"For John indeed baptized in water, but you shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days hence."

"yet you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you are to be my witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and to the very ends of the earth."

While they were gazing into the sky as he was going up, suddenly there were two men in white garments standing by them,

"Men and brothers, it was necessary for the Scripture to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit uttered beforehand by the lips of David in regard to Judas who acted as guide to those who arrested Jesus.

"For it is written in the Book of Psalms, Let his dwelling-place be desolate; Let no man dwell there, also, Let another take his work.

from his baptism by John down to the day on which he was taken up from us, one should join us a witness to his resurrection."

Into darkness shall the sun be turned, And into blood the moon, Ere the day of the Lord come, that great and terrible day.

And every one who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.

"Men of Israel, listen to these words. Jesus the Nazarene, a man accredited to you by God, through mighty works and wonders and signs which God did by him among you, as you yourselves know;

him, delivered up by the settled purpose and fore-knowledge of God, you crucified and killed at the hands of lawless men;

For David says of him. "I beheld the Lord always before my face; For he is at my right hand lest I be shaken.

Since he is by the mighty hand of God exalted, and has received from his Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured forth this which you now see and hear.

"Repent," answered Peter, "and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were wrought by the apostles.

praising God, and looked on with favor by all the people. Meanwhile the Lord kept adding to them daily those that were being saved.

when a man lame from his birth was carried along, who was wont to be laid each day near the gate of the Temple called the Beautiful Gate, to ask alms of those who were going into the Temple.

When he saw this, Peter said to the people. "Men of Israel, why are you wondering at this? Why do you stare at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made this man to walk?

"But God has thus fulfilled what he foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ should suffer.

"and it shall be that every soul who will not listen to that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.

"You are the sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, "And in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

But many of those who had heard the message believed, and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.

Then they made the men stand before them and demanded, "By what power, or in what name, have you fellows done this?"

"be it known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, in him does this man stand before you strong and well.

"For he is the Stone, cast aside by you builders, which has become the head stone of the corner.

"There is no salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men, in which we must be saved."

"What," said they, "shall we do with these men? For it is well known throughout Jerusalem that a notable miracle has been performed by them, and we cannot deny it.

"who saidest through the Holy Spirit, by the lips of thy servant David, our forefather. "Why did the Gentiles rage, And the peoples form futile plans?

"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.

"whilst thou stretchest forth thy hand to heal; grant too, that signs and wonders may be done through the name of thy holy Servant, Jesus."

and distribution would be made to each according to his need.

Many signs and wonders continued to be wrought among the people by the hands of the apostles, and by common consent they all would meet in Solomon's Porch,

The people of the towns near Jerusalem also continued to come in crowds, bringing their sick and those who were harried by unclean spirits, and all of them were healed.

On this the officer went off with his men and fetched them, not, however, by force, for they were afraid that the people would stone them.

"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.

but Gamaliel, a Pharisee, a teacher of the law, and held in honor by all the people, rose from his seat, and ordered the apostles to be put outside for a little while.

"Years ago Theudas arose, claiming to be somebody, and was joined by about four hundred men. He was killed, and all of his followers dispersed and annihilated.

"And now, I say to you, hold aloof from these men. Let them alone; for if this scheme or work be of human origin it will come to nothing;

"For we have heard him say that Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place, and will change the customs which were handed down to us by Moses."

"What God said was this. "'His offspring will sojourn in a foreign land where they will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years.

"He dealt craftily with our race, and oppressed our forefathers, by making them expose their infants so that they should not live.

"and when he saw one of them wronged he wrought redress for the one overpowered, by striking down the Egyptian.

"(Now he supposed that his brothers would understand how God by his hand was bringing them deliverance; but they did not.)

"This Moses whom they refused when they said, Who made you to be a ruler and a judge? that same Moses we find God sending as a ruler and a redeemer by the hand in the bush.

"To him our ancestors would not be obedient, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts turned back into Egypt.

"That tabernacle was brought in by our ancestors, in their turn, when they under Joshua entered on the possession of the nations whom God thrust out before them, until the days of David.

For with a loud cry unclean spirits would come out of many possessed by them, and many that were palsied and lame were healed.

There began to be great joy in that city.

Now for some time a man named Simon had been practicing sorcery in that city, and had amazed the people of Samaria. He gave himself out to be some great person.

But when they believed Philip, who was preaching glad tidings about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they began to be baptized, both men and women.

But when Simon perceived that, by the laying on of the apostles' hands, the Spirit was given, he offered them money saying,

"I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he said: "Stand up and go into the city, and there you shall be told what you must do."

And Saul got up from the ground, but although his eyes were open, he continued to perceive nothing; so they took him by the hand and led him into Damascus.

And so Ananias went and entered into the house, and laying his hands on him, said, "Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, who appeared to you on your journey, has sent me that you may receive your sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit."

