In my first volume, Theophilus, I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning

"for John baptized people in water, but in a few days you will be baptized in the holy Spirit."

but you will be given power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be witnesses for me in Jerusalem and all over Judea and Samaria and to the very ends of the earth."

And while they were gazing after him into the sky, two men dressed in white suddenly stood beside them,

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

They were all devoting themselves with one mind to prayer, with the women and Mary, Jesus' mother, and his brothers.

(This man bought a piece of land with the money paid him for his treachery, and his body swelled up and burst open in the middle and all his vitals poured out.

This fact was well known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that the piece of land came to be called in their language Akeldamach, the bloody field.)

"So one of the men who has been associated with us all the time that the Lord Jesus moved about among us,

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

On the day of the Harvest Festival, they were all meeting together,

when suddenly there came from the sky a sound like a violent blast of wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.

and they were all filled with the holy Spirit and began to say in foreign languages whatever the Spirit prompted them to utter.

They were perfectly amazed and said in their astonishment, "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans?

Cretans and Arabs??e all hear them tell in our native tongues the mighty deeds of God."

And they were all amazed and bewildered and said to one another, "What can this mean?"

Then Peter stood up with the eleven around him, and raising his voice addressed them. "Men of Judea," he said, "and all you residents of Jerusalem, let me explain this to you, and pay attention to what I say.

" 'It will come about in the last days, God says, That I will pour out my Spirit upon all mankind; Your sons and daughters will become prophets, Your young men will have visions, And your old men will have dreams.

Even on my slaves, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, And they will become prophets.

I will show wonders in the sky above, And signs on the earth below, Blood and fire and thick smoke.

The sun will turn to darkness, And the moon to blood, Before the coming of the great, splendid Day of the Lord.

Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'

Therefore my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices, And my body will still live in hope.

For you will not desert my soul in death, You will not let your Holy One be destroyed.

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

He is Jesus, whom God raised from the dead, and to whose resurrection we are all witnesses.

"Therefore the whole nation of Israel must understand that God has declared this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ."

Peter said to them, "You must repent, and every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, in order to have your sins forgiven; then you will receive the gift of the holy Spirit,

for the promise of it belongs to you and your children, as well as to all those far away whom the Lord our God calls to him."

The believers all shared everything they had with one another,

and sold their property and belongings, and divided the money with all the rest, according to their special needs.

Day after day they all went regularly to the Temple, they broke their bread together in their homes, and they ate their food with glad and simple hearts,

constantly praising God and respected by all the people. And every day the Lord added people who were saved to their number.

But Peter said, "I have no silver or gold, but I will give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!"

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

And as he still clung to Peter and John, all the people crowded about them in the utmost astonishment in what was known as Solomon's Colonnade.

It is by his power and through faith in him that this man whom you see and recognize has been made strong again, and it is faith inspired by him that has given him the perfect health you all see.

it was in this way that God fulfilled what he by all the prophets foretold that his Christ must suffer.

So repent and turn to God, to have your sins wiped out, and happier times will come from the presence of the Lord,

and he will send Jesus, your destined Christ.

Moses said, 'The Lord God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, as he raised me up. You must listen to everything that he tells you.

Anyone that will not listen to that prophet will be annihilated from among the people.'

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

You are the descendants of the prophets and the heirs of the agreement that God made with your forefathers when he said to Abraham, 'Through your posterity all the families of the earth will be blessed.'

with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and all who belonged to the high priest's family.

you and the people of Israel must all know that it is through the power of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that he stands here before you well.

But to keep it from spreading farther among the people, let us warn them to say nothing to anyone else at all about this person."

So they called them in and ordered them not to speak or teach at all about the name of Jesus.

But after further threats they let them go, as they could find no way to punish them, on account of the people, who were all giving honor to God for what had happened,

When they heard it, with one impulse they all raised their voices to God and said, "Master, it was you who made heaven, earth, and sea, and everything that is in them,

to carry out what your hand and will had destined should happen.

When they had prayed, the place where they were meeting shook, and they were all filled with the holy Spirit, and fearlessly uttered God's message.

Peter said to her, "How could you two agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? There at the door are the footsteps of the men who buried your husband, and they will carry you out also."

And the whole church and all who heard this were appalled.

They would all meet together in Solomon's Colonnade.

