No sooner had Jesus said this than he was caught up before their eyes, and a cloud received him from their sight.

And said: "Men of Galilee, why are you standing here looking up into the heavens? This very Jesus, who has been taken from you into the heavens, will come in the very way in which you have seen him go into the heavens."

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

Men of Israel, listen to what I am saying. Jesus of Nazareth, a man whose mission from God to you was proved by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God showed among you through him, as you know full well--

He, I say, in accordance with God's definite plan and with his previous knowledge, was betrayed, and you, by the hands of lawless men, nailed him to a cross and put him to death.

But God released him from the pangs of death and raised him to life, it being impossible for death to retain its hold upon him.

Indeed it was to him that David was referring when he said-- 'I have had the Lord ever before my eyes, For he stands at my right hand, that I should not be disquieted.

David, then, Prophet as he was, knowing that God 'had solemnly sworn to him to set one of his descendants upon his throne,' looked into the future,

So let the whole nation of Israel know beyond all doubt, that God has made him both Lord and Christ--this very Jesus whom you crucified."

Seeing Peter and John on the point of entering, he asked them to give him something.

Peter fixed his eyes on him, and so did John, and then Peter said: "Look at us."

Grasping the lame man by the right hand, Peter lifted him up. Instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong,

All the people saw him walking about and praising God;

And, when they recognized him as the man who used to sit begging at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, they were utterly astonished and amazed at what had happened to him.

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has done honor to his Servant Jesus--him whom you gave up and disowned before Pilate, when he had decided to set him free.

The very Guide to Life you put to death! But God raised him from the dead--and of that we are ourselves witnesses.

Moses himself said--'The Lord your God will raise up from among your brothers a Prophet, as he raised me. To him you will listen whenever he speaks to you.

For you, first, God raised up his Servant, and sent him to bless you, by turning each one of you from his wicked ways."

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 replied: "Whether it is right, in the sight of God, to listen to you rather than to him--

Sold a farm that belonged to him, and brought the money and laid it at the Apostles' feet.

The God of our ancestors raised Jesus, whom you put to death by hanging him on a cross.

And we are witness to the truth of this, and so is the Holy Spirit--the gift of God to those who obey him."

After him, Judas the Galilean appeared at the time of the census, and induced people to follow him; Yet he, too, perished and all his followers were dispersed.

And they stirred up the people, as well as the Councillors and the Teachers of the Law, and set upon Stephen, and arrested him, and brought him before the High Council.

Indeed, we have heard him declare that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this Place, and change the customs handed down to us by Moses."

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--

On this, Abraham left the country of the Chaldaeans and settled in Haran; and from there, after his father's death, God caused him to migrate into this very country, in which you are now living.

God did not at that time give him any part of it, not even a foot of ground. But he promised to 'give him possession of it and his descendants after him, though at that time he had no child.

Then God made with Abraham the Covenant of Circumcision; and under it Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him when he was eight days old; and Isaac became the father of Jacob; and Jacob of the Twelve Patriarchs.

The Patriarchs, out of jealousy, sold Joseph into slavery in Egypt; but God was with him,

And delivered him out of all his troubles, and enabled him to win favor and show wisdom before Pharaoh, King of Egypt, who appointed him Governor of Egypt and of his whole household.

And, when he was abandoned, the daughter of Pharaoh found him and brought him up as her own son.

And, seeing an Israelite ill-treated, he defended him, and avenged the man, who was being wronged, by striking down the Egyptian.

He thought his brothers would understand that God was using him to save them; but they failed to do so.

At these words Moses took to flight, and became an exile in Midian; and there he had two sons born to him.

Forty years had passed when there appeared to him, in the Desert of Mount Sinai, an angel in a flame of fire in a bush.

Then the Lord said to him--'Take your sandals off your feet, for the spot where you are standing is holy ground.

This same Moses, whom they had disowned with the words--'Who made you a ruler and a judge?' was the very man whom God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer, under the guidance of the angel that had appeared to him in the bush.

He, too, it was who was present at the assembly in the Desert, with the angel who talked to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors, and who received living truths to impart to you.

Yet our ancestors refused him obedience; more than that, they rejected him, and in their hearts turned back to Egypt,

While they said to Aaron--'Make us Gods who will lead the way for us, since, as for this Moses who has brought us out of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.'

Our ancestors had the Tabernacle of Revelation in the Desert, constructed, just as he who spoke to Moses had directed him to make it, after the model which he had seen.

At this, with a loud shout, they stopped their ears and all rushed upon him, forced him outside the city,

And began to stone him, the witnesses laying their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.

Some religious men buried Stephen, with loud lamentations for him.

Every one, high and low, paid attention to him. 'This man,' they used to say, 'must be that Power of God which men call "The Great Power."'

And they paid attention to him because they had for a long time been mystified by his magic arts.

In his lowly condition justice was denied him. Who will tell the story of his generation? For his life is cut off from earth.'

Then Philip began, and, taking this passage as his text, told him the Good News about Jesus.

So he ordered the carriage to stop, and they went down into the water--both Philip and the Treasurer--and Philip baptized him.

But, when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, and the Treasurer saw no more of him; for he continued his journey with a joyful heart.

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.

While on his journey, as he was nearing Damascus, suddenly a light from the heavens flashed around him.

