And he went out and followed him. And he did not know that this happening through the angel was true, but thought he saw a vision.

And when they had passed the first guard and the second, they came to the iron gate that led to the city. This opened to them of its own accord; and they went out passed on through one street; and suddenly the angel left him.

And when he became clear about this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John named Mark, where a number of them had come together for prayer.

He motioned to them with his hand to be quiet, and then he told them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. He added, "Tell this to James and the brothers." Then he left and went somewhere else.

The people kept shouting, "This is the voice of a god, not of a man!"

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.

Barnabas and Saul, sent on this mission, as they were, by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia, and from there sailed to Cyprus.

He was an intimate friend of the governor, Sergius Paulus, who was an intelligent man. The governor sent for Barnabas and Saul and in this way tried to hear God's message.

But Elymas the magician -- for this is the meaning of his name -- continued to oppose them by trying to keep the governor from accepting the faith.

When the magistrate saw this miracle performed, he became a believer [in Christ] and was [continually] amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

After this, Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and went to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them and returned to Jerusalem.

and after the lesson out of the law and the prophets was finish'd, the heads of the synagogue sent this message to them; Men and brethren, if you have any instruction to offer to the people, deliver it.

The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an high arm brought he them out of it.