Now when they met, they asked him, "Lord, is this the time you are going to restore the Realm to Israel?"

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

On entering the city they went to the upper room where they were in the habit of meeting; there were Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James (the son of Alphaeus) and Simon who had been a Zealot, with Judas the son of James.

Judas did enter our number, he did get his allotted share of this our ministry.

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.

During the course of the day of Pentecost they were all together,

when suddenly there came a sound from heaven like a violent blast of wind, which filled the whole house where they were seated.

and they were all filled with the holy Spirit ??they began to speak in foreign tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to express themselves.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem.

All were amazed and astonished. "Are these not all Galileans," they said, "who are speaking?

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.

Some others sneered, "They are brim-full of new wine!"

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.

till I make your enemies a footstool for your feet'.

When they heard this, it went straight to their hearts; they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what are we to do?"

"Repent," said Peter, "let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins; then you will receive the gift of the holy Spirit.

For the promise is meant for you and for your children and for all who are far off, for anyone whom the Lord our God may call to himself."

So those who accepted what he said were baptized; about three thousand souls were brought in, that day.

Awe fell on everyone, and many wonders and signs were performed by the apostles [in Jerusalem].

Peter and John were on their way up to the temple for the hour of prayer at three in the afternoon,

But Peter said, "I have no silver or gold, but I will give you what I do have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, [get up and] walk!"

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?

The God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers has glorified Jesus his servant, whom you delivered up and repudiated before Pilate. Pilate had decided to release him,

Now I know, brothers, that you acted in ignorance, like your rulers ??18 though this was how God fulfilled what he had announced beforehand by the lips of all the prophets, namely the sufferings of his Christ.

Repent then, and turn to have your sins blotted out, so that a breathing-space may be vouchsafed you,

and that the Lord may send Jesus your long-decreed Christ,

for Moses said, The Lord our God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brotherhood, as he raised me: you must listen to whatever he may tell you.

Now you are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers when he said to Abraham, all families on earth shall be blessed in your offspring.

It was for you first that God raised up his Servant, and sent him to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways."

While they were speaking to the people, they were surprised by the priests, the commander of the temple, and the Sadducees,

who were annoyed at them teaching the people and proclaiming Jesus as an instance of resurrection from the dead.

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."

They were astonished to notice how outspoken Peter and John were, and to discover that they were uncultured persons and mere outsiders; they recognized them as having been companions of Jesus,

"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.

However, to keep things from going any further with the people, we had better threaten them that they are not to tell anyone in future about this Name."

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

who said to our fathers by the holy Spirit through the lips of thy servant David, Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples vainly conspire?

At their prayer the place of meeting was shaken, and they were all filled with the holy Spirit, speaking God's word fearlessly;

There was not a needy person among them, for those who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sale,

Thus Joseph, who was surnamed Barnabas or (as it may be translated) 'Son of Encouragement' by the apostles, a Levite of Cypriote birth,

"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."

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."

[Move first half of vs to start of vs 15] Many miracles and wonders were performed among the people by the apostles. Now they all without exception met in the portico of Solomon.

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

In fact, invalids were actually carried into the streets and laid on beds and mattresses, so that, when Peter passed, his shadow at anyrate might fall on one or other of them.

Crowds gathered even from the towns round Jerusalem, bringing invalids and people troubled with unclean spirits, all of whom were healed.

On hearing this the commander of the temple and the high priests were quite at a loss to know what to make of it.

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!"

The God of our fathers raised Jesus whom you murdered by hanging him on a gibbet.

God lifted him up to his right hand as our pioneer and saviour, in order to grant repentance and remission of sins to Israel.

When they heard this, they were so furious that they determined to make away with the apostles.

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.

After him Judas the Galilean started up at the time of the census, and got people to desert to him; but he perished too, and all his followers were scattered.

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;

They gave in to him, and after summoning the apostles and giving them a flogging, they released them with instructions that they were not to speak about the name of Jesus.

During these days, when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists began to complain against the Hebrews, on the ground that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.

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,

Then all who were seated in the Sanhedrin fixed their eyes on him, and saw that his face shone like the face of an angel.

"Listen, brothers and fathers," said Stephen. "The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was still in Mesopotamia, before ever he stayed in Haran,

and said to him, 'Leave your land and your countrymen and come to whatever land I show you.'

What God said was this: 'His offspring will sojourn in a foreign land, where they will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years.

Now a famine came over the whole of Egypt and Canaan, attended with great misery, so that our ancestors could not find provender.

But, hearing there was food in Egypt, Jacob sent our ancestors on their first visit to that country;

and Jacob went south to Egypt. When he and our ancestors died,

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.

He took a cunning method with our race; he oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to expose their infants, to prevent them from surviving.

When he had completed his fortieth year, it occurred to him to visit his brothers, the sons of Israel.

Next day he came upon two of them fighting and tried to pacify them. "You are brothers!" he said, "why injure one another?"

At that Moses fled; he became a sojourner in the land of Midian, where he had two sons born to him.

'I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.' Moses was so terrified that he did not dare to look at the bush.

But the Lord said to him, 'Take the sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is sacred ground.

(This was the Moses who told the sons of Israel, 'God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brotherhood, as he raised me.')

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.

But our fathers would not submit to him; they pushed him aside and hankered secretly after Egypt.

No, it was the tent of Moloch and the star-symbol of Rephan your god that you carried, figures that you manufactured for worship. So now I will transport you beyond Babylon!

In the desert our fathers had the tent of witness as arranged by Him who told Moses to make it after the pattern he had seen.

It was passed on and borne in by our fathers as with Joshua they took possession of the territory of the nations whom God drove out before our fathers. So it remained down to the days of David.

Stiff-necked, uncircumcised in heart and ear, you are always resisting the holy Spirit! As with your fathers, so with you!

Which of the prophets did your fathers fail to persecute? They killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Just One. And here you have betrayed him, murdered him! ??53 you who got the Law that angels transmitted, and have not obeyed it!"

When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him.

Now those who were scattered went through the land preaching the gospel.

Philip travelled down to a town in Samaria, where he preached Christ to the people.

For unclean spirits came screaming and shrieking out of many who had been possessed, and many paralytics and lame people were healed.

indeed Simon himself believed, and after his baptism kept close to Philip, utterly astonished to see the signs and striking miracles which were taking place.

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

You come in for no share or lot in this religion. Your heart is all wrong in the sight of God.

So repent of this wickedness of yours, and ask God whether you cannot be forgiven for your heart's purpose.

For I see you are a bitter poison and a pack of evil."

When Philip ran up, he heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. "Do you really understand what you are reading?"

So the eunuch said to Philip, "Pray, who is the prophet speaking about? Is it himself or someone else?"

while Philip found himself at Azotus, where he passed on, preaching the gospel in every town, till he reached Caesarea.

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.

"Who are you?" he asked. "I am Jesus," he said, "and you persecute me.