The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach,

When they had entered the city, they went up to the upper room where they were staying; that is, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.

And it became known to all who were living in Jerusalem; so that in their own language that field was called Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)

Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us—

beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”

And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born?

‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says,
‘That I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind;
And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
And your young men shall see visions,
And your old men shall dream dreams;

‘And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

For David says of Him,
‘I saw the Lord always in my presence;
For He is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken.

“Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.

And so, because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants on his throne,

he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh suffer decay.

Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.”

So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.

“And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also.

But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.

Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;

and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you,

And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’

let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health.

And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.

saying, “What shall we do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.

But so that it will not spread any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no longer to any man in this name.”

But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge;

for the man was more than forty years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed.

When they had been released, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them.

And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said, “O Lord, it is You who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that is in them,

And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence,

And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them.

While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.”

And Peter responded to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for such and such a price?” And she said, “Yes, that was the price.”

Then Peter said to her, “Why is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out as well.”

to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on any one of them.

But the high priest rose up, along with all his associates (that is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy.

Then the captain went along with the officers and proceeded to bring them back without violence (for they were afraid of the people, that they might be stoned).

But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.

So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.

for we have heard him say that this Nazarene, Jesus, will destroy this place and alter the customs which Moses handed down to us.”

and said to him, ‘Leave your country and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.’

But He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground, and yet, even when he had no child, He promised that He would give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him.

But God spoke to this effect, that his descendants would be aliens in a foreign land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years.

‘And whatever nation to which they will be in bondage I Myself will judge,’ said God, ‘and after that they will come out and serve Me in this place.’

But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time.

It was he who took shrewd advantage of our race and mistreated our fathers so that they would expose their infants and they would not survive.

It was at this time that Moses was born; and he was lovely in the sight of God, and he was nurtured three months in his father’s home.

And he supposed that his brethren understood that God was granting them deliverance through him, but they did not understand.

At that time they made a calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in the works of their hands.

But God turned away and delivered them up to serve the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, ‘It was not to Me that you offered victims and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, was it, O house of Israel?

David found favor in God’s sight, and asked that he might find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.

Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death.And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

So there was much rejoicing in that city.

Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John,

who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.

Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money,

saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you.

For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.”

But Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.)

[And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”]

and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him;

and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.”

So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ.

but their plot became known to Saul. They were also watching the gates day and night so that they might put him to death;

When he came to Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple.

But Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had talked to him, and how at Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus.

And it happened at that time that she fell sick and died; and when they had washed her body, they laid it in an upper room.

Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, having heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him, imploring him, “Do not delay in coming to us.”

So Peter arose and went with them. When he arrived, they brought him into the upper room; and all the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing all the tunics and garments that Dorcas used to make while she was with them.

And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean.

That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was sent for. So I ask for what reason you have sent for me.”

So I sent for you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.”

Opening his mouth, Peter said:“I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality,

God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible,

not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.

And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead.

Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”

Now the apostles and the brethren who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.

And behold, at that moment three men appeared at the house in which we were staying, having been sent to me from Caesarea.

Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?”

When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.”

So then those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way to Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone.

One of them named Agabus stood up and began to indicate by the Spirit that there would certainly be a great famine all over the world. And this took place in the reign of Claudius.

And in the proportion that any of the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the relief of the brethren living in Judea.

Now about that time Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church in order to mistreat them.

When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. Now it was during the days of Unleavened Bread.

And he went out and continued to follow, and he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.

When they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.

When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”

When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her joy she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate.

They said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was so. They kept saying, “It is his angel.”

When Herod had searched for him and had not found him, he examined the guards and ordered that they be led away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and was spending time there.

Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

And while John was completing his course, he kept saying, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not He. But behold, one is coming after me the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

And though they found no ground for putting Him to death, they asked Pilate that He be executed.

When they had carried out all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb.

that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘You are My Son; today i have begotten You.’