While he was meeting with them, he ordered them, "Don't leave Jerusalem. Instead, wait for what the Father has promised, about which you heard me speak,

He answered them, "It isn't for you to know what times or periods the Father has fixed by his own authority.

but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and all Judea, and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

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

For it has been written in a book of Psalms, 'Let his habitation become desolate, and let no one dwell in it.' And, 'His charge, let another take.'

"So one of the men who has been associated with us all the time that the Lord Jesus moved about among us,

And praying, they said, Do thou, Lord, the searcher of all hearts, show which of these two thou hast chosen

To take the place in this apostolic work, which Judas has abandoned, to go to his proper place."

we all hear these men telling in our own tongue what great things God has done."

but this is that which has been spoken by the prophet Joel;

him has God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, as it was not possible that he should be held by it.

Therefore has my heart rejoiced and my tongue exulted; yea more, my flesh also shall dwell in hope,

Thou hast made me know the ways of life, thou wilt fill me with joy with thy presence.

Brethren, let it be allowed to speak with freedom to you concerning the patriarch David, that he has both died and been buried, and his monument is amongst us unto this day.

he, seeing it before, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that neither has he been left in hades nor his flesh seen corruption.

This Jesus has God raised up, whose witnesses we all are.

He has been exalted to the right hand of God, has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, and has caused you to experience what you are seeing and hearing.

For David has not gone up into heaven, but says, himself, The Lord said to my Lord, Be seated at my right hand,

Let all the house of Israel therefore know certainly, that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ.

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our forefathers, has glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you yourselves betrayed and disowned before Pilate, although he had decided to set Him free.

but killed the Prince of life, whom God has raised from the dead, whose witnesses we are.

It is His name, that is, on condition of faith in His name, that has made strong again this man whom you see and recognize -- yes, faith inspired by Him has given this man the perfect health you all see.

but what God had before declared by the mouth of all the prophets that his Anointed should suffer, he has so accomplished.

who has been beforehand prepar'd thereto,

whom heaven must receive till the times of the restoration of all things of which God has spoken by the mouth of his holy prophets since the world began.

Moses declared, "'The Lord your God will raise up a Prophet for you from among your brethren as He has raised me. In all that He says to you, you must listen to Him.

God having raised up his servant has sent him to you first, to bless you by turning each [one of you] from your evil ways.

if we are to-day examined concerning the good work done to the sick man, by what means he has been cured,

be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazoraean, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him has this man stood before you sound.

He is the stone that was thrown away by you builders, which has become the cornerstone.

There is no salvation by anyone else, for no one else in all the wide world has been appointed among men as our only medium by which to be saved."

and repeated, "What shall we do with these men? For it is evident to everybody living in Jerusalem that an unmistakable wonder-work has been done by them; and we cannot deny it.

And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is:

Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?

For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,

(whom Thou hast anointed,) to do whatever thy hand and thy counsel had before determined to be done.

And Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan so completely possessed your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and kept back for yourselves a part of the money received for the land?

Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.

And Peter said to her; Why has it been agreed with you to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of those having buried thy husband are at the door, and they will carry thee out.

The God of our fathers has raised up Jesus, whom ye have slain, having hanged on a cross.

God has exalted to His right hand this very One as our Leader and Saviour, in order to give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.

We and the Holy Spirit that God has given to those who practice obedience to Him are witnesses to these things."

So in the present case, I warn you, stay away from these men, let them alone. For, if this program or movement has its origin in men, it will go to pieces,

but if it has its origin in God, you can never stop it. It is to be feared that you may find yourselves fighting God."

Then they got men to say, He has said evil against Moses and against God, in our hearing.

For he has said in our hearing that this Jesus of Nazareth will put this place to destruction and make changes in the rules which were handed down to us by Moses.

But,' said God, 'I will pass sentence on the nation that has made them slaves, and then they will get away to worship me in this Place.'

and the Lord said to him, Loose the sandal of thy feet, for the place in which thou hast stood is holy ground;

This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made you a ruler and a judge? God has sent this one to be a ruler and a redeemer by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the Bush.

and they said to Aaron, 'Make us gods to march in front of us, for as for this Moses, who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him!'

But God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it has been written in a book of the prophets, 'Did ye offer to Me slain beasts and sacrifices, forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

But still, the Most High has not his resting-place in houses made with hands, as the prophet says,

has not my hand made all these things?