Even from the towns around Jerusalem crowds would come in bringing sick people and those who were troubled with foul spirits, and they were all cured.

This aroused the high priest and all his supporters, the party of the Sadducees, and filled them with jealousy,

"Go, take your stand in the Temple, and tell the people all about this new life."

And they obeyed, and about daybreak went into the Temple and began to teach. The high priest and his party came over and called together the council and indeed the whole senate of the Israelites, and sent to the prison to have the apostles brought in.

But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law highly regarded by all the people, got up in the council and ordered the men to be removed for a while,

For some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be a person of importance, and a group of men numbering some four hundred joined him. But he was killed and all his followers were dispersed and disappeared.

After him, at the time of the census, Judas of Galilee appeared, and raised a great following, but he too perished, and all his followers were scattered.

So in the present case, I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this idea or movement is of human origin, it will come to naught,

but if it is from God, you will not be able to stop it. You may actually find yourselves fighting God!"

So the Twelve called in the whole body of disciples and said to them, "It is not desirable that we should give up preaching the word of God to keep accounts.

You, brothers, must pick out from your number seven men of good standing, who are wise and full of the Spirit, and we will put them in charge of this matter,

while we devote ourselves to prayer and to delivering the message."

This plan met the approval of the whole body, and they selected Stephen, a man full of faith and of the holy Spirit, with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas of Antioch, who had been a convert to Judaism.

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

and he said to him, 'Leave your country and your relatives and come to the country that I will show you.'

This was what God said: 'His descendants will be strangers, living in a foreign land, and they will be enslaved and misused for four hundred years,

and I will sentence the nation that has enslaved them,' God said, 'and afterward they will leave that country and worship me on this spot.'

and rescued him from all his troubles, and enabled him to win favor and to show wisdom when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he appointed him governor of Egypt and of his whole household.

Then a famine spread all over Egypt and Canaan, and there was great suffering, and our forefathers could not find any food.

Then Joseph sent and invited his father Jacob and all his relatives, seventy-five in all,

So Moses was educated in all the Egyptian culture; he was strong in speech and action.

Seeing one of them being imposed upon, he interfered and defended the man who was being ill treated, striking down the Egyptian.

I have seen all the oppression of my people in Egypt, and I have heard their groans, and I have come down to save them. So come! I will make you my messenger to Egypt!'

This was the Moses who said to the descendants of Israel, 'God will make a prophet rise from among your brothers to teach you, just as he made me rise.'

You offered me the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Rompha, The images you had made to worship! So I will deport you beyond Babylon.'

Was it not my hand that made it all?'

But they uttered a great shout and stopped their ears, and they rushed upon him all together,

And Saul entirely approved of his being put to death. A great persecution of the church in Jerusalem broke out that day, and they were all scattered over Judea and Samaria except the apostles.

When the people heard Philip and saw the signs that he showed they were all interested in what he had to say,

His sentence ended in his humiliation. Who will tell the story of his posterity? For his life is perished from the earth."

while Philip found himself at Ashdod and went on telling the good news in all the towns all the way to Caesarea.

"But get up and go into the city, and there you will be told what you ought to do."

For I am going to show him what he will have to endure for my sake."

but his disciples took him one night and let him down over the wall, lowering him in a basket.

When he reached Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, and they were all afraid of him, for they could not believe that he was really a disciple.

So the church all over Judea, Galilee, and Samaria was at peace and became established. It lived in reverence for the Lord and, stimulated by the holy Spirit, it grew steadily in numbers.

As Peter was traveling about among them all, he happened to visit God's people at Lydda.

Just at that time it happened that she had been taken ill and had died, and they had washed her body and laid her out in a room upstairs.

Peter went with them at once. When he arrived, they took him up to the room and all the widows stood around him crying and showing him the shirts and coats that Dorcas had made when she was still with them.

But Peter put them all out of the room. Then he knelt down and prayed, and then turning to the body he said, "Tabitha, stand up!" She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up.

This became known all over Joppa, and many came to believe in the Lord.

He was a devout man, who feared God, as did all the members of his household. He was liberal in charities to the people, and always prayed to God.

and after telling them the whole story, sent them to Joppa.

The next day, while they were still on their way, and were just getting near the town, Peter went up on the housetop about noon to pray.

He got very hungry, and wanted something to eat. While they were getting it ready, he fell into a trance,