down to the day when, after issuing his orders by the holy Spirit to the disciples whom he had chosen, he was taken up to heaven.

who said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up to heaven? This Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven will come back, just as you have seen him depart to heaven."

On entering the city they went to the upper room where they were in the habit of meeting; there were Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James (the son of Alphaeus) and Simon who had been a Zealot, with Judas the son of James.

"My brothers," said he, "it had to be fulfilled, that scripture which the holy Spirit uttered beforehand by the lips of David with regard to Judas who acted as guide to those who arrested Jesus.

Well then, of the men who have been associated with us all the time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,

and they prayed, "O Lord, who readest the hearts of all, do thou single out from these two men him whom thou hast chosen

Then they cast lots for them, and the lot fell upon Matthias, who was assigned his position with the eleven apostles.

All were amazed and astonished. "Are these not all Galileans," they said, "who are speaking?

And everyone who invokes the name of the Lord shall be saved.

For it was not David who ascended to heaven; David says, The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at my right hand,

So let all the house of Israel understand beyond a doubt that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this very Jesus whom you have crucified."

For the promise is meant for you and for your children and for all who are far off, for anyone whom the Lord our God may call to himself."

So those who accepted what he said were baptized; about three thousand souls were brought in, that day.

when a man lame from birth was carried past, who used to be laid every day at what was called the 'Beautiful Gate' of the temple, to ask alms from those who entered the temple.

and when they recognized this was the very man who used to sit and beg at the Gate Beautiful, they were lost in awe and amazement at what had happened to him.

The God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers has glorified Jesus his servant, whom you delivered up and repudiated before Pilate. Pilate had decided to release him,

(He it is who has given strength to this man whom you see and know, by faith in His name; it is the faith He inspires which has made the man thus hale and whole before you all.)

who must be kept in heaven till the period of the great Restoration. Ages ago God spoke of this by the lips of his holy prophets;

and all the prophets who have spoken since Samuel and his successors have also announced these days.

who were annoyed at them teaching the people and proclaiming Jesus as an instance of resurrection from the dead.

(A number of those who heard them speak believed, bringing up their numbers to [about] five thousand.)

you and the people of Israel must all understand that he stands before you strong and well, thanks to the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene whom you crucified and whom God raised from the dead.

but as they saw the man who had been healed standing beside them, they could say nothing.

(the man on whom this miracle of healing had been performed, being more than forty years old).

and on hearing this the entire company raised their cry to God, "O Sovereign Lord, thou art he who made heaven, earth, and sea, and all that in them is,

who said to our fathers by the holy Spirit through the lips of thy servant David, Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples vainly conspire?

In this very city they actually mustered against thy holy Servant Jesus, whom thou didst consecrate ??Herod and Pontius Pilate, together with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,

There was not a needy person among them, for those who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sale,

Thus Joseph, who was surnamed Barnabas or (as it may be translated) 'Son of Encouragement' by the apostles, a Levite of Cypriote birth,

But a man called Ananias, who with his wife Sapphira had sold some property,

When Ananias heard this, he fell down and expired. (Great awe came over all who heard of it.)

Peter said to her, "How could you arrange to put the Lord's Spirit to the proof? Listen, there are the footsteps of the men who have buried your husband! They are at the door, and they will carry you out as well."

Great awe came over the whole church and over all who heard about this.

On the other hand, crowds of men and women who believed in the Lord were brought in.

Crowds gathered even from the towns round Jerusalem, bringing invalids and people troubled with unclean spirits, all of whom were healed.

The God of our fathers raised Jesus whom you murdered by hanging him on a gibbet.

To these facts we bear witness, with the holy Spirit which God has given to those who obey him."

But a Pharisee in the Sanhedrin called Gamaliel, a doctor of the Law who was highly respected by all the people, got up and ordered the apostles to be removed for a few moments.

Brothers, look out seven of your own number, men of good reputation who are full of the Spirit and of wisdom. We will appoint them to this duty,

these men they presented to the apostles, who, after prayer, laid their hands upon them.

Now Stephen, who was full of grace and power, performed great wonders and miracles among the people.

Some of those who belonged to the so-called synagogue of the Libyans, the Cyrenians, and the Alexandrians, as well as to that of the Cilicians and Asiatics, started a dispute with Stephen,

In this way they excited the people, the elders, and the scribes, who rushed on him, dragged him away, and took him before the Sanhedrin.

Then all who were seated in the Sanhedrin fixed their eyes on him, and saw that his face shone like the face of an angel.

God also gave him the covenant of circumcision. So Abraham became the father of Isaac, whom he circumcised on the eighth day, Isaac was the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.

rescuing him from all his troubles and allowing him to find favour for his wisdom with Pharaoh king of Egypt, who appointed him viceroy over Egypt and over all his own household.

till another king arose to rule Egypt who knew nothing of Joseph.

He saw one of them being badly treated, so he defended him, struck down the Egyptian, and thus avenged the man who had been wronged.

But the man who was injuring his neighbour pushed him aside. "Who made you ruler and umpire over us?" he asked.

The Moses they refused, when they said, 'Who made you ruler and umpire?' ??that was the very man whom God sent to rule and to redeem them, by aid of the angel who had appeared to him in the bush.

He it was who led them forth, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the desert during forty years.