He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him-- "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?"

When Saul got up from the ground, though his eyes were open, he could see nothing. So his men led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus;

And he has seen, in a vision, a man named Ananias coming in and placing his hands on him, so that he may recover his sight."

But the Lord said to him: "Go, for this man is my chosen instrument to uphold my Name before the Gentiles and their kings, and the people of Israel.

I will myself show him all that he has to suffer for my Name."

All who heard him were amazed. "Is not this," they asked, "the man who worked havoc in Jerusalem among those that invoke this Name, and who had also come here for the express purpose of having such persons put in chains and taken before the Chief Priests?"

But it became known to him. They even watched the gates day and night, to kill him;

But his disciples let him down by night through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.

On his arrival in Jerusalem, Saul attempted to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, as they did not believe that he was really a disciple.

Barnabas, however, taking him by the hand, brought him to the Apostles, and told them the whole story of how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord, and how the Lord had talked to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken out fearlessly in the Name of Jesus.

Talking and arguing with the Jews of foreign birth, who, however, made attempts to kill him.

But, when the Brethren found this out, they took him down to Caesarea, and sent him on his way to Tarsus.

"Aeneas," Peter said to him, "Jesus Christ cures you. Get up, and make your bed." Aeneas got up at once;

And all the inhabitants of Lydda and of the Plain of Sharon saw him, and came over to the Lord's side.

Peter returned with them at once. On his arrival, he was taken upstairs, and all the widows came round him in tears, showing the coats and other clothing which Dorcas had made while she was among them.

One afternoon, about three o'clock, he distinctly saw in a vision an angel from God come to him, and call him by name.

Cornelius fixed his eyes on him and, in great alarm, said: "What is it, Lord?" "Your prayers and your charities," the angel answered, "have been an acceptable offering to God.

When the angel, who had spoken to him, had gone, Cornelius called two menservants and a religious soldier, who was one of his constant attendants,

Peter was still pondering over the vision, when the Spirit said to him: "There are two men looking for you at this moment.

So, when Peter entered the city, Cornelius met him, and, throwing himself at Peter's feet, bowed to the ground.

Peter, however, lifted him up, saying as he did so: "Stand up, I am only a man like yourself."

Talking with him as he went, Peter entered the house, where he found a large gathering of people, to whom he said:

But that in every nation he who reverences him and does what is right is acceptable to him.

The story, I mean, of Jesus of Nazareth, and how God consecrated him his Christ by enduing him with the Holy Spirit and with power; and how he went about doing good and curing all who were under the power of the Devil, because God was with him.

We are ourselves, too, witnesses to all that he did in Judea and in Jerusalem; yet they put him to death by hanging him on a cross!

This Jesus God raised on the third day, and enabled him to appear,

Not indeed to every one, but to witnesses chosen beforehand by God--to us, who ate and drank with him after his resurrection from the dead.

To him it is that all the Prophets bear witness, when they say that every one who believes in him receives through his Name forgiveness of sins."

And he directed that they should be baptized in the Faith of Jesus Christ; after which they asked him to stay there a few days longer.

But, when Peter went up to Jerusalem, those who were converts from Judaism began to attack him,

He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, and how the angel had said to him--'Send to Jaffa and fetch the Simon, who is also known as Peter;

And, when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And so it came about that, for a whole year, they attended the meetings of the Church there, and taught a large number of people; and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called 'Christians.'

After seizing Peter, Herod put him in prison, and entrusted him to the keeping of four Guards of four soldiers each, intending, after the Passover, to bring him up before the people.

Just when Herod was intending to bring him before the people, on that very night Peter was asleep between two soldiers, chained to them both, while there were sentries in front of the door, guarding the prison.

Suddenly an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the cell. The angel struck Peter on the side, and roused him with the words: "Get up quickly."

Peter followed him out, not knowing that what was happening under the angel's guidance was real, but thinking that he was seeing a vision.

Passing the first Guard, and then the second, they came to the iron gate leading into the city, which opened to them of itself; and, when they had passed through that, and had walked along one street, all at once the angel left him.

Meanwhile Peter went on knocking, and, when they opened the gate and saw him, they were amazed.

Peter signed to them with his hand to be silent, and then told them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison, adding: "Tell James and the Brethren all this." Then he left the house, and went away to another place.

And, when Herod had made further search for him and failed to find him, he closely questioned the Guard, and ordered them away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to stay at Caesarea.

It happened that Herod was deeply offended with the people of Tyre and Sidon, but they went in a body to him, and, having succeeded in winning over Blastus, the Chamberlain, they begged Herod for a reconciliation, because their country was dependent on the King's for its food-supply.

Instantly an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give God the glory; and he was attacked with worms, and died.

However, Saul (who is the same as Paul), full of the Holy Spirit, fixed his eyes on him and said:

The hand of the Lord is upon you even now, and you will be blind for a time and unable to see the sun." Immediately a mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went feeling about for some one to guide him.

After removing him, he raised David to the throne, and bore this testimony to him--'In David, the son of Jesse, I have found a man after my own heart, who will carry out all my purposes.'

The people of Jerusalem and their leading men, failing to recognize Jesus, and not understanding the utterances of the Prophets that are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him.