And once when he was eating with them he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father. "Of this," he said, "you have heard from me.

"For John indeed baptized in water, but you shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days hence."

He answered. "It is not for you to know times and occasions which the Father has fixed in his own authority;

"Men and brothers, it was necessary for the Scripture to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit uttered beforehand by the lips of David in regard to Judas who acted as guide to those who arrested Jesus.

"For he was numbered among us, and he did get his allotted share of this ministry.

"For it is written in the Book of Psalms, Let his dwelling-place be desolate; Let no man dwell there, also, Let another take his work.

Then they cast lots for them, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

In the sky above I will show marvels, And signs in the earth beneath; Blood and fire, and vapor of smoke.

him, delivered up by the settled purpose and fore-knowledge of God, you crucified and killed at the hands of lawless men;

but God has raised him to life, having loosed the pangs of death, because it was not possible for death to hold him.

For David says of him. "I beheld the Lord always before my face; For he is at my right hand lest I be shaken.

"For thou wilt not leave my soul in Hades, Nor give up thy Holy One to see corruption.

For David did not ascend into heaven; but he himself said, "The Lord said to my Lord Sit thou on my right hand

"Repent," answered Peter, "and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

"For the promise belongs to you and to your children and to all who are afar off, whomever the Lord may call."

One day Peter and John were going up together for the hour of prayer, at three in the afternoon,

When he saw Peter and John about to go into the Temple, he kept asking them for alms;

"Moses, for example, said: "The Lord your God will raise up a Prophet for you from among your brothers, as he raised up me; you must listen to whatever he may tell you;

"It was for you first that God raised up his Servant, and sent him to bless you in turning every one of you away from your wicked ways."

They arrested them, and put them in prison till the next day, for it was already evening.

"For he is the Stone, cast aside by you builders, which has become the head stone of the corner.

"There is no salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men, in which we must be saved."

"What," said they, "shall we do with these men? For it is well known throughout Jerusalem that a notable miracle has been performed by them, and we cannot deny it.

but for our part, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard."

So when they had further threatened them they let the apostles go, being quite unable to find any way of punishing them because of the people, for everybody was glorifying God over what had happened.

For the man on whom this miracle of healing had been wrought was over forty years old.

Nor was there any one of them in want, for all who owned houses or lands would sell them and bring the price of the things that were sold, and lay it at the apostles' feet;

and Peter said to her, "Tell me if you got so much for the land." "Yes," she said, "so much."

And great fear fell on all the church and upon all who had heard it.

On this the officer went off with his men and fetched them, not, however, by force, for they were afraid that the people would stone them.

but Gamaliel, a Pharisee, a teacher of the law, and held in honor by all the people, rose from his seat, and ordered the apostles to be put outside for a little while.

"Years ago Theudas arose, claiming to be somebody, and was joined by about four hundred men. He was killed, and all of his followers dispersed and annihilated.

"And now, I say to you, hold aloof from these men. Let them alone; for if this scheme or work be of human origin it will come to nothing;

So they left Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been deemed worthy to suffer disgrace for the sake of the Name;

but not for a single day did they desist from teaching and preaching in the Temple, and in private houses, the Gospel of Jesus, the Messiah.

Then the Twelve called the general body of the disciples together, and said to them. "It is not fitting for us to leave off preaching the Word of God, and minister at tables.

"For we have heard him say that Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place, and will change the customs which were handed down to us by Moses."

"What God said was this. "'His offspring will sojourn in a foreign land where they will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years.

"But God was with him, and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him grace and wisdom, when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him Governor over Egypt, and over all the royal household.

"On their second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Pharaoh was informed of Joseph's parentage.

"There he died, and our ancestors also, and they were carried across to Shechem, and laid in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

"but as the time drew near for the fulfilment of the promise which God made to Abraham, the people multiplied and increased in Egypt;

"In this time Moses was born, a divinely beautiful child, who was brought up for three months in his father's house.

"When he was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and brought him up as her own son.

"and when he saw one of them wronged he wrought redress for the one overpowered, by striking down the Egyptian.

"But at the end of forty years there appeared to him, in the desert of Mt. Sinai, an angel in a flame of fire, in a bush.

"And the Lord said: "Take off your sandals, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.

"This was he who brought them out, after he had shown signs and wonders in the wilderness, for forty years.

"It was this Moses who said to the Children of Israel, "God will raise up a Prophet for you from among your brothers, as he did me.

"Said they to Aaron. "Make Gods for us who shall march in front of us! As for this Moses who led us forth out of the land of Egypt, we know not what has happened to him.

"David obtained favor with God, and asked permission to find a dwelling-place for the God of Jacob.

"The heaven is my throne, And the earth the footstool of my feet; What kind of house will you build for me? saith the Lord. Or what resting-place shall I have?

For with a loud cry unclean spirits would come out of many possessed by them, and many that were palsied and lame were healed.

Now for some time a man named Simon had been practicing sorcery in that city, and had amazed the people of Samaria. He gave himself out to be some great person.

They were giving heed to him because, for a long time, he had amazed them with his sorceries.

Who came down and prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit,

For he had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

But Peter said to him. "Your money perish with you, because you have supposed that with money you can obtain God's free gift!"

"For I perceive that you still stand in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of unrighteousness."

And Simon answered, "Pray to the Lord for me, both of you, that nothing which you have said may happen to me."

In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who will declare his posterity? For his life is cut off from the earth.

And the Lord said to him. "Arise, go into the street named 'Straight,' and make inquiries in the house of Judas for a man of Tarsus, one Saul.

"for I am going to show him all he has to suffer for the sake of my name."

Afterward he took food and was strengthened. And he remained for some time with the disciples at Damascus.

His hearers were all astonished, and began to say. "Is not this the very man who in Jerusalem made havoc of those who called upon the Name? Did he not come hither for the express purpose of carrying them all in chains to the high priests?"

Now throughout the whole of Judea, Galilee, and Samaria the Church continued to enjoy peace and to be spiritually built up. It was increasing in members also, as it kept walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit.

Here he found a man named Aeneas, bedridden for eight years, a paralytic.

Peter stayed for some time in Joppa, lodging in the house of Simon, the tanner.

He stared at him in terror, and said, "What is it, Lord?" "Your prayers and your alms have risen for a memorial before God," answered the angel;

He had become very hungry and longed for food; but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance.

He beheld the sky opened, and a vessel descending like an enormous sail let down to earth by four corners.

"Not so, my Lord," answered Peter, "for I have never yet eaten anything common and unclean."

Now while Peter was greatly perplexed to know what the vision which he had been sent by Cornelius, and had made inquiries for the house of Simon, stood at the gate,

"Three men are now looking for you. Rise, go down and go with them, nothing doubting; for it is I who have sent them."

So Peter went down to the men and said: "I am the man you are looking for. What is the reason of your coming?"

"Cornelius," they answered, "a captain, a devout man, and God-fearing, of whom the whole, Jewish nation speaks well, was instructed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house, and to listen to your message."

and the day after that they reached Caesarea. There Cornelius was waiting for them, and had brought together all his relatives and intimate friends.

To them he said: "You know, yourselves, that it is illegal for a Jew to associate with or to visit one of another nation; but God has taught me that I should not call any man common or unclean. For this reason, when sent for, I came without demur.

"I ask therefore why you sent for me."

"So I sent for you without delay, and you have been kind enough to come. Now therefore we are all here present in the sight of God, to listen to what the Lord has commanded you to speak."

"how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how he went about everywhere doing good, and curing all who were oppressed by the devil; for God was with him.

For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.

Then Peter said, "Can any one refuse water for the baptism of these men who have received the Holy Spirit as well as we?"

And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they begged him to remain with them for a time.

"'Not so, my Lord' said I, 'for nothing common or unclean has ever gone into my mouth.'

"But for the second time a voice spoke from the sky, 'What God has cleansed, you must not call common.'

"And lo! at that very moment, three men who had been sent for me from Caesarea stood before the house in which I was.

Then those who had been scattered by the trouble that arose over Stephen, traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch; but they preached the word to none except Jews.

When news of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, they sent Barnabas as far as Antioch.

for he was a good man, and full of faith and the Holy Spirit. And a great multitude was added to the Lord.

and when he had found him he brought him to Antioch, where for a whole year they were guests of the church, and taught many people. And it was in Antioch that the disciples first received the name of "Christians."

So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer to God was made by the church for him.

Peter, coming to himself, said, "Now I know for a certainty that the Lord has sent his angel and released me from the hand of Herod, and from all that the Jewish people were anticipating."

And when she recognized Peter's voice, for very joy she did not open the door, but ran in and told them that Peter was standing in front of the gate.

Then Herod had search made for him, and could not find him. After sharply questioning the guards, he ordered them off to execution. He then went down from Judea to Caesarea, where he stayed for some time.

Now Herod was violently displeased with the people of Tyre and Sidon. So they came to him, with one accord, and after conciliating Blastus, the royal chamberlain, they begged for peace because their country depended upon the king's country for its food supply.

And as they were worshiping the Lord, and fasting, the Holy Spirit said to them, "Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."

They had John Mark as an assistant; and after going through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a certain Jewish sorcerer and false prophet, named Bar-Jesus,

But Elymas, "the sorcerer," for that is the translation of his name, opposed them, and tried to divert the proconsul from the faith.

"The Lord's hand is now upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a season." Instantly there fell on him a mist and a darkness, and groping about, he sought some one to lead him by the hand.