and assembling them together, commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, said he, ye have 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?

and he said unto them, 'It is not yours to know times or seasons that the Father did appoint in His own authority;

And these things having said -- they beholding -- he was taken up, and a cloud did receive him up from 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,

who also said, 'Men, Galileans, why do ye stand gazing into the heaven? this Jesus who was received up from you into the heaven, shall so come in what manner ye saw him going on to the heaven.'

At that time, Peter got up among the brothers (there were about 120 people present) and said,

and said, Men and brethren, it was necessary that this scripture should be fulfilled, which the holy Ghost spake by the mouth of David, concerning Judas, who was guide to them that apprehended Jesus:

"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

And they were full of wonder and said, Are not all these men Galilaeans?

And they were all in amazement and doubt, and said, one to another: What can this mean?

and others mocking said, -- 'They are full of sweet wine;'

But Peter standing up with the eleven lifted up his voice and said to them, Men of Judea, and all who live at Jerusalem, be this known to you, and attend to my words.

but this is what was said by the prophet;

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:

foreseeing this he spake of the resurrection of Christ, when he said, that his soul was not left in the invisible state, nor did his flesh see corruption.

After all, David did not go up to heaven, but he said, "The Lord told 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.'

And hearing [this] they were distressed in mind, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Men and brothers, what shall we do?

and Peter said unto them, 'Reform, and be baptized each of you on the name of Jesus Christ, to remission of sins, and ye shall 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.

And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.

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

Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.

When Peter saw this, he said to the people, "Fellow Israelites, why are you so surprised at this? Why do you keep staring at us, as though we had by our own power or piety made this man walk?

For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.

And you are the descendants of the prophets and the heirs of the sacred compact which God made with your forefathers, when He said to Abraham: 'All the families of the earth are to be blessed through 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, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel,

They said, "What should we do with these men? For it's obvious to everybody living in Jerusalem that an unmistakable sign has been done by them, and we cannot deny it.

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.

And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them.

And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is:

Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?

And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.

But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?

And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much.

Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.

But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said,

He said to them, "Go take your stand in the Temple, and continue to tell the people all 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,

He said, "We gave you strict orders not to teach in his name, didn't we? Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to bring this man's blood on us!"

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,

And said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching 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 called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.

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.

And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak 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?

And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran,

And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.

And God said thus; that his posterity should be a stranger in a foreign land, and they shall enslave it and treat it injuriously four hundred years;

And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that shall they come forth, and serve me in this place.

The next day, he presented himself to some of them while they were fighting and tried to reconcile them. He said, "Men, you are brothers. Why should you be hurting another?'

"But the man who was harming his neighbor pushed Moses away and said, "Who made you ruler and 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.

When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight, and when he went up to look at it, the voice of the Lord said to him,

Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground.

"This Moses whom they refused when they said, Who made you to be a ruler and a judge? that same Moses we find God sending as a ruler and a redeemer by the hand in the bush.

This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear.

and they said to Aaron, 'Make us gods to march in front of us, for as for this Moses, who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him!'

"Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made with hands; as said the prophet.

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.

As the crowds continued to listen to his message and continued to see his wonder-works which he was performing, with one mind they became interested in what was said by Philip.

that they all followed him, both old and young. this man, said they, is the plenipotentiary 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.

Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me.

Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Get up and go south by the road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza; this is the desert road."

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

And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?

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 went down on the earth, and a voice said to him, Saul, Saul, why are you attacking me so cruelly?

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.