after giving instruction through the Holy Spirit to the Apostles whom He had chosen, He was taken up to Heaven.

who said, "Galilaeans, why stand looking into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken up from you into Heaven will come in just the same way as you have seen Him going into Heaven."

"Brethren, it was necessary that the Scripture should be fulfilled--the prediction, I mean, which the Holy Spirit uttered by the lips of David, about Judas, who acted as guide to those who arrested Jesus.

"It is necessary, therefore, that of the men who have been with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us--

And the brethren prayed, saying, "Thou, Lord, who knowest the hearts of all, show clearly which of these two Thou hast chosen

and every one who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'

"Therefore let the whole House of Israel know beyond all doubt that God has made Him both LORD and CHRIST--this Jesus whom you crucified."

For to you belongs the promise, and to your children, and to all who are far off, whoever the Lord our God may call."

Those, therefore, who joyfully welcomed his Message were baptized; and on that one day about three thousand persons were added to them;

praising God and being regarded with favour by all the people. Also, day by day, the Lord added to their number those whom He was saving.

some men were carrying there one who had been lame from birth, whom they were wont to place every day close to the Beautiful Gate (as it was called)

and recognizing him as the man who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple asking for alms, they were filled with awe and amazement at what had happened to him.

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our forefathers, has conferred this honour on His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to let Him go.

It is His name-- faith in that name being the condition--which has strengthened this man whom you behold and know; and the faith which He has given has made this man sound and strong again, as you can all see.

And every one, without exception, who refuses to listen to that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the People.'

Yes, and all the Prophets, from Samuel onwards--all who have spoken--have also announced the coming of this present time.

But many of those who had listened to their preaching believed; and the number of the adult men had now grown to be about 5,000.

be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that through the name of Jesus the Anointed, the Nazarene, whom *you* crucified, but whom *God* has raised from among the dead-- through that name this man stands here before you in perfect health.

And seeing the man standing with them--the man who had been cured--they had no reply to make.

For the man was over forty years of age on whom this miracle of restoration to health had been performed.

And they, upon hearing the story, all lifted up their voices to God and said, "O Sovereign Lord, it is Thou who didst make Heaven and earth and sea, and all that is in them,

"They did indeed assemble in this city in hostility to Thy holy Servant Jesus whom Thou hadst anointed--Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and also the tribes of Israel--

Among all those who had embraced the faith there was but one heart and soul, so that none of them claimed any of his possessions as his own, but everything they had was common property;

And, in fact, there was not a needy man among them, for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the money which they realised,

In this way Joseph, whom the Apostles gave the name of Bar-nabas--signifying 'Son of Encouragement' --a Levite, a native of Cyprus,

There was a man of the name of Ananias who, with his wife Sapphira, sold some property but,

Upon hearing these words Ananias fell down dead, and all who heard the words were awe-struck.

"How was it," replied Peter, "that you two agreed to try an experiment upon the Spirit of the Lord? The men who have buried your husband are already at the door, and they will carry you out."

This incident struck terror into the whole Church, and into the hearts of all who heard of it.

The inhabitants, too, of the towns in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem came in crowds, bringing sick persons and some who were harassed by foul spirits, and they were cured, one and all.

The God of our forefathers has raised Jesus to life, whom you crucified and put to death.

And we--and the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him--are witnesses as to these things."

Then they privately put forward men who declared, "We have heard him speak blasphemous things against Moses and against God."

Here they brought forward false witnesses who declared, "This fellow is incessantly speaking against the Holy Place and the Law.

At once the eyes of all who were sitting in the Sanhedrin were fastened on him, and they saw his face looking just like the face of an angel.

"Then He gave him the Covenant of circumcision, and under this Covenant he became the father of Isaac--whom he circumcised on the eighth day. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve Patriarchs.

and delivered him from all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him governor over Egypt and all the royal household.

until there arose a foreign king over Egypt who knew nothing of Joseph.

"But the man who was doing the wrong resented his interference, and asked, "'Who appointed you magistrate and judge over us?

I have seen, yes, I have seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt and have heard their groans, and I have come down to deliver them. And now I will send you to Egypt.'

"The Moses whom they rejected, asking him, 'Who appointed you magistrate and judge?' --that same Moses we find God sending as a magistrate and a deliverer by the help of the angel who appeared to him in the bush.

This was he who brought them out, after performing marvels and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea, and in the Desert for forty years.

This is the Moses who said to the descendants of Israel, "'God will raise up a Prophet for you, from among your brethren, just as He raised me up.'

This is he who was among the Congregation in the Desert, together with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai and with our forefathers, who received ever-living utterances to hand on to us.

They said to Aaron, "'Make gods for us, to march in front of us; for as for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.'

"Our forefathers had the Tent of the Testimony in the Desert, built as He who spoke to Moses had instructed him to make it in imitation of the model which he had seen.

That Tent was bequeathed to the next generation of our forefathers. Under Joshua they brought it with them when they were taking possession of the land of the Gentile nations, whom God drove out before them. So it continued till David's time.

But it was Solomon who built a house for Him.

Which of the Prophets did not your forefathers persecute? Yes, they killed those who announced beforehand the advent of the righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become--

you who received the Law given through angels, and yet have not obeyed it."

