And once when he ate with them, he instructed them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised. "You have heard me speak of it," he said,

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."

Then they went back to Jerusalem from the hill called the Olive-orchard, which is near Jerusalem, half a mile away.

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.)

Now there were devout Jews from every part of the world living in Jerusalem.

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.

On the next day the leading members of the council, the elders, and the scribes met in Jerusalem,

They said, "What are we to do with these men? For it is plain to everyone in Jerusalem that an extraordinary wonder has been done by them. We cannot deny that.

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.

"We strictly forbade you," he said, "to teach on this authority, and here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and propose to hold us responsible for this man's death!"

So God's message continued to spread; the number of the disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a great many priests accepted the faith.

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 apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted God's message, they sent Peter and John there.

After they had given their testimony and delivered the Lord's message, they went back to Jerusalem, telling the good news in many Samaritan villages on the way.

But an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Get up and go south, by the road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza." (The town is now deserted.)

So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a member of the court of Candace, queen of Ethiopia, her chief treasurer, who had come up to Jerusalem to worship,

and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women there who belonged to the Way, he might bring them in chains to Jerusalem.

But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard many people tell of this man, and the harm he has done to your people in Jerusalem.

Everyone was astonished, and said, "Is not he the man who made such havoc of the people in Jerusalem who call upon that name, and who came here especially for the purpose of arresting such persons and taking them before the high priests?"

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.

After that, he associated with them freely in Jerusalem,

We are witnesses of everything that he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. Yet they put him upon a cross and killed him.

and when Peter returned to Jerusalem, the advocates of circumcision took him to task,

The news about them came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas all the way to Antioch.

About that time some prophets from Jerusalem came down to Antioch,

When Barnabas and Saul had performed their mission to Jerusalem, they went back, taking John who was called Mark with them.

Paul and his companions sailed from Paphos and went to Perga in Pamphylia. There John left them and returned to Jerusalem,

For the people of Jerusalem and their leaders refused to recognize him, and condemned him, thus fulfilling the very utterances of the prophets which are read every Sabbath,

and for many days he appeared to those who had come up to Jerusalem with him from Galilee, and they are now witnesses for him to the people.

This created a disturbance and a serious discussion between Paul and Barnabas and them, and it was agreed that Paul and Barnabas and some others of their number should go up to Jerusalem to confer with the apostles and elders about this question.

When they reached Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church, the apostles, and the elders, and they reported how God had worked with them.

As they traveled on from one town to another, they passed on to the brothers for their observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem.

When he reached Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and paid his respects to the church, and then went on to Antioch.

After these events, Paul, under the Spirit's guidance, resolved to go to Jerusalem, and to revisit Macedonia and Greece on the way. "After I have gone there," he said, "I must see Rome also."

For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he would not have to lose any time in Asia, for he was hurrying to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of the Harvest Festival.

I am here now on my way to Jerusalem, for the Spirit compels me to go there, though I do not know what will happen to me there,

So we looked up the disciples there and stayed a week with them. Instructed by the Spirit, they warned Paul not to set foot in Jerusalem.

He came to see us and took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands with it, and said, "This is what the holy Spirit says: 'The Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt like this, and will hand him over to the heathen!' "

When we heard this, we and the people there all begged him not to go up to Jerusalem.

Then Paul answered, "What do you mean by crying and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound at Jerusalem but to die there for the sake of the Lord Jesus."

After this we made our preparations and started for Jerusalem.

When we reached Jerusalem, the brothers there gave us a hearty welcome.

They were trying to kill him when the news reached the colonel of the regiment that all Jerusalem was in a tumult.

as the high priest and the whole council will bear me witness. In fact, they gave me letters to the brothers in Damascus and I went there to bind those who were there and bring them back to Jerusalem to be punished.

After I had returned to Jerusalem, one day when I was praying in the Temple, I fell into a trance,

and saw him saying to me, 'Make haste and leave Jerusalem at once, for they will not accept your evidence about me.'

On the following night the Lord stood beside him and said, "Courage! For just as you have testified for me in Jerusalem, you must testify in Rome also."

for it is not more than twelve days ago, as you can easily satisfy yourself, that I went up to worship at Jerusalem,

Three days after his arrival in the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem,

and begged him as a favor to order Paul to come to Jerusalem, plotting to kill him on the way.

When he came, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem surrounded him, and made a number of serious charges against him, which they could not substantiate.

Then Festus, wishing to gratify the Jews, said to Paul, "Will you go up to Jerusalem and be tried there before me on these charges?"

and when I was at Jerusalem the Jewish high priests and elders presented their case against him, and asked for his conviction.

I was at a loss as to how to investigate such matters, and I asked him if he would like to go to Jerusalem and be tried on these charges there.

Then Festus said, "King Agrippa and all who are present, you see here the man about whom the whole Jewish people have applied to me both at Jerusalem and here, clamoring that he ought not to live any longer.

The way I lived from my youth up, spending my early life among my own nation and at Jerusalem, is well known to all Jews,

That was what I did at Jerusalem when on the authority of the high priests I put many of God's people in prison. When they were put to death, I cast my vote against them,

but first to the people of Damascus and Jerusalem and then all over Judea, and even to the heathen I preached that they must repent and turn to God and live as men who have repented should.

Three days later, he invited the leading 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 I was turned over to the Romans as a prisoner at Jerusalem.