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

(Now having bought a piece of ground with the money paid for his wickedness he fell there with his face downwards, and, his body bursting open, he became disembowelled.

"For it is written in the Book of Psalms, "'Let his encampment be desolate: let there be no one to dwell there'; and "'His work let another take up.'

when suddenly there came from the sky a sound as of a strong rushing blast of wind. This filled the whole house where they were sitting;

Now there were Jews residing in Jerusalem, devout men from every part of the world.

some men were carrying there one who had been lame from birth, whom they were wont to place every day close to the Beautiful Gate (as it was called)

Repent, therefore, and reform your lives, so that the record of your sins may be cancelled, and that there may come seasons of revival from the Lord,

And in no other is the great salvation to be found; for, in fact, there is no second name under Heaven that has been given among men through which we are to be saved."

Among all those who had embraced the faith there was but one heart and soul, so that none of them claimed any of his possessions as his own, but everything they had was common property;

And, in fact, there was not a needy man among them, for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the money which they realised,

There was a man of the name of Ananias who, with his wife Sapphira, sold some property but,

saying, "The jail we found quite safely locked, and the warders were on guard at the doors, but upon going in we found no one there."

And some one came and brought them word, saying, "The men you put in prison are actually in the Temple, standing there, teaching the people."

But there came a famine throughout the whole of Egypt and Canaan--and great distress--so that our forefathers could find no food.

When, however, Jacob heard that there was wheat to be had, he sent our forefathers into Egypt; that was the first time.

and Jacob went down into Egypt. There he died, and so did our forefathers,

until there arose a foreign king over Egypt who knew nothing of Joseph.

"Alarmed at this question, Moses fled from the country and went to live in the land of Midian. There he became the father of two sons.

"But at the end of forty years there appeared to him in the Desert of Mount Sinai an angel in the middle of a flame of fire in a bush.

while Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed Christ there.

And there was great joy in that city.

Now for some time past there had been a man named Simon living there, who had been practising magic and astonishing the Samaritans, pretending that he was more than human.

Upon this he rose and went. Now, as it happened, an Ethiopian eunuch who was in a position of high authority with Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, as her treasurer, had visited Jerusalem to worship there,

So they proceeded on their way till they came to some water; and the eunuch exclaimed, "See, here is water; what is there to prevent my being baptized?"

went to the High Priest and begged from him letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, in order that if he found any believers there, either men or women, he might bring them in chains to Jerusalem.

But on the journey, as he was getting near Damascus, suddenly there flashed round him a light from Heaven;

Now in Damascus there was a disciple of the name of Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, saying, "Ananias!" "I am here, Lord," he answered.

Instantly there dropped from his eyes what seemed to be scales, and he could see once more. Upon this he rose and received baptism;

There he found a man of the name of Aeneas, who for eight years had kept his bed, through being paralysed.

and the day after that they reached Caesarea. There Cornelius was awaiting their arrival, and had invited all his relatives and intimate friends to be present.

"While I was in the town of Jaffa, offering prayer," he said, "in a trance I saw a vision. There descended what seemed to be an enormous sail, being let down from the sky by ropes at the four corners, and it came close to me.

And the Spirit told me to accompany them without any misgivings. There also went with me these six brethren who are now present, and we reached the Centurion's house.

The power of the Lord was with them, and there were a vast number who believed and turned to the Lord.

On getting there he was delighted to see the grace which God had bestowed; and he encouraged them all to remain, with fixed resolve, faithful to the Lord.

and recognizing Peter's voice, for very joy she did not open the door, but ran in and told them that Peter was standing there.

When morning came, there was no little commotion among the soldiers, as to what could possibly have become of Peter.

And when Herod had had him searched for and could not find him, after sharply questioning the guards he ordered them away to execution. He then went down from Judaea to Caesarea and remained there.

Now there were in Antioch, in the Church there--as Prophets and teachers--barnabas, Symeon surnamed 'the black,' Lucius the Cyrenaean, Manaen (who was Herod the Tetrarch's foster-brother)

They therefore, being thus sent out by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleuceia, and from there sailed to Cyprus.

