In my first volume, Theophilus, I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning

"Men of Israel, listen to what I say. Jesus of Nazareth, as you know, was a man whom God commended to you by the wonders, portents, and signs that God did right among you through him.

He is Jesus, whom God raised from the dead, and to whose resurrection we are all witnesses.

"For David did not go up to heaven, but he said, 'The Lord said to my lord, Sit at my right hand,

Peter fixed his eyes on him, as John did also, and said to him, "Look at us!"

and killed the very source of life. But God raised him from the dead, as we can testify.

Yet I know, brothers, that you did not know what you were doing, any more than your leaders did;

It was to you that God first sent his servant after he had raised him from the dead, to bless you by making every one of you turn from his wickedness."

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

if it is for a benefit conferred upon a helpless man, and as to how he was cured, that we are called to account here today,

you and the people of Israel must all know that it is through the power of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that he stands here before you well.

and who said through the holy Spirit by the lips of our forefather David, your slave, " 'Why did the heathen rage, And the peoples form vain designs?

As long as it was unsold was it not yours, and after it was sold was not the money under your control? How could you think of doing such a thing? You did not lie to men but to God!"

Peter said to her, "Tell me, did you sell the land for such and such a sum?" "Yes," she said, "that was it."

She instantly fell down at his feet and expired. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

and they did not for a single day stop teaching and preaching in the Temple and in private houses the good news of Jesus, the Christ.

Stephen, greatly strengthened by God's favor, did remarkable signs and wonders among the people.

He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was using him as the means of delivering them, but they did not.

Do you mean to kill me as you did that Egyptian yesterday?'

'I am the God of your forefathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.' Moses was terrified and did not dare to look at it.

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

You stubborn people, with heathen hearts and ears, you are always opposing the holy Spirit, just as your forefathers did!

Which of the prophets did your forefathers not persecute? They killed the men who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and killed??53 you who had the Law given to you by angels, and did not obey it!"

He was a devout man, who feared God, as did all the members of his household. He was liberal in charities to the people, and always prayed to God.

We are witnesses of everything that he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. Yet they put him upon a cross and killed him.

not by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had designated beforehand, that is, by us, who ate and drank with him after he had risen from the dead.

He also directed us to announce to the people and bear solemn testimony that he is the one whom God has appointed to be the judge of the living and the dead.

"Can anyone refuse the use of water to baptize these people when they have received the holy Spirit just as we did?"

When I began to speak to them, the holy Spirit fell upon them just as it did upon us at the beginning,

and this they did, sending it to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.

and the angel said to him, "Put on your belt and your sandals!" And he did so. Then he said to him, "Put on your coat and follow me!"

and when she recognized Peter's voice, in her joy she did not stop to open the door, but ran in and told them that Peter was standing outside.

But the angel of the Lord struck him down immediately, because he did not give the honor to God; and he was eaten by worms and died.

But God raised him from the dead,

that God has fulfilled to us, their children, the promise that he made to our forefathers, by raising Jesus to life, just as the Scripture says in the second psalm, You are my Son! Today I have become your Father!'

Now as evidence that he has raised him from the dead, never again to return to decay, he said this: 'I will fulfil to you my sacred promises to David.'

Now David, after serving God's purposes in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid among his forefathers and did undergo decay,

but he whom God raised to life did not undergo it.

though he did not fail to give some evidence about himself, through his kindnesses to you, in sending you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, giving you food and happiness to your heart's content."

But some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and won the people over, and they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the town, thinking that he was dead.

But Paul did not approve of taking with them a man who had deserted them in Pamphylia instead of going on with them to their work.

She did this for a number of days, until Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit in her, "In the name of Jesus Christ I order you to come out of her!" And it came out instantly.

explaining them and showing that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. "Jesus," he said, "of whom I am telling you, is the Christ!"

Many of them became believers and so did no small number of Greek women of position, and men too.

since he has fixed a day on which he will justly judge the world through a man whom he has appointed, and whom he has guaranteed to all men by raising him from the dead."

When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, "We should like to hear you again on this subject."

But Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, and so did all his household, and many of the people of Corinth heard Paul and believed and were baptized.

he said to them, "Did you receive the holy Spirit when you became believers?" "No," they said to him, "we never even heard that there was a holy Spirit."

God did such extraordinary wonders by means of Paul,

For we are in danger of being charged with rioting in connection with today's events, though there is really nothing about this commotion that we will not be able to explain."

and a young man named Eutychus, who was sitting at the window, became very drowsy as Paul's address grew longer and longer, and finally went fast asleep and fell from the third story to the ground, and was picked up for dead.

Therefore I declare to you today that I am not responsible for the blood of any of you,

"I am a Jew, and I was born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but was brought up here in this city, and thoroughly educated under the teaching of Gamaliel in the Law of our forefathers. I was zealous for God, just as all of you are today.

The men who were with me saw the light, but they did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me.

"I did not know, brothers," said Paul, "that he was high priest, for the Scripture says, 'You shall not say anything against any ruler of your people.' "

Knowing that part of them were Sadducees and part of them Pharisees, Paul called out in the council, "Brothers, I am a Pharisee, and the son of Pharisees! It is for my hope for the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial!"

Or let these men themselves tell what they found wrong in me when I appeared before the council??21 unless it was the one thing I shouted out as I stood among them??It is on the question of the resurrection of the dead that I am here on trial before you today!' "

But when his accusers got up, they did not charge him with any such crimes as I had expected.

"I think myself fortunate, King Agrippa," said he, "that it is before you that I am to defend myself today against all the things the Jews charge me with,

Why do you all think it incredible that God should raise the dead?

That was what I did at Jerusalem when on the authority of the high priests I put many of God's people in prison. When they were put to death, I cast my vote against them,

Therefore, King Agrippa, I did not disobey that heavenly vision,

if the Christ was to suffer and by being the first to rise from the dead was to proclaim the light to our people and to the heathen."

The king knows about this, and I can speak to him with freedom. I do not believe that he missed any of this, for it did not happen in a corner!

"In a hurry or not," said Paul, "I would to God that not only you, but all who hear me today, might be what I am??xcept for these chains!"

They expected to see him swell up or suddenly fall dead, but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.