So those who were present began to ask Him, "Lord, is this the time when you are going to set up the kingdom again for Israel?"

He answered them, "It is not your business to learn times and dates which the Father has a right to fix,

but you are going to receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you must be witnesses for me in Jerusalem and all over Judea and Samaria, and to the very ends of the earth."

After saying this, He was taken up while they were looking at Him, and a cloud swept under Him and carried Him out of their sight.

And while they were gazing after Him into heaven, two men dressed in white suddenly stood beside them,

When they reached the city, they went to the room upstairs where they had been staying; they were: Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alpheus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.

With one mind they were all continuing to devote themselves to prayer, with the women and Mary and His brothers.

At that time Peter got up among the brothers (there were about a hundred and twenty present) and said,

for he was one of our number, and he received a share in this ministry of ours.

from the time of His baptism by John down to the day when He was taken up from us, must be added to our number as a witness to His resurrection."

When the day of Pentecost had now come, they were all meeting in one mind,

when suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a terrific blast of wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting,

and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in foreign languages as the Spirit granted them to utter divine things.

Now there were devout Jews from every part of the world living in Jerusalem.

They were perfectly astounded, and in bewilderment they continued to say, "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans?

Cretans and Arabs -- we hear them all alike telling in our own tongues the great wonders of God."

But others in derision were saying, "They are running over with new wine."

These men are not drunk as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning.

'It will occur in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all mankind. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will have visions. Your old men will have dreams.

For you will not forsake my soul to Hades. Nor will you let your Holy One experience decay.

You have made known to me the ways of life, and you will fill me with delight in your presence.'

I mean Jesus whom God raised from the dead, to which fact we are all witnesses,

Until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet."'

When they heard this, they were stabbed to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"

Peter said to them, "You must repent -- and, as an expression of it, let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ -- that you may have your sins forgiven; and then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit,

for the promise belongs to you and your children, as well as to all those who are far away whom the Lord our God may call to Him."

So they accepted his message and were baptized, and about three thousand persons united with them on that day.

A sense of reverence seized everyone, and many wonders and wonder-works were done by the apostles.

constantly praising God and always having the favor of all the people. And every day the Lord continued to add to them the people who were being saved.

Peter and John were on their way up to the temple at the three o'clock hour of prayer,

But Peter said, "No silver or gold have I, but what I do have I will give you. In the name of Jesus of Nazareth start walking."

and recognized him as the very man who used to sit at The Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg, they were completely astounded and bewildered at what occurred to him.

When Peter saw this, he said to the people, "Fellow Israelites, why are you so surprised at this? Why do you keep staring at us, as though we had by our own power or piety made this man walk?

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our forefathers, has glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you yourselves betrayed and disowned before Pilate, although he had decided to set Him free.

and you killed the Prince of life, but God raised Him from the dead, to which fact we are witnesses.

"And yet, I know, brothers, that you did not realize what you were doing, any more than your leaders did.

So now repent and turn to Him, to have your sins wiped out, that times of revival may come from the presence of the Lord,

Moses, indeed, said: 'The Lord God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, as He did me. You must attentively listen to everything that He tells you.

And you are the descendants of the prophets and the heirs of the sacred compact which God made with your forefathers, when He said to Abraham: 'All the families of the earth are to be blessed through your posterity.'

While they were talking to the people, the high priests, the military commander of the temple, and the Sadducees came down upon them,

because they were very much disturbed over their continuing to teach the people and to declare in the case of Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

met in Jerusalem, including Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and all that were members of the high priest's family.

if it is for a good deed to a helpless man, or to learn how he was cured, that we are today being tried,

There is no salvation by anyone else, for no one else in all the wide world has been appointed among men as our only medium by which to be saved."

They were surprised to see the courage shown by Peter and John and to find that they were uneducated men, and especially untrained in the schools, but they recognized the fact that they had been companions of Jesus,

So they called them in and ordered them not to speak or teach at all about the name of Jesus.

When they were turned loose, the apostles went back to their companions and told them what the high priests and elders had said to them.

