As he went up, their eyes were fixed on heaven; but just then two men stood beside them dressed in white,

who said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up to heaven? This Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven will come back, just as you have seen him depart to heaven."

All these men resorted with one mind to prayer, together with the women, with Mary the mother of Jesus and with his brothers.

With the money paid him for his crime he purchased an estate; but swelling up he burst in two, and all his bowels poured out ??19 a fact which became known to all the residents in Jerusalem, so that the estate got the name, in their language, of Akeldamach or The Ground of Blood.

Now it is written in the book of psalms, Desolate be his residence, may no one dwell in it: also, let another man take over his charge.

Well then, of the men who have been associated with us all the time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,

from the baptism of John down to the day when he was taken up from us ??of these men one must join us as a witness to his resurrection."

So they brought forward two men, Joseph called Bar-Sabbas (surnamed Justus) and Matthias;

and they prayed, "O Lord, who readest the hearts of all, do thou single out from these two men him whom thou hast chosen

Cretans and Arabians, we hear these men talking of the triumphs of God in our own languages!"

They were all amazed and quite at a loss. "What can it mean?" they said to one another.

But Peter stood up along with the eleven, and raising his voice he addressed them thus: "Men of Judaea and residents in Jerusalem, let everyone of you understand this ??attend to what I say:

these men are not drunk, as you imagine. Why, it is only nine in the morning!

No, this is what was predicted by the prophet Joel ??17 In the last days, saith God, then will I pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams:

the sun shall be changed into darkness and the moon into blood, ere the great, open Day of the Lord arrives.

Men of Israel, listen to my words. Jesus the Nazarene, a man accredited to you by God through miracles, wonders, and signs which God performed by him among you (as you yourselves know),

this Jesus, betrayed in the predestined course of God's deliberate purpose, you got wicked men to nail to the cross and murder;

when a man lame from birth was carried past, who used to be laid every day at what was called the 'Beautiful Gate' of the temple, to ask alms from those who entered the temple.

The man attended, expecting to get something from them.

and when they recognized this was the very man who used to sit and beg at the Gate Beautiful, they were lost in awe and amazement at what had happened to him.

But when Peter saw this, he said to the people, "Men of Israel, why are you surprised at this? Why do you stare at us, as if we had made him walk by any power or piety of ours?

(He it is who has given strength to this man whom you see and know, by faith in His name; it is the faith He inspires which has made the man thus hale and whole before you all.)

They made the men stand before them and inquired, "By what authority, in whose name, have you done this?"

if we are being cross-examined to-day upon a benefit rendered to a cripple, upon how this man got better,

There is no salvation by anyone else, nor even a second Name under heaven appointed for us men and our salvation."

but as they saw the man who had been healed standing beside them, they could say nothing.

"What are we to do with these men?" they said. "It is plain to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem that a miracle has admittedly been worked by them. That we cannot deny.

So they called the men in and ordered them not to speak or teach a single sentence about the Name of Jesus.

(the man on whom this miracle of healing had been performed, being more than forty years old).

So now, O Lord, consider the threats of these men, and grant that thy servants may be perfectly fearless in speaking thy word,

laying the money before the feet of the apostles; it was then distributed according to each individual's need.

sold a farm belonging to him and brought the money, which he placed before the feet of the apostles.

But a man called Ananias, who with his wife Sapphira had sold some property,

appropriated some of the purchase-money with the connivance of his wife; he only brought part of it to lay before the feet of the apostles.

"Ananias," said Peter, "why has Satan filled your heart and made you cheat the holy Spirit by appropriating some of the money paid for the land?

When it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And even after the sale, was the money not yours to do as you pleased about it? How could you think of doing a thing like this? You have not defrauded men but God."

And the younger men rose, wrapped the body up and carried it away to be buried.

Peter said to her, "How could you arrange to put the Lord's Spirit to the proof? Listen, there are the footsteps of the men who have buried your husband! They are at the door, and they will carry you out as well."

Instantly she fell down at their feet and expired. The younger men came in to find her dead; they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

On the other hand, crowds of men and women who believed in the Lord were brought in.

With these orders they went into the temple about dawn and proceeded to teach. Meantime the high priest and his allies met, called the Sanhedrin together and the council of seniors belonging to the sons of Israel, and then sent to prison for the men.

However, someone came and reported to them, "Here are the very men you put in prison, standing in the temple and teaching the people!"

"We strictly forbade you to teach about this Name, did we not? And here you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine! You want to make us responsible for this man's death!"

Peter and the apostles answered, "One must obey God rather than men.

Then he said, "Men of Israel, take care what you do about these men.

In days gone by Theudas started up, claiming to be a person of importance; a number of men, about four hundred of them, rallied to him, but he was slain, and all his followers were dispersed and wiped out.

So I advise you to-day to leave these men to themselves. Let them alone. If this project or enterprise springs from men, it will collapse;

So the twelve summoned the main body of the disciples and said: "It is not desirable that we should drop preaching the word of God and attend to meals.

