While He was together with them, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father’s promise. “This,” He said, “is what you heard from Me;

For [Jesus had said, Matt. 3:11], "John immersed you [men] in water but [this time] you will be immersed in the Holy Spirit, and [it will happen] in just a few more days."

So, when they were together, they said to him, Lord, will you at this time give back the kingdom to Israel?

He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by His own authority.

After He had said this, He was taken up as they were watching, and a cloud took Him out of their sight.

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,

They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen Him going into heaven.”

During these days Peter stood up among the brothers—the number of people who were together was about 120—and said:

and said, men and brethren, the prediction which the holy ghost made, by the mouth of David, concerning Judas, who was guide to those that seiz'd Jesus, must have been accomplished.

"For in the Book of Psalms," Peter continued, "it is said-- 'Let his dwelling become desolate, and let no one live in it'; and also--'His office let another take.'

and having prayed, they said, 'Thou, Lord, who art knowing the heart of all, shew which one thou didst choose of these two

struck with astonishment and admiration, they said to one another, are not these men who are speaking, all Galileans?

And they were all amazed and bewildered and said to one another, "What can this mean?"

But some sneered and said, “They’re full of new wine!”

But Peter standing up with the eleven, and raising his voice, said to them, ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known to you, and observe what I say.

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

God said that 'in the last days [of the Jewish nation?] I will pour out My Holy Spirit upon all people [i.e., both Jews and Gentiles], and your sons and daughters will speak out [in prophecies] and your young men will see [supernatural] visions, and your old men will have [supernatural] dreams.

For David said of him, I saw the Lord before my face at all times, for he is at my right hand, so that I may not be moved:

he spoke of the resurrection of Christ, when he said, "that his soul was not lest in the grave, neither did his body undergo corruption."'

For it was not David who ascended into the heavens, but he himself says:

The Lord declared to my Lord,
‘Sit at My right hand

'The Lord said to my Lord sit on my right hand, until I make thy foes, thy footstool.'

When they heard this, they came under deep conviction and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles: “Brothers, what must we do?”

“Repent,” Peter said to them, “and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

He said much more besides in giving his testimony, and urged them to save themselves from that crooked age.

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

Peter, along with John, looked at him intently and said, “Look at us.”

So he waited, expecting to get something from them. Then Peter said:

But Peter said, “I don’t have silver or gold, but what I have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!”

And when Peter saw it he said to the people, You men of Israel, why are you so greatly surprised at this man? or why are you looking at us as if by our power or virtue we had given him the use of his legs?

Moses said:

The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to Him in everything He will say to you.

ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, when he said to Abraham, "all the families of the earth shall be blessed in your posterity."

But many of those who had heard what they said believed it, and their number grew to be about five thousand.

Then sending for Peter and John, they said, By what power and in whose name have you done this?

Then Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders:

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.

But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.

And when they had said more sharp words to them, they let them go, not seeing what punishment they might give them, because of the people; for all men were giving praise to God for what had taken place.

After they were released, they went to their own people and reported everything the chief priests and the elders had said to them.

When they heard this, they all raised their voices to God and said, “Master, You are the One who made the heaven, the earth, and the sea, and everything in them.

You said through the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of our father David Your servant:

Why did the Gentiles rage
and the peoples plot futile things?

Now the large group of those who believed were of one heart and mind, and no one said that any of his possessions was his own, but instead they held everything in common.

Then Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the proceeds from the field?

“Tell me,” Peter asked her, “did you sell the field for this price?”

“Yes,” she said, “for that price.”

Then Peter said to her, “Why did you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out!”

But an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail during the night, brought them out, and said,

said, Go, stand and speak in the temple the words of this life.

and sent to the prison, to have them brought, But when the officers came, they found them not in the prison; and returning they said,

And someone came and said to them, The men, whom you put in prison, are in the Temple teaching the people.

And they took them into the Sanhedrin, and the high priest said to them,

"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!"

Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

But a certain pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, held in much esteem by all the people, stood up in the council, and ordered the apostles to be taken out a little while; and then he said unto them,

He said to them, “Men of Israel, be careful about what you’re going to do to these men.

For before this there was Theudas, who said he was someone important, to whom about four hundred men gave their support: he was put to death, and his band was broken up and came to nothing.

Then the Twelve summoned the whole company of the disciples and said, “It would not be right for us to give up preaching about God to handle financial matters.

And what was said pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus a proselyte of Antioch,

Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.

They also presented false witnesses who said, “This man does not stop speaking blasphemous words against this holy place and the law.

For he has said in our hearing that this Jesus of Nazareth will put this place to destruction and make changes in the rules which were handed down to us by Moses.

Then said the high priest, Are these things so?

“Brothers and fathers,” he said, “listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran,

and said to him:

Get out of your country
and away from your relatives,
and come to the land
that I will show you.

And God said that his seed would be living in a strange land, and that they would make them servants, and be cruel to them for four hundred years.

I will judge the nation
that they will serve as slaves, God said.
After this, they will come out
and worship Me in this place.

And on the next day he was seen by them as they fought, and he was reconciling them for peace, having said, Men, ye are brothers. Why is it that ye wrong each other?

But the man who was doing wrong to his neighbour, pushing him away, said, Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?

When the man said this, Moses fled and became a foreigner in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.

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 the Lord said to him:

Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.

“This Moses, whom they rejected when they said, Who appointed you a ruler and a judge?—this one God sent as a ruler and a redeemer by means of the angel who appeared to him in the bush.

“This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your brothers.

"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."

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

But Stephen, filled by the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven. He saw God’s glory, with Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and he said,

And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.

They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”

And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

The crowds paid attention with one mind to what Philip said, as they heard and saw the signs he was performing.

They all paid attention to him, from the least of them to the greatest, and they said, “This man is called the Great Power of God!”

When Simon saw that it was through the placing of the Apostles' hands on them that the Spirit was given, he brought them a sum of money and said:

and said, "Give me this power too, that when I lay my hands on anyone he may receive the Holy Spirit."

But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.

“Please pray to the Lord for me,” Simon replied, “so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”

But an angel of the Lord said to Philip, Get up, and go to the south, to the road which goes from Jerusalem to Gaza, through the waste land.

Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.

When Philip ran up to it, he heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you’re reading?”

And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.

Now the passage of Scripture he was reading said [Isa. 53:7ff], "He was led out to be slaughtered as a sheep; He made no sound, just like a lamb when it was being sheared.

And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?

And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?

And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

and he fell to the ground, and heard a voice which said to him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

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 pricks.

And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord.

And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth,

(at that very instant Saul saw in a vision the said Ananias come in, and put his hand on him, to restore his sight.)

But Ananias said, Lord, I have had accounts of this man from a number of people, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem:

But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:

And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.