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."

It was at that time that Peter got up among the brothers??here were about a hundred and twenty persons present??nd said,

both Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt, and the parts of Libya which adjoin Cyrene, and the Romans sojourning here, both Jews and proselytes,

"Fellow Israelites, listen to what I say. Jesus of Nazareth, as you yourselves well know, a man accredited to you by God through mighty deeds and wonders and wonder-works which God performed through Him right here among you,

men and brethren, let me with assurance tell you of the patriarch David, who died and was buried here, his sepulchre being with us to this day:

Jesus is [now] exalted at the right side of God, and having received the promised Holy Spirit from His Father, He has poured out what you have seen and heard [here this day].

Now Peter and John were going to the Temple at three o'clock one afternoon [Note: Jewish time calculations are employed here], during the regular [Jewish] prayer hour.

if we are being put on trial today [to interrogate us] for a good deed done to [benefit] a disabled man, as to how this man has been restored to health,

you and all the people of Israel must know that it is by the authority of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead -- yes, I repeat it, it is by His authority that this man stands here before you well.

For they have assembled here in this city against your holy servant Jesus, whom you had consecrated??erod and Pontius Pilate, with the heathen and the peoples of Israel,

And, with her connivance, kept back some of the proceeds. He brought only a part and laid it at the Apostles' feet.

About three hours later Sapphira came in, not knowing what had happened [to her husband].

Peter said to her, "Tell me, did you sell the land for such and such a sum?" She answered, "Yes, that is it."

Peter said to her, "How could both of you agree in such a way to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door; they will carry you out, too."

She instantly fell dead at his feet. When the young men came in, they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

But somebody came by and reported to them, "The men that you put in jail are standing right here in the temple square, teaching the people."

"We strictly forbade you, did we not, to teach about this Name, and here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us."

Here they brought forward false witnesses who declared, "This fellow is incessantly speaking against the Holy Place and the Law.

God gave him no property here, not even a foot of land, yet he promised to give it to him and to his descendants after him as a permanent possession, even though he had no child.

When he was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. Thus

Our ancestors brought it here with Joshua when they replaced the nations that God drove out in front of our ancestors, and it was here until the time of David.

Which of the prophets did your fathers fail to persecute? They killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Just One. And here you have betrayed him, murdered him! ??53 you who got the Law that angels transmitted, and have not obeyed it!"

So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian official, a member of the court of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, her chief treasurer, who had come to Jerusalem to worship,

As they continued down the road, they came to some water, and the official said, "Look! here is some water! What is there to keep me from being baptized?"

Now there was in Damascus a disciple named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias!" And he answered, "Yes, Lord, I am here."

And he said, Behold I am here, Lord. And the Lord said to him, Arise, go into the street called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas, for one named Saul of Tarsus; for behold, he is praying.

then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard from many that this man has done a world of mischief to thy saints at Jerusalem: he is now here,

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

He lost no time in preaching throughout the synagogues that Jesus was the Son of God ??21 to the amazement of all his hearers, who said, "Is this not the man who in Jerusalem harried those who invoke this Name, the man who came here for the express purpose of carrying them all in chains to the high priests?"

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?"

Now, as Peter was going here and there among them all, he finally went down to God's people who lived at Lydda.

Here he found a man named Aeneas, bedridden for eight years, a paralytic.

At Joppa there was a woman, a disciple, whose name was Tabitha, which in Greek means Dorcas, that is, Gazelle. She had filled her life with good deeds and works of charity, which she was always doing.

And it came to pass in those days, that she was sick, and died: whom when they had washed, they laid her in an upper chamber.

Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples heard that Peter was there and sent two men to him and begged him, "Come here quickly!"

So, Peter got up and went with them. When he arrived they took him to the upstairs room [where Dorcas' body lay]. All the widows [i.e., her friends] stood near Peter, crying and showing [him] the coats and [other] clothing which Dorcas had made when she was alive.

