Down to that day on which he was taken up to Heaven, after he had, by the help of the Holy Spirit, given instructions to the Apostles whom he had chosen.

For, while John baptized with water, you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit before many days have passed."

But you shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit shall have descended upon you, and shall be witnesses for me not only in Jerusalem, but throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

"Brothers," he said, "it was necessary that the prediction of Scripture should be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit made by the lips of David about Judas, who acted as guide to the men that arrested Jesus,

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with strange 'tongues' as the Spirit prompted their utterances.

'It shall come about in the last days,' God says, 'That I will pour out my Spirit on all mankind; your sons and your daughters shall become Prophets, your young men shall see visions, and your old men dream dreams;

Yes, even on the slaves--for they are mine--both men and women, I will in those days pour out my Spirit,

And now that he has been exalted to the right hand of God, and has received from the Father the promised gift of the Holy Spirit, he has begun to pour out that gift, as you yourselves now see and hear.

"Repent," answered Peter, "and be baptized every one of you in the Faith of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

With many other words Peter enforced his teaching, while the burden of his exhortations was--"Save yourselves from the perverse spirit of this age."

On this, Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, spoke as follows: "Leaders of the people and Councillors,

And who, by the lips of our ancestor, your servant David, who spoke under the influence of the Holy Spirit, have said-- 'Why did the nations rage, and the peoples form vain designs?

When their prayer was ended, the place in which they were assembled was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to tell God's Message fearlessly.

"Ananias," Peter exclaimed, "how is it that Satan has so taken possession of your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit, and kept back a part of the money paid for the land?

Then Peter said: "How did you come to agree to provoke the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The foot-steps of those who have buried your husband are at the door; and they will carry you out too."

And we are witness to the truth of this, and so is the Holy Spirit--the gift of God to those who obey him."

This proposal was unanimously agreed to; and the disciples chose Stephen--a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit--and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas of Antioch, a former convert to Judaism;

So God's Message spread, and the number of the disciples continued to increase rapidly in Jerusalem, and a large body of the priests accepted the Faith.

Then a famine spread over the whole of Egypt and Canaan, causing great distress, and our ancestors could find no food.

O! stubborn race, heathen in heart and ears, you are for ever resisting the Holy Spirit; your ancestors did it, and you are doing it still.

He, filled as he was with the Holy Spirit, fixed his eyes intently on the heavens, and saw the Glory of God and Jesus standing at God's right hand.

And they stoned Stephen, while he cried to the Lord: "Lord Jesus! receive my spirit!"

And they, on their arrival, prayed that the Samaritans might receive the Holy Spirit.

(As yet the Spirit had not descended upon any of them; they had only been baptized into the Faith of the Lord Jesus).

Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

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:

"Give me also this power of yours, so that, if I place my hands upon any one, he may receive the Holy Spirit."

The Spirit said to Philip: "Go up to the carriage yonder and keep close to it."

But, when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, and the Treasurer saw no more of him; for he continued his journey with a joyful heart.

So Ananias went, entered the house, and, placing his hands on Saul, said: "Saul, my Brother, I have been sent by the Lord--by Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here--so that you may recover your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."

And so it came about that the Church, throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, enjoyed peace and became firmly established; and, ordering its life by reverence for the Lord and the help of the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.

Peter was still pondering over the vision, when the Spirit said to him: "There are two men looking for you at this moment.

You yourselves know the story which spread through all Judea, how, beginning form Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed--

The story, I mean, of Jesus of Nazareth, and how God consecrated him his Christ by enduing him with the Holy Spirit and with power; and how he went about doing good and curing all who were under the power of the Devil, because God was with him.

Before Peter had finished saying these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all who were listening to the Message.

Those converts from Judaism, who had come with Peter, were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been bestowed even upon the Gentiles;

"Can any one refuse the water for the baptism of these people, now that they have received the Holy Spirit as we did ourselves?"

The Spirit told me to go with them without hesitation. These six Brothers also went with me. And, when we came into the man's house,

I had but just begun to speak," continued Peter, "when the Holy Spirit fell on them, exactly as on us at the first;

And I recalled the saying of the Master-- 'John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'

For Barnabas was a good man and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith--and a large number of people took their stand on the Lord's side.

One of them, named Agabus, came forward and, under the influence of the Spirit, foretold a great famine that was to spread over all the world--a famine which occurred in the reign of Claudius.

"You are mad!" they exclaimed. But, when she persisted that it was so, they said: "It must be his spirit!"

While they were engaged in the worship of the Lord and were fasting, the Holy Spirit said: "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul, for the work to which I have called them."

Barnabas and Saul, sent on this mission, as they were, by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia, and from there sailed to Cyprus.

However, Saul (who is the same as Paul), full of the Holy Spirit, fixed his eyes on him and said:

And went to Iconium, leaving the disciples full of joy and of the Holy Spirit.

Now God, who reads all hearts, declared his acceptance of the Gentiles, by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us.

We have, therefore, decided, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to lay no further burden upon you beyond these necessary conditions--

They next went through the Phrygian district of Galatia, but were restrained by the Holy Spirit from delivering the Message in Roman Asia.

When they reached the borders of Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them.

One day, as we were on our way to the Place of Prayer, we were met by a girl possessed by a divining spirit, who made large profits for her masters by fortune-telling.

She had been doing this for several days, when Paul, much vexed, turned and said to the spirit within her: "In the Name of Jesus Christ I command you to leave her." That very moment the spirit left her.

"Did you, when you became believers in Christ, receive the Holy Spirit?" "No," they answered, "we did not even hear that there was a Holy Spirit."

And, after Paul had placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit descended upon them, and they began to speak with 'tongues' and to preach.

But the wicked spirit answered them: "Jesus I acknowledge, and Paul I know, but you--who are you?"

Then the man, in whom this wicked spirit was, sprang upon them, mastered both of them, and so completely overpowered them, that they fled out of the house, stripped of their clothes, and wounded.

So irresistibly did the Lord's Message spread and prevail.

The commotion spread through the whole city, and the people rushed together into the amphitheater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, two Macedonians who were Paul's traveling companions.

Except that in town after town the Holy Spirit plainly declares to me that imprisonment and troubles await me.

Be watchful over yourselves, and over the whole flock, of which the Holy Spirit has placed you in charge, to shepherd the Church of God, which he won for himself at the cost of his life.

There we found the disciples and stayed a week with them. Speaking under the influence of the Spirit, they warned Paul not to set foot in Jerusalem.

He came to see us, and, taking Paul's girdle, and binding his own feet and hands with it, said: "This is what the Holy Spirit says--'The man to whom this girdle belongs will be bound like this at Jerusalem by the Jews, and they will give him up to the Gentiles'."

Some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us, and brought Mnason with them, a Cypriot disciple of long standing, with whom we were to stay.

(For Sadducees say there is no such thing as a resurrection, and that there is neither angel nor spirit, while Pharisees believe in both.)

So a great uproar ensued, and some of the Teaches of the Law belonging to the Pharisees' party stood up and hotly protested: "We find nothing whatever wrong in this man. Suppose a spirit did speak to him, or an angel--"

So, as they disagreed among themselves, they began to disperse, Paul adding only--"True, indeed, was the declaration made by the Holy Spirit, through the Prophet Isaiah to your ancestors--