For, while John baptized with water, you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit before many days have passed."

No sooner had Jesus said this than he was caught up before their eyes, and a cloud received him from their sight.

The sun shall become darkness, and the moon blood-red, Before the Day of the Lord comes--that great and awful day.

Indeed it was to him that David was referring when he said-- 'I have had the Lord ever before my eyes, For he stands at my right hand, that I should not be disquieted.

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has done honor to his Servant Jesus--him whom you gave up and disowned before Pilate, when he had decided to set him free.

And it is by faith in the Name of Jesus, that this man, whom you all see and know, has--by his Name--been made strong. Yes, it is the faith inspired by Jesus that has made this complete cure of the man, before the eyes of you all.

They had Peter and John brought before them, and questioned them. "By what power," they asked, "Or in whose name have men like you done this thing?"

Since we are on our trial to-day for a kind act done to a helpless man, and are asked in what way the man here before you has been cured,

Let me tell you all and all the people of Israel, that it is by the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified and whom God raised from the dead--it is, I say, by his Name that this man stands here before you lame no longer.

And then brought them before the Council. The High Priest demanded an explanation from them.

And they stirred up the people, as well as the Councillors and the Teachers of the Law, and set upon Stephen, and arrested him, and brought him before the High Council.

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 delivered him out of all his troubles, and enabled him to win favor and show wisdom before Pharaoh, King of Egypt, who appointed him Governor of Egypt and of his whole household.

This Tabernacle, which was handed down to them, was brought into this country by our ancestors who accompanied Joshua (at the conquest of the nations that God drove out before their advance), and remained here until the time of David.

But the Lord said to him: "Go, for this man is my chosen instrument to uphold my Name before the Gentiles and their kings, and the people of Israel.

All who heard him were amazed. "Is not this," they asked, "the man who worked havoc in Jerusalem among those that invoke this Name, and who had also come here for the express purpose of having such persons put in chains and taken before the Chief Priests?"

"Just three days ago this very hour," Cornelius said, "I was in my house, saying the Afternoon Prayers, when a man in dazzling clothing suddenly stood before me.

Before Peter had finished saying these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all who were listening to the Message.

After seizing Peter, Herod put him in prison, and entrusted him to the keeping of four Guards of four soldiers each, intending, after the Passover, to bring him up before the people.

Just when Herod was intending to bring him before the people, on that very night Peter was asleep between two soldiers, chained to them both, while there were sentries in front of the door, guarding the prison.

John having first proclaimed, before the appearance of Jesus, a baptism upon repentance for all the people of Israel.

Accordingly we set sail from Troas, and ran before the wind to Samothrace, reaching Neapolis the next day.

And took them before the Magistrates. "These men are causing a great disturbance in our town," they complained;

Afterwards he took them up to his house and set before them something to eat, rejoicing that he, with all his household, had come to believe in God.

He laid before them and explained that the Christ must undergo suffering and rise from the dead; and "It is this man," he declared, "who is the Christ--this Jesus about whom I am telling you."

But the Jews, becoming jealous, engaged some worthless fellows from the streets, and, getting a mob together, kept the city in an uproar. They attacked Jason's house, with the intention of bringing Paul and Silas before the Popular Assembly;

And, not finding them there, they proceeded to drag Jason and some of the Brethren before the City Magistrates, shouting out: "These men, who have turned the world upside down, have now come here,

And, before letting them go, they took bail from Jason and the others.

But, when Silas and Timothy had come down from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself entirely to delivering the Message, earnestly maintaining before the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.

While Gallio was governor of Greece, the Jews made a combined attack on Paul, and brought him before the Governor's Bench,

Paul remained there some time after this, and then took leave of the Brethren, and sailed to Syria with Priscilla and Aquila, but not before his head had been shaved at Cenchreae, because he was under a vow.

Some of them, however, hardened their hears and refused to believe, denouncing the Cause before the people. So Paul left them and withdrew his disciples, and gave daily addresses in the lecture-hall of Tyrannus.

When we had torn ourselves away and had set sail, we ran before the wind to Cos; the next day we came to Rhodes, and from there to Patara,

On the next day the Commanding Officer, wishing to find out the real reason why Paul was denounced by the Jews, had his chains taken off, and directed the Chief Priests and the whole of the High Council to assemble, and then took Paul down and brought him before them.

Paul fixed his eyes upon the Council, and began: "Brothers, for my part, I have always ordered my life before God, with a clear conscience, up to this very day."

So we want you now, with the consent of the Council, to suggest to the Commanding Officer that he should bring Paul down before you, as though you intended to go more fully into his case; but, before he comes here, we will be ready to make away with him."

"The Jews have agreed," answered the lad, "to ask you to bring Paul down before the Council to-morrow, on the plea of your making further inquiry into his case.

Wishing to ascertain exactly the ground of the charges they made against him, I brought him before their Council,

Having, however, information of a plot against the man, which was about to be put into execution, I am sending him to you at once, and I have also directed his accusers to prosecute him before you.'

On arriving at Caesarea, the troopers delivered the letter to the Governor, and brought Paul before him.

This being so, I strive at all times to keep my conscience clear before both God and man.

There were, however, some Jews from Roman Asia who ought to have been here before you, and to have made any charge that they may have against me--

Or else let my opponents here say what they found wrong in me when I was before the Council,

Except as to the one sentence that I shouted out as I stood among them--'It is about the resurrection of the dead that I am on my trial before you to-day'."

There the Chief Priests and the leading men among the Jews laid an information before him against Paul,

After staying among them some eight or ten days, Festus went down to Caesarea. The next day he took his seat on the Bench, and ordered Paul to be brought before him.

But, as Festus wished to gain popularity with the Jews, he interrupted Paul with the question: "Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and be tried on these charges before me there?"

And, as they were staying there for several days, Festus laid Paul's case before the King. "There is a man here," he said, "left a prisoner by Felix,

So they met here, and without loss of time I took my seat on the Bench the very next day, and ordered the man to be brought before me.

So the next day, when Agrippa and Bernice had come in full state and had entered the Audience Chamber, with the superior officers and the principal people of the city, by the order of Festus Paul was brought before them.

Then Festus said: "King Agrippa, and all here present, you see before you the man about whom the whole Jewish people have applied to me, both at Jerusalem and here, loudly asserting that he ought not to be allowed to live.

But I have nothing definite to write about him to my Imperial Master; and for that reason I have brought him before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa, that, after examining him, I may have something to write.

"I have been congratulating myself, King Agrippa," he said, "that it is before you that I have to make my defense to-day, with regard to all the charges brought against me by Jews,

Indeed, the King knows about these matters, so I speak before him without constraint. I am sure that there is nothing whatever of what I have been telling him that has escaped his attention; for all this has not been done in a corner.

The ship was caught by it and was unable to keep her head to the wind, so we had to give way and let her drive before it.

'Have no fear, Paul; you must appear before the Emperor, and God himself has given you the lives of all your fellow-voyagers.'

In the interval before daybreak Paul kept urging them all to take something to eat. "It is a fortnight to-day," he said, "that, owing to your anxiety, you have gone without food, taking nothing.

With these words he took some bread, and, after saying the thanksgiving to God before them all, broke it in pieces, and began to eat;

They then fixed a day with him, and came to the place where he was staying, in even larger numbers, when Paul proceeded to lay the subject before them. He bore his testimony to the Kingdom of God, and tried to convince them about Jesus, by arguments drawn from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets--speaking from morning till evening.