Then Peter put them all out of the room, knelt down and prayed, and, turning to the body, said, "Tabitha, get up!" Then she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up.

He gave her his hand and lifted her to her feet, and calling in the Lord's people and the widows, he gave her back to them alive.

As he stared at [the angel] in fright, he asked, "What is it, Lord?" [Note: The word "Lord" here could also be translated "Sir," and its correct rendering depends on whether or not Cornelius understood the angel to be from God]. And the angel replied, "Your [continual] prayers and [generous] gifts to poor people have not gone unnoticed before God.

Now send men to Joppa and have them call for a man named Simon, who is also called Peter [and invite him here];

and having called, they were asking if Simon, who is surnamed Peter, doth lodge here?

While Peter was thinking about the vision, the Spirit told him, “Three men are here looking for you.

So Peter went to the men and said, "I'm the man you're looking for. Why are you here?"

So, I came [here] when I was sent for, without objecting. [Now,] why have you sent for me?"

Therefore send to Joppa and call here Simon whose last name is Peter, he is staying in the house of Simon, a tanner by the seaside; who, when he comes, shall speak to you.

So at once I sent for you, and you have been kind enough to come. So now we are all here in God's presence to listen to anything that the Lord has commanded you to say."

and the Spirit told me not to hesitate to go with them. These six brothers here also went with me, and we went to the man's house.

And he reported to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and have Simon, who is also called Peter, brought here;

and when he found him, he brought him [back] to Antioch. So, for an entire year Saul and Barnabas gathered the church together and taught many people. [It was] here in Antioch that the disciples were first [divinely] called Christians.

and on recognizing Peter's voice, in her joy she failed to open the door but ran and told them that Peter was standing at the door.

They said to her, "You are crazy!" But she persistently insisted that it was so. Then they said, "It is his guardian angel!"

See here, the Lord's hand will fall on you, and you will be blind, unable for a time to see the sun." In a moment a dark mist fell upon him, and he groped about for someone to take him by the hand.

Then Paul and his party set sail from Paphos and crossed over to Perga in Pamphylia. Here John quit them and returned to Jerusalem,

Then they themselves, passing through from Perga, came to Antioch in Pisidia. Here they went into the synagogue on the Sabbath Day and sat down.

So Paul rose and, motioning with his hand, spoke as follows: "Men of Israel and all here who reverence God, hear what I have to say.

Then Paul and Barnabas courageously spoke out, "God's message had to be spoken to you Jews first, but since you continue to thrust it from you and since you show yourselves unworthy to receive eternal life, now and here we turn to the heathen.

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.'"

Here they spent a considerable time, speaking fearlessly about the Lord, who attested the word of his grace by allowing signs and wonders to be performed by them.

So the church saw them off on their journey, and they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria. Here they set forth the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers.

and they wrote by their hand, as follows, The apostles and elders and brethren here to the Gentile brethren which are in Antioch, and Syria, and Cilicia, send greeting.

We have heard that certain [men] who left here have been upsetting you people and [even] undermining [some people's] spiritual lives by what they have been teaching. This was done without our authorization [or approval].

Here a vision appeared to Paul in the night. There stood a man of Macedonia, entreating him and saying, "Come over into Macedonia and help us!"

Among them was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple goods from the town of Thyatira, and she stayed to listen to us. She was already a worshiper of God, and the Lord so moved upon her heart that she accepted the message spoken by Paul.

When she and her household were baptized, she begged us by continuing to say, "If you have made up your mind that I am a real believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house." And she continued to insist that we do so.

Once as we were on our way to the place of prayer, a slave girl met us who had the gift of magical fortune-telling, and continued to make great profits for her owners by fortune-telling.

She kept this up for a number of days. Because Paul was so much annoyed by her, he turned and said to the spirit in her, "In the name of Jesus Christ I order you to come out of her." And that very moment it came out.

And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers,

But Paul at once shouted out to him, "Do yourself no harm, for we are all here!"

But Paul said to them, "They beat us in public and that without a trial, and put us in jail although we are Roman citizens! Let them come here themselves and take us out!"

Now they traveled on through Amphipolis and Apollonia until they reached Thessalonica. Here there was a Jewish synagogue.

They stopped at Jason's house and tried to bring them out to the people. So, as they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the town magistrates, shouting, "These fellows, who have turned the world topsy-turvy, have come here too,

The people here were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, since they welcomed the message with eagerness and examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

For as I was going here and there and looking at the things you worship, I even found an altar with this inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.' So it is about the Being whom you are in ignorance already worshiping that I am telling you.

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.

[Here is what happened]: A certain manufacturer of silver objects named Demetrius, who made silver replicas of the temple of Artemis [i.e., a Greek goddess], brought much business to his workmen.

And now you have seen and heard, not only here in Ephesus, but throughout almost all of [the province of] Asia, that this Paul has been convincing people, [even] to the point of turning many away [from idol worship]. [He is] saying that hand-made gods [like we make] are not real [gods at all].

So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.

And [when] the city secretary had quieted the crowd, he said, "Ephesian men, for who is there among men who does not know the Ephesian city is honorary temple keeper of the great Artemis and of [her] image fallen from heaven?

Seeing then that no man saith here against, ye ought to be content, and to do nothing rashly;

For you have brought these men here, although they are not guilty of sacrilege or of abusive speech against our goddess.

For we are truly in danger of being accused of inciting a riot here today when there is [really] no reason for it to happen. Then concerning this problem, we will not be able to explain how it all came about."

These [men] had gone ahead and were waiting for us [when we arrived] in Troas [i.e., a seaport town across the Aegean Sea from Philippi]. [Note: The use of "us" begins here again, suggesting that the writer Luke rejoins the party at Philippi. See next verse].

And I am here now on my way to Jerusalem, because I am impelled by the Spirit to do so, though I am not aware what will befall me there,

[Because] I know that after I am gone [from here] there will be vicious wolves [i.e., ravaging false teachers] who will come in among you, and they will not spare the flock [i.e., the congregation].

Here we found a ship heading across [the open sea] for Phoenicia, boarded it and sailed away.

After sighting Cyprus and leaving it on our left, we sailed on for Syria, and put in at Tyre, for the ship was to unload her cargo there.

On finishing the sail from Tyre we landed at Ptolemais. Here we greeted the brothers and spent a day with them.

While we were spending some days here, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.

He came to us, took Paul's girdle and bound his own feet and hands, saying, "Here is the word of the holy Spirit: 'So shall the Jews bind the owner of this girdle at Jerusalem and hand him over to the Gentiles'."

What do you think will happen when they hear that you have come [here to Jerusalem]?

Now you must do just what we tell you. We have here four men who are under a vow.

"We have four men here under a vow; associate yourself with them, purify yourself with them, and pay their expenses so that they may have their heads shaved; then every one will know that there is no truth in the rumors that they have heard about you; but that you yourself walk orderly obeying the law.

shouting, "To the rescue, men of Israel! Here is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against the People and the Law and this Place! And he has actually brought Greeks inside the temple and defiled this holy Place!"

"I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up here in this city, and carefully educated under the teaching of Gamaliel in the law of our forefathers. I was zealous for God, as all of you are today.

The head priest can also verify all this, and so can the body of [Jewish] elders. They furnished me with letters to our fellow-Jews in Damascus, to which I also traveled to bring people back here to Jerusalem, bound in chains to be punished.

And I saw [and heard] the Lord saying to me, 'Hurry up, get out of Jerusalem quickly, because the people [here] will reject your testimony about me.'

And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send you far from here unto the Gentiles.

Then Paul said to him, God will give blows to you, you whitewashed wall: are you here to be my judge by law, and by your orders am I given blows against the law?

But when Paul saw that half of them were Sadducees and the rest Pharisees, he said in the Sanhedrin, Brothers, I am a Pharisee, and the son of Pharisees: I am here to be judged on the question of the hope of the coming back from the dead.