until the day when through the holy Spirit he gave the apostles he had chosen their instructions, and was taken up to heaven.

As he said this, he was caught up before their eyes and a cloud took him up from their sight.

It was at that time that Peter got up among the brothers??here were about a hundred and twenty persons present??nd said,

"Brothers, the prediction of the Scriptures had to come true that the holy Spirit uttered by the lips of David, about Judas, who acted as guide for the men that arrested Jesus??17 for he was one of our number and a share in this ministry of ours fell to his lot."

This fact was well known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that the piece of land came to be called in their language Akeldamach, the bloody field.)

from his baptism by John to the time when he was caught up from us, must join us as a witness to his resurrection."

Then they proposed two men, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was known as Justus, and Matthias.

Then they drew lots between them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was added to the eleven apostles.

And when this sound was heard, the crowd gathered in great excitement, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.

But this is what was predicted by the prophet Joel,

"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.

"Brothers, one may say to you confidently of the patriarch David that he died and was buried, and his grave is here among us to this very day.

But as he was a prophet, and knew that God had promised him with an oath that he would put one of his descendants upon his throne,

he foresaw the resurrection of the Christ and told of it, for he was not deserted in death and his body was not destroyed.

when a man who had been lame from his birth was carried by. He used to be placed every day at what was known as the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, to beg from the people on their way into the Temple,

And as he still clung to Peter and John, all the people crowded about them in the utmost astonishment in what was known as Solomon's Colonnade.

it was in this way that God fulfilled what he by all the prophets foretold that his Christ must suffer.

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."

They arrested them, and as it was already evening, they shut them up until next morning.

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,

for the man on whom this wonder of healing had been done was more than forty years old.

When they heard it, with one impulse they all raised their voices to God and said, "Master, it was you who made heaven, earth, and sea, and everything that is in them,

There was but one heart and soul in the multitude who had become believers, and not one of them claimed anything that belonged to him as his own, but they shared everything they had with one another.

No one among them was in any want, for any who owned lands or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sale

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!"

When Ananias heard these words he fell down and expired, and everyone who heard them spoken was appalled.

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

For some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be a person of importance, and a group of men numbering some four hundred joined him. But he was killed and all his followers were dispersed and disappeared.

In those days, as the number of the disciples was increasing, complaints were made by the Greek-speaking Jews against the native Jews that their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food.

Everyone who sat in the council fixed his eyes on him, and they saw that his face was like that of an angel.

He answered, "Brothers and fathers, listen. The glorious God appeared to our forefather Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran,

This was what God said: 'His descendants will be strangers, living in a foreign land, and they will be enslaved and misused for four hundred years,

The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into slavery in Egypt. But God was with him,

Then a famine spread all over Egypt and Canaan, and there was great suffering, and our forefathers could not find any food.

But Jacob heard that there was food in Egypt, and he sent our forefathers on their first visit there.

It was at this time that Moses was born. He was a wonderfully beautiful child, and for three months he was taken care of in his father's house.

When he was abandoned, the daughter of Pharaoh adopted him and brought him up as her own son.

So Moses was educated in all the Egyptian culture; he was strong in speech and action.

When he was forty years old, it occurred to him to visit his brothers, the descendants of Israel.

Seeing one of them being imposed upon, he interfered and defended the man who was being ill treated, striking down the Egyptian.

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

When Moses saw it he wondered at the sight, and when he went up to see what it was, the voice of the Lord said,

'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.

This was the Moses who said to the descendants of Israel, 'God will make a prophet rise from among your brothers to teach you, just as he made me rise.'

It was he who with the congregation in the desert went between the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai and our forefathers, and received and communicated to you utterances that still live.

So God turned his back on them and left them to worship the starry host, just as the Book of the Prophets says, " 'Was it victims and sacrifices that you offered to me, O house of Israel, Those forty years in the desert?

This tent was handed down to our forefathers and they brought it here with them when under Joshua they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before them, and it existed until the time of David.

Was it not my hand that made it all?'

So there was great rejoicing in that city.

There was a man named Simon in the town, who had been amazing the Samaritan people by practicing magic there, and who made great pretensions.

Even Simon himself believed and after his baptism devoted himself to Philip, and he was amazed at seeing such signs and great wonders taking place.

But when Simon saw that the holy Spirit was imparted through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money,

So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a member of the court of Candace, queen of Ethiopia, her chief treasurer, who had come up to Jerusalem to worship,

and was on his way home. He was sitting in his car, reading the prophet Isaiah.