When they had gone through the whole length of the island as far as Paphos, they there met with a Jewish magician and false prophet, Bar-Jesus by name,

The Lord's hand is now upon you, and you will be blind for a time and unable to see the light of day." Instantly there fell upon him a mist and a darkness, and, as he walked about, he begged people to lead him by the hand.

But John, towards the end of his career, repeatedly asked the people, "'What do you suppose me to be? I am not the Christ. But there is One coming after me whose sandal I am not worthy to unfasten.'

Yet Paul and Barnabas remained there for a considerable time, speaking freely and relying on the Lord, while He bore witness to the Message of His grace by permitting signs and marvels to be done by them.

And there they continued to tell the Good News.

and, after proclaiming the Good News to the people there and gaining a large number of converts, they retraced their steps to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch.

Between these new comers and Paul and Barnabas there was no little disagreement and controversy, until at last it was decided that Paul and Barnabas and some other brethren should go up to consult the Apostles and Elders in Jerusalem on this matter.

and after there had been a long discussion Peter rose to his feet. "It is within your own knowledge," he said, "that God originally made choice among you that from my lips the Gentiles were to hear the Message of the Good News, and believe.

After spending some time there they received an affectionate farewell from the brethren to return to those who had sent them.

So there arose a serious disagreement between them, which resulted in their parting from one another, Barnabas taking Mark and setting sail for Cyprus.

Here, one night, Paul saw a vision. There was a Macedonian who was standing, entreating him and saying, "Come over into Macedonia and help us."

So when he had seen the vision, we immediately looked out for an opportunity of passing on into Macedonia, confidently inferring that God had called us to proclaim the Good News to the people there.

and thence to Philippi, which is a city in Macedonia, the first in its district, a Roman colony. And there we stayed some little time.

On the Sabbath we went beyond the city gate to the riverside, where we had reason to believe that there was a place for prayer; and sitting down we talked with the women who had come together.

When she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, "If in your judgement I am a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house." And she made us go there.

when suddenly there was such a violent shock of earthquake that the prison shook to its foundations. Instantly the doors all flew open, and the chains fell off from every prisoner.

Then, passing through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they went to Thessalonica. Here there was a synagogue of the Jews.

Jason has received them into his house; and they all set Caesar's authority at defiance, declaring that there is another Emperor-- one called Jesus."

As soon, however, as the Jews of Thessalonica learnt that God's Message had been proclaimed by Paul at Beroea, they came there also, and incited the mob to a riot.

They put in at Ephesus, and there Paul left his companions behind. As for himself, he went to the synagogue and had a discussion with the Jews.

"Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you first believed?" he asked them. "No," they replied, "we did not even hear that there is a Holy Spirit."

Afterwards he went into the synagogue. There for three months he continued to preach fearlessly, explaining in words which carried conviction the truths which concern the Kingdom of God.

But there were also some wandering Jewish exorcists who undertook to invoke the name of Jesus over those who had the evil spirits, saying, "I command you by that Jesus whom Paul preaches."

There were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew of high-priestly family, who were doing this.

All the people of Ephesus, Jews as well as Greeks, came to know of this. There was widespread terror, and they began to hold the name of the Lord Jesus in high honour.

Now just at that time there arose no small commotion about the new faith.

There was a certain Demetrius, a silversmith, who made miniature silver sanctuaries of Diana, a business which brought great gain to the mechanics in his employ.

There is danger, therefore, not only that this our trade will become of no account, but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana will fall into utter disrepute, and that before long she will be actually deposed from her majestic rank--she who is now worshipped by the whole province of Asia; nay, by the whole world."

No sooner, however, did they see that he was a Jew, than there arose from them all one roar of shouting, lasting about two hours. "Great is the Ephesian Diana," they said.

At length the Recorder quieted them down. "Men of Ephesus," he said, "who is there of all mankind that needs to be told that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Diana and of the image which fell down from Zeus?

If, however, Demetrius and the mechanics who support his contention have a grievance against any one, there are Assize-days and there are Proconsuls: let the persons interested accuse one another.

