Also, as he ate with them, he charged them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for what the Father promised ??"for what you have heard me speak of," said he;

Now when they met, they asked him, "Lord, is this the time you are going to restore the Realm to Israel?"

But he told them, "It is not for you to know the course and periods of time that the Father has fixed by his own authority.

As he went up, their eyes were fixed on heaven; but just then two men stood beside them dressed in white,

who said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up to heaven? This Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven will come back, just as you have seen him depart to heaven."

Then they made their way back to Jerusalem from the hill called 'The Olive-Orchard'; it is close to Jerusalem, only a sabbath day's journey from it.

"My brothers," said he, "it had to be fulfilled, that scripture which the holy Spirit uttered beforehand by the lips of David with regard to Judas who acted as guide to those who arrested Jesus.

Now it is written in the book of psalms, Desolate be his residence, may no one dwell in it: also, let another man take over his charge.

Well then, of the men who have been associated with us all the time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,

from the baptism of John down to the day when he was taken up from us ??of these men one must join us as a witness to his resurrection."

and they were all filled with the holy Spirit ??they began to speak in foreign tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to express themselves.

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

Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents in Mesopotamia, in Judaea and Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia,

these men are not drunk, as you imagine. Why, it is only nine in the morning!

No, this is what was predicted by the prophet Joel ??17 In the last days, saith God, then will I pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams:

Men of Israel, listen to my words. Jesus the Nazarene, a man accredited to you by God through miracles, wonders, and signs which God performed by him among you (as you yourselves know),

For David says of him, I saw the Lord before me evermore; lest I be shaken, he is at my right hand.

My heart is glad, my tongue exults, my very flesh will rest in hope,

Brothers, I can speak quite plainly to you about the patriarch David; he died and was buried and his tomb remains with us to this day.

This Jesus God raised, as we can all bear witness.

Uplifted then by God's right hand, and receiving from the Father the long-promised holy Spirit, he has poured on us what you now see and hear.)

For the promise is meant for you and for your children and for all who are far off, for anyone whom the Lord our God may call to himself."

they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds among all, as anyone might be in need.

Peter looked at him steadily, as did John, and said, "Look at us."

As he clung to Peter and John, all the people rushed awestruck to them in what was called Solomon's portico.

But when Peter saw this, he said to the people, "Men of Israel, why are you surprised at this? Why do you stare at us, as if we had made him walk by any power or piety of ours?

and you killed the pioneer of Life. But God raised him from the dead, as we can bear witness.

(He it is who has given strength to this man whom you see and know, by faith in His name; it is the faith He inspires which has made the man thus hale and whole before you all.)

for Moses said, The Lord our God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brotherhood, as he raised me: you must listen to whatever he may tell you.

who were annoyed at them teaching the people and proclaiming Jesus as an instance of resurrection from the dead.

They laid hands on them and, as it was now evening, put them in custody till next morning.

They made the men stand before them and inquired, "By what authority, in whose name, have you done this?"

He is the stone despised by you builders, which has become head of the corner.

There is no salvation by anyone else, nor even a second Name under heaven appointed for us men and our salvation."

They were astonished to notice how outspoken Peter and John were, and to discover that they were uncultured persons and mere outsiders; they recognized them as having been companions of Jesus,

but as they saw the man who had been healed standing beside them, they could say nothing.

"What are we to do with these men?" they said. "It is plain to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem that a miracle has admittedly been worked by them. That we cannot deny.

But Peter and John replied, "Decide for yourselves whether it is right before God to obey you rather than God.

and on hearing this the entire company raised their cry to God, "O Sovereign Lord, thou art he who made heaven, earth, and sea, and all that in them is,

when thy hand is stretched out to heal and to perform miracles and wonders by the name of thy holy Servant Jesus."

Thus Joseph, who was surnamed Barnabas or (as it may be translated) 'Son of Encouragement' by the apostles, a Levite of Cypriote birth,

When it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And even after the sale, was the money not yours to do as you pleased about it? How could you think of doing a thing like this? You have not defrauded men but God."

Peter said to her, "How could you arrange to put the Lord's Spirit to the proof? Listen, there are the footsteps of the men who have buried your husband! They are at the door, and they will carry you out as well."

But as the attendants did not find them when they got to the prison, they came back to report,

"We strictly forbade you to teach about this Name, did we not? And here you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine! You want to make us responsible for this man's death!"

God lifted him up to his right hand as our pioneer and saviour, in order to grant repentance and remission of sins to Israel.

So the twelve summoned the main body of the disciples and said: "It is not desirable that we should drop preaching the word of God and attend to meals.

Some of those who belonged to the so-called synagogue of the Libyans, the Cyrenians, and the Alexandrians, as well as to that of the Cilicians and Asiatics, started a dispute with Stephen,

They also brought forward false witnesses to say, "This fellow is never done talking against this holy Place and the Law!

Why, we have heard him say that Jesus the Nazarene will destroy this Place and change the customs handed down to us by Moses!"

