And he said to them, It is not for you to have knowledge of the time and the order of events which the Father has kept in his control.

And said, O men of Galilee, why are you looking up into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken from you into heaven, will come again, in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.

Then they went back to Jerusalem from the mountain named Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away.

For he was numbered among us, and had his part in our work.

For this reason, of the men who have been with us all the time, while the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,

Starting from the baptism of John till he went up from us, one will have to be a witness with us of his coming back from death.

And they made selection of two, Joseph, named Barsabbas, whose other name was Justus, and Matthias.

To take that position as a servant and Apostle, from which Judas by his sin was shut out, so that he might go to his place.

And they were all full of the Holy Spirit, and were talking in different languages, as the Spirit gave them power.

And how is it that every one of us is hearing their words in the language which was ours from our birth?

Men of Parthia, Media, and Elam, and those living in Mesopotamia, in Judaea and Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia,

Men of Crete and Arabia, to all of us they are talking in our different languages, of the great works of God.

And they were all surprised and in doubt saying to one another, What is the reason of this?

For these men are not overcome with wine, as it seems to you, for it is only the third hour of the day;

But this is the thing which was said by the prophet Joel;

Men of Israel, give ear to these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man who had the approval of God, as was made clear to you by the great works and signs and wonders which God did by him among you, as you yourselves have knowledge,

For David said of him, I saw the Lord before my face at all times, for he is at my right hand, so that I may not be moved:

My brothers, I may say to you openly that David came to his death, and was put in the earth, and his resting-place is with us today.

But being a prophet, and having in mind the oath which God had given to him, that of the fruit of his body one would take his place as a king,

For the word of God is for you and for your children and for all those who are far off, even all those who may be marked out by the Lord our God.

And exchanging their goods and property for money, they made division of it among them all, as they had need.

And a certain man who from birth had had no power in his legs, was taken there every day, and put down at the door of the Temple which is named Beautiful, requesting money from those who went into the Temple;

And Peter, looking at him, with John, said, Keep your eyes on us.

And while he kept his hands on Peter and John, all the people came running together to the covered way which is named Solomon's, full of wonder.

And when Peter saw it he said to the people, You men of Israel, why are you so greatly surprised at this man? or why are you looking at us as if by our power or virtue we had given him the use of his legs?

And his name, through faith in his name, has made this man strong, whom you see and have knowledge of: yes, the faith which is through him has made him well, before you all.

And now, my brothers, I am conscious that you did this, as did your rulers, without knowledge.

Who is to be kept in heaven till the time when all things are put right, of which God has given word by the mouth of his holy prophets, who have been from the earliest times.

Being greatly troubled because they were teaching the people and preaching Jesus as an example of the coming back from the dead.

Then sending for Peter and John, they said, By what power and in whose name have you done this?

If we are questioned today about a good work done to a man who was ill, as to how he has been made well,

Take note, all of you, and all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you put to death on the cross, whom God gave back from the dead, even through him is this man now before you completely well.

He is the stone which you builders had no use for, but which has been made the chief stone of the building.

And in no other is there salvation: for there is no other name under heaven, given among men, through which we may have salvation.

Saying, What are we to do with these men? for certainly it is clear to all who are living in Jerusalem that a most important sign has been done by them, and it is not possible to say that it is not so.

But so that it may not go farther among the people, let us put them in fear of punishment if they say anything in future in this name.

But Peter and John in answer said to them, It is for you to say if it is right in the eyes of God to give attention to you more than to God:

For it is not possible for us to keep from saying what we have seen and have knowledge of.

For, truly, in this town, against your holy servant, Jesus, who was marked out by you as Christ, Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, came together,

While your hand is stretched out to do works of mercy; so that signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.

And put it at the feet of the Apostles for distribution to everyone as he had need.

And Joseph, who was given by the Apostles the name of Barnabas (the sense of which is, Son of comfort), a Levite and a man of Cyprus by birth,

We gave you very clear orders not to give teaching in this name: and now Jerusalem is full of your teaching, and you are attempting to make us responsible for this man's death.

Him God has put on high at his right hand, as a Ruler and a Saviour, to give to Israel a change of heart and forgiveness of sins.

And we are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who keep his laws.

And now I say to you, Do nothing to these men, but let them be: for if this teaching or this work is of men, it will come to nothing:

But if it is of God, you will not be able to overcome them, and you are in danger of fighting against God.

And every day, in the Temple and privately, they went on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.

And the Apostles sent for all the disciples and said, It is not right for us to give up preaching the word of God in order to make distribution of food.

But some of those who were of the Synagogue named that of the Libertines, and some of the men of Cyrene and of Alexandria and those from Cilicia and Asia, had arguments with Stephen.

