Then all who were seated in the council fixed their eyes upon him and saw that his face was like that 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 this is, in effect, what God spoke [to him]: That his descendants would be aliens (strangers) in a foreign land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated for 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.

"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.

"[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],

and rescued him from all his troubles. He granted him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler of Egypt and of his whole household.

And when the time of the promise which God had sworn to Abraham drew near, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, Till another king arose, who had not known Joseph.

until another king, who knew nothing about Joseph, ascended the throne.

This was the one who exploited our people and was cruel to our ancestors, forcing them to abandon their infants so they would die.

At which time Moses was born, and was endued with singular beauty from God, who was brought up three months in the house of his father:

Because he saw one of them being mistreated, he defended and avenged the man who was suffering ill-treatment by striking down the Egyptian.

Then on the next day he suddenly appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and he tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you wrong one another?’

But the man who was harming his brother pushed him aside, saying, 'Who made you our ruler and referee?

I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. But Moses, who developed trembling, dared not examine.

I have certainly seen the suffering of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them. Now come, I will send you 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.

It was he who brought them out of Egypt by performing wonders and signs there and at the Red Sea -- as he did also in the desert for forty years.

It was this Moses who said to the descendants of Israel, 'God will raise up a prophet for you from among you, just as He did me.'

This is the one who in the congregation in the desert went between the angel, who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and our forefathers, who also received, to be handed down to you, utterances that still live.

To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt,

and they said to Aaron, 'Make us gods to march in front of us, for as for this Moses, who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him!'

"In the desert our forefathers had the tent of the testimony, like the model Moses had seen, as God who spoke to him ordered him to make it.

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;

Who found favour before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.

but it was Solomon who came to build a house for Him.

“You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did.

Which of the prophets did your forefathers fail to persecute? They killed the prophets who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have betrayed and murdered Him,

you who received the law by order of the angels, and yet you did not obey it!"

They threw him out of the city and stoned him [to death]. Those who witnessed [the incident] placed their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.

And they stoned Stephen, who was calling on God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

and some devout men who carried Stephen to his burial, making great lamentation over him.

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

And Philip, who went down to a city of Samaria, proclaimed the Christ to them.

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,

And many who were paralyzed or lame were cured, so that there was great rejoicing throughout that city.

There was a man named Simon in the city, who had kept the Samaritan people thrilled by practicing magic there and by claiming to be a great man.

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

no wonder they were so attach'd to one, who had for a long time infatuated them with his arts.

But when they believed Philip, who preached the glad tidings of the things which related to the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptised both men and women.

But when the apostles who 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:

saying, “Give me this authority and power too, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian official, a member of the court of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, her chief treasurer, who had come to Jerusalem to worship,

The portion of scripture which he had been reading was this: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and as a lamb before him who sheareth it is dumb, so he opened not his mouth:

Justice was denied Him in His humiliation, who can tell of His times? For His life is removed from the earth."

"Tell me, I pray, of whom is the prophet speaking," asked the official of Philip, "of himself or of someone else?"

asked from him letters for Damascus, unto the synagogues; to the end that, if he should find, any, who were of The Way, whether men or women, he might bring them, bound, unto Jerusalem.

and falling on the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord?

He asked, "Who are you, sir?" And He said, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.

The voice said, "I'm Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Now get up, go into the city, and you will be told what you are to do."

And the men who are journeying with him stood speechless, hearing indeed the voice but seeing no one,

Now there was a disciple at Damascus, named Ananias, to whom the Lord said in a vision, Ananias! and he said, Lord, here I am.

And he saw in a vision a man named Ananias who came in and laid a hand on him, so that he might receive sight.

Now he is here and has authority from the high priests to put in chains all who call upon your name."

So Ananias left and went to that house, and there he laid his hands upon Saul, and said, "Saul, my. brother, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road on which you were coming here, has sent me that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."

And when he had taken nourishment, he regained his strength. And Saul continued with the disciples who were at Damascus several days.

He lost no time in preaching throughout the synagogues that Jesus was the Son of God ??21 to the amazement of all his hearers, who said, "Is this not the man who in Jerusalem harried those who invoke this Name, the man who came here for the express purpose of carrying them all in chains to the high priests?"

