In the former treatise, Dear friend Theophilus, I have written of all that Jesus began to do and teach,

and, being assembled with them, commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to await the promise of the Father, which said he ye have heard of me.

For the baptism of John was with water, but you will have baptism with the Holy Spirit, after a little time.

And he said to them, It is not for you to have knowledge of the time and the order of events which the Father has kept in his control.

But you will have power, when the Holy Spirit has come on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judaea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen Him going into heaven.”

and said, men and brethren, the prediction which the holy ghost made, by the mouth of David, concerning Judas, who was guide to those that seiz'd Jesus, must have been accomplished.

“Therefore, from among the men who have accompanied us during the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us—

Starting from the baptism of John till he went up from us, one will have to be a witness with us of his coming back from death.

Then they prayed, “You, Lord, know the hearts of all; show which of these two You have chosen

and how do we hear them each in our own dialect in which we have been born,

In Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt and the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and those who have come from Rome, Jews by birth and others who have become Jews,

Jews and converts, Greeks and Arabians: We have heard them speak with our own tongues the great works of God."

But others said derisively, "They have had too much new wine!"

Then Peter, with the Eleven, stood up and addresses them in a loud voice. "Men of Judea and dwellers in Jerusalem, have no doubt about this matter, but listen to what I say.

And it will come about, in the last days, says God, that I will send out my Spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters will be prophets, and your young men will see visions, and your old men will have dreams:

And whoever makes his prayer to the Lord will have salvation.

'Men, Israelites! hear these words, Jesus the Nazarene, a man approved of God among you by mighty works, and wonders, and signs, that God did through him in the midst of you, according as also ye yourselves have known;

him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by means of the wicked, have crucified and slain: whom God hath raised up,

For David speaketh concerning him, I have seen the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right-hand, that I may not be moved.

You have revealed the paths of life to me;
You will fill me with gladness
in Your presence.

"As to the patriarch David, I need hardly remind you, brethren, that he died and was buried, and that we still have his tomb among us.

And so, being lifted up to the right hand of God, and having the Father's word that the Holy Spirit would come, he has sent this thing, which now you see and have knowledge of.

until I have put thine enemies to be the footstool of thy feet.

therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

And Peter said, Let your hearts be changed, every one of you, and have baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will have the Holy Spirit given to you.

and sold their possessions and substance, and distributed them to all, according as any one might have need.

But Peter said, “I don’t have silver or gold, but what I have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!”

and Peter having seen, answered unto the people, 'Men, Israelites! why wonder ye at this? or on us why look ye so earnestly, as if by our own power or piety we have made him to walk?

The God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, God of our fathers, has honoured his child Jesus; whom ye have delivered up, and denied him before the face of Pilate, he having judged to loose.

But you denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you.

and on the faith of his name, this one whom ye see and have known, his name made strong, even the faith that is through him did give to him this perfect soundness before you all.

And now, brethren, I have known that through ignorance ye did it, as also your rulers;

But the things which God had made clear before, by the mouth of all the prophets, that the Christ would have to undergo, he has put into effect in this way.

Repent ye, therefore, and turn: that your sins may be done away when the time of refreshing cometh, which we shall have of the presence of the Lord,

whom the heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, whereof God spake by the mouth of His holy prophets that have been from of old.

“In addition, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those after him, have also announced these days.

After they had Peter and John stand before them, they asked the question: “By what power or in what name have you done this?”

be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazaraean, whom ye have crucified, whom God has raised from among the dead, by him this man stands here before you sound in body.

This is the Stone which you builders have counted worthless, and He has become the Head of the Corner.

And in no other is there salvation: for there is no other name under heaven, given among men, through which we may have salvation.

for we are unable to stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

who hast said by the mouth of thy servant David, Why have the nations raged haughtily and the peoples meditated vain things?

For in truth against thy holy servant Jesus, whom thou hadst anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the nations, and peoples of Israel, have been gathered together in this city

and laid it at the feet of the apostles; and distribution was made to each according as any one might have need.

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?

Wasn’t it yours while you possessed it? And after it was sold, wasn’t it at your disposal? Why is it that you planned this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God!”

when Peter addressing himself to her, tell me, said he, have you sold the land for such a price? yes, said she, for so much.

Then Peter said to her, “Why did you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out!”

so that people would carry their sick out into the streets, and lay them down on beds and mats, to have at least Peter's shadow fall on some of them as he went by.