For in connexion with to-day's proceedings there is danger of our being charged with attempted insurrection, there having been no real reason for this riot; nor shall we be able to justify the behaviour of this disorderly mob."

Passing through those districts he encouraged the disciples in frequent addresses, and then came into Greece, and spent three months there.

Now there were a good many lamps in the room upstairs where we all were,

The rest of us had already gone on board a ship, and now we set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul on board there; for so he had arranged, he himself intending to go by land.

Sailing from there, we arrived the next day off Chios. On the next we touched at Samos; and on the day following reached Miletus.

"And now, impelled by a sense of duty, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there,

When, at last, we had torn ourselves away and had set sail, we ran in a straight course to Cos; the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.

After sighting Cyprus and leaving that island on our left, we continued our voyage to Syria and put in at Tyre; for there the ship was to unload her cargo.

His reply was, "What can you mean by thus breaking my heart with your grief? Why, as for me, I am ready not only to go to Jerusalem and be put in chains, but even to die there for the sake of the Lord Jesus."

At length we reached Jerusalem, and there the brethren gave us a hearty welcome.

And they, when they had heard his statement, gave the glory to God. Then they said, "You see, brother, how many tens of thousands of Jews there are among those who have accepted the faith, and they are all zealous upholders of the Law.

Associate with these men and purify yourself with them, and pay their expenses so that they can shave their heads. Then everybody will know that there is no truth in these stories about you, but that in your own actions you yourself scrupulously obey the Law.

So Paul associated with the men; and the next day, having purified himself with them, he went into the Temple, giving every one to understand that the days of their purification were finished, and there he remained until the sacrifice for each of them was offered.

The excitement spread through the whole city, and the people rushed in crowds to the Temple, and there laid hold of Paul and began to drag him out; and the Temple gates were immediately closed.

So with his permission Paul stood on the steps and motioned with his hand to the people to be quiet; and when there was perfect silence he addressed them in Hebrew.

as the High Priest also and all the Elders can bear me witness. It was, too, from them that I received letters to the brethren in Damascus, and I was already on my way to Damascus, intending to bring those also who had fled there, in chains to Jerusalem, to be punished.

And I asked, "'What am I to do, Lord?' "And the Lord said to me, "'Rise, and go into Damascus. There you shall be told of all that has been appointed for you to do.'

"Before long," exclaimed Paul, "God will strike you, you white-washed wall! Are you sitting there to judge me in accordance with the Law, and do you yourself actually break the Law by ordering me to be struck?"

For the Sadducees maintain that there is no resurrection, and neither angel nor spirit; but the Pharisees acknowledge the existence of both.

So there arose a great uproar; and some of the Scribes belonging to the sect of the Pharisees sprang to their feet and fiercely contended, saying, "We find no harm in the man. What if a spirit has spoken to him, or an angel----!"

There were more than forty of them who bound themselves by this oath.

and having a hope directed towards God, which my accusers themselves also entertain, that before long there will be a resurrection both of the righteous and the unrighteous.

While I was busy about these, they found me in the Temple purified, with no crowd around me and no uproar; but there were certain Jews from the province of Asia.

Festus, however, replied that Paul was in custody in Caesarea, and that he was himself going there very soon.

"Therefore let those of you," he said, "who can come, go down with me, and impeach the man, if there is anything amiss in him."

Then Festus, being anxious to gratify the Jews, asked Paul, "Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem, and there stand your trial before me on these charges?"

If, however, I have done wrong and have committed any offence for which I deserve to die, I do not ask to be excused that penalty. But if there is no truth in what these men allege against me, no one has the right to give me up to them as a favour. I appeal to Caesar."

and, during their rather long stay, Festus laid Paul's case before the king. "There is a man here," he said, "whom Felix left a prisoner,

I was at a loss how to investigate such questions, and asked Paul whether he would care to go to Jerusalem and there stand his trial on these matters.

The next day we put in at Sidon. There Julius treated Paul with thoughtful kindness and allowed him to visit his friends and profit by their generous care.