And they got false witnesses who said, This man is for ever saying things against this holy place and against the law:

For he has said in our hearing that this Jesus of Nazareth will put this place to destruction and make changes in the rules which were handed down to us by Moses.

And when he was put out, Pharaoh's daughter took him and kept him as her son.

But the man who was doing wrong to his neighbour, pushing him away, said, Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?

Will you put me to death as you did the Egyptian yesterday?

And the Lord said, Take off the shoes from your feet, for the place where you are is holy.

This is the same Moses, who said to the children of Israel, God will give you a prophet from among your brothers, like me.

This is the man who was in the church in the waste land with the angel who was talking to him in Sinai, and with our fathers; and to him were given the living words of God, so that he might give them to you.

And saying to Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: as for this Moses, who took us out of the land of Egypt, we have no idea what has become of him.

But God was turned from them and let them give worship to the stars of heaven, as it says in the book of the prophets, Did you make offerings to me of sheep and oxen for forty years in the waste land, O house of Israel?

Our fathers had the Tent of witness in the waste land, as God gave orders to Moses to make it after the design which he had seen.

But still, the Most High has not his resting-place in houses made with hands, as the prophet says,

Heaven is the seat of my power, and earth is a resting-place for my feet: what sort of house will you make for me, says the Lord, or what is my place of rest?

You whose hearts are hard and whose ears are shut to me; you are ever working against the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.

You, to whom the law was given as it was ordered by angels, and who have not kept it.

To whom they all gave attention, from the smallest to the greatest, saying, This man is that power of God which is named Great.

But Peter said, May your money come to destruction with you, because you had the idea that what is freely given by God may be got for a price.

You have no part in this business, because your heart is not right before God.

He was going back, seated in his carriage, and was reading the book of the prophet Isaiah.

And Philip, running up to him, saw that he was reading Isaiah the prophet, and said to him, Is the sense of what you are reading clear to you?

And he said, How is that possible when I have no guide? And he made Philip get up by his side.

Now the place in the book where he was reading was this: He was taken, like a sheep, to be put to death; and as a lamb is quiet when its wool is being cut, so he made no sound:

Being of low degree, his cause was not given a hearing: who has knowledge of his family? for his life is cut off from the earth.

And while they were going on their way, they came to some water, and the Ethiopian said, See, here is water; why may I not have baptism?

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 the Lord said to him, Get up, and go to the street which is named Straight, and make search at the house of Judas for one named Saul of Tarsus: for he is at prayer;

But the Lord said, Go without fear: for he is a special vessel for me, to give to the Gentiles and kings and to the children of Israel the knowledge of my name:

And straight away it seemed as if a veil was taken from his eyes, and he was able to see; and he got up, and had baptism;

And straight away, in the Synagogues, he was preaching Jesus as the Son of God.

And all those hearing him were full of wonder and said, Is not this the man who in Jerusalem was attacking all the worshippers of this name? and he had come here so that he might take them as prisoners before the chief priests.

Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, that is, Dorcas: this woman was given to good works and acts of mercy at all times.

And he, looking on him in fear, said, What is it, Lord? And he said to him, Your prayers and your offerings have come up to God, and he has kept them in mind.

Who is living with Simon, a leather-worker, whose house is by the sea.

But Peter said, No, Lord; for I have never taken food which is common or unclean.

Now while Peter was in doubt as to the purpose of this vision, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made search for Simon's house, came to the door,

But Peter, lifting him up, said, Get up, for I am a man as you are.

And he said to them, You yourselves have knowledge that it is against the law for a man who is a Jew to be in the company of one who is of another nation; but God has made it clear to me that no man may be named common or unclean:

And so I came without question, when I was sent for. What then is your purpose in sending for me?

Send, then, to Joppa, and get Simon, named Peter, to come to you; he is living in the house of Simon, a leather-worker, by the sea.

Then Peter said, Truly, I see clearly that God is no respecter of persons:

But in every nation, the man who has fear of him and does righteousness is pleasing to him.

The word which he sent to the children of Israel, giving the good news of peace through Jesus Christ (who is Lord of all)--

Not by all the people, but by witnesses marked out before by God, even by us, who took food and drink with him after he came back from the dead.

And he gave us orders to give news of this to the people, and to give public witness that this is he whom God has made judge of the living and the dead.

Will any man say that these may not have baptism who have been given the Holy Spirit as we have?

And he gave us an account of how he had seen the angel in his house, saying, Send to Joppa, and get Simon, named Peter, to come to you;

And, while I was talking to them, the Holy Spirit came on them, as on us at first.

If then God gave them, when they had faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the same as he gave to us, who was I to go against God?

And hearing these things they said nothing more, but gave glory to God, saying, Then to the Gentiles as to us has God given a change of heart, so that they may have life.

Then those who had gone away at the time of the trouble about Stephen, went as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus, preaching to the Jews only.