This was the passage of Scripture that he was reading: "Like a sheep he was led away to be slaughtered, And just as a lamb is dumb before its shearer, He does not open his mouth.

But on his journey, as he was approaching Damascus, a sudden light flashed around him from heaven,

There was at Damascus a disciple named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias!" And he answered, "Yes, Lord!"

Something like scales immediately dropped from his eyes, and his sight was restored, and he got up and was baptized,

and began at once to declare in the synagogues that Jesus was the Son of God.

Everyone was astonished, and said, "Is not he the man who made such havoc of the people in Jerusalem who call upon that name, and who came here especially for the purpose of arresting such persons and taking them before the high priests?"

But Saul grew more and more powerful, and bewildered the Jews who lived in Damascus by his proofs that Jesus was the Christ.

When he reached Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, and they were all afraid of him, for they could not believe that he was really a disciple.

So the church all over Judea, Galilee, and Samaria was at peace and became established. It lived in reverence for the Lord and, stimulated by the holy Spirit, it grew steadily in numbers.

As Peter was traveling about among them all, he happened to visit God's people at Lydda.

Among the disciples at Joppa there was a woman named Tabitha, which is in Greek Dorcas, that is, gazelle. She had devoted herself to doing good and to acts of charity.

As Joppa was near Lydda, the disciples heard that Peter was there, and they sent two men to him, urging him to come over without delay.

Peter went with them at once. When he arrived, they took him up to the room and all the widows stood around him crying and showing him the shirts and coats that Dorcas had made when she was still with them.

There was at Caesarea a man named Cornelius, a captain in what was known as the Italian regiment.

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.

When the angel who had spoken to him was gone, Cornelius called two of his servants, and a devout soldier who was one of his personal attendants,

But Peter said, "Never, sir! For I have never eaten anything that was not ceremonially cleansed."

This happened three times; then the thing was taken right up into the sky.

While Peter was still wondering what the vision he had had could mean, the men whom Cornelius had sent had asked the way to Simon's house and reached the door,

and they called out to ask if Simon who was called Peter was staying there.

As Peter was pondering over his vision, the Spirit said to him, "There are two men looking for you.

They answered, "Cornelius, who is a captain, and an upright and God-fearing man, and who has a good reputation with the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house, and to listen to what you have to say."

and the day after, he reached Caesarea. Cornelius had invited in his relatives and his intimate friends and was waiting for them.

That was why, when I was sent for, I came without any hesitation. And now I want to ask why you sent for me."

Cornelius answered, "Three days ago, just at this time of day, I was praying in my house about three o'clock, when a man in dazzling clothing stood before me,

about Jesus of Nazareth, and how God endowed him with the power of the holy Spirit, and he went about doing good and curing all who were in the power of the devil, because God was with him.

"I was praying in the town of Joppa, and while in a trance I had a vision. Something like a great sheet came down out of the sky, lowered by its four corners. It came right down to me,

But I said, 'Never, sir! For nothing that was not ceremonially cleansed has ever passed my lips.'

This happened three times; then it was all drawn back again into the sky.

So if God had given them the same gift that we received when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I, to be able to interfere with God?"

The Lord's hand was with them, and there were a great many who believed and turned to the Lord.

When he reached there and saw the favor God had shown them, he was delighted, and encouraged them all to be resolute and steadfast in their devotion to the Lord,

for he was an excellent man, full of the holy Spirit and faith. So a considerable number of people came over to the Lord.

and found him and brought him to Antioch. The result was that for a whole year they met with the church, and taught large numbers of people, and it was at Antioch that the disciples first came to be known as Christians.

and one of them named Agabus got up and under the influence of the Spirit revealed the fact that there was going to be a great famine all over the world. This was the famine that occurred in the reign of Claudius.

So Peter was kept in the jail, but the church was praying earnestly to God for him.

The night before Herod was going to bring him out, Peter was asleep between two soldiers, and fastened with two chains, and watchmen were at the door, guarding the jail,

So he followed him out without knowing that what the angel was doing was real, for he thought he was having a vision.

When he realized his situation, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where a number of people were gathered, praying.

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 they said to her, "You are crazy!" But she insisted that it was so. Then they said, "Then it is his guardian angel!"

But when morning came, there was no little commotion among the soldiers as to what could have become of Peter.

Herod was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. So they came before him in a body, and after winning over Blastus, the king's chamberlain, they asked for a reconciliation, because their country depended upon the king's dominions for its food supply.

So a day was fixed and on it Herod, dressed in his robes of state, took his seat on his throne in the theater, and made them an address,

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.