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."

After he had said this, while they were watching, he was lifted up and a cloud hid him from their sight.

and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking up into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come back in the same way you saw him go into heaven."

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mountain called the Mount of Olives (which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away).

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

to assume the task of this service and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place."

Suddenly a sound like a violent wind blowing came from heaven and filled the entire house where they were sitting.

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

Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene, and visitors from Rome,

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.

So then, exalted to the right hand of God, and having received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, he has poured out what you both see and hear.

With many other words he testified and exhorted them saying, "Save yourselves from this perverse generation!"

Every day they continued to gather together by common consent in the temple courts, breaking bread from house to house, sharing their food with glad and humble hearts,

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.

So the lame man paid attention to them, expecting to receive something from them.

You killed the Originator of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this fact we are witnesses!

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.

This one heaven must receive until the time all things are restored, which God declared from times long ago through his holy prophets.

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.

Every person who does not obey that prophet will be destroyed and thus removed from the people.'

And all the prophets, from Samuel and those who followed him, have spoken about and announced these days.

God raised up his servant and sent him first to you, to bless you by turning each one of you from your iniquities."

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, this man stands before you healthy.

But to keep this matter from spreading any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name."

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

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?

A crowd of people from the towns around Jerusalem also came together, bringing the sick and those troubled by unclean spirits. They were all being healed.

So in this case I say to you, stay away from these men and leave them alone, because if this plan or this undertaking originates with people, it will come to nothing,

but if it is from God, you will not be able to stop them, or you may even be found fighting against God." He convinced them,

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

But carefully select from among you, brothers, seven men who are well-attested, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this necessary task.

The proposal pleased the entire group, so they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a Gentile convert to Judaism from Antioch.

But some men from the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, as well as some from Cilicia and the province of Asia, stood up and argued with Stephen.

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

Then he went out from the country of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After his father died, God made him move to this country where you now live.

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.

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.

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

But God turned away from them and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: 'It was not to me that you offered slain animals and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, was it, house of Israel?

All the people, from the least to the greatest, paid close attention to him, saying, "This man is the power of God that is called 'Great.'"

Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Get up and go south on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." (This is a desert road.)

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

Now as they were going along the road, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "Look, there is water! What is to stop me from being baptized?"

and requested letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, either men or women, he could bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

As he was going along, approaching 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. Leading him by the hand, his companions brought him into Damascus.

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,

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 imprison all who call on your name!"

Immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized,

Now as Peter was traveling around from place to place, he also came down to the saints who lived in Lydda.

When the angel who had spoken to him departed, Cornelius called two of his personal servants and a devout soldier from among those who served him,

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

So Peter invited them in and entertained them as guests. On the next day he got up and set out with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him.

you know what happened throughout Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John announced:

with respect to Jesus from Nazareth, that God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with him.

not by all the people, but by us, the witnesses God had already chosen, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

"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.

But the voice replied a second time from heaven, 'What God has made clean, you must not consider ritually unclean!'

At that very moment, three men sent to me from Caesarea approached the house where we were staying.

But there were some men from Cyprus and Cyrene among them who came to Antioch and began to speak to the Greeks too, proclaiming the good news of the Lord Jesus.

At that time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.

About that time King Herod laid hands on some from the church to harm them.

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 there were these prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen (a close friend of Herod the tetrarch from childhood) and Saul.

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

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

Then Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia, but John left them and returned to Jerusalem.

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

After the reading from the law and the prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent them a message, saying, "Brothers, if you have any message of exhortation for the people, speak it."

Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man from the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years.

From the descendants of this man God brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, just as he promised.

When they had accomplished everything that was written about him, they took him down from the cross and placed him in a tomb.

But God raised him from the dead,

and for many days he appeared to those who had accompanied him from Galilee to Jerusalem. These are now his witnesses to the people.

But regarding the fact that he has raised Jesus from the dead, never again to be in a state of decay, God has spoken in this way: 'I will give you the holy and trustworthy promises made to David.'

and by this one everyone who believes is justified from everything from which the law of Moses could not justify you.

In Lystra sat a man who could not use his feet, lame from birth, who had never walked.

"Men, why are you doing these things? We too are men, with human natures just like you! We are proclaiming the good news to you, so that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them.

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

But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and after winning the crowds over, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, presuming him to be dead.

From there they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had now completed.

Now some men came down from Judea and began to teach the brothers, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved."

When Paul and Barnabas had a major argument and debate with them, the church appointed Paul and Barnabas and some others from among them to go up to meet with the apostles and elders in Jerusalem about this point of disagreement.

But some from the religious party of the Pharisees who had believed stood up and said, "It is necessary to circumcise the Gentiles and to order them to observe the law of Moses."

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

known from long ago.

but that we should write them a letter telling them to abstain from things defiled by idols and from sexual immorality and from what has been strangled and from blood.

For Moses has had those who proclaim him in every town from ancient times, because he is read aloud in the synagogues every Sabbath."

Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to send men chosen from among them, Judas called Barsabbas and Silas, leaders among the brothers, to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas.

They sent this letter with them: From the apostles and elders, your brothers, to the Gentile brothers and sisters in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia, greetings!

Since we have heard that some have gone out from among us with no orders from us and have confused you, upsetting your minds by what they said,

that you abstain from meat that has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what has been strangled and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from doing these things, you will do well. Farewell.

They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been prevented by the Holy Spirit from speaking the message in the province of Asia.

We put out to sea from Troas and sailed a straight course to Samothrace, the next day to Neapolis,

and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of that district of Macedonia, a Roman colony. We stayed in this city for some days.

A woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, a God-fearing woman, listened to us. The Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying.

Paul went to the Jews in the synagogue, as he customarily did, and on three Sabbath days he addressed them from the scriptures,