Either Jews by birth or converts, and some are Cretans and Arabians--yet we all alike hear them speaking in our own tongues of the great things that God has done."

Then Peter, surrounded by the eleven other Apostles, stood up, and, raising his voice, addressed the crowd. "Men of Judea," he began, "and all you who are staying in Jerusalem, let me tell you what this means. Mark well my words.

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

So they ordered them out of court, and then began consulting together.

The Apostles continued with great power to bear their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God's blessing rested upon them all abundantly.

But Gamaliel, a Pharisee, who was a Doctor of the Law and who was held in universal respect, rose in the Council, and directed that the men should be taken out of court for a little while.

Meanwhile Stephen, divinely helped and strengthened, was showing great wonders and signs among the people.

Then a famine spread over the whole of Egypt and Canaan, causing great distress, and our ancestors could find no food.

Saul approved of his being put to death. On that very day a great persecution broke out against the Church which was in Jerusalem; and its members, with the exception of the Apostles, were all scattered over the districts of Judea and Samaria.

And many who were paralyzed or lame were cured, so that there was great rejoicing throughout that city.

There was staying in the city a man named Simon, who had been practicing magic there and mystifying the Samaritan people, giving himself out to be some great Being.

Every one, high and low, paid attention to him. 'This man,' they used to say, 'must be that Power of God which men call "The Great Power."'

Even Simon believed, and after his baptism attached himself to Philip, and was in his turn mystified at seeing signs and great miracles constantly occurring.

Cornelius fixed his eyes on him and, in great alarm, said: "What is it, Lord?" "Your prayers and your charities," the angel answered, "have been an acceptable offering to God.

And saw that the heavens were open, and that something like a great sail was descending, let down by its four corners towards the earth.

"I was in the town of Jaffa," he said, "and was praying; and, while in a trance, I saw a vision. There was something like a great sail descending, let down by its four corners out of the heavens; and it came right down to me.

The power of the Lord was with them, so that a great number who had learned to believe came over to the Lord's side.

On coming there he saw to his great joy these tokens of the loving-kindness of God, and encouraged them all to make up their minds to be faithful to the Lord--

One of them, named Agabus, came forward and, under the influence of the Spirit, foretold a great famine that was to spread over all the world--a famine which occurred in the reign of Claudius.

Passing the first Guard, and then the second, they came to the iron gate leading into the city, which opened to them of itself; and, when they had passed through that, and had walked along one street, all at once the angel left him.

In the morning there was a great stir among the soldiers-- what could have become of Peter!

And, when Herod had made further search for him and failed to find him, he closely questioned the Guard, and ordered them away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to stay at Caesarea.

He was at the court of the Governor, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who sent for Barnabas and Saul and asked to be told God's Message.

The same thing occurred in Iconium, where Paul and Barnabas went into the Jewish Synagogue, and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed in Christ.

And the crowd, seeing what Paul had done, called out in the Lycaonian language: "The Gods have made themselves like men and have come down to us."

And the priest of Zeus-beyond-the-Walls, accompanied by the crowd, brought bullocks and garlands to the gates, with the intention of offering sacrifices.

But, when the Apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd. "Friends, why are you doing this?" they shouted.

The Church, therefore, sent them on their journey, and they made their way through Phoenicia and Samaria, telling the story of the conversion of the Gentiles, to the great joy of all the Brethren.

That you abstain from food offered to idols, from blood, from eating the flesh of strangled animals, and from impurity. If you guard yourselves against such things, it will be well with you. Farewell.'

And delivered the letter, the reading of which caused great rejoicing by its encouraging contents.

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

Some of the people were convinced, and threw in their lot with Paul and Silas, as did also a large body of Greeks who were accustomed to join in the Jewish services, and a great number of women belonging to the leading families.

These Jews of Beroea were better disposed than those in Thessalonica, for they welcomed the Message with great readiness, and daily examined the Scriptures to see if what was said was true.

So they laid hold of him and took him to the Court of Areopagus. "May we hear," they asked, "what new teaching this is which you are giving?

