Being therefore in his presence, they asked him, saying, Lord, is this the time when you will restore again the kingdom to Israel?

and he said to them, it is not for you, to know the times or the seasons, which the father hath reserv'd in his own disposal.

and as they were looking stedfastly toward heaven, as he mounted up, on a sudden, two men appear'd before them robed in white, who said,

"ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up to heaven? this same Jesus who is taken up from you into heaven, shall descend in the same manner as ye have seen him ascend thither."

then they returned to Jerusalem, from the mountain of olives, which is a sabbath-day's journey from it.

a fact so generally known to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that they called the field in their tongue, Aceldema, that is to say, the field of blood.

for it is written in the book of psalms, "let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein:" and "let another take possession of his charge."

wherefore of those who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus convers'd among us,

from his baptism by John, to the day of his assumption, we should chuse one to be a witness with us of his resurrection.

saying, "thou Lord, who knowest the hearts of all men, show us which of these two thou hast chosen,

and they were all filled with the holy ghost, and began to speak in different languages, as the spirit gave them utterance.

Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the parts of Libya about Cyrene, foreigners from Rome, Jews, and proselytes,

these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is but the third hour of the day.

but this is the accomplishment of what was said by the prophet Joel,

ye men of Israel attend to what I say; Jesus of Nazareth was a man whom God distinguished among you, by miracles, by prodigies, and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as you your selves also know:

for David says concerning him, "I had the Lord always present before me, he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved.

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:

that, as he was a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn to him, to place the fruit of his loins upon his throne: foreseeing this,

for David is not ascended to heaven: yet he saith himself, "the Lord said to my Lord, sit thou on my right hand,

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

so that they sold their possessions and goods, and distributed the money to every one as his occasions required.

One day as Peter and John were going together to the temple, at the ninth hour, which was the hour of prayer,

Peter and John having their eyes upon him, Peter said, look on us.

then Peter said, silver and gold have I none; but such as I have I give thee: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, rise up and walk.

and knowing it was he who us'd to sit begging at the Beauty-gate of the temple, they were filled with wonder and amazement at such an event.

As the lame man who was cured, held Peter and John, the people all in surprize ran to Solomon's porch, where they were.

which Peter observing, thus addressed them, ye men of Israel, why are ye so surprized at this event? or why do you look so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or piety, we had caus'd this man to walk?

it is the faith which we have in him, that has procured strength to this man whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him, hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.

but thus it is that God has accomplished what he had foretold by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer.

it is to you that God first of all sent his son Jesus, having raised him up to bless you, provided you all renounce your iniquities.

with Annas the high priest, Caiphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the pontifical family.

this is the stone which was rejected by you builders, but is become the chief of the angle.

salvation is not to be had by any other: for there is no other name under heaven given to men whereby we can be saved.

saying, what shall we do to these men? for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all that dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.

but to prevent its spreading any further among the people, let us charge them with threats not to speak for the future to any man in that name.

As soon as they were discharg'd, they went to their brethren, and reported all that the chief priests and senators had said to them:

at the relation of which they unanimously lift up their voice to God, and said, Lord, thou art the God who hast made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all that is therein:

Now the whole body of believers were but one heart, and one soul: no one look'd upon what he possessed, as his own, but every thing was held in common.

for there was no poor among them, because as many as bad lands or houses, sold them, and brought the value,

which they laid down at the apostles feet: and they distributed it to every man as his occasions required.

among the rest one Joseph, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas (that is to say, the son of consolation) a Levite, and a native of Cyprus,

was not the estate your own estate? and was not the price for which it was sold, all in your own hands? how came such a design as this in your heart? thou hast not lyed unto men, but unto God.

Thus were many signs and wonders wrought among the people, by the apostles, who us'd to meet in Solomon's porch with great unanimity:

insomuch that they brought the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least, the shadow of Peter might cover some of them, as he pass'd by.

saying, did not we strictly command you, not to teach in this name? and yet you have spread your doctrine through Jerusalem, and you endeavour to make us responsible for this man's blood.

and we are his witnesses in what we say, and so is the holy spirit, whom God hath given to those that obey him.

my opinion therefore is, not to meddle with these men, but to let them go on: for if the design be a human project, it will fall of it self. but if it be from God,

At that time, as the number of the disciples was multiplied, the Hellenists murmured against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the distribution that was made daily.

the twelve therefore assembled all the disciples, and said, it is not fit that we should leave the word of God, to mind what relates to your meals.

when some out of the several synagogues, belonging to the freed men, to the Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and to those of Cilicia, and of Asia, came to dispute with Stephen.

but as they were not able to withstand the force of that sublime knowledge which appeared in his discourse,

where they produc'd false witnesses, who said, this man is continually inveighing against the holy place, and against the law.

for we have heard him say, that Jesus the Nazarene shall destroy this place, and change the customs which Moses delivered us.

but he that did his neighbour the injury repelled Moses, saying, who made thee a ruler and a judge over us?

will you kill me as you kill'd the Egyptian yesterday? at these words Moses fled,

Moses was astonished at this vision: and as he drew near to observe it, he heard the voice of the Lord, which said to him,

then said the Lord to him, "put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground.

