after giving instructions through the Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen, he was taken up to heaven.

After his sufferings he had also shown himself alive to them in many convincing manifestations, revealing himself to them during forty days, and speaking of the kingdom of God.

When he had said this, and while they were looking at him, he was lifted up, and a cloud received him up out of their sight.

"Because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath that of the fruit of his loins he would set one on his throne,

And all the believers were together, and had all things in common.

They would sell their lands and other property, and distribute the proceeds among all, just as any one from time had need.

and recognized that this was the man who used to sit and beg at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, they were filled with awe and amazement at what had happened to him.

When he saw this, Peter said to the people. "Men of Israel, why are you wondering at this? Why do you stare at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made this man to walk?

"The God of Abram, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his Servant Jesus, whom you betrayed and disowned before Pilate, when he had decided to let him go;

But many of those who had heard the message believed, and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.

Now when they beheld the glad fearlessness of Peter and John and had perceived that they were amazed; and they began to recognize them, that they were companions of Jesus.

But since they saw the man standing with them who had been healed, they had nothing to answer.

So when they had further threatened them they let the apostles go, being quite unable to find any way of punishing them because of the people, for everybody was glorifying God over what had happened.

For the man on whom this miracle of healing had been wrought was over forty years old.

As soon as the apostles were released, they went to their friends, and told what the high priests and elders had said.

"In this very city they did gather together against thy holy Servant, Jesus whom thou hast anointed??erod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and also the tribes of Israel??28 "to do all that thy power and thy will had predetermined should be done.

When they had prayed, the place where they were gathered was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak the message of the Lord with boldness.

Now the multitude of the believers was of one heart and one soul, nor did any one of them say that any of his possessions was his own; but they had all things common.

sold a farm which he had, and brought the price, and laid it at the apostles' feet.

About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened;

And great fear fell on all the church and upon all who had heard it.

And some one came and told them that the very men whom they had put in prison were standing in the Temple, and teaching to the people.

So they left Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been deemed worthy to suffer disgrace for the sake of the Name;

These men they presented to the apostles who, when they had prayed, laid their hands upon them.

"There he died, and our ancestors also, and they were carried across to Shechem, and laid in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

"This was he who brought them out, after he had shown signs and wonders in the wilderness, for forty years.

"And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to this idol, and began to rejoice over what they had made with their hands.

"In the wilderness our ancestors had the Tabernacle of Testimony built, as he appointed who told Moses to make it according to the pattern he had seen.

Now for some time a man named Simon had been practicing sorcery in that city, and had amazed the people of Samaria. He gave himself out to be some great person.

They were giving heed to him because, for a long time, he had amazed them with his sorceries.

The apostle at Jerusalem, when they heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, sent to them Peter and John.

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

So he arose and went. And behold an Ethiopian man, a eunuch, who was a high official (a chief treasurer) of Candace, the queen of Ethiopia, who had come to Jerusalem to worship

And when they had come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, but continued on his way rejoicing.

But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles, and told them how Saul had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him; and also how he had preached the Name of the Lord Jesus boldly at Damascus.

About three o'clock one afternoon he had a vision, and distinctly saw an angel of God enter his house and say to him, "Cornelius."

He had become very hungry and longed for food; but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance.

Now while Peter was greatly perplexed to know what the vision which he had been sent by Cornelius, and had made inquiries for the house of Simon, stood at the gate,

and the day after that they reached Caesarea. There Cornelius was waiting for them, and had brought together all his relatives and intimate friends.

and said: "'Cornelius, your prayer is heard, and your alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God.

"not to all the people, but to witnesses??en previously chosen by God??hat is, to us, who ate and drank with him after he had risen from the dead;

And all the Jewish believers who had accompanied Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the Gentiles also.

Now the apostles and the brothers that were in Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God;

"And lo! at that very moment, three men who had been sent for me from Caesarea stood before the house in which I was.

"Then he told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying. "'Send to Joppa and fetch Simon who is also called Peter.

Then those who had been scattered by the trouble that arose over Stephen, traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch; but they preached the word to none except Jews.

and when he had found him he brought him to Antioch, where for a whole year they were guests of the church, and taught many people. And it was in Antioch that the disciples first received the name of "Christians."

He had him arrested and thrown in prison, and put under guard of sixteen soldiers. He intended, after the Passover, to bring him forth to the people.

And when they had passed the first guard and the second, they came to the iron gate that led to the city. This opened to them of its own accord; and they went out passed on through one street; and suddenly the angel left him.

So, after he had thought things over, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, surnamed Mark, where a large number of people were assembled, praying.

He motioned to them to keep quiet, and told them how the Lord had brought him out of prison. "Tell all this to James," he said, "and to the brothers," and away he went to another place.

Then Herod had search made for him, and could not find him. After sharply questioning the guards, he ordered them off to execution. He then went down from Judea to Caesarea, where he stayed for some time.

