And when they were all together, with him, he gave them orders not to go away from Jerusalem, but to keep there, waiting till the word of the Father was put into effect, of which, he said, I have given you knowledge:

But, while they stood intently gazing into the sky as He went, suddenly there were two men in white garments standing by them,

who also said, "Men {of Galilee}, why do you stand there looking into the sky? This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven like this will come back in the same way you saw him departing into heaven!"

When they were arrived there, they went up into an upper room, where Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alpheus, Simon the Zelot, and Judas the brother of James used to resort,

And in these days Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren, and said (and there was a multitude of persons gathered together, about a hundred and twenty),

(Now this man, with the reward of his evil-doing, got for himself a field, and falling head first, came to a sudden and violent end there.

"For it is written in the book of Psalms, 'Let his residence become deserted, and let there be no one to live in it,' and, 'Let another person take his position.'

Therefore must there, of these men having come with us in all the time in which the Lord Jesus came in and came out among us,

beginning from his baptism by John, until the day in which he was taken up from us, must there be chosen with us a witness of his resurrection, even one of these.

and there came suddenly out of the heaven a sound as of a bearing violent breath, and it filled all the house where they were sitting,

and there appeared to them divided tongues, as it were of fire; it sat also upon each one of them,

There were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven.

And there having been this voice, the multitude came together, and were disturbed, for each one heard them speaking in his own dialect.

But there were some who said with a sneer: "They have had too much new wine."

then those, indeed, who did gladly receive his word were baptized, and there were added on that day, as it were, three thousand souls,

And there came on every soul, fear, and, many wonders and signs, through means of the apostles, were coming to pass.

And a man who was lame from birth was carried there and placed every day at the temple gate called Beautiful, so he could beg from those entering the temple complex.

And all the people [there in the Temple area] saw him walking and [heard him] praising God.

Repent ye therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that so there may come seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord;

And as they are speaking unto the people, there came to them the priests, and the magistrate of the temple, and the Sadducees --

greatly disturbed because they were teaching the people and declaring that in the case of Jesus there had been a resurrection from the dead.

And it came to pass upon the morrow, there were gathered together of them the rulers, and elders, and scribes, to Jerusalem,

and Annas the high priest was there , and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest.

There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people, and we must be saved by it.”

And [because they] saw the man who had been healed standing there with them, they had nothing to say in return.

The kings of the earth were there, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ.

For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,

Now there was but one heart and soul in the vast number of those who had become believers, and not one of them claimed that anything that he had was his own, but they shared everything that they had as common property.

For there was not a needy person among them, because all those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the proceeds of the things that were sold,

Now there was a certain man named Ananias who with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,

And, as Ananias heard these words, he fell, and expired. And there came great fear upon all that heard;

There was an interval of about three hours; then his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

then Peter said to her, how comes it that you have conspir'd together, to tempt the spirit of the Lord? see there at the door the men that are come from burying thy husband, and they shall carry thee out likewise.

And there came great fear upon the whole assembly, and upon all them that heard these things.

More and more believers in the Lord, crowds of men and women, were constantly being added to their number,

There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one.

But when the temple police got there, they did not find them in the jail, so they returned and reported,

Saying, The doors of the prison were safely shut, and the keepers were at the doors, but when they were open, there was nobody inside.

And there came one and told them, Behold, the men whom ye put in the prison are in the temple standing and teaching the people.

Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space;

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.

After this man arose there up one Judas of Galilee, in the time when tribute began, and drew away much people after him. He also perished: and all, even as many as harkened to him, are scattered abroad.

In those days, as the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint by the Hellenistic Jews against the Hebraic Jews that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution.

Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.

There they produced witnesses who gave false evidence. "This man," they said, "is incessantly saying things against this Holy Place and the Law;

“Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. From there, after his father died, God had him move to this land you now live in.

And he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a footstep. And he promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, although there was no child by him.

But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,' said God, 'and after these things they will come out of there and worship me in this place.'

Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance.

When Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors the first time.

and Jacob went down to Egypt. He and our ancestors died there,

From there they were removed to Shechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

till there arose another king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph.

And, when there was being fulfilled unto him a period of forty years, it came up on his heart to look after his brethren the sons of Israel;

And at these words, Moses went in flight to the land of Midian, and was living there for a time, and had two sons.

And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.

and Moses having seen did wonder at the sight; and he drawing near to behold, there came a voice of the Lord unto him,

I have surely seen the mistreatment of my people there in Egypt and I have heard their groaning and I have determined to rescue them. Now [get ready], I will send you to Egypt [to lead out in their rescue].'

It was he who brought them out of Egypt by performing wonders and signs there and at the Red Sea -- as he did also in the desert for forty years.

'"Heaven is my throne, and earth a footstool for my feet. What house can you build for me?" says the Lord; "Or what place is there in which I can rest?

was there ever any prophet whom your fathers did not persecute? have they not slain those who predicted the coming of that just person whom you have so lately betrayed and murder'd?

and he said, there I see the heavens open, and the son of man standing on the right hand of God.

And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.

Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and there began to preach the Christ.

For there were many instances of people with foul spirits, where the spirits, with loud screams, came out of them;

So there was great joy in that city.

But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:

Everyone there, high and low, made much of him, and said, "He must be what is known as the Great Power of God!"

When the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted God's message, they sent Peter and John there.

After they went down there, they prayed for them, so the Samaritans might receive the Holy Spirit.

There is no part nor lot for thee in this matter, for thy heart is not straight in the sight of God.

Repent, there fore, of this your wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the purpose of your heart may be forgiven you.

So he got up and went. There was an Ethiopian man, a eunuch and high official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to worship in Jerusalem

And Philip ran there to him and heard him read the prophet Isaiah, and said, Do you indeed understand what you are reading?

He was subjected to [terrible] humiliation and deprived of justice. Who will [there be to] trace His descendants, since His life was taken from Him, [leaving no posterity]."

As they were traveling down the road, they came to some water. The eunuch said, “Look, there’s water! What would keep me from being baptized?”

But [later on] Philip appeared at Azotus and after leaving there he preached the good news [of Jesus] to all the towns along the way until he reached Caesarea. [Note: Caesarea was a town on the west coast of Palestine, named after the emperor Caesar].

And made a request for letters from him to the Synagogues of Damascus, so that if there were any of the Way there, men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:

But get up and go into the city, and there it will be told you what you ought to do."

(Now the men who were traveling with him stood there speechless, because they heard the voice but saw no one.)

And he remained there three days, seeing nothing, and without eating or drinking.

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.

“Get up and go to the street called Straight,” the Lord said to him, “to the house of Judas, and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, since he is praying there.

"Lord," exclaimed Ananias, "I have heard from many people about this man--how much harm he has done at Jerusalem to your People there.

So Ananias left and went to that house, and there he laid his hands upon Saul, and said, "Saul, my. brother, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road on which you were coming here, has sent me that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."

And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.

But Saul was strengthened [spiritually] and proceeded to confound the Jews living [there] in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.

Now when Saul arrived at Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples there, but they were all afraid of him, because they did not believe that he was really a disciple.

So when the brothers found this out, they took him down to Caesarea, and from there sent him back to Tarsus.

Now, as Peter was going here and there among them all, he finally went down to God's people who lived at Lydda.

And there he found a certain man named AEneas, which had kept his bed eight years, and was sick of the palsy.

Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did.

And forasmuch as Lydda was nigh to Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent unto him two men, desiring him that he would not delay to come to them.

And Peter went with them. And when he had come, they took him into the room: and all the widows were there, weeping and putting before him the coats and clothing which Dorcas had made while she was with them.

so that Peter staid there a considerable time with one Simon a tanner.

There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band,

and he became very hungry, and wished to eat; and they making ready, there fell upon him a trance,

And he saw heaven opened, and there descended to him a certain vessel, as a great sheet with chains at the four corners, and resting upon the earth:

and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air.