While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, two men in white robes stood right beside them.

They asked, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This same Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you saw him go up into heaven."

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away.

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.

So they nominated two men Joseph called Barsabbas, who also was called Justus, and Matthias.

Then they prayed, "Lord, you know the hearts of all people. Show us which one of these two men you have chosen

So they drew lots for them, and when the lot fell on Matthias, he was enrolled with the eleven apostles.

Suddenly, a sound like the roar of a mighty windstorm came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.

They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated, and one rested on each of them.

Stunned and amazed, they asked, "All of these people who are speaking are Galileans, aren't they?

All of them continued to be stunned and puzzled, and they kept asking one another, "What can this mean?"

But others kept saying in derision, "They're drunk on sweet wine!"

In those days I will even pour out my Spirit on my slaves, men and women alike, and they will prophesy.

When the crowd that had gathered heard this, they were pierced to the heart. They asked Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what should we do?"

They made it their practice to sell their possessions and goods and to distribute the proceeds to anyone who was in need.

United in purpose, they went to the Temple every day, ate at each other's homes, and shared their food with glad and humble hearts.

They were praising God and enjoying the good will of all the people. Every day the Lord was adding to their number those who were being saved.

they knew that he was the man who used to sit and beg at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

While he was holding on to Peter and John, all the people came running to them in what was called "Solomon's Colonnade". They were dumbfounded.

While they were speaking to the people, the priests, the commander of the Temple guards, and the Sadducees came to them.

They were greatly disturbed that Peter and John were teaching the people and announcing that Jesus had been resurrected from the dead.

So they arrested them and placed them in custody until the next day, since it was already evening.

They made Peter and John stand in front of them and began asking, "By what power or by what name did you do this?"

Now when the Jewish leaders saw the boldness of Peter and John and found out that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and realized that they had been with Jesus.

And seeing the man who was healed standing with them, they could not say anything against them.

So they ordered them to leave the Council and began to discuss the matter among themselves.

They said, "What should we do with these men? For it's obvious to everybody living in Jerusalem that an unmistakable sign has been done by them, and we cannot deny it.

So they called Peter and John back in and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

So they threatened Peter and John even more and then let them go. They couldn't find any way to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened,

After they were released, Peter and John went to their fellow believers and told them everything the high priests and the elders had said.

When they heard this, they all raised their voices to God and said, "Master, you made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them.

When they had prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken, and all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak messages from God boldly.

Now all the believers were one in heart and soul, and nobody called any of his possessions his own. Instead, they shared everything they owned.

She instantly fell down at Peter's feet and died. When the young men came in, they found her dead. So they carried her out and buried her next to her husband.

Then the high priest and all those from the sect of the Sadducees who were with him were filled with jealousy. So they went out,

"Go, stand in the Temple, and keep on telling the people the whole message about this life they can have."

After the apostles heard this, they went into the Temple at daybreak and began to teach. The high priest and those who were with him arrived, called the Council and all the elders of Israel together, and sent word to the prison to have the men brought in.

When the Temple police got there, they did not find them in the prison. They came back and reported,

When the commander of the Temple guards and the high priests heard these words, they were utterly at a loss as to what could have happened to them.

So the commander of the Temple guards went with his men to bring them back without force, because they were afraid of being stoned to death by the people.

When they brought them back, they made them stand before the Council, and the high priest began to question them.

When the Council heard this, they became furious and wanted to kill them.

So they were convinced by him. After calling in the apostles and beating them, they again ordered them to stop speaking in the name of Jesus and let them go.

They left the Council, rejoicing to have been considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the Name.

Every day in the Temple and from house to house they kept teaching and proclaiming that Jesus is the Messiah.

This suggestion pleased the whole group. So they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a gentile convert to Judaism from Antioch.

They had these men stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

But they could neither refute the wisdom nor withstand the Spirit by which he kept speaking.

So they secretly got some men to say, "We have heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God."

They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes. Then they rushed at Stephen, grabbed him, and brought him before the Council.

They had false witnesses stand up and say, "This man never stops saying things against this Holy Place and against the Law.

