My first account, O Theophilus, dealt with all that Jesus began doing and teaching from the beginning down to the day when,

And once when he was eating with them he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father. "Of this," he said, "you have heard from me.

"yet you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you are to be my witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and to the very ends of the earth."

"In the last days, God says, it shall come to pass that I will pour out my Spirit upon all mankind; "Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams;

upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days, will I pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.

For David says of him. "I beheld the Lord always before my face; For he is at my right hand lest I be shaken.

"Therefore my heart is glad, my tongue exults, my very body also shall pitch its tent in hope.

"For thou wilt not leave my soul in Hades, Nor give up thy Holy One to see corruption.

"Thou hast made known to me the paths of life, Thou wilt fill me with gladness in thy presence.

For David did not ascend into heaven; but he himself said, "The Lord said to my Lord Sit thou on my right hand

"For the promise belongs to you and to your children and to all who are afar off, whomever the Lord may call."

"Repent then! and reform, from the blotting out of your sins, so that there may come times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord;

"and that he may send Jesus, your appointed Messiah,

"Moses, for example, said: "The Lord your God will raise up a Prophet for you from among your brothers, as he raised up me; you must listen to whatever he may tell you;

"But that the matter may spread no further among the people, let us threaten them not to speak to any one hereafter about this name."

"whilst thou stretchest forth thy hand to heal; grant too, that signs and wonders may be done through the name of thy holy Servant, Jesus."

and Peter said to her, "Tell me if you got so much for the land." "Yes," she said, "so much."

"but if it is from God, you cannot put it down; you may even find yourselves fighting against God."

"'And the nation, whichever it is, that enslaves them I will judge, said God, 'and after ward they shall come out, and they shall worship me in this place.

"'Do you want to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?'

"Truly I have seen the oppression of my people in Egypt, and I have heard their groans, and am come down to rescue them; and now, come, I will send you into Egypt.

"It was this Moses who said to the Children of Israel, "God will raise up a Prophet for you from among your brothers, as he did me.

"So God turned from them, and gave them up to the worship of the heavenly host, as it is written in the book of the Prophets. "Did you offer unto me slain beasts as sacrifices during the forty years in the wilderness, O House of Israel?

"The heaven is my throne, And the earth the footstool of my feet; What kind of house will you build for me? saith the Lord. Or what resting-place shall I have?

Did not my hand make this universe?

So they stoned Stephen while he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."

"Give me, too, this power, so that on whomever I lay my hands, he may receive the Holy Spirit."

And Simon answered, "Pray to the Lord for me, both of you, that nothing which you have said may happen to me."

The eunuch answered, "Why, how can I unless someone shall show me the way?" And he begged Philip to get up and sit with him.

And as they were going on their way they came to a certain water, and the eunuch said: "See, here is water! What hinders my being baptized?"

And Philip said, "If you believe with your whole heart, you may." The eunuch answered, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."

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

"Go," answered the Lord, "this man is chosen instrument of mine to bear my name before the nations and their kings, and before the Children of Israel also;

"for I am going to show him all he has to suffer for the sake of my name."

And so Ananias went and entered into the house, and laying his hands on him, said, "Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, who appeared to you on your journey, has sent me that you may receive your sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit."

Among the disciples at Joppa was a woman named Tabitha??hich may be translated Dorcas or "Gazelle"?? woman whose life was full of good works and almsgiving, which she was doing continually.

"Not so, my Lord," answered Peter, "for I have never yet eaten anything common and unclean."

To them he said: "You know, yourselves, that it is illegal for a Jew to associate with or to visit one of another nation; but God has taught me that I should not call any man common or unclean. For this reason, when sent for, I came without demur.

"I ask therefore why you sent for me."

Cornelius answered. "Three days ago, at this very hour, I was praying in my house at three o'clock in the afternoon, when suddenly a man in a shining robe stood by me,

"I was in the city of Joppa, praying, and while in a trance I saw a vision; a certain vessel descending, what seemed to be an enormous sail let down to me,

I also heard a voice saying to me, 'Rise, Peter, kill and eat.'

"'Not so, my Lord' said I, 'for nothing common or unclean has ever gone into my mouth.'

"And lo! at that very moment, three men who had been sent for me from Caesarea stood before the house in which I was.

"And the Spirit bade me accompany them without misgiving. There also accompanied me these six brothers, and we went into the man's house.

"Gird yourself," said the angel, "and put on your sandals." He did so. Then he said unto him, "Throw your cloak about you, and follow me."

Peter, coming to himself, said, "Now I know for a certainty that the Lord has sent his angel and released me from the hand of Herod, and from all that the Jewish people were anticipating."

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

After deposing him, he raised up David to be their king, to whom he also bore witness, when he said, "I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, and who will obey all my will.

"And John, when he was finishing his race, repeatedly asked the people. "'Who do you suppose that I am? I am not He. But behold there comes One after me, whose sandal I am not worthy to unfasten.'

"how that God fulfilled it for us their children in raising up Jesus; as it is also written in the second Psalm, "Thou art my son, today have I become thy Father.

and after there had been a long discussion, Peter rose and said: "Brothers, you know how a good while ago God made choice among you, that from my lips the Gentiles were to hear the message of the gospel and believe.

