While he was with them, he declared, "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait there for what my Father promised, which you heard about from me.

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

"Brothers, the scripture had to be fulfilled that the Holy Spirit foretold through David concerning Judas -- who became the guide for those who arrested Jesus --

for he was counted as one of us and received a share in this ministry."

"For it is written in the book of Psalms, 'Let his house become deserted, and let there be no one to live in it,' and 'Let another take his position of responsibility.'

Then they cast lots for them, and the one chosen was Matthias; so he was counted with the eleven apostles.

And tongues spreading out like a fire appeared to them and came to rest on each one of them.

In spite of what you think, these men are not drunk, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning.

And I will perform wonders in the sky above and miraculous signs on the earth below, blood and fire and clouds of smoke.

But God raised him up, having released him from the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held in its power.

For David says about him, 'I saw the Lord always in front of me, for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken.

For David did not ascend 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."'

Peter said to them, "Repent, and each one 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 away, as many as the Lord our God will call to himself."

Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time for prayer, at three o'clock in the afternoon.

And a man lame from birth was being carried up, who was placed at the temple gate called "the Beautiful Gate" every day so he could beg for money from those going into the temple courts.

When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple courts, he asked them for money.

and they recognized him as the man who used to sit and ask for donations at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were filled with astonishment and amazement at what had happened to him.

so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and so that he may send the Messiah appointed for you -- that is, Jesus.

Moses said, 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must obey him in everything he tells you.

So they seized them and put them in jail until the next day (for it was already evening).

if we are being examined today for a good deed done to a sick man -- by what means this man was healed --

And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved."

saying, "What should we do with these men? For it is plain to all who live in Jerusalem that a notable miraculous sign has come about through them, and we cannot deny it.

for it is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard."

After threatening them further, they released them, for they could not find how to punish them on account of the people, because they were all praising God for what had happened.

For the man, on whom this miraculous sign of healing had been performed, was over forty years old.

"For indeed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together in this city against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed,

For there was no one needy among them, because those who were owners of land or houses were selling them and bringing the proceeds from the sales

He kept back for himself part of the proceeds with his wife's knowledge; he brought only part of it and placed it at the apostles' feet.

But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back for yourself part of the proceeds from the sale of the land?

When Ananias heard these words he collapsed and died, and great fear gripped all who heard about it.

Peter said to her, "Tell me, were the two of you paid this amount for the land?" Sapphira said, "Yes, that much."

Great fear gripped the whole church and all who heard about these things.

But the officers who came for them did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported,

Then the commander of the temple guard went with the officers and brought the apostles without the use of force (for they were afraid of being stoned by the people).

But a Pharisee whose name was Gamaliel, a teacher of the law who was respected by all the people, stood up in the council and ordered the men to be put outside for a short time.

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

So they left the council rejoicing because they had been considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.

So the twelve called the whole group of the disciples together and said, "It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to wait on tables.

For we have heard him saying that Jesus the Nazarene will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us."

He did not give any of it to him for an inheritance, not even a foot of ground, yet God promised to give it to him as his possession, and to his descendants after him, even though Abraham as yet had no child.

But God spoke as follows: 'Your descendants will be foreigners in a foreign country, whose citizens will enslave them and mistreat them for four hundred years.

and rescued him from all his troubles, and granted him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household.

On their second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers again, and Joseph's family became known to Pharaoh.

and their bones were later moved to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a certain sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

"But as the time drew near for God to fulfill the promise he had declared to Abraham, the people increased greatly in number in Egypt,

At that time Moses was born, and he was beautiful to God. For three months he was brought up in his father's house,

and when he had been abandoned, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son.

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

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

This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, 'God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.'

saying to Aaron, 'Make us gods who will go in front of us, for this Moses, who led us out of the land of Egypt -- we do not know what has happened to him!'

He found favor with God and asked that he could find a dwelling place for the house of Jacob.

But Solomon built a house for him.

Heaven is my throne, and earth is the footstool for my feet. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is my resting place?

For unclean spirits, crying with loud shrieks, were coming out of many who were possessed, and many paralyzed and lame people were healed.

And they paid close attention to him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic.

These two went down and prayed for them so that they would receive the Holy Spirit.

(For the Spirit had not yet come upon any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)

Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that he may perhaps forgive you for the intent of your heart.

For I see that you are bitterly envious and in bondage to sin."

But Simon replied, "You pray to the Lord for me so that nothing of what you have said may happen to me."

In humiliation justice was taken from him. Who can describe his posterity? For his life was taken away from the earth."

For three days he could not see, and he neither ate nor drank anything.

Then the Lord told him, "Get up and go to the street called 'Straight,' and at Judas' house look for a man from Tarsus named Saul. For he is praying,

For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name."

and after taking some food, his strength returned. For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus,

Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria experienced peace and thus was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, the church increased in numbers.

He found there a man named Aeneas who had been confined to a mattress for eight years because he was paralyzed.

He was a devout, God-fearing man, as was all his household; he did many acts of charity for the people and prayed to God regularly.

He saw heaven opened and an object something like a large sheet descending, being let down to earth by its four corners.

In it were all kinds of four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth and wild birds.

But Peter said, "Certainly not, Lord, for I have never eaten anything defiled and ritually unclean!"

While Peter was still thinking seriously about the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Look! Three men are looking for you.

So Peter went down to the men and said, "Here I am, the person you're looking for. Why have you come?"

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

He said to them, "You know that it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile, yet God has shown me that I should call no person defiled or ritually unclean.

Therefore when you sent for me, I came without any objection. Now may I ask why you sent for me?"

Cornelius replied, "Four days ago at this very hour, at three o'clock in the afternoon, I was praying in my house, and suddenly a man in shining clothing stood before me

Therefore I sent for you at once, and you were kind enough to come. So now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to say to us."

for they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said,

"No one can withhold the water for these people to be baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?"

So he gave orders to have them baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay for several days.

"I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, an object something like a large sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came to me.

As I stared I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild animals, reptiles, and wild birds.

But I said, 'Certainly not, Lord, for nothing defiled or ritually unclean has ever entered my mouth!'

Now those who had been scattered because of the persecution that took place over Stephen went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the message to no one but Jews.

Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to look for Saul,

and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught a significant number of people. Now it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.

When he had seized him, he put him in prison, handing him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him. Herod planned to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.

So Peter was kept in prison, but those in the church were earnestly praying to God for him.

On that very night before Herod was going to bring him out for trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, while guards in front of the door were keeping watch over the prison.

After they had passed the first and second guards, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went outside and walked down one narrow street, when at once the angel left him.

When Peter came to himself, he said, "Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from everything the Jewish people were expecting to happen."

When Herod had searched for him and did not find him, he questioned the guards and commanded that they be led away to execution. Then Herod went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.

Now Herod was having an angry quarrel with the people of Tyre and Sidon. So they joined together and presented themselves before him. And after convincing Blastus, the king's personal assistant, to help them, they asked for peace, because their country's food supply was provided by the king's country.

While they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."

When they had crossed over the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus,