And when they were all together, with him, he gave them orders not to go away from Jerusalem, but to keep there, waiting till the word of the Father was put into effect, of which, he said, I have given you knowledge:

They, therefore, indeed, having come together, were questioning him, saying, 'Lord, dost thou at this time restore the reign to Israel?'

After saying this, Jesus was taken up while those who had gathered together were watching, and a cloud took him out of their sight.

And while they were gazing after Him into heaven, two men dressed in white suddenly stood beside them,

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 he was one of our number and had his part allotted him in this work of ours."

(Now Judas Iscariot acquired a piece of land [indirectly] with the [money paid him as a] reward for his treachery, and falling headlong, his body burst open in the middle and all his intestines poured out.

and they prayed, "O Lord, who readest the hearts of all, do thou single out from these two men him whom thou hast chosen

Then they drew lots between them. The lot fell on Matthias, and a place among the eleven Apostles was voted to him.

Then Peter stood with the Eleven around him, and raising his voice he addressed them, "Men of Judea and all you residents of Jerusalem, let me explain this to you, and give close attention to my words.

"Fellow Israelis, listen to these words: Jesus from Nazareth was a man authenticated to you by God through miracles, wonders, and signs that God performed through him among you, as you yourselves know.

After he was arrested according to the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified this very man and killed him using the hands of lawless men.

But God raised him up and put an end to suffering of death, since it was impossible for him to be held by it,

since David says about him, "I always keep my eyes on the Lord, for he is at my right hand so that I cannot be shaken.

Therefore, since he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him with an oath to put one of his descendants on his throne,

assuredly, therefore, let all the house of Israel know, that both Lord and Christ did God make him -- this Jesus whom ye did crucify.'

For to you is the promise, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call unto him.

Now a man who had been crippled from birth was being carried in. Every day people would lay him at what was called the Beautiful Gate so that he could beg from those who were going into the Temple.

When he saw that Peter and John were about to go into the Temple, he asked them to give him something.

Peter looked him straight in the eye, and so did John, and said, "Look at us."

He looked at them, supposing that they were going to give him something.

Then he took him by the right hand and lifted him, and his feet and ankles instantly grew strong,

When all the people saw him walking about and praising God,

and recognized him as the very man who used to sit at The Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg, they were completely astounded and bewildered at what occurred to him.

When Peter saw this, he told the people: "Fellow Israelis, why are you wondering about this, and why are you staring at us as if by our own power or godliness we made him walk?

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 ye renounced him that was holy and just; you interceeded for the life of a murderer,

and you killed the Prince of life, but God raised Him from the dead, to which fact we are witnesses.

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.

So now repent and turn to Him, to have your sins wiped out, that times of revival may come from the presence of the Lord,

And he may send forth him who had been fore-appointed for you - Christ Jesus:

Yet heaven must retain Him till the time for the universal restoration of which God in the early ages spoke through the lips of His holy prophets.

For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.

"Indeed, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who followed him, also announced these days.

It was to you first that He sent His Servant, after raising Him from the dead, to bless you by causing every one of you to turn from his wicked ways."

Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.

And Salvation is in him alone; for there is no other Name in the whole world, given to men, to which we must look for our Salvation."

But Peter and John answered them, "You must decide whether it is right in the sight of God to obey you instead of Him,

Now the group of those who believed were one heart and soul, and no one said anything of what belonged to him was his own, but all [things] were theirs in common.

sold a field that belonged to him, brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet.

and kept back a part from the price, his wife knowing it along with him; and having brought a certain part, laid it at the feet of the apostles.

And at these words, Ananias went down on the earth, and his life went from him: and great fear came on all who were present.

And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him.

And instantly she fell dead right in front of him, and her spirit left her body. [Just then the] young men came in and found her dead. They carried her out and buried her with her husband.

More and more believers in the Lord, crowds of men and women, were constantly being added to their number,

Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, (which is the sect of the Sadducees,) and were filled with indignation,

And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught. But the high priest came, and they that were with him, and called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.

