After he had said this, while they were watching, he was lifted up and a cloud hid him from their sight.

As they were still staring into the sky while he was going, suddenly two men in white clothing stood near them

When they had entered Jerusalem, they went to the upstairs room where they were staying. Peter and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James were there.

Now when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.

Suddenly a sound like a violent wind blowing came from heaven and filled the entire house where they were sitting.

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven residing in Jerusalem.

All were astounded and greatly confused, saying to one another, "What does this mean?"

Now when they heard this, they were acutely distressed and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "What should we do, brothers?"

So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added.

They were devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

All who believed were together and held everything in common,

praising God and having the good will of all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number every day those who were being saved.

Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time for prayer, at three o'clock in the afternoon.

Then Peter took hold of him by the right hand and raised him up, and at once the man's feet and ankles were made strong.

and they recognized him as the man who used to sit and ask for donations at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were filled with astonishment and amazement at what had happened to him.

While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests and the commander of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them,

angry because they were teaching the people and announcing in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.

Annas the high priest was there, and Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and others who were members of the high priest's family.

When they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and discovered that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized these men had been with Jesus.

After threatening them further, they released them, for they could not find how to punish them on account of the people, because they were all praising God for what had happened.

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

When they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God courageously.

The group of those who believed were of one heart and mind, and no one said that any of his possessions was his own, but everything was held in common.

With great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was on them all.

For there was no one needy among them, because those who were owners of land or houses were selling them and bringing the proceeds from the sales

and placing them at the apostles' feet. The proceeds were distributed to each, as anyone had need.

Peter said to her, "Tell me, were the two of you paid this amount for the land?" Sapphira said, "Yes, that much."

Now many miraculous signs and wonders came about among the people through the hands of the apostles. By common consent they were all meeting together in Solomon's Portico.

More and more believers in the Lord were added to their number, crowds of both men and women.

A crowd of people from the towns around Jerusalem also came together, bringing the sick and those troubled by unclean spirits. They were all being healed.

Now the high priest rose up, and all those with him (that is, the religious party of the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy.

When they heard this, they entered the temple courts at daybreak and began teaching. Now when the high priest and those who were with him arrived, they summoned the Sanhedrin -- that is, the whole high council of the Israelites -- and sent to the jail to have the apostles brought before them.

Now when the commander of the temple guard and the chief priests heard this report, they were greatly puzzled concerning it, wondering what this could be.

Then the commander of the temple guard went with the officers and brought the apostles without the use of force (for they were afraid of being stoned by the people).

For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and nothing came of it.

After him Judas the Galilean arose in the days of the census, and incited people to follow him in revolt. He too was killed, and all who followed him were scattered.

Now in those days, when the disciples were growing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Greek-speaking Jews against the native Hebraic Jews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.

Yet they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke.

All who were sitting in the council looked intently at Stephen and saw his face was like the face of an angel.

The patriarchs, because they were jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt. But God was with him,

and their bones were later moved to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a certain sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

Our ancestors were unwilling to obey him, but pushed him aside and turned back to Egypt in their hearts,

And Saul agreed completely with killing. Now on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were forced to scatter throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria.

The crowds were paying attention with one mind to what Philip said, as they heard and saw the miraculous signs he was performing.

For unclean spirits, crying with loud shrieks, were coming out of many who were possessed, and many paralyzed and lame people were healed.

Even Simon himself believed, and after he was baptized, he stayed close to Philip constantly, and when he saw the signs and great miracles that were occurring, he was amazed.

Now as they were going along the road, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "Look, there is water! What is to stop me from being baptized?"

(Now the men who were traveling with him stood there speechless, because they heard the voice but saw no one.)

So Saul got up from the ground, but although his eyes were open, he could see nothing. Leading him by the hand, his companions brought him into Damascus.

All who heard him were amazed and were saying, "Is this not the man who in Jerusalem was ravaging those who call on this name, and who had come here to bring them as prisoners to the chief priests?"

but Saul learned of their plot against him. They were also watching the city gates day and night so that they could kill him.

When he arrived in Jerusalem, he attempted to associate with the disciples, and they were all afraid of him, because they did not believe that he was a disciple.

He was speaking and debating with the Greek-speaking Jews, but they were trying to kill him.

About noon the next day, while they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray.

He became hungry and wanted to eat, but while they were preparing the meal, a trance came over him.

In it were all kinds of four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth and wild birds.

Therefore I sent for you at once, and you were kind enough to come. So now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to say to us."

with respect to Jesus from Nazareth, that God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with him.

The circumcised believers who had accompanied Peter were greatly astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles,

Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles too had accepted the word of God.

At that very moment, three men sent to me from Caesarea approached the house where we were staying.

But there were some men from Cyprus and Cyrene among them who came to Antioch and began to speak to the Greeks too, proclaiming the good news of the Lord Jesus.

because he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith, and a significant number of people were brought to the Lord.

and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught a significant number of people. Now it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.

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

On that very night before Herod was going to bring him out for trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, while guards in front of the door were keeping watch over the prison.

When Peter came to himself, he said, "Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from everything the Jewish people were expecting to happen."

When Peter realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many people had gathered together and were praying.

Now Peter continued knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were greatly astonished.

Now there were these prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen (a close friend of Herod the tetrarch from childhood) and Saul.

While they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."

As Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people were urging them to speak about these things on the next Sabbath.

When the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and God-fearing proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking with them and were persuading them to continue in the grace of God.

But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and they began to contradict what Paul was saying by reviling him.

And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

So they were sent on their way by the church, and as they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, they were relating at length the conversion of the Gentiles and bringing great joy to all the brothers.

When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all the things God had done with them.

So when they were dismissed, they went down to Antioch, and after gathering the entire group together, they delivered the letter.

Both Judas and Silas, who were prophets themselves, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with a long speech.

After they had spent some time there, they were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them.

Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was Greek.

So the churches were being strengthened in the faith and were increasing in number every day.

After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, "If you consider me to be a believer in the Lord, come and stay in my house." And she persuaded us.

Now as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave girl met us who had a spirit that enabled her to foretell the future by supernatural means. She brought her owners a great profit by fortune-telling.

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the rest of the prisoners were listening to them.

Suddenly a great earthquake occurred, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. Immediately all the doors flew open, and the bonds of all the prisoners came loose.

Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him, along with all those who were in his house.

At that hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and all his family were baptized right away.

The police officers reported these words to the magistrates. They were frightened when they heard Paul and Silas were Roman citizens

Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large group of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women.

These Jews were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they eagerly received the message, examining the scriptures carefully every day to see if these things were so.

Also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him, and some were asking, "What does this foolish babbler want to say?" Others said, "He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods." (They said this because he was proclaiming the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.)

But some people joined him and believed. Among them were Dionysius, who was a member of the Areopagus, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

and because he worked at the same trade, he stayed with them and worked with them (for they were tentmakers by trade).

Crispus, the president of the synagogue, believed in the Lord together with his entire household, and many of the Corinthians who heard about it believed and were baptized.

But just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, "If it were a matter of some crime or serious piece of villainy, I would have been justified in accepting the complaint of you Jews,

So they all seized Sosthenes, the president of the synagogue, and began to beat him in front of the judgment seat. Yet none of these things were of any concern to Gallio.

So Paul said, "Into what then were you baptized?" "Into John's baptism," they replied.

When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus,