I wrote my first volume, Theophilus, about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning

And once while He was eating with them, He charged them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for what the Father had promised. "You have heard me speak of it," He said,

"for John baptized people in water, but in a few days you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit."

but you are going to receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you must be witnesses for me in Jerusalem and all over Judea and Samaria, and to the very ends of the earth."

After saying this, He was taken up while they were looking at Him, and a cloud swept under Him and carried Him out of their sight.

And while they were gazing after Him into heaven, two men dressed in white suddenly stood beside them,

and said to them, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This very Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come back in just the way you have seen Him go up into heaven."

With one mind they were all continuing to devote themselves to prayer, with the women and Mary and His brothers.

(This man bought a piece of land with the money which he took for his treachery, and he fell there face downward and his body broke in two, and all his intestines poured out.

It became known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that this piece of land was called in their language Akeldamach, that is, The Field of Blood.)

"So one of these men who have been associated with us all the time the Lord Jesus came and went among us,

And they prayed, saying, "Lord, you who know the hearts of all, show us which one of these two men you have chosen

When the day of Pentecost had now come, they were all meeting in one mind,

when suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a terrific blast of wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting,

and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in foreign languages as the Spirit granted them to utter divine things.

They were perfectly astounded, and in bewilderment they continued to say, "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans?

Cretans and Arabs -- we hear them all alike telling in our own tongues the great wonders of God."

And thus they all continued to be astounded and bewildered, and continued to say to each other, "What can this mean?"

Then Peter stood with the Eleven around him, and raising his voice he addressed them, "Men of Judea and all you residents of Jerusalem, let me explain this to you, and give close attention to my words.

'It will occur in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all mankind. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will have visions. Your old men will have dreams.

Even on my slaves, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will become prophets.

I will show wonders in the sky above, and signs upon the earth below, yes, blood and fire and smoky mist.

The sun will turn to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.

Then everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.'

"Fellow Israelites, listen to what I say. Jesus of Nazareth, as you yourselves well know, a man accredited to you by God through mighty deeds and wonders and wonder-works which God performed through Him right here among you,

For you will not forsake my soul to Hades. Nor will you let your Holy One experience decay.

You have made known to me the ways of life, and you will fill me with delight in your presence.'

I mean Jesus whom God raised from the dead, to which fact we are all witnesses,

"Therefore, let all the descendants of Israel understand beyond a doubt that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ."

Peter said to them, "You must repent -- and, as an expression of it, let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ -- that you may have your sins forgiven; and then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit,

for the promise belongs to you and your children, as well as to all those who are far away whom the Lord our God may call to Him."

And all the believers lived together and held all they had as common goods to be shared by one another.

And so they continued to sell their property and goods and to distribute the money to all, as anyone had special need.

constantly praising God and always having the favor of all the people. And every day the Lord continued to add to them the people who were being saved.

But Peter said, "No silver or gold have I, but what I do have I will give you. In the name of Jesus of Nazareth start walking."

When all the people saw him walking about and praising God,

While he was still clinging to Peter and John, all the people in utter amazement crowded around them in what was called Solomon's portico.

It is His name, that is, on condition of faith in His name, that has made strong again this man whom you see and recognize -- yes, faith inspired by Him has given this man the perfect health you all see.

But in this way God fulfilled what He by the lips of all the prophets foretold, that the Christ should suffer.

Moses, indeed, said: 'The Lord God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, as He did me. You must attentively listen to everything that He tells you.

The result will be, that any person who will not listen to that prophet will be utterly destroyed from among the people.'

Yes, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel down, have also foretold these days.

And you are the descendants of the prophets and the heirs of the sacred compact which God made with your forefathers, when He said to Abraham: 'All the families of the earth are to be blessed through your posterity.'

While they were talking to the people, the high priests, the military commander of the temple, and the Sadducees came down upon them,

met in Jerusalem, including Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and all that were members of the high priest's family.

you and all the people of Israel must know that it is by the authority of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead -- yes, I repeat it, it is by His authority that this man stands here before you well.

There is no salvation by anyone else, for no one else in all the wide world has been appointed among men as our only medium by which to be saved."

But to keep it from spreading farther among the people, let us severely threaten them not to say anything at all to anyone else about this person."

So they called them in and ordered them not to speak or teach at all about the name of Jesus.

So, after further threatening them, they turned them loose, because they could not find any way to punish them, on account of the people, because they all continued to praise God for what had taken place,

to do all that your hand and will had predetermined to take place.

When they had prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and continued courageously to speak God's message.

So with great power the apostles continued to give their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God's favor rested richly on them all.

Peter said to her, "How could both of you agree in such a way to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door; they will carry you out, too."

So a strange awe seized the whole church and everybody who heard it.