"Go, stand in the Temple, and keep on telling the people the whole message about this life they can have."

In obedience to this, they entered the temple complex at daybreak and began to teach.

When the high priest and those who were with him arrived, they convened the Sanhedrin—the full Senate of the sons of Israel—and sent orders to the jail to have them brought.

and sent to the prison, to have them brought, But when the officers came, they found them not in the prison; and returning they said,

When the commander of the Temple guards and the high priests heard these words, they were utterly at a loss as to what could have happened to them.

Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned.

“Didn’t we strictly order you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to bring this man’s blood on us!”

But Peter and the Apostles, answering, said, We have to do the orders of God, not of man.

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

And now I say to you, Withdraw from these men and let them alone, for if this counsel or this work have its origin from men, it will be destroyed;

They left the Council, rejoicing to have been considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the Name.

So the Twelve called the disciples together and said, “It is not appropriate for us to neglect [teaching] the word of God in order to serve tables and manage the distribution of food.

wherefore, brethren, chuse out of your number seven persons of good reputation, full of the holy spirit and wisdom, who may have the management of this affair:

Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.

For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us.

And, upon that, Stephen spoke as follows: "Brothers and Fathers, hear what I have to say. God, who manifests himself in the Glory, appeared to our ancestor Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, and before he settled in Haran, and said to him--

And he did not give him an inheritance in it--not even a footstep--and he promised to give [it] to him for his possession, and to his descendants after him, {although he did not have} a child.

"Now a great famine occurred all over Egypt and Canaan, causing extreme hardships, and our forefathers did not have enough to live on.

For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not.

And the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another?

And Moses, seeing it, was full of wonder, and when he came up to have a nearer view of it, the voice of the Lord came to him, saying,

And the Lord said to him, 'Loose the sandals from your feet; for the place on which you have been standing is holy ground.

I have observed the oppression of My people in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to rescue them. And now, come, I will send you to Egypt.

This Moses, whom they would not have, saying, Who made you a ruler and a judge? him God sent to be a ruler and a saviour, by the hand of the angel whom he saw in the thorn-tree.

saying to Aaron, Make to us gods who shall go on before us, for this Moses, who brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, we have not known what hath happened to him.

Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness?

Yet have ye taken up the tabernacle of Moloc, and the star of your god Remphan, those figures which ye made to pay adoration to them: and I will transport you beyond Babylon.

and desired to have a settled tabernacle for the God of Jacob.

"'The sky is My throne, and earth is the footstool for My feet. What kind of house will you build for Me, says the Lord, or what resting place shall I have?

"Ye stiffnecked and of uncircumcised hearts and ears: ye have always resisted the holy ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.

Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They even killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become.

You received the law under the direction of angels and yet have not kept it.”

for unclean spirits came forth from many who were possessed, crying with a loud voice, and many who have been paralytic and lame were healed,

for as yet he was fallen upon none of them, and only they have been baptized -- to the name of the Lord Jesus;

But Peter said to him, May your silver perish with you, because you have thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.

You have no part or share in this matter, because your heart is not right before God.

repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray to God, to forgive, if it be possible, this suggestion you have entertain'd.

For I see that you have fallen into the 'bitterness of envy' and the 'fetters of sin.'"

“Please pray to the Lord for me,” Simon replied, “so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”

And he said, How is that possible when I have no guide? And he made Philip get up by his side.

And while they were going on their way, they came to some water, and the Ethiopian said, See, here is water; why may I not have baptism?

[Philip said to him, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he replied, “I do believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”]

And asked him to give him letters to the Jewish congregations at Damascus, authorizing him, if he found there any supporters of the Cause, whether men or women, to have them put in chains and brought to Jerusalem.

and he said, who art thou, Lord? and the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: [it is hard for thee to kick against the goad. Then trembling with the fright Saul said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? and the Lord said to him,]

And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem:

go, said the Lord to him: for he is the instrument I have chosen, to bear my name to the Gentiles, to kings, and to the children of Israel.

For I will make clear to him what troubles he will have to undergo for me.

Ananias set out and went to the house, and there he laid his hands upon Saul, and said to him, "Saul, my brother, I have been sent by the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your journey, so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the holy Spirit."

About three o'clock one afternoon [Note: This is based on Jewish time calculations; if Roman time were employed, it would have been

Looking intently at him, he became afraid and said, “What is it, lord?”

The angel told him, “Your prayers and your acts of charity have come up as a memorial offering before God.