Instantly an angel of the Lord smote him, because he had not given God the glory, and being eaten up by worms, he died.

They had John Mark as an assistant; and after going through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a certain Jewish sorcerer and false prophet, named Bar-Jesus,

Then the proconsul, seeing what had happened, believed. He was astounded at the teaching of the Lord.

"and when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance for about four hundred and fifty years.

"before whose coming John had already preached a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

"And when they had fulfilled everything which had been written concerning him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb.

"For David, after he had served his own generation according to the will of God, fell on sleep, and was gathered to his forefathers, and did see corruption;

When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord, and all who had been ordained to eternal life, believed.

Now at Lystra there used to sit a certain man, lame in his feet, a cripple from birth, who had never walked.

He was listening while Paul was preaching, and Paul, looking intently at him, and perceiving that he had faith to be made whole,

And he sprang up and began to walk about. Then the crowds, when they saw what Paul had done, shouted in the Lycaonian tongue, saying, "The gods are come down to us in human form."

They chose elders for them in every church, after prayer and fasting, and commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

Thence they sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been commended to the grace of God, for the work which they had now completed.

On their arrival they assembled the church and reported all things that God had done through them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.

Upon their arrival in Jerusalem they were received by the church and the apostles and elders, and they told them all things that God had done with them.

But certain men who had belonged to the sect of the Pharisees, but were now believers, stood up and said, "It is necessary to circumcise Gentile, and to order them to keep the Law of Moses."

and after there had been a long discussion, Peter rose and said: "Brothers, you know how a good while ago God made choice among you, that from my lips the Gentiles were to hear the message of the gospel and believe.

Then the whole assembly remained silent, and listened to Barnabas and Saul as they told the signs and wonders which God had wrought among the Gentiles through them.

When they had finished speaking, James said:

"For Moses from the earliest times has had his preachers in every town where he is read aloud, Sabbath after Sabbath, in the synagogues."

So they, when they had been dispatched, went down to Antioch, and after gathering the whole multitude together, they handed them the letter,

and when they had read it they rejoiced at the comfort it brought.

After spending some time there the brothers let them go with a greeting of peace to those who had sent them.

But Paul thought it unwise to take with them one who had deserted them to the Pamphylia, and had not gone on with them to the work.

And as they went on their way through the cities they handed them the resolutions which the apostles and the elders in Jerusalem had ordained for them to keep.

So when he had seen the vision, we sought at once to go forth into Macedonia, because we concluded that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

On the Sabbath Day we went outside the city gate, to a riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and talked to the women who had gathered there.

Now as we were going to the place of prayer, a certain slave girl met us, who had a spirit of divination, and who brought her masters great gain by fortune-telling.

had many lashes inflicted upon them, and put them in prison, with a charge to the jailer to keep them safe.

The jailer, roused from sleep, and seeing the doors wide open, drew his sword and was about to kill himself, because he thought that the prisoners had escaped.

So Paul and Silas came out of the prison, and went to Lydia's house; and after they had seen the brethren and encouraged them, they left Philippi.

Now when they had gone through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica. Here there was a Jewish synagogue,

explaining and quoting passages to prove that the Messiah had to suffer and to rise again from the dead and that "This Jesus whom I am proclaiming unto you is the Messiah."

And when they had failed to find Paul and Silas, they began to drag Jason and some of the brethren before the politarchs, shouting. "These fellows who have upset the habitable earth are come hither also.

but when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

Here he found a certain Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife, Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome.

Paul was about to open his mouth, when Gallio said to the Jews. "If it had been some misdemeanor or wicked villainy, it would have been within reason for me to listen to you Jews;

And Paul after remaining in Corinth some time longer, took leave of the brothers, and sailed away to Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. As Paul was under a vow, he had his head shaved at Cenchrea.

He had been instructed in the ways of the Lord, and being full of zeal, he used to speak and to teach accurately the facts about Jesus, although he knew only the baptism of John.

When he wished to cross over into Achaia, the brothers encouraged him, and wrote to the disciples in Corinth to receive him. On his arrival he mightily helped those who through grace had believed,

and after Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they began to speak with tongues, and to prophesy.

But there were also some strolling Jewish exorcists, who took it upon them to invoke the name of Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, "I adjure you by that Jesus whom Paul preaches."

And some of them who had practised magic arts, collected their books, and burned them in the presence of all. And they counted the price of them, and found it to be fifty thousand silver coins.

Now some were shouting one thing, some another, for the assembly was in an uproar, and the majority had no idea why they were come together.

And they brought Alexander out of the crowd, whom the Jews had pushed forward. And Alexander, motioning with his hand, would have made a defense to the people,

After the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples and, after embracing them, bade them farewell, and started for Macedonia.

And when he had passed through those districts and encouraged the disciples in many addresses, he came into Greece where he spent three months.

Now these had gone on, and were awaiting us at Troas;