And once while He was eating with them, He charged them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for what the Father had promised. "You have heard me speak of it," He said,

and said to them, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This very Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come back in just the way you have seen Him go up into heaven."

"So one of these men who have been associated with us all the time the Lord Jesus came and went among us,

And they prayed, saying, "Lord, you who know the hearts of all, show us which one of these two men you have chosen

'It will occur in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all mankind. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will have visions. Your old men will have dreams.

You have made known to me the ways of life, and you will fill me with delight in your presence.'

Peter said to them, "You must repent -- and, as an expression of it, let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ -- that you may have your sins forgiven; and then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit,

But Peter said, "No silver or gold have I, but what I do have I will give you. In the name of Jesus of Nazareth start walking."

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,

Yes, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel down, have also foretold these days.

They had the men stand before them and repeatedly inquired of them, "By what sort of power and authority have you done this?"

for we cannot keep from telling what we have seen and heard."

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?

As long as it was unsold, was it not yours, and when it was sold, was not the money at your disposal? How could you have the heart to do such a thing! You did not lie to men but to God!"

So they obeyed, and about the break of day they went into the temple square and began to teach. The high priest and his party arrived and called a meeting of the council and the whole senate of the sons of Israel, and sent to the prison to have the men brought in.

"Did we not positively forbid you to teach anymore on this authority, and yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and now want to bring on us the people's vengeance for this man's death!"

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

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."

Because I have seen the oppression of my people in Egypt and heard their groans, I have come down to deliver them. So come! I will send you back to Egypt as my messenger.'

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,

You have no share or part in this matter, for your heart is not sincere in the sight of God.

So Simon answered, "Both of you beg the Lord for me that none of the things you have said may befall me!"

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.

He stared at him and in terror asked, "What is it, sir?" The angel answered him, "Your prayers and your deeds of charity have gone up and been remembered before God.

But Peter said, "Never by any means, sir, for I have never eaten anything common, or not ceremonially cleansed."

Get up and go down, and without hesitation go on with them, for I have sent them."

so I have come, since I was sent for, without any hesitation."

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

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."

"No one can refuse the use of water, can he, for these to be baptized, since they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did ourselves?"

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul, for the work to which I have called them."

After the reading of the law and the prophets, the leaders of the synagogue worship sent to them and said, "Brothers, if you have any message of encouragement for the people, you may speak."

Then He deposed him and raised up for them David to be king, to whom He bore this testimony, 'I have found in David, the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will do all that my will requires.'

For the people of Jerusalem and their leaders, because they were ignorant of Him, by condemning Him have actually fulfilled the utterances of the prophets which are read every Sabbath,

and although they could not find Him guilty of a capital offense, they begged Pilate to have Him put to death.

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.'

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.'"

So the crowds, because they saw what Paul had done, shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods in human form have come down to us!"

As we have heard that some of our number have disturbed you by their teaching, by continuing to unsettle your minds,

we have passed a unanimous resolution to select and send messengers to you with our beloved brothers Barnabas and Paul,

who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For the Holy Spirit and we have decided not to lay upon you any burden but these essential requirements,

that you abstain from everything that is offered to idols, from tasting blood, from the meat of animals that have been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves free from these things, you will prosper. Good-by."

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.

The jailer reported this message to Paul, saying, "The chiefs of the police court have sent orders to let you go. So now you may come out and go in peace."

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,

For it is through union with Him that we live and move and exist, as some of your own poets have said, "'For we are His offspring too.'

because I am with you, and no one is going to attack you so as to injure you, because I have many people in this city."

but as it is questions about words and titles and your own law, you will have to see to it yourselves. I refuse to act as judge in these matters."

After these events had been brought to a close, Paul under the guidance of the Spirit decided to pass through Macedonia and Greece on his way to Jerusalem, saying, "After I have gone there I must see Rome too."

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

So then, if Demetrius and his fellow-workmen have a charge against anybody, there are the courts and the judges; let them go to law.

but constantly and earnestly I urged Greeks as well as Jews to turn with repentance to God and to have faith in our Lord Jesus.

Because I know that after I have gone violent wolves will break in among you and will not spare the flock.

I have never coveted any man's silver or gold or clothes.

They have been repeatedly told about you that you continuously teach the Jews who live among the heathen to turn their backs on Moses, and that you continue to tell them to stop circumcising their children, and to stop observing the cherished customs.

What is your duty, then? They will certainly hear that you have come.

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

Take them along with you, purify yourself with them, and bear the expense for them of having their heads shaved. Then everybody will know that none of those things they have been told about you are so, but that you yourself are living as a constant observer of the law.

