And [while he] was with [them], he commanded them, "Do not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for what was promised by the Father, 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}."

And [after he] had said these [things], [while] they were watching, he was taken up, and a cloud received him from their sight.

who also said, "Men {of Galilee}, why do you stand there looking into the sky? This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven like this will come back in the same way you saw him departing into heaven!"

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mountain that is called Olive Grove which is near Jerusalem, {a Sabbath day's journey away}.

beginning from the baptism of John until the day [on] which he was taken up from us--one of these [men] must become a witness of his resurrection together with us."

to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to depart to his own place."

And suddenly a sound like a violent rushing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.

Now there were Jews residing in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven.

Therefore, having been exalted to the right hand of God and having received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, he has poured out this that you see and hear.

And with many other words he solemnly urged and exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this crooked generation!"

And every day, devoting themselves [to meeting] with one purpose in the temple [courts] and breaking bread from house [to house], they were eating [their] food with joy and simplicity of heart,

And a certain man was being carried who was lame {from birth}. {He} was placed every day at the gate of the temple called "Beautiful," [so that he] could ask for charitable gifts from those who were going into the temple [courts].

So he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them.

And you killed the originator of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses!

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

whom heaven must receive until the times of the restoration of all [things], about which God spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from earliest times.

Moses said, 'The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You will listen to him in everything that he says to you.

And it will be [that] every soul who does not listen to that prophet will be destroyed utterly from the people.'

And indeed, all the prophets from Samuel and all those who followed [him] have spoken [about] and proclaimed these days.

God, [after he] had raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning each [of you] back from your wickedness!"

greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

and Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all those who were from the high priest's family.

let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead--by him this man stands before you healthy!

For we are not able to refrain from speaking about [the things] that we have seen and heard."

And now I tell you, keep away from these men, and leave them alone, because if this plan or this matter is from people, it will be overthrown.

But if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them, lest you even be found fighting against God." So they were persuaded by him.

So they went out from the presence of the Sanhedrin rejoicing, because they had been considered worthy to be dishonored for the sake of the name.

Every day, both in the temple [courts] and from house [to house], they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the good news [that] the Christ [was] Jesus.

So, brothers, select from among you seven men {of good reputation}, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we will put in charge of this need.

And the statement pleased the whole group, and they chose Stephen (a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit), and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus (a convert from Antioch),

But some of those from the Synagogue of the Freedmen ({as it was called}), both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia, stood up [and] disputed with Stephen.

and said to him, 'Go out from your land and from your relatives and come to the land that I will show you.'

Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans [and] settled in Haran. And from there, after his father died, he caused him to move to this land in which you now live.

and rescued him from all his afflictions and granted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And he appointed him ruler over Egypt and all his household.

And they were brought back to Shechem and buried in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

And the Lord said to him, 'Untie the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.

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

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

and which, [after] receiving [it] in turn, our fathers brought in with Joshua {when they dispossessed the} nations that God drove out from the presence of our fathers, until the days of David,

They were all paying attention to {him}, from the least to the greatest, saying, "This man is the power of God that is called 'Great.'"

Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, "Get up and go toward the south on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." (This is a desert [road].)

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

So Philip opened his mouth and beginning from this scripture, proclaimed the good news to him [about] Jesus.

And as they were traveling down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, "Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?"

[and] asked for letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, both men and women, he could bring [them] tied up to Jerusalem.

Now as [he] proceeded, it happened that [when] he approached Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.

So Saul got up from the ground, but [although] his eyes were open he could see nothing. And leading him by the hand, they brought [him] into Damascus.

And the Lord [said] to him, "Get up, go to the street called 'Straight' and in the house of Judas look for {a man named Saul from Tarsus}. For behold, he is praying,

But Ananias replied, "Lord, I have heard from many [people] about this man, how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem,

and here he has authority from the chief priests to tie up all who call upon your name!"

And immediately [something] like scales fell from his eyes and he regained [his] sight and got up [and] was baptized,

And when the angel who spoke to him departed, he summoned two of the household slaves and a devout soldier from those who attended him,

And they said, "Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and God-fearing man--and well spoken of by the whole nation of the Jews--was directed by a holy angel to summon you to his house and to hear words from you."