Said the high priest, "Is this true?"

But he did not give him any inheritance in it, not even a foot of the land. All be did was to promise that he would give it as a possession to him and to his offspring after him (he at the time being childless).

As the time approached for the promise God had made to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,

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

But the man who was injuring his neighbour pushed him aside. "Who made you ruler and umpire over us?" he asked.

"Do you want to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?"

When Moses saw this, he marvelled at the sight; and as he went up to look at it, the voice of the Lord said,

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

(This was the Moses who told the sons of Israel, 'God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brotherhood, as he raised me.')

This was the man who at the assembly in the desert intervened between the angel who spoke to him on mount Sinai and our fathers; he received living Words to be given to us.

They told Aaron, 'Make gods that will march in front of us! As for this Moses who led us out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him!'

So God turned from them, abandoning them to the worship of the starry Host ??as it is written in the book of the prophets, Did you offer me victims and sacrifices during the forty years in the desert, O house of Israel?

In the desert our fathers had the tent of witness as arranged by Him who told Moses to make it after the pattern he had seen.

It was passed on and borne in by our fathers as with Joshua they took possession of the territory of the nations whom God drove out before our fathers. So it remained down to the days of David.

And yet the most High does not dwell in houses made by hands. As the prophet says,

Heaven is my throne, the earth is a footstool for my feet! What house would you build me? saith the Lord. On what spot could I settle?

Stiff-necked, uncircumcised in heart and ear, you are always resisting the holy Spirit! As with your fathers, so with you!

and all sorts and conditions of people attached themselves to him, declaring he was that Power of God which is known as 'the Great Power.'

(As yet it had not fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)

You come in for no share or lot in this religion. Your heart is all wrong in the sight of God.

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

When Philip ran up, he heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. "Do you really understand what you are reading?"

Now the passage of scripture which he was reading was as follows: ??he was led like a sheep to be slaughtered, and as a lamb is dumb before the shearer, so he opens not his lips.

By humbling himself he had his doom removed. Who can tell his family? For his life is cut off from the earth.

So the eunuch said to Philip, "Pray, who is the prophet speaking about? Is it himself or someone else?"

As they travelled on, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "Here is water! What is to prevent me being baptized?"

As he neared Damascus in the course of his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed round him;

And the Lord said to him, "Go away to the street called 'The Straight Street,' and ask at the house of Judas for a man of Tarsus called Saul. He is praying at this very moment,

But the Lord said to him, "Go; I have chosen him to be the means of bringing my Name before the Gentiles and their kings as well as before the sons of Israel.

He lost no time in preaching throughout the synagogues that Jesus was the Son of God ??21 to the amazement of all his hearers, who said, "Is this not the man who in Jerusalem harried those who invoke this Name, the man who came here for the express purpose of carrying them all in chains to the high priests?"

At Joppa there was a disciple called Tabitha (which may be translated Dorcas, or 'Gazelle'), a woman whose life was full of good actions and of charitable practices.

When the disciples heard that Peter was at Lydda (for Joppa is not far from Lydda), they sent two men to beg him to "Come on to us without delay."

So Peter got up and went with them. When he arrived, they took him up to the room, where all the widows stood beside him crying as they showed him the garments and dresses that Dorcas used to make when she was with them.

He stared at the angel in terror, saying, "What is it?" He replied, "Your prayers and your alms have risen before God as a sacrifice to be remembered.

You must now send some men to Joppa for a certain Simon who is surnamed Peter;

he is staying with Simon a tanner, whose house stands by the sea."

He became very hungry and longed for some food. But as they were getting the meal ready, a trance came over him.

A second time the voice came back to him, "What God has cleansed, you must not regard as common."

Come, get up and go down, and have no hesitation about accompanying them, for it is I who have sent them."

Then Peter went down to the men, saying, "I am the man you are looking for. What is your reason for coming?"

To them Peter said, "You know yourselves it is illegal for a Jew to join or accost anyone belonging to another nation; but God has shown me that I must not call any man common or unclean,

You must send to Joppa and summon Simon who is surnamed Peter; he is staying in the house of Simon a tanner beside the sea.'

but that he who reverences Him and lives a good life in any nation is welcomed by Him.

You know the message he sent to the sons of Israel when he preached the gospel of peace by Jesus Christ (who is Lord of all);

As for what he did in the land of the Jews and of Jerusalem, we can testify to that. They slew him by hanging him on a gibbet,

not by all the People but by witnesses whom God had previously selected, by us who ate and drank with him after his resurrection from the dead,

when he enjoined us to preach to the People, testifying that this was he whom God has appointed to be judge of the living and of the dead.

All the prophets testify that everyone who believes in him is to receive remission of sins through his Name."

"Can anyone refuse water for the baptism of these people ??people who have received the holy Spirit just as we ourselves have?"

But a voice answered me for the second time out of heaven, 'What God has cleansed, you must not regard as common.'