Those, however, who were scattered abroad went from place to place spreading the Good News of God's Message;

Now for some time past there had been a man named Simon living there, who had been practising magic and astonishing the Samaritans, pretending that he was more than human.

"Give me too," he said, "that power, so that every one on whom I place my hands will receive the Holy Spirit."

Upon this he rose and went. Now, as it happened, an Ethiopian eunuch who was in a position of high authority with Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, as her treasurer, had visited Jerusalem to worship there,

In His humiliation justice was denied Him. Who will make known His posterity? For He is destroyed from among men."

"Pray, of whom is the Prophet speaking?" inquired the eunuch; "of himself or of some one else?"

"Who art thou, Lord?" he asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," was the reply.

Meanwhile the men who travelled with Saul were standing dumb with amazement, hearing a sound, but seeing no one.

and here he is authorized by the High Priests to arrest all who call upon Thy name."

So Ananias went and entered the house; and, laying his two hands upon Saul, said, "Saul, brother, the Lord--even Jesus who appeared to you on your journey--has sent me, that you may recover your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."

and his hearers were all amazed, and began to ask one another, "Is not this the man who in Jerusalem tried to exterminate those who called upon that Name, and came here on purpose to carry them off in chains to the High Priests?"

There he found a man of the name of Aeneas, who for eight years had kept his bed, through being paralysed.

Lud, however, being near Jaffa, the disciples, who had heard that Peter was at Lud, sent two men to him with an urgent request that he would come across to them without delay.

About three o'clock one afternoon he had a vision, and distinctly saw an angel of God enter his house, who called him by name, saying, "Cornelius!"

He is staying as a guest with Simon, a tanner, who has a house close to the sea."

So when the angel who had been speaking to him was gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a God-fearing soldier who was in constant attendance on him,

Rise, go down, and go with them without any misgivings; for it is I who have sent them to you."

Their reply was, "Cornelius, a Captain, an upright and God-fearing man, of whom the whole Jewish nation speaks well, has been divinely instructed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and listen to what you have to say."

who said, "'Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your charities have been put on record before God.

but that in every nation those who fear Him and live good lives are acceptable to Him.

It tells how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, so that He went about everywhere doing acts of kindness, and curing all who were being continually oppressed by the Devil--for God was with Jesus.

not to all the people, but to witnesses--men previously chosen by God--namely, to us, who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead.

And He has commanded us to preach to the people and solemnly declare that this is He who has been appointed by God to be the Judge of the living and the dead.

To Him all the Prophets bear witness, and testify that through His name all who believe in Him receive the forgiveness of their sins."

While Peter was speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all who were listening to the Message.

And all the Jewish believers who had come with Peter were astonished that on the Gentiles also the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out.

"Can any one forbid the use of water, and object to these persons being baptized--men who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?"

"You went into the houses of men who are not Jews," they said, "and you ate with them."

And the Spirit told me to accompany them without any misgivings. There also went with me these six brethren who are now present, and we reached the Centurion's house.

"If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we first believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, why, who was I to be able to thwart God?"

Those, however, who had been driven in various directions by the persecution which broke out on account of Stephen made their way to Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, delivering the Message to none but Jews.

But some of them were Cyprians and Cyrenaeans, who, on coming to Antioch, spoke to the Greeks also and told them the Good News concerning the Lord Jesus.

The power of the Lord was with them, and there were a vast number who believed and turned to the Lord.

one of whom, named Agabus, being instructed by the Spirit, publicly predicted the speedy coming of a great famine throughout the world. (It came in the reign of Claudius.)

Now there were in Antioch, in the Church there--as Prophets and teachers--barnabas, Symeon surnamed 'the black,' Lucius the Cyrenaean, Manaen (who was Herod the Tetrarch's foster-brother)

who was a friend of the Proconsul Sergius Paulus. The Proconsul was a man of keen intelligence. He sent for Barnabas and Saul, and asked to be told God's Message.

Then Saul, who is also called Paul, was filled with the Holy Spirit, and, fixing his eyes on Elymas,

said, "You who are full of every kind of craftiness and unscrupulous cunning--you son of the Devil and foe to all that is right--will you never cease to misrepresent the straight paths of the Lord?

So Paul rose, and motioning with his hand for silence, said, "Israelites, and you others who fear God, pay attention to me.

Next they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a Benjamite, who reigned forty years.

After removing him, He raised up David to be their king, to whom He also bore witness when He said, "'I have found David the son of Jesse, a man I love, who will obey all My commands.'

"Brethren, descendants of the family of Abraham, and all among you who fear God, to us has this Message of salvation been sent.

And, after a few days, He appeared to the people who had gone up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem and are now witnesses concerning Him to the Jews.

But He whom God raised to life underwent no decay.

And, when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and of the devout converts from heathenism continued with Paul and Barnabas, who talked to them and urged them to hold fast to the grace of God.

The Gentiles listened with delight and extolled the Lord's Message; and all who were pre-destined to the Life of the Ages believed.

But the Jews influenced the gentlewomen of rank who worshipped with them, and also the leading men in the city, and stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of the district.

But the Jews who had refused obedience stirred up the Gentiles and embittered their minds against the brethren.

Now a man who had no power in his feet used to sit in the streets of Lystra. He had been lame from his birth and had never walked.

And in every Church, after prayer and fasting, they selected Elders by show of hands, and commended them to the Lord on whom their faith rested.