While He was together with them, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father’s promise. “This,” He said, “is what you heard from Me;

He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by His own authority.

After He had said this, He was taken up as they were watching, and a cloud took Him out of their sight.

They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen Him going into heaven.”

During these days Peter stood up among the brothers—the number of people who were together was about 120—and said:

But some sneered and said, “They’re full of new wine!”

Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn an oath to him to seat one of his descendants on his throne.

For it was not David who ascended into the heavens, but he himself says:

The Lord declared to my Lord,
‘Sit at My right hand

When they heard this, they came under deep conviction and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles: “Brothers, what must we do?”

“Repent,” Peter said to them, “and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Peter, along with John, looked at him intently and said, “Look at us.”

But Peter said, “I don’t have silver or gold, but what I have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!”

and they recognized that he was the one who used to sit and beg at the Beautiful Gate of the temple complex. So they were filled with awe and astonishment at what had happened to him.

Moses said:

The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to Him in everything He will say to you.

You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors, saying to Abraham, And all the families of the earth will be blessed through your offspring.

Then Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders:

But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it’s right in the sight of God for us to listen to you rather than to God, you decide;

After they were released, they went to their own people and reported everything the chief priests and the elders had said to them.

When they heard this, they all raised their voices to God and said, “Master, You are the One who made the heaven, the earth, and the sea, and everything in them.

You said through the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of our father David Your servant:

Why did the Gentiles rage
and the peoples plot futile things?

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

Then Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the proceeds from the field?

“Tell me,” Peter asked her, “did you sell the field for this price?”

“Yes,” she said, “for that price.”

Then Peter said to her, “Why did you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out!”

But an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail during the night, brought them out, and said,

He said to them, “Men of Israel, be careful about what you’re going to do to these men.

And now, I tell you, stay away from these men and leave them alone. For if this plan or this work is of men, it will be overthrown;

Then the Twelve summoned the whole company of the disciples and said, “It would not be right for us to give up preaching about God to handle financial matters.

They also presented false witnesses who said, “This man does not stop speaking blasphemous words against this holy place and the law.

“Brothers and fathers,” he said, “listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran,

and said to him:

Get out of your country
and away from your relatives,
and come to the land
that I will show you.

I will judge the nation
that they will serve as slaves, God said.
After this, they will come out
and worship Me in this place.

and rescued him out of all his troubles. He gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and over his whole household.

When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he was approaching to look at it, the voice of the Lord came:

“Then the Lord said to him:

Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.

“This Moses, whom they rejected when they said, Who appointed you a ruler and a judge?—this one God sent as a ruler and a redeemer by means of the angel who appeared to him in the bush.

“This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your brothers.

He found favor in God’s sight and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.

But Stephen, filled by the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven. He saw God’s glory, with Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and he said,

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

They all paid attention to him, from the least of them to the greatest, and they said, “This man is called the Great Power of God!”

“Please pray to the Lord for me,” Simon replied, “so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”

When Philip ran up to it, he heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you’re reading?”

“How can I,” he said, “unless someone guides me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

As they were traveling down the road, they came to some water. The eunuch said, “Look, there’s water! What would keep me from being baptized?”

[And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”]

“Who are You, Lord?” he said.

“I am Jesus, the One you are persecuting,” He replied.

There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. And the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias!”

“Here I am, Lord!” he said.

“Get up and go to the street called Straight,” the Lord said to him, “to the house of Judas, and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, since he is praying there.

In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and placing his hands on him so he can regain his sight.”

But the Lord said to him, “Go! For this man is My chosen instrument to take My name to Gentiles, kings, and the Israelites.

So Ananias left and entered the house. Then he placed his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road you were traveling, has sent me so that you can regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

At once something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized.

But all who heard him were astounded and said, “Isn’t this the man who, in Jerusalem, was destroying those who called on this name and then came here for the purpose of taking them as prisoners to the chief priests?”

Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and make your bed,” and immediately he got up.