When they heard this, with one united prayer to God they said: "O Lord, you are the Maker of heaven, earth, and sea, and everything that is in them, and the One

who spoke thus through the Holy Spirit by the lips of our forefather David, your servant: 'Why did the heathen rage, and the peoples make vain designs?

"For in this city they actually met against your holy Servant Jesus, whom you had consecrated -- Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the heathen and the peoples of Israel,

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

And now, Lord, give attention to their threats and help your slaves with perfect courage to continue to speak your message,

by stretching out your hand to cure people and to perform signs and wonders by the authority of your holy Servant Jesus."

When they had prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and continued courageously to speak God's message.

For none of them was in want, for as many of them as were owners of farms or houses proceeded to sell them, one by one, and continued to bring the money received for the things sold

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?

As long as it was unsold, was it not yours, and when it was sold, was not the money at your disposal? How could you have the heart to do such a thing! You did not lie to men but to God!"

Peter said to her, "How could both of you agree in such a way to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door; they will carry you out, too."

Many signs and wonders were continuously performed by the apostles among the people. And by common consent they all used to meet in Solomon's portico.

so that they kept bringing out into the streets their sick ones and putting them on little couches or pallets, that at least the shadow of Peter, as he went by, might fall on some of them.

Even from the towns around Jerusalem crowds continued coming in to bring their sick ones and those troubled with foul spirits, and they were all cured.

"Go and take your stand in the temple square and continue to tell the people the message of this new life."

When the military commander of the temple square and the high priest heard this, they were utterly at a loss to know how this might turn out.

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 military commander went with his attendants and brought them back, but without any violence, for they were afraid of being pelted with stones by the people.

"Did we not positively forbid you to teach anymore on this authority, and yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and now want to bring on us the people's vengeance for this man's death!"

The God of our forefathers raised Jesus to life after you had hanged Him on a cross and killed Him.

God has exalted to His right hand this very One as our Leader and Saviour, in order to give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.

We and the Holy Spirit that God has given to those who practice obedience to Him are witnesses to these things."

When they heard this, they were furious, and wanted to kill them.

then he said to them: "Fellow Israelites, take care as to what you are about to do to these men.

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 him, at the time of the enrollment for the Roman tax, Judas the Galilean appeared and influenced people to desert and follow him, but he too perished and all his followers were scattered.

So in the present case, I warn you, stay away from these men, let them alone. For, if this program or movement has its origin in men, it will go to pieces,

They were convinced by him, and after calling the apostles in and having them flogged, they charged them to stop speaking on the authority of Jesus, and then turned them loose.

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.

So, brothers, you must select from your number seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit, and of good practical sense, and we will assign them to this business,

Then all who were seated in the council fixed their eyes upon him and saw that his face was like that of an angel.

The high priest asked, "Are these statements true?"

He answered: "Listen, brothers and fathers. The glorious God appeared to our forefather Abraham while he was in Mesopotamia before he ever made his home in Haran,

and said to him, 'Leave your country and your kinsmen and come to Whatever country I may show you.'

Then a famine spread all over Egypt and Canaan, and with it great suffering, and our forefathers could not find the simplest food.

But Jacob heard that there was food in Egypt and sent our forefathers on their first visit down there.

and Jacob came down to Egypt. There he and our forefathers died

and were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had bought with a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

By taking a cunning advantage of our race he oppressed our forefathers by forcing them to expose their infants so that they should not live.

As he was rounding out his fortieth year, it occurred to him to visit his brothers, the descendants of Israel.

The next day he showed himself to two of them engaged in a fight, and he tried to get them to make friends, saying, 'You are brothers, why should you harm each other?'

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

'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.

Then the Lord said to him, 'Take your shoes off your feet, for the place where you are standing is sacred ground.

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.

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.

But our forefathers would not listen to him, but pushed him aside, and in their hearts they hankered after Egypt;

No, you offered me the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Rompha, the images you had made to worship! So I will now remove you beyond Babylon.'

"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.

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.

'"Heaven is my throne, and earth a footstool for my feet. What house can you build for me?" says the Lord; "Or what place is there in which I can rest?

"You people, stubborn in will, heathenish in hearts and ears, you are always resisting the Holy Spirit, as your forefathers did, too.

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,