"Brothers, listen to me. Symeon has told how God first looked graciously upon the Gentiles, to take out from among them a people to be called by his name.

"So that the rest of men may seek after the Lord, Even all the Gentiles, who are called by my name,

"My judgment therefore, is against troubling those who turn to God from among the Gentiles;

When she was baptized, and her household, she urged us, saying, "If in your judgment I am a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house." And she compelled us to come.

Then they laid hold of him and brought him up to Mars Hill, saying. "May we be told what this new teaching of yours is?

Paul was about to open his mouth, when Gallio said to the Jews. "If it had been some misdemeanor or wicked villainy, it would have been within reason for me to listen to you Jews;

"So there is danger not only that our trade come into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana will be brought into disrepute, and that she herself may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world now worships."

"serving the Lord with all lowliness of mind, and with tears, and amid trials that befell me through the plots of the Jews.

And now I am going to Jerusalem, bound in the Spirit, not knowing what will befall me there,

except that in city after city the Holy Spirit is warning me that bonds and afflictions are awaiting me.

But I hold not my life of any account, as dear unto myself, if only I may run my race, and accomplish the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to attest the gospel of the grace of God.

And now I know that not one of you among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will ever see my face again.

I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come among you, and they will not spare the flock;

"You yourselves know how these hands of mine provided for my needs, and those of my companions.

"What do you mean by thus breaking my heart with your grief?" answered Paul. "For I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord Jesus."

"We have four men here under a vow; associate yourself with them, purify yourself with them, and pay their expenses so that they may have their heads shaved; then every one will know that there is no truth in the rumors that they have heard about you; but that you yourself walk orderly obeying the law.

Just as he was about to be taken into the barracks, Paul said to the tribune, "May I speak to you?"

"I am a Jew," answered Paul, "a native of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city. And I pray you, give me permission to speak to the people."

"To this the high priest and all the council of elders are witnesses. It was from them that I received letters to the brothers in Damascus, and I was already on my way to bring those also who were there back to Jerusalem, in bonds, for punishment.

"But when, on my journey, I was nearing Damascus, about noon, suddenly a great light from heaven shone round about me.

"I fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to me, "'Saul! Saul! why are you persecuting me?'

"'Who are you, Lord?' I asked. "'I am Jesus, the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting,' he answered me.

"Now my companions, though they beheld the light, did not hear the words of Him who spoke to me.

"And I said, 'What shall I do, Lord?' and the Lord said to me, 'Rise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told about all that you are destined to do.'

"And as I was seeing nothing for the glory of the light, I was led by the hand of my companions, and so came into Damascus.

"came to me, and standing by me, said to me, "'Brother Saul, receive your sight' "In that very hour I regained my sight and looked up at him.

"After my return to Jerusalem, and while I was praying in the temple,

"I fell into a trance and saw him saying to me, "'Make haste and go quickly out of Jerusalem, because they will not receive your testimony concerning me.'

"'Depart,' he said to me, 'for I will send you forth, far hence, to the Gentiles.'"

So the tribune came to Paul and asked him, "Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?" "Yes," he said.

"You whited sepulcher," exclaimed Paul, "God will strike you! You are sitting there to judge me according to the law, are you? And do you command me to be struck, contrary to the Law?"

"Brothers, I did not know that he was the high priest," exclaimed Paul, "for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of a ruler of my people."

And the following night the Lord stood by him and said: "Be of good courage; for as you have borne faithful witness concerning me at Jerusalem, so you must testify at Rome also."

So he took him, and brought his to the tribune, and said, "Paul, the prisoner, called me to him, and begged me to bring this young man to you, because he has something to tell you."

And the tribune took him by the hand, and going aside, asked him privately, "What is it that you have to tell me?"

So the tribune sent the young man home with the injunction, "Tell no man that you have given me this information."

Then at a nod from the governor, Paul spoke. "Because I know that for many years you have been a judge in this nation, I feel encouraged to make my defense.

"and that neither in the Temple, nor in the synagogues, nor in the city, did they find me disputing with any man or stirring up a crowd.

"Nor can they prove the charges which they are now bringing against me.

"Now after many years I came to bring alms to my nation, and to offer sacrifices.

"While I was thus engaged, they found me in the temple, purified, with no crowd and no uproar. But there were certain Asiatic Jews

"who ought to have been here before you, and to have made accusations if they had anything against me.

"Unless it was for this one sentence which I uttered when I stood and cried, 'It is for the resurrection of the dead that I am on my trial today before you.'"

"Let those then," he said, "who are in authority among you, go down with me, and if there is anything amiss in the man, let them accuse him."

But Festus, wishing to ingratiate himself with the Jews, answered Paul and said, "Will you go up to Jerusalem and be tried there by me upon these charges?"

"If I am a criminal and have done anything for which I ought to die, I do not object to die. But if none of their charges is true, no man can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar."

"The chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me about him, when I was at Jerusalem, demanding a sentence against him.

"So when a number of them came together here, I made no delay, but the next day took my seat in the tribunal, and commanded the man to be brought.