Brothers, look out seven of your own number, men of good reputation who are full of the Spirit and of wisdom. We will appoint them to this duty,

This plan commended itself to the whole body, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the holy Spirit, Philip, Prochorus, Nikanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nikolaos a proselyte from Antioch;

these men they presented to the apostles, who, after prayer, laid their hands upon them.

they were carried across to Shechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

So Moses was educated in all the culture of the Egyptians; he was a strong man in speech and action.

He saw one of them being badly treated, so he defended him, struck down the Egyptian, and thus avenged the man who had been wronged.

But the man who was injuring his neighbour pushed him aside. "Who made you ruler and umpire over us?" he asked.

The Moses they refused, when they said, 'Who made you ruler and umpire?' ??that was the very man whom God sent to rule and to redeem them, by aid of the angel who had appeared to him in the bush.

This was the man who at the assembly in the desert intervened between the angel who spoke to him on mount Sinai and our fathers; he received living Words to be given to us.

"Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of man standing at God's right hand!"

With a loud shriek they shut their ears and rushed at him like one man.

Devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation over him,

but Saul made havoc of the church by entering one house after another, dragging off men and women, and consigning them to prison.

And the crowds attended like one man to what was said by Philip, listening to him and watching the miracles he performed.

Now for some time previous a man called Simon had been practising magic arts in the town, to the utter astonishment of the Samaritan nation; he made himself out to be a great person,

But when they believed Philip, who preached the gospel of the Reign of God and the name of Jesus, they had themselves baptized, both men and women;

Now Simon noticed that the holy Spirit was conferred by the laying on of the apostles' hands; so he brought them money,

Peter said to him, "Death to you and your money, for dreaming you could buy the gift of God!

and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus empowering him to put any man or woman in chains whom he could find belonging to the Way, and bring them to Jerusalem.

And the Lord said to him, "Go away to the street called 'The Straight Street,' and ask at the house of Judas for a man of Tarsus called Saul. He is praying at this very moment,

and he has seen a man called Ananias enter and lay his hands upon him to bring back his sight."

"But, Lord," Ananias answered, "many people have told me about all the mischief this man has done to thy saints at Jerusalem!

He lost no time in preaching throughout the synagogues that Jesus was the Son of God ??21 to the amazement of all his hearers, who said, "Is this not the man who in Jerusalem harried those who invoke this Name, the man who came here for the express purpose of carrying them all in chains to the high priests?"

There he found a man called Aeneas who had been bed-ridden for eight years with paralysis.

When the disciples heard that Peter was at Lydda (for Joppa is not far from Lydda), they sent two men to beg him to "Come on to us without delay."

Now in Caesarea there was a man called Cornelius, a captain in the Italian regiment,

a religious man, who reverenced God with all his household, who was liberal in his alms to the People, and who constantly prayed to God.

You must now send some men to Joppa for a certain Simon who is surnamed Peter;

So the Spirit said to Peter, who was pondering over the vision, "There are three men looking for you!

Then Peter went down to the men, saying, "I am the man you are looking for. What is your reason for coming?"

They said, "Cornelius, a captain, a good man who reverences God and enjoys a good reputation among the whole Jewish nation, was instructed by a holy angel to send for you to his house and to listen to what you had to say."

but Peter raised him, saying, "Get up, I am only a man myself."

To them Peter said, "You know yourselves it is illegal for a Jew to join or accost anyone belonging to another nation; but God has shown me that I must not call any man common or unclean,

"Three days ago," said Cornelius, "at this very hour I was praying in my house at three o'clock in the afternoon, when a man stood before me in shining dress,

At that very moment three men reached the house where I was living, sent to me from Caesarea.

The Spirit told me to have no hesitation in accompanying them; these six brothers went with me as well, and we entered the man's house.

(for he was a good man, full of the holy Spirit and faith). Considerable numbers of people were brought in for the Lord.

So the disciples put aside money, as each of them was able to afford it, for a contribution to be sent to the brothers in Judaea.

The populace shouted, "It is a god's voice, not a man's!"

he belonged to the suite of the proconsul Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man who called for Barnabas and Saul and demanded to hear the word of God.

So Paul stood up and motioning with his hand said, "Listen, men of Israel and you who reverence God.

After deposing him, he raised up David to be their king, to whom he bore this testimony that 'In David, the son of Jessai, I have found a man after my own heart, who will obey all my will.'

But the Jews incited the devout women of high rank and the leading men in the town, who stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their territory.

At Lystra there was a man sitting, who was powerless in his feet, a lame man unable to walk ever since he was born.

shouting, "Men, what is this you are doing? We are but human, with natures like your own! The gospel we are preaching to you is to turn from such futile ways to the living God who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all that in them is.

that the rest of men may seek for the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by my name, saith the Lord,

Then the apostles and the presbyters, together with the whole church, decided to select some of their number and send them with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch. The men selected were Judas (called Bar-Sabbas) and Silas, prominent members of the brotherhood.

Paul held they should not take a man with them who had deserted them in Pamphylia, instead of accompanying them on active service.

She followed Paul and the rest of us, shrieking, "These men are servants of the Most High God, they proclaim to you the way of salvation!"

When day broke, the praetors sent the lictors with the message, "Release these men."

The lictors reported this to the praetors, who, on hearing the men were Roman citizens, became alarmed;

Many of them believed, together with a large number of prominent Greeks, both women and men.