Everyone, from the least to the greatest [in importance], was being impressed by him. They were saying, "This man is being called Great [and has] power from God."

Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria has received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them,

But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.

Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.

Being of low degree, his cause was not given a hearing: who has knowledge of his family? for his life is cut off from the earth.

He has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, to restore his sight."

But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard many people tell of this man, especially the great sufferings he has brought on your people in Jerusalem.

Now he is here and has authority from the high priests to put in chains all who call upon your name."

"for I am going to show him all he has to suffer for the sake of my name."

So Ananias left and went to that house, and there he laid his hands upon Saul, and said, "Saul, my. brother, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road on which you were coming here, has sent me that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."

And all who heard him were astounded and said, "Is not this the man who harassed those who called upon this name in Jerusalem, and has come here expressly for the purpose of putting them in chains and taking them back to the high priests?"

And he, looking on him in fear, said, What is it, Lord? And he said to him, Your prayers and your offerings have come up to God, and he has kept them in mind.

He is staying as a guest with Simon, a tanner, who has a house close to the sea."

A second time the voice came to him, "The things that God has cleansed you must not call unclean."

Then they said, Cornelius a centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of good report with all the nation of the Jews, has been divinely admonished by a holy angel to send for thee to his house, to hear words from thee.

and he said to him, "You know that it is against the law for a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit one, but God has taught me not to call any man vulgar or ceremonially unclean;

and said, 'Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your deeds of charity have been remembered by God.

Send therefore to Joppa and call Simon who is called Peter; he lodges at the house of Simon a tanner, by the sea, who when he has come will speak to you.

Immediately therefore I sent to thee; and thou hast well done that thou art come. Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God.

Then Peter opened his lips and said, "I see quite plainly that God has no favourites,

But in every nation, the man who has fear of him and does righteousness is pleasing to him.

He has sent His message to the descendants of Israel, by telling them the good news of peace through Jesus Christ. He is Lord of all.

ye know; the testimony which has spread through the whole of Judaea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism which John preached --

He also ordered us to proclaim to the people and solemnly to testify that this is the One whom God has appointed to be the Judge of the living and the dead.

To him all the prophets bear witness, that every one who believes in him has forgiveness of sins through his name.

saying, Thou hast gone in to men holding uncircumcision, and hast eaten with them.

But I answered, 'Never by any means, sir, for nothing common or not ceremonially cleansed has ever passed my lips.'

Then the voice from heaven answered again, 'The things that God has cleansed you must not call unclean.'

If then God has given them the same gift as also to us when we had believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who indeed was I to be able to forbid God?

When they heard this, they had no answer to make, but gave God the glory, saying, "So God has given even the heathen the repentance that leads to life."

Then Peter came to himself and said, "Now I really know that the Lord has sent His angel and rescued me from the power of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting to do to me."

It is from this man's descendants that God, as He promised, has brought to Israel a Saviour in the person of Jesus,

Brothers, descendants of the race of Abraham, and all among you who reverence God, it is to us that the message of this salvation has been sent.

to you therefore we declare, that the promise which God had made to the fathers, he has now perform'd to us, who are their children, by his having raised up Jesus again.

that God has fulfilled it to us their children, by raising Jesus to life, just as the Scripture says in the Second Psalm, 'You are my Son, today I have become your Father.'

Now as a proof that He has raised Him from the dead, no more to return to decay, He has spoken this, 'I will fulfill to you the holy promises made to David.'

And through him everyone who has faith is made free from all those things, from which the law of Moses was not able to make you free.

Then beware, lest the word which has been spoken by the prophets may come upon you;

For here are the orders that the Lord has given us: 'I have made you a light to the heathen, To be the means of salvation to the very ends of the earth.'"

This man was listening to Paul speaking, who, having gazed at him, and having seen that he has faith to be healed,

who in past ages has let all Nations proceed in their own ways.

yet he has not abandoned his witness: he continues to do good, to give you rain from heaven, to give you fruitful seasons, and to fill you with food and your hearts with joy."

God who knows their hearts has granted them a testimonial, by giving them the holy spirit, even as he did to us:

Symeon has told how God at first graciously visited the heathen to take from among them a people to bear His name.

And to this corresponds the words of the prophet; as has been written,

After these things I will come back, and will put up the tent of David which has been broken down, building up again its broken parts and making it complete:

so that the rest of the people may search for the Lord, including all the gentiles who are called by my name,' declares the Lord. "He is the one who has been doing these things