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,

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, which is near Jerusalem, only half a mile away.

It became known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that this piece of land was called in their language Akeldamach, that is, The Field of Blood.)

For in the Book of Psalms it is written: 'Let his estate be desolate, and let no one live on it,' and 'Let someone else take his position.'

"So one of these men who have been associated with us all the time the Lord Jesus came and went among us,

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."

And they prayed, saying, "Lord, you who know the hearts of all, show us which one of these two men you have chosen

to take a share in this service as an apostle, from which Judas fell away to go to his own place."

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.

So how is it that each of us hears them speaking in his own native tongue?

Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, of Judea and Cappadocia, of Pontus and Asia,

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

But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

"Fellow Israelites, listen to what I say. Jesus of Nazareth, as you yourselves well know, a man accredited to you by God through mighty deeds and wonders and wonder-works which God performed through Him right here among you,

For David says of Him: 'I always kept my eyes upon the Lord, for He is at my right hand, so that I may not be removed.

So my heart is glad and my tongue exults, and my body still lives in hope.

"Brothers, I may confidently say to you about the patriarch David, that he died and was buried, and that his grave is here among us to this very day.

So, as he was a prophet and knew that God with an oath had promised to put one of his descendants on his throne,

So He has been exalted to God's right hand and has received from His Father, as promised, and poured out upon us the Holy Spirit, as you see and hear.

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."

And all the believers lived together and held all they had as common goods to be shared by one another.

And so they continued to sell their property and goods and to distribute the money to all, as anyone had special need.

Peter looked him straight in the eye, and so did John, and said, "Look at us."

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?

Yes, you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked a murderer to be pardoned as a favor to you,

It is His name, that is, on condition of faith in His name, that has made strong again this man whom you see and recognize -- yes, faith inspired by Him has given this man the perfect health you all see.

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.

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

you and all the people of Israel must know that it is by the authority of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead -- yes, I repeat it, it is by His authority that this man stands here before you well.

He is the stone that was thrown away by you builders, which has become the cornerstone.

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."

and repeated, "What shall we do with these men? For it is evident to everybody living in Jerusalem that an unmistakable wonder-work has been done by them; and we cannot deny it.

But to keep it from spreading farther among the people, let us severely threaten them not to say anything at all to anyone else about this person."

But Peter and John answered them, "You must decide whether it is right in the sight of God to obey you instead of Him,

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

Now there was but one heart and soul in the vast number of those who had become believers, and not one of them claimed that anything that he had was his own, but they shared everything that they had as common property.

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

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, "Tell me, did you sell the land for such and such a sum?" She answered, "Yes, that is it."

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.

"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!"

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.

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.

but if it has its origin in God, you can never stop it. It is to be feared that you may find yourselves fighting God."

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 the Twelve called together the whole body of the disciples, and said, "It is not desirable that we should leave off preaching the word of God to wait on tables.

But members of the synagogue known as that of the Libyans, Cyreneans, and Alexandrians, and men from Cilicia and Asia, got to debating with Stephen,

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

He gave him no property in it, not even a foot of land, and yet He promised to give it to him and his descendants after him, as a permanent possession, although he had no child at that time.

This is what God promised: 'His descendants will be strangers living in a foreign land, and its people will enslave and oppress them for four hundred years.'

And the patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him

As the time approached for realizing the promise which God had made to Abraham, the people multiplied and became more numerous in Egypt,

When he was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. Thus

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

Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?'

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

Because I have seen the oppression of my people in Egypt and heard their groans, I have come down to deliver them. So come! I will send you back to Egypt as my messenger.'

It was he who brought them out of Egypt by performing wonders and signs there and at the Red Sea -- as he did also in the desert for forty years.

It was this Moses who said to the descendants of Israel, 'God will raise up a prophet for you from among you, just as He did me.'

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.

and they said to Aaron, 'Make us gods to march in front of us, for as for this Moses, who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him!'

So God turned away from them and gave them over to worship the starry host, as it is written in the Book of the Prophets: 'Did you really offer me victims and sacrifices those forty years in the desert, O house of Israel?

"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.

But the Most High does not live in buildings built by human hands. As the prophet says:

'"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.

As they continued to listen to this address, they were becoming infuriated and began to grind their teeth at him.

They continued stoning Stephen as he continued praying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!"

As the crowds continued to listen to his message and continued to see his wonder-works which he was performing, with one mind they became interested in what was said by Philip.

Everybody, high and low, kept running after him, saying, "He is certainly what is known as the Great Power of God!"

for as yet He had not come upon any of them, but they had been baptized merely in the name of the Lord Jesus.

You have no share or part in this matter, for your heart is not sincere in the sight of God.

Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Get up and go south by the road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza; this is the desert road."

and now was on his way home. He was seated in his chariot, reading the prophet Isaiah.

Then Philip ran up and listened to him reading the prophet Isaiah, and he asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?"

Now this was the passage of Scripture that he was reading: "Like a sheep He was led away to be slaughtered, and just as a lamb is dumb before its shearer, so He does not open His mouth.

Justice was denied Him in His humiliation, who can tell of His times? For His life is removed from the earth."

"Tell me, I pray, of whom is the prophet speaking," asked the official of Philip, "of himself or of someone else?"

As they continued down the road, they came to some water, and the official said, "Look! here is some water! What is there to keep me from being baptized?"

Now Saul, as he was still breathing threats of murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest

As he traveled on he finally approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.

And the Lord said to him, "Get up and go to the street called 'The Straight Street,' and ask at the house of Judas for one named Saul, from Tarsus, for he is now praying there.

Now he is here and has authority from the high priests to put in chains all who call upon your name."

But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name to the heathen and their kings, and to the descendants of Israel.

and at once he began to preach in their synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.

And all who heard him were astounded and said, "Is not this the man who harassed those who called upon this name in Jerusalem, and has come here expressly for the purpose of putting them in chains and taking them back to the high priests?"

But Saul grew stronger and stronger and continued to put to utter confusion the Jews who lived in Damascus, by proving that Jesus is the Christ.

So the church all over Judea, Galilee, and Samaria enjoyed peace, and as it continued to be built up spiritually and to live in reverence for the Lord, it continued to increase in numbers through the encouragement that the Holy Spirit gave.

Now, as Peter was going here and there among them all, he finally went down to God's people who lived at Lydda.

There he found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden for eight years as a paralytic.

At Joppa there was a woman, a disciple, whose name was Tabitha, which in Greek means Dorcas, that is, Gazelle. She had filled her life with good deeds and works of charity, which she was always doing.

As Joppa was near Lydda, the disciples heard that Peter was there, and sent two men to him, begging him to come to them without delay.

Now at Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a colonel in what was known as the Italian regiment,

He stared at him and in terror asked, "What is it, sir?" The angel answered him, "Your prayers and your deeds of charity have gone up and been remembered before God.

So now send men to Joppa and invite over a man named Simon, who is also called Peter.

He is a guest of a tanner named Simon, whose house is close by the sea."