To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.

[One day, as He was] gathered with these apostles, He urged them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there until they received what the Father had promised them. (Jesus had previously discussed this with them). [See Luke 24:49].

Because John indeed immersed in water, but ye will be immersed in Holy Spirit after not many of these days.

Then, indeed, these coming together, they asked Him, saying, Lord, do You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?

His answer was: "It is not for you to know times or hours, for the Father has reserved these for his own decision;

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

When they came into the city, these men went to the upstairs room where they had been staying: Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.

All these were continually united in prayer, along with the women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and His brothers.

During these days Peter stood up among the brothers—the number of people who were together was about 120—and said:

Wherefore of these men which have companied with us - all the time that the Lord Jesus went out and in among us,

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

Then they prayed, “You, Lord, know the hearts of all; show which of these two You have chosen

And they were astounded and amazed, saying, “Look, aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans?

Cretans and Arabians. How can it be that we hear [these apostles] speaking about the mighty accomplishments of God in the language of our national origin?

others in derision said, these men are full of sweet wine.

For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it’s only nine in the morning.

[In that day] the sun will become dark and the moon will [appear] as blood. [This will all happen] before the great and wonderful day when the Lord comes. [Note: Some view these last two verses as a reference to events occurring at the end of time. See Matt. 24:29-30].

“Men of Israel, listen to these words: This Jesus the Nazarene was a man pointed out to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs that God did among you through Him, just as you yourselves know.

Now when these words came to their ears their hearts were troubled, and they said to Peter and the other Apostles, Brothers, what are we to do?

And these [new converts] continued regularly [to listen] to the teaching of the apostles and to share with them; they broke bread [in memory of Jesus] and continued praying.

And they began selling [their] possessions and property, and distributing these [things] to all, to the degree that anyone had need.

But God, announced these things beforehand by the mouth of all his prophets, for Christ to suffer, he so completed.

“In addition, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those after him, have also announced these days.

You people are descendants of these prophets and [recipients] of the Agreement God made with your forefathers when He said to Abraham [Gen. 12:3], 'And through your seed [i.e., your descendant Jesus] all the people of the earth will receive the blessings [of God].'

So, these [Jewish] leaders arrested Peter and John and put them in jail until the next day because it was [already] evening.

And when these men had Peter and John brought before them, they asked, "By whose authority or in what name have you done this thing [i.e., healed the crippled man]?"

Now when these men saw how boldly Peter and John spoke, and perceived that they were uneducated and [even] ignorant men, they were quite surprised; then they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

saying, “What should we do with these men? For an obvious sign, evident to all who live in Jerusalem, has been done through them, and we cannot deny it!

So, now Lord, take account of the threats [of these Jewish leaders] and give your servants all the boldness [we need] to speak your message,

And after they had prayed, the place where they were gathered shook, and these disciples were all filled with [the power of] the Holy Spirit and they were able to speak the message of God with boldness.

When he heard these words, Ananias dropped dead, and a great fear came on all who heard.

"How could you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord?" Peter asked her. "Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and these men will carry you outside as well."

Then great fear came on the whole church and on all who heard these things.

With these orders they went into the temple about dawn and proceeded to teach. Meantime the high priest and his allies met, called the Sanhedrin together and the council of seniors belonging to the sons of Israel, and then sent to prison for the men.

As the commander of the temple police and the chief priests heard these things, they were baffled about them, as to what could come of this.

We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.”

But they, when they heard these things, were cut to the heart, and took counsel to kill them.

He said to them, “Men of Israel, be careful about what you’re going to do to these men.

For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to nought.

And now, I tell you, stay away from these men and leave them alone. For if this plan or this work is of men, it will be overthrown;

And in these days, the disciples multiplying, there came a murmuring of the Hellenists at the Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily ministration,

And these words pleased the whole gathering. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch;

these they presented to the apostles: who after prayer gave them imposition of hands.

Then said the high priest, Are these things so?

God's words were these--'Abraham's descendants shall live in a foreign country, where they will be enslaved and ill-treated for four hundred years.

and the nation whom they shall serve I will judge, said God; and after these things they shall come forth and shall do Me service in this place.

And God gave Abraham a covenant [a formal agreement to be strictly observed] of [which] circumcision [was the sign]; and so [under these circumstances] Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac [became the father] of Jacob, and Jacob [became the father] of the twelve patriarchs.

"[And when] these patriarchs, [still living in Canaan as young men], became jealous of [their brother] Joseph, they sold him [as a slave to traveling merchants who took him] to Egypt. But God was with him [during all that time],

will you kill me as you kill'd the Egyptian yesterday? at these words Moses fled,

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

Our forefathers also brought this Tabernacle with them under Joshua's leadership when they entered [Canaan] to occupy the land of these Gentile nations. God removed these nations as our forefathers advanced through the land, up until the reign of King David,

Did not My hand make all these things?