Then Peter sent them all out of the room. He knelt down, prayed, and turning toward the body said, “Tabitha, get up!” She opened her eyes, saw Peter, and sat up.

About three in the afternoon he distinctly saw in a vision an angel of God who came in and said to him, “Cornelius!”

Looking intently at him, he became afraid and said, “What is it, lord?”

The angel told him, “Your prayers and your acts of charity have come up as a memorial offering before God.

Then a voice said to him, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat!”

“No, Lord!” Peter said. “For I have never eaten anything common and ritually unclean!”

Again, a second time, a voice said to him, “What God has made clean, you must not call common.”

Then Peter went down to the men and said, “Here I am, the one you’re looking for. What is the reason you’re here?”

They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who has a good reputation with the whole Jewish nation, was divinely directed by a holy angel to call you to his house and to hear a message from you.”

Peter then invited them in and gave them lodging.

The next day he got up and set out with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa went with him.

But Peter helped him up and said, “Stand up! I myself am also a man.”

Peter said to them, “You know it’s forbidden for a Jewish man to associate with or visit a foreigner. But God has shown me that I must not call any person common or unclean.

and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your acts of charity have been remembered in God’s sight.

And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay for a few days.

“‘No, Lord!’ I said. ‘For nothing common or ritually unclean has ever entered my mouth!’

Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’

Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the cell. Striking Peter on the side, he woke him up and said, “Quick, get up!” Then the chains fell off his wrists.

Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel and rescued me from Herod’s grasp and from all that the Jewish people expected.”

“You’re crazy!” they told her. But she kept insisting that it was true. Then they said, “It’s his angel!”

Motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he explained to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. “Report these things to James and the brothers,” he said. Then he departed and went to a different place.

As they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work I have called them to.”

and said, “You son of the Devil, full of all deceit and all fraud, enemy of all righteousness! Won’t you ever stop perverting the straight paths of the Lord?

Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. John, however, left them and went back to Jerusalem.

They continued their journey from Perga and reached Antioch in Pisidia. On the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.

The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors, exalted the people during their stay in the land of Egypt, and led them out of it with a mighty arm.

Then as John was completing his life’s work, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not the One. But look! Someone is coming after me, and I am not worthy to untie the sandals on His feet.’

So beware that what is said in the prophets does not happen to you:

Then Paul and Barnabas boldly said: “It was necessary that God’s message be spoken to you first. But since you reject it and consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles!

In Lystra a man without strength in his feet, lame from birth, and who had never walked, sat

Paul said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet!” And he jumped up and started to walk around.

Even though they said these things, they barely stopped the crowds from sacrificing to them.

But some of the believers from the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses!”

After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them: “Brothers, you are aware that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the gospel message and believe.

After these things I will return
and rebuild David’s fallen tent.
I will rebuild its ruins
and set it up again,

After some time had passed, Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s go back and visit the brothers in every town where we have preached the message of the Lord and see how they’re doing.”

After he had seen the vision, we immediately made efforts to set out for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to evangelize them.

On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate by the river, where we thought there was a place of prayer. We sat down and spoke to the women gathered there.

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

And she did this for many days.

But Paul was greatly aggravated and turning to the spirit, said, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out right away.

Bringing them before the chief magistrates, they said, “These men are seriously disturbing our city. They are Jews

Then he escorted them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”

He brought them into his house, set a meal before them, and rejoiced because he had believed God with his entire household.

But Paul said to them, “They beat us in public without a trial, although we are Roman citizens, and threw us in jail. And now are they going to smuggle us out secretly? Certainly not! On the contrary, let them come themselves and escort us out!”

But the Jews became jealous, and they brought together some scoundrels from the marketplace, formed a mob, and started a riot in the city. Attacking Jason’s house, they searched for them to bring them out to the public assembly.

Then also, some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers argued with him. Some said, “What is this pseudo-intellectual trying to say?”

Others replied, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign deities”—because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the Resurrection.