But Saul gained more and more influence, and kept putting the Jews who lived in Damascus to confusion by his proof that Jesus was the Christ.

his disciples took him by night, and let him down over the wall, lowering him in a basket.

Now throughout the whole of Judea, Galilee, and Samaria the Church continued to enjoy peace and to be spiritually built up. It was increasing in members also, as it kept walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit.

Among the disciples at Joppa was a woman named Tabitha??hich may be translated Dorcas or "Gazelle"?? woman whose life was full of good works and almsgiving, which she was doing continually.

He beheld the sky opened, and a vessel descending like an enormous sail let down to earth by four corners.

Now while Peter was greatly perplexed to know what the vision which he had been sent by Cornelius, and had made inquiries for the house of Simon, stood at the gate,

"Cornelius," they answered, "a captain, a devout man, and God-fearing, of whom the whole, Jewish nation speaks well, was instructed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house, and to listen to your message."

Cornelius answered. "Three days ago, at this very hour, I was praying in my house at three o'clock in the afternoon, when suddenly a man in a shining robe stood by me,

"'So send to Joppa and summon Simon, who is called Peter. He is lodging with Simon the tanner, in a house by the seaside.'

"You cannot but know the message which he sent to the descendants of Israel, when he preached the gospel of peace by Jesus Christ who is Lord of all;

"how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how he went about everywhere doing good, and curing all who were oppressed by the devil; for God was with him.

"But him God raised up on the third day, and permitted him to be made manifest,

"not to all the people, but to witnesses??en previously chosen by God??hat is, to us, who ate and drank with him after he had risen from the dead;

"when he charged us to preach to the people, and to testify that this was he whom God ordained to be the judge of the living and of the dead.

And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they begged him to remain with them for a time.

"I was in the city of Joppa, praying, and while in a trance I saw a vision; a certain vessel descending, what seemed to be an enormous sail let down to me,

"'He will speak words to you by which you and all your family will be saved.'

"Then I remembered the words of the Lord, how he used to say, "John indeed baptized in water, but you shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit.'

Then those who had been scattered by the trouble that arose over Stephen, traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch; but they preached the word to none except Jews.

One of them, who was Agabus, rose up, and being instructed by the Spirit, predicted that a great famine was about to come upon the whole inhabited earth. (It came in the reign of Claudius.)

This they did, forwarding their contributions to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.

So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer to God was made by the church for him.

suddenly an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the cell. Striking Peter on the side, he woke him saying, "Rise up quickly." At once the chains dropped from his hands.

Instantly an angel of the Lord smote him, because he had not given God the glory, and being eaten up by worms, he died.

So they, sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia, and from thence they sailed to Cyprus.

"The Lord's hand is now upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a season." Instantly there fell on him a mist and a darkness, and groping about, he sought some one to lead him by the hand.

After deposing him, he raised up David to be their king, to whom he also bore witness, when he said, "I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, and who will obey all my will.

"For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor the utterances of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him.

"For many days he was seen by those that came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, and are now his witnesses to the people.

"Be it known unto you therefore, brothers, that remission of sins is proclaimed to you through this man;

"and that by him every one that believes is justified from all things from which you could never be justified by the law of Moses.

As Paul and Barnabas left the synagogue, the people earnestly begged that these words might be repeated to them on the following Sabbath.

"For such is God's command to us, saying, "I have set thee for a light to the Gentiles, That thou shouldest be for salvation to the uttermost part of the earth."

Long time, therefore, they tarried there, speaking fearlessly in the Lord, who attested the word of his grace by permitting signs and wonders to be performed by their hands.

He was listening while Paul was preaching, and Paul, looking intently at him, and perceiving that he had faith to be made whole,

And now a party of Jews came down form Antioch and Iconium, and after persuading the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead.

But some men came down from Judea and attempted to teach the brethren, saying, "Unless you are circumcised according to Moses' custom, you cannot be saved."

Upon their arrival in Jerusalem they were received by the church and the apostles and elders, and they told them all things that God had done with them.

"And God, who knows the hearts of all, gave this testimony in their behalf, by bestowing upon them the Holy Spirit just as he did upon us;

"and he made no distinction between us and them, in cleansing their hearts by faith.

"Now then, why are you tempting God by laying on the necks of these disciples a yoke which neither our forefathers nor we have been able to bear?

"On the contrary we believe that it is by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ that we and they shall be saved."

"Brothers, listen to me. Symeon has told how God first looked graciously upon the Gentiles, to take out from among them a people to be called by his name.

"So that the rest of men may seek after the Lord, Even all the Gentiles, who are called by my name,

"but that we should write to them to abstain from the pollution of idols and from fornication, from meat killed by strangling, and from blood.

"So we have sent Judas and Silas to tell you the same things by word of mouth.

"that you abstain from food that has been sacrificed to idols, and from tasting blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication. Keep yourselves clear from these things and it will be well with you. Farewell."