Also, as he ate with them, he charged them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for what the Father promised ??"for what you have heard me speak of," said he;

As he went up, their eyes were fixed on heaven; but just then two men stood beside them dressed in white,

who said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up to heaven? This Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven will come back, just as you have seen him depart to heaven."

"My brothers," said he, "it had to be fulfilled, that scripture which the holy Spirit uttered beforehand by the lips of David with regard to Judas who acted as guide to those who arrested Jesus.

from the baptism of John down to the day when he was taken up from us ??of these men one must join us as a witness to his resurrection."

and they were all filled with the holy Spirit ??they began to speak in foreign tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to express themselves.

these men are not drunk, as you imagine. Why, it is only nine in the morning!

Men of Israel, listen to my words. Jesus the Nazarene, a man accredited to you by God through miracles, wonders, and signs which God performed by him among you (as you yourselves know),

This Jesus God raised, as we can all bear witness.

they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds among all, as anyone might be in need.

when a man lame from birth was carried past, who used to be laid every day at what was called the 'Beautiful Gate' of the temple, to ask alms from those who entered the temple.

Peter looked at him steadily, as did John, and said, "Look at us."

As he clung to Peter and John, all the people rushed awestruck to them in what was called Solomon's portico.

But when Peter saw this, he said to the people, "Men of Israel, why are you surprised at this? Why do you stare at us, as if we had made him walk by any power or piety of ours?

and you killed the pioneer of Life. But God raised him from the dead, as we can bear witness.

for Moses said, The Lord our God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brotherhood, as he raised me: you must listen to whatever he may tell you.

who were annoyed at them teaching the people and proclaiming Jesus as an instance of resurrection from the dead.

They laid hands on them and, as it was now evening, put them in custody till next morning.

They were astonished to notice how outspoken Peter and John were, and to discover that they were uncultured persons and mere outsiders; they recognized them as having been companions of Jesus,

but as they saw the man who had been healed standing beside them, they could say nothing.

Thus Joseph, who was surnamed Barnabas or (as it may be translated) 'Son of Encouragement' by the apostles, a Levite of Cypriote birth,

When it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And even after the sale, was the money not yours to do as you pleased about it? How could you think of doing a thing like this? You have not defrauded men but God."

Peter said to her, "How could you arrange to put the Lord's Spirit to the proof? Listen, there are the footsteps of the men who have buried your husband! They are at the door, and they will carry you out as well."

But as the attendants did not find them when they got to the prison, they came back to report,

God lifted him up to his right hand as our pioneer and saviour, in order to grant repentance and remission of sins to Israel.

Some of those who belonged to the so-called synagogue of the Libyans, the Cyrenians, and the Alexandrians, as well as to that of the Cilicians and Asiatics, started a dispute with Stephen,

But he did not give him any inheritance in it, not even a foot of the land. All be did was to promise that he would give it as a possession to him and to his offspring after him (he at the time being childless).

As the time approached for the promise God had made to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,

then he was exposed, but Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son.

"Do you want to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?"

When Moses saw this, he marvelled at the sight; and as he went up to look at it, the voice of the Lord said,

(This was the Moses who told the sons of Israel, 'God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brotherhood, as he raised me.')

They told Aaron, 'Make gods that will march in front of us! As for this Moses who led us out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him!'

So God turned from them, abandoning them to the worship of the starry Host ??as it is written in the book of the prophets, Did you offer me victims and sacrifices during the forty years in the desert, O house of Israel?

In the desert our fathers had the tent of witness as arranged by Him who told Moses to make it after the pattern he had seen.

It was passed on and borne in by our fathers as with Joshua they took possession of the territory of the nations whom God drove out before our fathers. So it remained down to the days of David.

And yet the most High does not dwell in houses made by hands. As the prophet says,

Stiff-necked, uncircumcised in heart and ear, you are always resisting the holy Spirit! As with your fathers, so with you!

and all sorts and conditions of people attached themselves to him, declaring he was that Power of God which is known as 'the Great Power.'

(As yet it had not fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)

So repent of this wickedness of yours, and ask God whether you cannot be forgiven for your heart's purpose.

Now the passage of scripture which he was reading was as follows: ??he was led like a sheep to be slaughtered, and as a lamb is dumb before the shearer, so he opens not his lips.

As they travelled on, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "Here is water! What is to prevent me being baptized?"

As he neared Damascus in the course of his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed round him;

And the Lord said to him, "Go away to the street called 'The Straight Street,' and ask at the house of Judas for a man of Tarsus called Saul. He is praying at this very moment,

But the Lord said to him, "Go; I have chosen him to be the means of bringing my Name before the Gentiles and their kings as well as before the sons of Israel.

So Peter got up and went with them. When he arrived, they took him up to the room, where all the widows stood beside him crying as they showed him the garments and dresses that Dorcas used to make when she was with them.

He stared at the angel in terror, saying, "What is it?" He replied, "Your prayers and your alms have risen before God as a sacrifice to be remembered.

He became very hungry and longed for some food. But as they were getting the meal ready, a trance came over him.