So Paul took his stand in the middle of the Court, and said- -"Men of Athens, on every hand I see signs of your being very devout.

And so Paul left the Court.

There were, however, some men who joined him, and became believers in Christ. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the Court of Areopagus, a woman named Damaris, and several others.

When he wanted to cross to Greece, the Brethren furthered his plans, and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. On his arrival he proved of great assistance to those who had, through the loving-kindness of God, become believers in Christ,

Just about that time a great disturbance arose about the Cause.

A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver models of the shrine of Artemis, and so gave a great deal of work to the artisans,

And you see and hear that not only at Ephesus, but in almost the whole of Roman Asia, this Paul has convinced and won over great numbers of people, by his assertion that those Gods which are made by hands are not Gods at all.

So that not only is this business of ours likely to fall into discredit, but there is the further danger that the Temple of the great Goddess Artemis will be thought nothing of, and that she herself will be deprived of her splendor--though all Roman Asia and the whole world worship her."

When they heard this, the men were greatly enraged, and began shouting--"Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!"

But some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had pushed to the front, and he waved his hand to show that he wanted to speak in their defense to the people.

However, when they recognized him as a Jew, one cry broke from them all, and they continued shouting for two hours--"Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!"

When the Recorder had succeeded in quieting the crowd, he said: "Men of Ephesus, who is there, I ask you, who needs to be told that this city of Ephesus is the Warden of the Temple of the great Artemis, and of the statue which fell down from Zeus?

If, however, Demetrius and the artisans who are acting with him have a charge to make against any one, there are Court Days and there are Magistrates; let both parties take legal proceedings.

And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, was gradually overcome with great drowsiness, as Paul continued his address. At last, quite overpowered by his drowsiness, he fell from the third story to the ground, and was picked up for dead.

Then he went upstairs; and, after breaking and partaking of the Bread, he talked with them at great length till daybreak, and then left.

Therefore, be on your guard, remembering how for three years, night and day, I never ceased, even with tears, to warn each one of you.

But, just as the seven days were drawing to a close, the Jews from Roman Asia caught sight of Paul in the Temple, and caused great excitement among all the people present, by seizing Paul and shouting:

He instantly got together some officers and men, and charged down upon the crowd, who, when they saw the Commanding Officer and his men, stopped beating Paul.

Some of the crowd said one thing, and some another; and, as he could get no definite reply on account of the uproar, he ordered Paul to be taken into the barracks.

While I was still on my way, just as I was getting close to Damascus, about mid-day, suddenly there flashed from the heavens a great light all round me.

So a great uproar ensued, and some of the Teaches of the Law belonging to the Pharisees' party stood up and hotly protested: "We find nothing whatever wrong in this man. Suppose a spirit did speak to him, or an angel--"

The dispute was becoming so violent, that the Commanding Officer, fearing that Paul would be torn in pieces between them, ordered the Guard to go down and rescue him from them, and take him into the Fort.

"I will hear all you have to say as soon as your accusers have arrived." And he ordered Paul to be kept under guard in Herod's Government House.

Where my prosecutors never found me holding discussions with any one, or causing a crowd to collect--either in the Temple, or in the Synagogues, or about the city;

And it was while engaged in this that they found me in the Temple, after completing a period of purification, but not with any crowd or disorder.

While Paul was making this defense, Festus called out loudly: "You are mad, Paul; your great learning is driving you mad."

As it was decided that we were to sail to Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were put in charge of a Captain of the Augustan Guard, named Julius.

For several days our progress was slow, and it was only with difficulty that we arrived off Cnidus. As the wind was still unfavorable when we came off Cape Salmone, we sailed under the lee of Crete,

So, when a light wind sprang up from the south, thinking that they had found their opportunity, they weighed anchor and kept along the coast of Crete, close in shore.

It was then, when they had gone a long time without food, that Paul came forward, and said: "My friends, you should have listened to me, and not have sailed from Crete and so incurred this injury and damage.