When they heard these things, they were enraged in their hearts and gnashed their teeth at him.

Then falling on his knees, he cried out, "Lord, do not lay this sin up against them!" With these words he fell asleep.

With these words he fell asleep. And Saul fully approved of his murder. On this very day there broke out a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostle were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.

When these two apostles had come [to Samaria] they prayed for some [of the disciples] to receive [miraculous power from] the Holy Spirit,

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

And the Ethiopian said to Philip, About whom are these words said by the prophet? about himself, or some other?

So Ananias went off and entered the house, laying his hands on him with these words, "Saul, my brother, I have been sent by the Lord, by Jesus who appeared to you on the road, to let you regain your sight and be filled with the holy Spirit."

And after a number of days had passed [these] Jews conspired together to kill Saul,

And when the angel who said these words to him had gone away, he sent for two of his house-servants, and a God-fearing man of the army, one of those who were waiting on him at all times;

And when he had declared all these things unto them, he sent them to Joppa.

And on the morrow, as these are proceeding on the way, and are drawing nigh to the city, Peter went up upon the house-top to pray, about the sixth hour,

And he was hungry, and would have eaten: and these making ready, a deep trance fell upon him,

And saying these words, he went in, and saw that a great number of people had come together;

While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.

Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?

And the spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered into the man's house:

When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.

Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch.

On coming there he saw to his great joy these tokens of the loving-kindness of God, and encouraged them all to make up their minds to be faithful to the Lord--

where they resided a whole year with that church, and instructed abundance of disciples, and these disciples were the first that were denominated Christians.

And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch.

Finding that this gratified the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also; these being the days of Unleavened Bread.

But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go shew these things unto James, and to the brethren. And he departed, and went into another place.

Now Herod was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon [Note: These were seaport cities not under his jurisdiction]. They came to him as a group, having befriended Blastus, an officer of the king [Herod], and tried to arrange a peaceful relationship [with him] because the country was dependant on him for their food supply.

Now in the church at Antioch there were [these] prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Symeon, called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, the foster-brother of Herod the Tetrarch [i.e., governor of Galilee], and Saul.

As these men were ministering to the Lord [i.e., this probably means worshiping] and fasting, the Holy Spirit said [to one of them by way of inspiration]: "Set Barnabas and Saul apart for Me, [commissioning them] to do the work for which I have called them."

Then, as these prophets and teachers fasted and prayed [for the two men], they placed their hands on them [signifying their appointment for this ministry] and sent them away.

These, indeed, then, having been sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia, thence also they sailed to Cyprus,

And after these things, about four hundred and fifty years, He gave judges -- till Samuel the prophet;

For the people living in Jerusalem, together with their ruling officials, did not understand [that Jesus was the Messiah] or what the message of the prophets, which is read every Sabbath day, really meant. So, [because of this] they [actually] made these Scripture predictions come true by condemning Jesus.

so that He was seen for many days by those [apostles] who came with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem. These men are now His witnesses before the people.

And about his coming back from the dead, never again to go to destruction, he has said these words, I will give you the holy and certain mercies of David.

So take care that these words of the prophets do not come true for you;

As they were leaving, the people begged that these matters be presented to them the following Sabbath.

For these are the orders the Lord has given us: " 'I have made you a light for the heathen, To be the means of salvation to the very ends of the earth!' "

But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard it, they rent their clothes and sprang in among the people, crying out and saying, Sirs, why do ye these things?

“Men! Why are you doing these things? We are men also, with the same nature as you, and we are proclaiming good news to you, that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything in them.

Even though they said these things, they barely stopped the crowds from sacrificing to them.

And when Paul and Barnabas had appointed elders [for the churches] in every congregation and had prayed and fasted [over these elders], they committed them to [the care of] the Lord, in whom they had come to trust.

After Paul and Barnabas had a heated debate and argued with these men [over this issue], the brothers [of the Antioch church] decided that Paul and Barnabas, along with certain others, should go up to Jerusalem and discuss the question with the apostles and elders there.

But some of the Pharisees, who were of the faith, got up and said, It is necessary for these to have circumcision and to keep the law of Moses.

Then why do you now try to test God by putting on these disciples' necks a yoke which neither our forefathers nor we could bear?

After these things I will return
and rebuild David’s fallen tent.
I will rebuild its ruins
and set it up again,

so the rest of humanity
may seek the Lord—
even all the Gentiles
who are called by My name,
declares the Lord who does these things,

he that does all these things, is the Lord himself that has said it." for the works of God are all known to him from the beginning of the world.

"Therefore, I have decided that we should not trouble these gentiles who are turning to God.

Then the apostles and elders in cooperation with the whole church passed a resolution to select and send some men of their number with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch. These were Judas, who was called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers.

after writing by their hand these things:The apostles, and the elders, and the brothers, to those down in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, to the brothers of the Gentiles, greeting.