until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen.

To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.

for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;

but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

“Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.

“For it is written in the book of Psalms,
‘Let his homestead be made desolate,
And let no one dwell in it’;and,‘Let another man take his office.’

But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words.

‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says,
‘That I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind;
And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
And your young men shall see visions,
And your old men shall dream dreams;

‘The sun will be turned into darkness
And the moon into blood,
Before the great and glorious day of the Lord shall come.

‘And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

“Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know—

this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.

But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.

For David says of Him,
‘I saw the Lord always in my presence;
For He is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken.

Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!”

Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart,

praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened.

But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, “Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk?

But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,

But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.

Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;

whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.

And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’

It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’

For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”

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

When they had placed them in the center, they began to inquire, “By what power, or in what name, have you done this?”

let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health.

He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief corner stone.

And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge;

who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Your servant, said,
‘Why did the Gentiles rage,
And the peoples devise futile things?

and lay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need.

Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of Encouragement),

to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on any one of them.

Upon hearing this, they entered into the temple about daybreak and began to teach.Now when the high priest and his associates came, they called the Council together, even all the Senate of the sons of Israel, and sent orders to the prison house for them to be brought.

Then the captain went along with the officers and proceeded to bring them back without violence (for they were afraid of the people, that they might be stoned).

The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross.

But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law, respected by all the people, stood up in the Council and gave orders to put the men outside for a short time.

For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a group of about four hundred men joined up with him. But he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing.

So in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or action is of men, it will be overthrown;

but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God.”

But God spoke to this effect, that his descendants would be aliens in a foreign land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years.

‘And whatever nation to which they will be in bondage I Myself will judge,’ said God, ‘and after that they will come out and serve Me in this place.’

And when he saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended him and took vengeance for the oppressed by striking down the Egyptian.

“This Moses whom they disowned, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one whom God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the help of the angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush.

Our fathers were unwilling to be obedient to him, but repudiated him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt,

However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet says:

you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.”

The crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing.

Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great;

Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you.

but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.”

Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus.

So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, “Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?”

But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ.

but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a large basket.

he is staying with a tanner named Simon, whose house is by the sea.”

and he *saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground,

But Peter said, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.”

Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in mind as to what the vision which he had seen might be, behold, the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions for Simon’s house, appeared at the gate;

They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and God-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, was divinely directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and hear a message from you.”

Therefore send to Joppa and invite Simon, who is also called Peter, to come to you; he is staying at the house of Simon the tanner by the sea.’

So I sent for you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.”

You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

We are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross.

not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.

And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead.

“Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?”

And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.

“I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, an object coming down like a great sheet lowered by four corners from the sky; and it came right down to me,

But I said, ‘By no means, Lord, for nothing unholy or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’

and he will speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’

And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’

One of them named Agabus stood up and began to indicate by the Spirit that there would certainly be a great famine all over the world. And this took place in the reign of Claudius.

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

And he went out and continued to follow, and he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.

When they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.

But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, “Report these things to James and the brethren.” Then he left and went to another place.

When Herod had searched for him and had not found him, he examined the guards and ordered that they be led away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and was spending time there.

Now he was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon; and with one accord they came to him, and having won over Blastus the king’s chamberlain, they were asking for peace, because their country was fed by the king’s country.

And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died.

But the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied.

So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time.” And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand.

After He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will.’

For those who live in Jerusalem, and their rulers, recognizing neither Him nor the utterances of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled these by condemning Him.

And though they found no ground for putting Him to death, they asked Pilate that He be executed.

Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,

and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses.

As Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people kept begging that these things might be spoken to them the next Sabbath.

But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were blaspheming.

Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first; since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.

Therefore they spent a long time there speaking boldly with reliance upon the Lord, who was testifying to the word of His grace, granting that signs and wonders be done by their hands.

And when an attempt was made by both the Gentiles and the Jews with their rulers, to mistreat and to stone them,

This man was listening to Paul as he spoke, who, when he had fixed his gaze on him and had seen that he had faith to be made well,