The God of our forefathers raised Jesus to life after you had hanged Him on a cross and killed Him.

Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.

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

For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to nought.

After him, at the time of the enrollment for the Roman tax, Judas the Galilean appeared and influenced people to desert and follow him, but he too perished and all his followers were scattered.

But if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them, lest you even be found fighting against God." So they were persuaded by him.

They were convinced by him, and after calling the apostles in and having them flogged, they charged them to stop speaking on the authority of Jesus, and then turned them loose.

But they were not able to get the better of him, for his words were full of wisdom and of the Spirit.

So they instigated men to say, "We have heard him speaking abusive words against Moses and God."

By this means they excited the people, the elders, and the scribes, and so they rushed upon him, seized him, and brought him before the council.

for we have heard him say that Jesus of Nazareth will tear this place down, and change the customs which Moses handed down to us."

Then all who were seated in the council fixed their eyes upon him and saw that his face was like that of an angel.

Then the High Priest asked him, "Are these statements true?"

The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham, being in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, And said to him,

and said to him, 'Leave your country and your kinsmen and come to Whatever country I may show you.'

So he left the country of the Chaldeans and for a time made his home in Haran. Then after the death of his father, God had him move to this country in which you now live.

He gave him no property in it, not even a foot of land, and yet He promised to give it to him and his descendants after him, as a permanent possession, although he had no child at that time.

And God spake thus unto him, "that his seed should sojourn in a strange country, and they shall in slave and abuse them four hundred years:"

And with Abraham He made the sacred compact of circumcision, and he became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.

And the patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him

and delivered him from all his troubles, and allowed him to win favor and to show wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and so he appointed Joseph governor of Egypt and of his whole household.

Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls.

and they carried him back to Shechem and buried him in the tomb which Abraham bought for money of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem.

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

As he was rounding out his fortieth year, it occurred to him to visit his brothers, the descendants of Israel.

And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian:

He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was using him to rescue them, but they didn't understand.

But the man who was harming his brother pushed him aside, saying, 'Who made you our ruler and referee?

At that Moses fled; he became a sojourner in the land of Midian, where he had two sons born to him.

When forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the desert of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush.

When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight, and when he went up to look at it, the voice of the Lord said to him,

Then the Lord said to him, 'Take your shoes off your feet, for the place where you are standing is sacred ground.

That very Moses whom they refused, saying, 'Who made you our ruler and referee?' was the man whom God sent to be both their ruler and deliverer, by the help of the angel who had appeared to him in the bush.

This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear.

This is the one who in the congregation in the desert went between the angel, who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and our forefathers, who also received, to be handed down to you, utterances that still live.

But our forefathers would not listen to him, but pushed him aside, and in their hearts they hankered after Egypt;

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!'

"In the desert our forefathers had the tent of the testimony, like the model Moses had seen, as God who spoke to him ordered him to make it.

but it was Solomon who came to build a house for Him.

Which of the prophets did your forefathers fail to persecute? They killed the prophets who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have betrayed and murdered Him,

As they continued to listen to this address, they were becoming infuriated and began to grind their teeth at him.

But he, being full of the Holy Spirit and led by Him, gazed into heaven and saw the glory [the great splendor and majesty] of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God;

But they raised a great shout and held their ears, and all together rushed upon him,

and dragged him out of the city and continued stoning him. The witnesses, in the meantime, laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.

Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death.And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

Some devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation for him.

And the multitudes attended with one accord to the things said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the miracles which he performed.

Everybody, high and low, kept running after him, saying, "He is certainly what is known as the Great Power of God!"

They kept running after him, because for a long time he had thrilled them with his magical performances.

Even Simon believed [Philip’s message of salvation]; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he watched the attesting signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed.

But Peter said to him, "Your money go to perdition with you for even dreaming you could buy the gift of God with money!

So the Spirit said to Philip, "Go up and join him in his chariot."

Then Philip ran up and listened to him reading the prophet Isaiah, and he asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?"