And all who heard him were astounded and said, "Is not this the man who harassed those who called upon this name in Jerusalem, and has come here expressly for the purpose of putting them in chains and taking them back to the high priests?"

But Saul grew stronger and stronger and continued to put to utter confusion the Jews who lived in Damascus, by proving that Jesus is the Christ.

Barnabas, however, introduced Saul to the apostles, telling them how on the road Saul had seen the Lord, who had spoken to him, and how courageously he had spoken in the name of Jesus in Damascus.

and he talked and disputed with the Hellenists, who attempted to kill him:

Now, as Peter was going here and there among them all, he finally went down to God's people who lived at Lydda.

There he found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden for eight years as a paralytic.

Peter said to him, Eneas, Jesus, who is the Messiah, gives thee health: rise, and make your bed your self: upon which he immediately rose.

Then all the people who lived at Lydda and Sharon saw him, and so they turned to the Lord.

And there was at Joppa a certain female disciple named Tabitha, who by interpretation is called in Greek Dorcas: and she was full of good works and alms-deeds.

And it came to pass in those days, that she was sick, and died: whom when they had washed, they laid her in an upper chamber.

Lud, however, being near Jaffa, the disciples, who had heard that Peter was at Lud, sent two men to him with an urgent request that he would come across to them without delay.

And Peter having risen, went with them, whom having come, they brought into the upper chamber, and all the widows stood by him weeping, and shewing coats and garments, as many as Dorcas was making while she was with them.

And Peter lived for some time in Joppa with Simon, who was an [animal hide] tanner.

a religious man, too, who revered God with all his household, who was always liberal in his many deeds of charity to the people, and who had the habit of praying to God.

About three o'clock one afternoon he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God who came in and said to him, "Cornelius."

So now send men to Joppa and invite over a man named Simon, who is also called Peter.

Who is living with Simon, a leather-worker, whose house is by the sea.

After the angel who had spoken to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his household servants, and a religious soldier who was one of his devoted attendants,

Now while Peter was still at a loss to know what the vision he had seen could mean, the men who had been sent by Cornelius had asked for the way to Simon's house and had stopped at the gate;

and they called and inquired if Simon who was called Peter was staying there.

So the Spirit said to Peter, who was still pondering over the vision.

"Three men are now looking for you. Rise, go down and go with them, nothing doubting; for it is I who have sent them."

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?

They answered, "Cornelius, a colonel in the army, an upright man and one who reveres God, and a man of high reputation with the whole Jewish nation, was instructed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to listen to a message you would bring."

Inviting them in, therefore, he entertained them; but, on the morrow, he rose up and went forth with them, and certain of the brethren who were from Joppa went with him;

And as he talked with him, he went in and found many who had come together.

And he said unto them, Ye know how contrary it is to established usage, for a man who is a Jew to associate with or visit one of another nation; but God hath shewed me to call no man common or unclean.

Who said, Cornelius, your prayer has come to the ears of God, and your offerings are kept in his memory.

So send to Joppa and invite Simon, who is called Peter, to come over. He is being entertained at the house of a tanner named Simon, by the seashore.'

So Peter opened [his] mouth [and] said, "In truth I understand that God is not one who shows partiality,

but in every nation the man who reveres God and practices doing right is acceptable to Him.

According to the declaration which He made to the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.

Ye yourselves, know what hath come to pass throughout the whole of Judaea, beginning from Galilee, after the immersion which John proclaimed, respecting Jesus who was of Nazareth: -

how God consecrated Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and then He went about doing good and curing all who were overpowered by the devil, because God was with Him.

And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree:

not by all the people but by witnesses whom God had beforehand appointed, namely, by us who ate and drank with Him after His resurrection from the dead.

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 speaking these truths, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the message.

Then the Jewish believers who had gone along with Peter were astounded because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been showered upon the heathen too,

"No one can stop us from using water to baptize these people who have received the Holy Spirit in the same way that we did, can they?"

Now the apostles and the brothers who were in Judea heard that the gentiles had also accepted the word of God.