As for the heathen who have become believers, we have sent them our resolution that they must avoid anything that is contaminated by idols, the tasting of blood, the meat of strangled animals, and sexual immorality."

"Brothers and fathers, listen now to what I have to say in my defense."

because you are to be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard.

Paul fixed his eyes upon the council and said, "Brothers, with a clear conscience I have done my duty to God up to this very day."

But that same night the Lord stood by Paul's side and said, "Courage! For just as you have testified for me in Jerusalem, you must testify for me in Rome, too."

They went to the high priests and elders and said to them, "We have taken a solemn oath not to taste a morsel till we have killed Paul.

So the colonel took him by the arm, stepped to one side so as to be alone, and asked him, "What is it you have to tell me?"

He answered, "The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though you were going to examine his case more carefully.

But do not yield to them, for more than forty of them are lying in wait for him; they have taken an oath not to eat or drink till they have killed him. They are all ready now, just waiting for your promise."

Because a plot against the man has been reported to me as brewing, I at once am sending him on to you and have directed his accusers to present their charge against him before you."

For we have found this man a perfect pest and a distributor of the peace among the Jews throughout the world. He is a ringleader in the sect of the Nazarenes;

At the governor's signal to Paul, he answered: "Since I know that you for many years have acted as judge for this nation, I cheerfully make my defense,

and they have never found me debating with anybody in the temple nor making a disturbance in the synagogues or about the city,

and they cannot prove the charges they have just made against me.

and I have the same hope in God that they cherish for themselves, that there is to be a resurrection of the upright and the wicked.

So I am always striving to have a conscience that is clear before God and men.

But there were some Jews from Asia who ought to be here before you and to present their charges, if they have any, against me.

He ordered the captain to keep Paul in custody but to let him have freedom and not to prevent his friends from showing him kindness.

and begged the governor as a favor to have Paul come to Jerusalem, because they were plotting an ambush to kill him on the way.

"So have your influential men go down with me," said he, "and present charges against the man, if there is anything wrong with him."

Paul continued to maintain, in his defense, "I have committed no offense against the Jewish law or temple or against the emperor."

But Paul said, "I now am standing before the emperor's court where I ought to be tried. I have done the Jews no wrong, as you very well know.

If I am guilty and have done anything that deserves death, I am not begging to keep from dying, but if there is nothing in the charges which these men make against me, no one can give me up as a favor to them. I appeal to the emperor."

Then Festus, after conferring with the council, answered, "To the emperor you have appealed, to the emperor you shall go!"

But as Paul appealed to have his case kept for his Majesty's decision, I ordered him kept in custody until I could send him up to the emperor."

But I found that he had not done anything for which he deserved to die; however, as he has himself appealed to his Majesty, I have decided to send him up.

Yet, I have nothing definite to write our Sovereign about him. So I have brought him before all of you, especially before you, King Agrippa, to get from your examination something to put in writing.

Then Agrippa said to Paul, "You have permission to speak in defense of yourself." So Paul with outstretched arm began to make his defense.

"I count myself fortunate, King Agrippa," said he, "that it is before you that I can defend myself today against all the charges which the Jews have preferred against me,

"The kind of life I have lived from my youth up, as spent in my early days among my own nation and in Jerusalem, is well known to all Jews,

for they have known all along from the first, if they would but testify to it, that I as a Pharisee have lived by the standard of the strictest sect of our religion.

But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for the very purpose of appointing you my servant and a witness to me of the things which you have seen and those which I shall yet enable you to see.

to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light and from Satan's power to God, so as to have their sins forgiven and have a possession among those that are consecrated by faith in me.'

As I have gotten help from God clear down to this very day, I stand here to testify to high and low alike, without adding a syllable to what Moses and the prophets said should take place,

Agrippa said to Festus, "He might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed to the emperor."

After they had gone a long time without any food, then Paul got up among them and said: "Men, you ought to have listened to me and not to have sailed from Crete, and you would have escaped this disaster and loss.

So keep up your courage, men, for I have confidence in my God that it will all come out just as I was told.

Until day was about to break Paul kept begging them all to take something to eat. He said, "For fourteen days today you have been constantly waiting and going without food, not even taking a bite.

Three days later, he invited the leading men of the Jews to come to see him, and when they came, he said to them, "Brothers, I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our forefathers; yet at Jerusalem I was turned over to the Romans as a prisoner.

They answered him, "We have not received any letters from Judea about you, and not one of our Jewish brothers has come and reported or stated anything wicked about you.

For this people's soul has grown dull, and they scarcely hear with their ears, and they have shut tight their eyes, so that they may never see with their eyes, and understand with their souls, and turn to me, that I may cure them."'