Many signs and wonders were continuously performed by the apostles among the people. And by common consent they all used to meet in Solomon's portico.

Even from the towns around Jerusalem crowds continued coming in to bring their sick ones and those troubled with foul spirits, and they were all cured.

Now the high priest took a stand, and all his friends, the party of the Sadducees; and being filled with jealousy,

So they obeyed, and about the break of day they went into the temple square and began to teach. The high priest and his party arrived and called a meeting of the council and the whole senate of the sons of Israel, and sent to the prison to have the men brought in.

But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, highly respected by all the people, got up in the council and gave orders to put the men out of the council a little while;

For in the days gone by Theudas appeared, claiming that he was a man of importance, and a considerable number of men, about four hundred, espoused his cause, but he was slain and all his followers were dispersed and as a party annihilated.

After him, at the time of the enrollment for the Roman tax, Judas the Galilean appeared and influenced people to desert and follow him, but he too perished and all his followers were scattered.

So in the present case, I warn you, stay away from these men, let them alone. For, if this program or movement has its origin in men, it will go to pieces,

So the Twelve called together the whole body of the disciples, and said, "It is not desirable that we should leave off preaching the word of God to wait on tables.

So, brothers, you must select from your number seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit, and of good practical sense, and we will assign them to this business,

while we will go on devoting ourselves to prayer and the word of God."

This suggestion was approved by the whole body, and so they selected Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, Philip, Procorus, Nikanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas of Antioch, who was a convert to Judaism.

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

Then all who were seated in the council fixed their eyes upon him and saw that his face was like that of an angel.

He answered: "Listen, brothers and fathers. The glorious God appeared to our forefather Abraham while he was in Mesopotamia before he ever made his home in Haran,

This is what God promised: 'His descendants will be strangers living in a foreign land, and its people will enslave and oppress them for four hundred years.'

But God further promised: 'I will pass sentence on the nation that enslaves them, and after that they will leave that country and worship me on this very spot.'

and delivered him from all his troubles, and allowed him to win favor and to show wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and so he appointed Joseph governor of Egypt and of his whole household.

Then a famine spread all over Egypt and Canaan, and with it great suffering, and our forefathers could not find the simplest food.

Then Joseph sent and invited his father Jacob and all his kinsmen, seventy-five in all;

Moses was educated in all the culture of the Egyptians, and was a mighty man in speech and action.

Because he saw one of them being mistreated, he defended and avenged the man who was suffering ill-treatment by striking down the Egyptian.

Because I have seen the oppression of my people in Egypt and heard their groans, I have come down to deliver them. So come! I will send you back to Egypt as my messenger.'

It was this Moses who said to the descendants of Israel, 'God will raise up a prophet for you from among you, just as He did me.'

No, you offered me the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Rompha, the images you had made to worship! So I will now remove you beyond Babylon.'

Was it not my hand that made them all?"'

"You people, stubborn in will, heathenish in hearts and ears, you are always resisting the Holy Spirit, as your forefathers did, too.

But they raised a great shout and held their ears, and all together rushed upon him,

Saul heartily approved of his being put to death. So on that day a severe persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all of them, except the apostles, were scattered over Judea and Samaria.

but Philip was found at Ashdod, and he went on telling the good news in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

But get up and go into the city, and there it will be told you what you ought to do."

Now he is here and has authority from the high priests to put in chains all who call upon your name."

And all at once something like scales fell from his eyes, he regained his sight, got up and was baptized,

And all who heard him were astounded and said, "Is not this the man who harassed those who called upon this name in Jerusalem, and has come here expressly for the purpose of putting them in chains and taking them back to the high priests?"

but his disciples took him one night and let him down through the city wall, by lowering him in a hamper-basket.

Now when Saul arrived at Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples there, but they were all afraid of him, because they did not believe that he was really a disciple.

So the church all over Judea, Galilee, and Samaria enjoyed peace, and as it continued to be built up spiritually and to live in reverence for the Lord, it continued to increase in numbers through the encouragement that the Holy Spirit gave.

Now, as Peter was going here and there among them all, he finally went down to God's people who lived at Lydda.

Then all the people who lived at Lydda and Sharon saw him, and so they turned to the Lord.

Just at that time it happened that she had been taken ill and had died. They washed her body and laid her out in a room upstairs.

So Peter at once got up and went with them. When he reached there, they took him to the room upstairs, and all the widows took their stand around him, crying and showing him the shirts and coats that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

Then Peter put them all out of the room, knelt down and prayed, and, turning to the body, said, "Tabitha, get up!" Then she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up.

This became known all over Joppa, and many came to believe in the Lord.

a religious man, too, who revered God with all his household, who was always liberal in his many deeds of charity to the people, and who had the habit of praying to God.

and after telling them the whole story, sent them to Joppa.