(This was the Moses who told the sons of Israel, 'God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brotherhood, as he raised me.')

This was the man who at the assembly in the desert intervened between the angel who spoke to him on mount Sinai and our fathers; he received living Words to be given to us.

They told Aaron, 'Make gods that will march in front of us! As for this Moses who led us out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him!'

In the desert our fathers had the tent of witness as arranged by Him who told Moses to make it after the pattern he had seen.

It was passed on and borne in by our fathers as with Joshua they took possession of the territory of the nations whom God drove out before our fathers. So it remained down to the days of David.

It was Solomon, however, who built him a house.

Which of the prophets did your fathers fail to persecute? They killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Just One. And here you have betrayed him, murdered him! ??53 you who got the Law that angels transmitted, and have not obeyed it!"

So they stoned Stephen, who called on the Lord, saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!"

Now those who were scattered went through the land preaching the gospel.

For unclean spirits came screaming and shrieking out of many who had been possessed, and many paralytics and lame people were healed.

But when they believed Philip, who preached the gospel of the Reign of God and the name of Jesus, they had themselves baptized, both men and women;

who came down and prayed that the Samaritans might receive the holy Spirit.

saying, "Let me share this power too, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the holy Spirit."

So he got up and went on his way. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a high official of Candace the queen of the Ethiopians (he was her chief treasurer), who had come to Jerusalem for worship

By humbling himself he had his doom removed. Who can tell his family? For his life is cut off from the earth.

So the eunuch said to Philip, "Pray, who is the prophet speaking about? Is it himself or someone else?"

and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus empowering him to put any man or woman in chains whom he could find belonging to the Way, and bring them to Jerusalem.

"Who are you?" he asked. "I am Jesus," he said, "and you persecute me.

And in this city too he has authority from the high priests to put anyone in chains who invokes thy Name!"

So Ananias went off and entered the house, laying his hands on him with these words, "Saul, my brother, I have been sent by the Lord, by Jesus who appeared to you on the road, to let you regain your sight and be filled with the holy Spirit."

He lost no time in preaching throughout the synagogues that Jesus was the Son of God ??21 to the amazement of all his hearers, who said, "Is this not the man who in Jerusalem harried those who invoke this Name, the man who came here for the express purpose of carrying them all in chains to the high priests?"

Peter moved here and there among them all, and it happened that in the course of his tours he came down to visit the saints who stayed at Lydda.

There he found a man called Aeneas who had been bed-ridden for eight years with paralysis.

a religious man, who reverenced God with all his household, who was liberal in his alms to the People, and who constantly prayed to God.

You must now send some men to Joppa for a certain Simon who is surnamed Peter;

When the angel who spoke to him had left, he called two of his menservants and a religiously minded soldier who belonged to his personal retinue,

Peter was quite at a loss to know the meaning of the vision he had seen; but just then, the messengers of Cornelius, who had made inquiries for the house of Simon, stood at the door

So the Spirit said to Peter, who was pondering over the vision, "There are three men looking for you!

Come, get up and go down, and have no hesitation about accompanying them, for it is I who have sent them."

They said, "Cornelius, a captain, a good man who reverences God and enjoys a good reputation among the whole Jewish nation, was instructed by a holy angel to send for you to his house and to listen to what you had to say."

You must send to Joppa and summon Simon who is surnamed Peter; he is staying in the house of Simon a tanner beside the sea.'

but that he who reverences Him and lives a good life in any nation is welcomed by Him.

You know the message he sent to the sons of Israel when he preached the gospel of peace by Jesus Christ (who is Lord of all);

you know how it spread over the whole of Judaea, starting from Galilee after the baptism preached by John ??38 how God consecrated Jesus of Nazaret with the holy Spirit and power, and how he went about doing good and curing all who were harassed by the devil; for God was with him.

not by all the People but by witnesses whom God had previously selected, by us who ate and drank with him after his resurrection from the dead,

when he enjoined us to preach to the People, testifying that this was he whom God has appointed to be judge of the living and of the dead.

All the prophets testify that everyone who believes in him is to receive remission of sins through his Name."

While Peter was still speaking, the holy Spirit fell upon all who listened to what he said.

Now the Jewish believers who had accompanied Peter were amazed that the gift of the holy Spirit had actually been poured out on the Gentiles ??46 for they heard them speak with 'tongues' and magnify God. At this Peter asked,

"Can anyone refuse water for the baptism of these people ??people who have received the holy Spirit just as we ourselves have?"

He related to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, 'Send to Joppa for Simon who is surnamed Peter;

Well then, if God has given them exactly the same gift as he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I ??how could I try to thwart God?"

Now those who had been scattered by the trouble which arose over Stephen made their way as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, but they preached the word to none except Jews.

Some of them, however, were Cypriotes and Cyrenians, who on reaching Antioch told the Greeks also the gospel of the Lord Jesus;

one of whom, named Agabus, showed by the Spirit that a severe famine was about to visit the whole world (the famine which occurred in the reign of Claudius).

When he grasped the situation, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was surnamed Mark, where a number had met for prayer.

After fulfilling their commission, Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, bringing with them John who is surnamed Mark.

he belonged to the suite of the proconsul Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man who called for Barnabas and Saul and demanded to hear the word of God.

So Saul (who is also called Paul), filled with the holy Spirit, looked steadily at him