A second time the voice came back to him, "What God has cleansed, you must not regard as common."

and called out to ask if Simon, surnamed Peter, was staying there.

As for what he did in the land of the Jews and of Jerusalem, we can testify to that. They slew him by hanging him on a gibbet,

"Can anyone refuse water for the baptism of these people ??people who have received the holy Spirit just as we ourselves have?"

But a voice answered me for the second time out of heaven, 'What God has cleansed, you must not regard as common.'

The Spirit told me to have no hesitation in accompanying them; these six brothers went with me as well, and we entered the man's house.

Now just as I began to speak, the holy Spirit fell upon them as upon us at the beginning;

Well then, if God has given them exactly the same gift as he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I ??how could I try to thwart God?"

Now those who had been scattered by the trouble which arose over Stephen made their way as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, but they preached the word to none except Jews.

So the disciples put aside money, as each of them was able to afford it, for a contribution to be sent to the brothers in Judaea.

but as soon as she recognized Peter's voice, instead of opening the door she ran inside from sheer joy and announced that Peter was standing in front of the porch.

As there was a bitter feud between him and the inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon, they waited on him unanimously, and after conciliating the royal chamberlain Blastus they made overtures for peace, as their country depended for its food-supply upon the royal territory.

As they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the holy Spirit said, "Come! set me apart Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."

On reaching Salamis they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues, with John as their assistant.

They covered the whole island as far as Paphos, where they fell in with a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet called Bar-Jesus;

The God of this People Israel chose our fathers; he multiplied the people as they sojourned in the land of Egypt and with arm uplifted led them out of it.

and after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan he gave them their land as an inheritance for about four hundred and fifty years.

From his offspring God brought to Israel, as he had promised, a saviour in Jesus,

And as John was closing his career he said, 'What do you take me for? I am not He; no, he is coming after me, and I am not fit to untie the sandals on his feet!'

has been fulfilled by God for us their children, when he raised Jesus. As it is written in the second psalm, thou art my son, to-day have I become thy father.

And as a proof that he has raised him from the dead, never to return to decay, he has said this: I will give you the holiness of David that fails not.

As Paul and Barnabas went out, the people begged to have all this repeated to them on the following sabbath.

So Paul and Barnabas spoke out fearlessly. "The word of God," they said, "had to be spoken to you in the first instance; but as you push it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, well, here we turn to the Gentiles!

They shook the dust off their feet as a protest and went to Iconium.

As for the disciples, they were filled with joy and the holy Spirit.

though as the bountiful Giver he did not leave himself without a witness, giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, giving you food and joy to your heart's content."

However, as the disciples gathered round him, he got up and went into the town. Next day he went off with Barnabas to Derbe,

As a sharp dispute and controversy sprang up between them and Paul and Barnabas, it was arranged that Paul and Barnabas, along with some others of their number, should go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and presbyters at Jerusalem about this question.

The God who reads the hearts of all attested this by giving them the holy Spirit just as he gave it to us;

No, it is by the grace of the Lord Jesus that we believe and are saved, in the same way as they are."

This agrees with the words of the prophets; as it is written,

and as Judas and Silas were themselves prophets, they encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many a counsel.

so, as Paul wished him to go abroad with him, he took and circumcised him on account of the local Jews, all of whom knew his father had been a Greek.

As they travelled on from town to town, they handed over to the people the resolutions which the apostles and the presbyters in Jerusalem had decided were to be obeyed;

when they got as far as Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them,

As soon as he saw the vision, we made efforts to start for Macedonia, inferring that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

On the sabbath we went outside the gate to the bank of the river, where as usual there was a place of prayer; we sat down and talked to the women who had gathered.

Now it happened as we went to the place of prayer that a slave-girl met us, possessed by a spirit of ventriloquism, and a source of great profit to her owners by her power of fortune-telling.

they are proclaiming customs which as Romans we are not allowed to accept or observe!"

But about midnight, as Paul and Silas were praying and singing to God, while the prisoners listened,

"Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ," they said, "and then you will be saved, you and your household as well."

and Paul as usual went in; for three sabbaths he argued with them on the scriptures,

but as they failed to find Paul and Silas they haled Jason and some of the brothers before the politarchs, yelling, "These upsetters of the whole world have come here too!

where the people were more amenable than at Thessalonica; they were perfectly ready to receive the Word and made a daily study of the scriptures to see if it was really as Paul said.

But when the Jews of Thessalonica heard that Paul was proclaiming the word of God at Beroea as well, they came to create a disturbance and a riot among the crowds at Beroea too.

Paul's escort brought him as far as Athens and left with instructions that Silas and Timotheus were to join him as soon as possible.

Why, as I passed along and scanned your objects of worship, I actually came upon an altar with the inscription TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Well, I proclaim to you what you worship in your ignorance.

The God who made the world and all things in it, he, as Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in shrines that are made by human hands;

he is not served by human hands as if he needed anything, for it is he who gives life and breath and all things to all men.

for it is in him that we live and move and exist ??as some of your own poets have said, 'We too belong to His race.'

Well, as the race of God, we ought not to imagine that the divine nature resembles gold or silver or stone, the product of human art and invention.