"But I will punish the nation they serve,' said God, "and afterwards they will leave and worship me in this place.'

They were brought back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought at a high price from Hamor's descendants in Shechem.

By shrewdly scheming against our people, he oppressed our ancestors and forced them to abandon their infants to the elements, so that they wouldn't live.

He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was using him to rescue them, but they didn't understand.

The next day, he presented himself to some of them while they were fighting and tried to reconcile them. He said, "Men, you are brothers. Why should you be hurting another?'

"This same Moses whom they rejected by saying, "Who made you ruler and judge?' was the man whom God sent to be both their ruler and deliverer with the help of the angel who had appeared to him in the bush.

but our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and wished to return to Egypt.

They told Aaron, "Make gods for us who will lead us. This Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt we don't know what happened to him!'

"At that time they even made a calf to be their idol, offered a sacrifice to it, and delighted in what they had made with their hands.

Our ancestors brought it here with Joshua when they replaced the nations that God drove out in front of our ancestors, and it was here until the time of David.

Which of the prophets did your ancestors fail to persecute? They killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers.

While they were listening to these things, they became more and more furious and began to grind their teeth at him.

But they shouted out loud, stopped listening, and together they all rushed at him,

As they continued to stone Stephen, he kept praying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!"

Devout men buried Stephen as they mourned loudly for him.

Unclean spirits screamed with a loud voice as they came out of the many people they had possessed, and many paralyzed and lame people were healed.

They paid careful attention to him because he had thrilled them for a long time with his occult performances.

Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaritans had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.

They went down and prayed for them to receive the Holy Spirit.

Before this, he had not come on any of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

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

After they had given their testimony and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, continuing to proclaim the good news in many Samaritan villages.

As they were going along the road, they came to some water. The eunuch said, "Look, there's some water. What keeps me from being baptized?"

When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. The eunuch went on his way rejoicing and did not see Philip again.

Meanwhile, the men who were traveling with Saul were standing speechless, for they heard the voice but didn't see anyone.

but their plot became known to him. They were even watching the gates day and night to murder him,

When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they all were afraid of him because they wouldn't believe he was a disciple.

He kept talking and arguing with the Hellenistic Jews, but they were bent on murdering him.

When the brothers found out about the plot, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus.

At that time, she got sick and died. After they had washed her, they laid her in an upstairs room.

So Peter got up and went with them. When he arrived, they took him upstairs. All the widows gathered around Peter, crying and showing him all the shirts and coats Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

Around noon the next day, while they were on their way and coming close to the town, Peter went up on the roof to pray.

They called out and asked if Simon who was called Peter was staying there.

The next day, they arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called his relatives and close friends together.

"They hung him on a tree and killed him, but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear

because they heard them speaking in foreign languages and praising God. Then Peter said,

"No one can stop us from using water to baptize these people who have received the Holy Spirit in the same way that we did, can they?"

So Peter ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus the Messiah. Then they asked him to stay there for several days.

They said, "You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them!"

"At that very moment three men arrived at the house where we were staying. They had been sent to me from Caesarea.

When they heard this, they calmed down, and praised God by saying, "So God has given repentance that leads to life even to gentiles."

When the church in Jerusalem heard this news, they sent Barnabas all the way to Antioch.

When he found him, he brought him to Antioch, and for a whole year they were guests of the church and taught many people. It was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.

So all of the disciples decided they would send a contribution to the brothers living in Judea, as they were able,

They passed the first guard, then the second, and came to the iron gate that led into the city. It opened by itself for them, and they went outside and proceeded one block when the angel suddenly left him.

The other people told her, "You're out of your mind!" But she kept insisting that it was so. Then they said, "It's his angel."

Meanwhile, Peter kept on knocking and knocking. When they opened the gate, they saw him and were amazed.

Now Herod had been in a violent quarrel with the people of Tyre and Sidon. So they came to him as a group. After they had won over Blastus, who oversaw security for the king's sleeping quarters, they asked for a peace agreement because their country depended on the king's country for food.

When Barnabas and Saul had fulfilled their mission, they returned from Jerusalem, bringing with them John who was also called Mark.