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.”

They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away.

beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”

to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.”

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

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

Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,

Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear.

And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!”

Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart,

And a man who had been lame from his mother’s womb was being carried along, whom they used to set down every day at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, in order to beg alms of those who were entering the temple.

And he began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.

but put to death the Prince of life, the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses.

Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;

whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.

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.

And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’

And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also announced these days.

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

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

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 this name this man stands here before you in good health.

Also the people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick or afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed.

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.

And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.

Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task.

The statement found approval with the whole congregation; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch.

But some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and argued with Stephen.

Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. From there, after his father died, God had him move to this country in which you are now living.

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.

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.

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

and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, “This man is what is called the Great Power of God.”

But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.)

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

Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.

As they went along 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 at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him;

Saul got up from the ground, and though 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 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 Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem;

and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.”

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

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.”

So he invited them in and gave them lodging.And on the next day he got up and went away with them, and some of the brethren from Joppa accompanied him.

you yourselves know the thing which took place throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed.

not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.

“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,

But a voice from heaven answered a second time, ‘What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.’

And behold, at that moment three men appeared at the house in which we were staying, having been sent to me from Caesarea.

Now at this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.

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.”

When Herod had searched for him and had not found him, he examined the guards and ordered that they be led away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and was spending time there.

And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their mission, taking along with them John, who was also called Mark.

So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

But Elymas the magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking 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 left them and returned to Jerusalem.

But going on from Perga, they arrived at Pisidian Antioch, and on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.

The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He led them out from it.

From the descendants of this man, according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus,

When they had carried out all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb.

But God raised Him from the dead;

and for many days He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now His witnesses to the people.

As for the fact that He raised Him up from the dead, no longer to return to decay, He has spoken in this way: ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’

and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses.

At Lystra a man was sitting who had no strength in his feet, lame from his mother’s womb, who had never walked.

and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men of the same nature as you, and preach the gospel to you that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.

and yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.”

Even saying these things, with difficulty they restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them.

But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having won over the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead.

From there they sailed to Antioch, from which they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had accomplished.

Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

Simeon has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name.

Says the Lord, who makes these things known from long ago.

Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles,

but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood.

For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas—Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren,

and they sent this letter by them, “The apostles and the brethren who are elders, to the brethren in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia who are from the Gentiles, greetings.

that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication; if you keep yourselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell.”

After they had spent time there, they were sent away from the brethren in peace to those who had sent them out.

And there occurred such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus.

So putting out to sea from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and on the day following to Neapolis;

and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia, a Roman colony; and we were staying in this city for some days.

A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.

And according to Paul’s custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures,

explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.”

But the Jews, becoming jealous and taking along some wicked men from the market place, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; and attacking the house of Jason, they were seeking to bring them out to the people.

And when they had received a pledge from Jason and the others, they released them.

and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation,

that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;

because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He came to them,

But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.

But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”