I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt; I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. come immediately, and I will send you into Egypt."

this is that Moses who said to 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."

'twas he that was in the assembly with our fathers in the wilderness, and with the angel that spoke to him on mount Sina: and delivered the oracles to him by word of mouth for our use.

"make us gods, said they to Aaron, to be our guides: for as for this Moses, who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him."

then God left them, and abandon'd them to the worship of the celestial army; as it is written in the book of the prophets, "O ye house of Israel, is it to me that ye have offered victims, and sacrifices, for the space of forty years in the wilderness?

our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, ordering Moses to make it according to the model that he had seen.

altho' the most high does not dwell in temples made with hands; as the prophet said, "heaven is my throne,

and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?

stubborn people, whose hearts and ears like the uncircumcised, are always averse to the holy spirit: as your fathers did, so do ye.

then they dragg'd him out of the city, and stoned him: the false witnesses having laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.

as for Saul, he made havock of the Church, entring into their houses, whence he dragg'd away both men and women, to throw them into prison.

that they all followed him, both old and young. this man, said they, is the plenipotentiary of God.

(for as yet he had not descended on any of them: they having only been baptized in the name of the Lord

thou hast no manner of share in this gift: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.

the passage of the scripture which he read, was this, "he was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb before his shearer, was dumb, so opened he not his mouth:

as they pursued their journey, they came to a place of water: and the eunuch said, see, here is water; what should hinder my being baptized?

[and Philip said, if you believe with all your heart, you may. and he answered, I do believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God.]

As he was on his journey, and near Damascus, on a sudden, a light from heaven surrounded him,

and he said, who art thou, Lord? and the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: [it is hard for thee to kick against the goad. Then trembling with the fright Saul said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? and the Lord said to him,]

and the Lord said unto him, arise, and go to the street called Straight, and enquire at the house of Judas, for one Saul of Tarsus: for he is there at prayer.

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,

and is impower'd by the chief priests, to imprison all that make profession of thy name.

go, said the Lord to him: for he is the instrument I have chosen, to bear my name to the Gentiles, to kings, and to the children of Israel.

the audience were all amazed, and said, is not this he that persecuted the professors of this doctrine at Jerusalem, and came here on purpose to carry them prisoners to the chief priests?

but Saul was appriz'd of their plot. and as they were night and day upon the watch at the gates, in order to kill him,

now as Peter was making a general visitation, he went to Lydda to see the converts in that city,

Peter said to him, Eneas, Jesus, who is the Messiah, gives thee health: rise, and make your bed your self: upon which he immediately rose.

At Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha, that is in Greek, Dorcas: this woman was very active in all the offices of benevolence and charity.

as Lydda was near Joppa, and the disciples having heard that Peter was there, they sent two men to him to desire he would come to them without delay.

In Cesarea there was a centurion of a cohort in the Italic legion, whose name was Cornelius, a religious man,

and when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, what is it, Lord? and he said to him, thy prayers and thine alms have been observ'd and approv'd by God.

send messengers immediately to Joppa, for one Simon, whose sirname is Peter:

he lodges with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea-side.

As soon as the angel that spoke to Cornelius was departed, he called two of his domesticks, and a devout soldier, one of those that were in waiting:

On the morrow as they were on their journey, and drew nigh the city, Peter went upon the leads to pray, about the sixth hour.

but Peter said, not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.

As Peter was still pondering upon the vision, the spirit said to him, there are people below, who enquire for you.

as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and prostrated himself at his feet,

but Peter rais'd him, saying, stand up; I am but a man, as well as you.

and as he discours'd with him, he went in, where finding many persons assembled; you know,

said he, how unlawful it is for a Jew, to frequent a stranger, or even to go to his house: but God hath shewed me, that I should not look upon any man as common and unclean.

for which reason I came without demur, as soon as I knew your message: I ask therefore upon what account you sent for me?

then Cornelius said, it is now four days ago that I was fasting, and while I was at prayers in my house, about the ninth hour, a man in bright attire presented himself before me,