Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me;

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;

For he was counted among us and received his share in this ministry.”

“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.’

And they drew lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.

And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them.

For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day;

‘And I will grant wonders in the sky above
And signs on the earth below,
Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke.

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.

For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says:
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,

Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”’

Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.”

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.

For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”

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

and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you,

Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren; to Him you shall give heed to everything He says to you.

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

And they laid hands on them and put them in jail until the next day, for it was already evening.

if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well,

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.”

saying, “What shall we do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.

for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

When they had threatened them further, they let them go (finding no basis on which to punish them) on account of the people, because they were all glorifying God for what had happened;

for the man was more than forty years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed.

For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,

For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales

and kept back some of the price for himself, with his wife’s full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles’ feet.

And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last; and great fear came over all who heard of it.

And Peter responded to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for such and such a price?” And she said, “Yes, that was the price.”

And great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard of these things.

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).

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;

So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.

So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables.

for we have heard him say that this Nazarene, Jesus, will destroy this place and alter the customs which Moses handed down to us.”

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 rescued him from all his afflictions, and granted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made him governor over Egypt and all his household.

On the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family was disclosed to Pharaoh.

From there they were removed to Shechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

And after he had been set outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and nurtured him as her own son.

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

‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.’ Moses shook with fear and would not venture to look.

But the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.

This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years.

This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren.’

saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us; for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt—we do not know what happened to him.’

David found favor in God’s sight, and asked that he might find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.

But it was Solomon who built a house for Him.

‘Heaven is My throne,
And earth is the footstool of My feet;
What kind of house will you build for Me?’ says the Lord,
‘Or what place is there for My repose?

For in the case of many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed.

And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished them with his magic arts.

who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.

For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.

For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.”

But Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

“In humiliation His judgment was taken away;
Who will relate His generation?
For His life is removed from the earth.”

and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

And the Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying,

But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel;

for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.”

and he took food and was strengthened.Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus,

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?”

So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.

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

Now dispatch some men to Joppa and send for a man named Simon, who is also called Peter;

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

and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air.

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;

While Peter was reflecting on the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you.

But get up, go downstairs and accompany them without misgivings, for I have sent them Myself.”

Peter went down to the men and said, “Behold, I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for which you have come?”

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.”

On the following day he entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close friends.

And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean.

That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was sent for. So I ask for what reason you have sent for me.”

Cornelius said, “Four days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during the ninth hour; and behold, a man stood before me in shining garments,

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.

For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter answered,

“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,

and when I had fixed my gaze on it and was observing it I saw the four-footed animals of the earth and the wild beasts and the crawling creatures and the birds of the air.

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

for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And considerable numbers were brought to the Lord.

And he left for Tarsus to look for Saul;

and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

And in the proportion that any of the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the relief of the brethren living in Judea.

When he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out before the people.

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

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.

When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”