So he invited them in [and] entertained them as guests, and on the next day he got up [and] went away with them. And some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him.

you know the thing that happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism that John proclaimed:

not to all the people but to us who had been chosen beforehand by God [as] witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

And those believers from the circumcision who had accompanied Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles,

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

But the voice replied from heaven for the second time, '[The things] which God has made clean, you must not consider unclean!'

And behold, at once three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea approached the house in which we were [staying].

But some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, [when they] came to Antioch, began to speak to the Hellenists also, proclaiming the good news about the Lord Jesus.

Now in those days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.

So from the disciples, {according to their ability to give}, each one of them determined to send [financial aid] for support to the brothers who lived in Judea,

Now at that time, Herod the king laid hands on some of those from the church to harm [them].

And [after they] had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened for them by itself, and they went out [and] went forward [along] one narrow street, and at once the angel departed from him.

And [when] Peter came to himself, he said, "Now I know truly that the Lord has sent out his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and all {that the Jewish people expected}!"

And [when] Herod had searched for him and did not find [him], he questioned the guards [and] ordered [that they] be led away to execution. And he came down from Judea to Caesarea [and] stayed [there].

Now he was very angry with the Tyrians and Sidonians. So they came to him with one purpose, and [after] persuading Blastus, {the king's chamberlain}, they asked for peace, because their country was supported with food from the king's country.

Therefore, sent out by the Holy Spirit, they came down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed away to Cyprus.

But Elymas the magician (for his name is translated in this way) opposed them, attempting to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

Now {Paul and his companions} put out to sea from Paphos [and] came to Perga in Pamphylia, but John departed from them [and] returned to Jerusalem.

And they went on from Perga [and] arrived at Pisidian Antioch. And they entered into the synagogue on the day of the Sabbath [and] sat down.

So after the reading from the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent [word] to them, saying, "Men [and] brothers, if there is any message of exhortation by you for the people, say [it]."

And then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man from the tribe of Benjamin, [for] forty years.

From the descendants of this man, according to [his] promise, God brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus.

And when they had carried out all the things that were written about him, they took [him] down from the tree [and] placed [him] in a tomb.

But God raised him from the dead,

who appeared for many days to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem--who are now his witnesses to the people.

But that he has raised him from the dead, no more going to return to decay, he has spoken in this way: 'I will give you the reliable divine decrees of David.'

"Therefore let it be known to you, men [and] brothers, that through this one forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and from all [the things] from which you were not able to be justified by the law of Moses,

So [after] shaking off the dust from [their] feet against them, they went to Iconium.

And in Lystra a certain man was sitting powerless in his feet, lame from {birth}, who had never walked.

and saying, "Men, why are you doing these [things]? We also are men with the same nature as you, proclaiming the good news [that] you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all the things [that are] in them--

And yet he did not leave himself without witness [by] doing good, giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying [you] with food and your hearts with gladness."

And [although] they said these [things], [only] with difficulty did they dissuade the crowds from offering sacrifice to them.

But Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium, and [when they] had won over the crowds and stoned Paul, they dragged [him] outside the city, thinking he was dead.

and from there they sailed away to Antioch where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had completed.

And some men came down from Judea [and] began teaching the brothers, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom [prescribed] by Moses, you cannot be saved."

And [after] there was no little strife and debate by Paul and Barnabas against them, they appointed Paul and Barnabas and some others from among them to go up to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem concerning this issue.

But some of those who had believed from the party of the Pharisees stood up, saying, "It is necessary to circumcise them and to command [them] to observe the law of Moses!"

Simeon has described how God first concerned himself to take from among the Gentiles a people for his name.

known from of old.'

Therefore I conclude we should not cause difficulty for those from among the Gentiles who turn to God,

but we should write a letter to them to abstain from the pollution of idols and from sexual immorality and from what has been strangled and from blood.

For Moses has those who proclaim him in every city from ancient generations, [because he] is read aloud in the synagogues on every Sabbath."

Then it seemed best to the apostles and the elders, together with the whole church, to send men chosen from among them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas--Judas who was called Barsabbas and Silas, men [who were] leaders among the brothers--

writing [this letter] {to be delivered by them}: The apostles and the elders, brothers. To the brothers [who are] from among the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia. Greetings!

Because we have heard that some have gone out from among us--to whom we gave no orders--[and] have thrown you into confusion by words upsetting your {minds},

[that you] abstain from food sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. [If you] keep yourselves from {these things} you will do well. Farewell.