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.

After his sufferings he had shown them that he was alive by a number of proofs, revealing himself to them for forty days and discussing the affairs of God's Realm.

On saying this he was lifted up while they looked on, and a cloud took him out of sight.

Now during these days Peter stood up among the brothers (there was a crowd of about a hundred and twenty persons all together).

from the baptism of John down to the day when he was taken up from us ??of these men one must join us as a witness to his resurrection."

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

So when this sound was heard, the multitude gathered in bewilderment, for each heard them speaking in his own language.

No, this is what was predicted by the prophet Joel ??17 In the last days, saith God, then will I pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams:

Brothers, I can speak quite plainly to you about the patriarch David; he died and was buried and his tomb remains with us to this day.

(He was a prophet; he knew God had sworn an oath to him that he would seat one of his descendants on his throne;

so he spoke with a prevision of the resurrection of the Christ, when he said that he was not forsaken in the grave nor did his flesh suffer decay.

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

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.

As he clung to Peter and John, all the people rushed awestruck to them in what was called Solomon's portico.

but you repudiated the Holy and Just One; the boon you asked was a murderer,

Now I know, brothers, that you acted in ignorance, like your rulers ??18 though this was how God fulfilled what he had announced beforehand by the lips of all the prophets, namely the sufferings of his Christ.

It was for you first that God raised up his Servant, and sent him to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways."

They laid hands on them and, as it was now evening, put them in custody till next morning.

Next morning a meeting was held in Jerusalem of their rulers, elders and scribes,

which was attended by the high priest Annas, by Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and all the members of the high priest's family.

Then they threatened them still further and let them go; on account of the people they found themselves unable to find any means of punishing them, for everybody was glorifying God over what had happened

At their prayer the place of meeting was shaken, and they were all filled with the holy Spirit, speaking God's word fearlessly;

[Relocated to before vs 34] Now there was but one heart and soul among the multitude of the believers; not one of them considered anything his personal property, they shared all they had with one another.

the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus with great power, and great grace was upon them all.

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,

laying the money before the feet of the apostles; it was then distributed according to each individual's need.

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

When it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And even after the sale, was the money not yours to do as you pleased about it? How could you think of doing a thing like this? You have not defrauded men but God."

"Tell me," said Peter, "did you only sell the land for such and such a sum?" "Yes," she said, "that was all we sold it for."

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.

In days gone by Theudas started up, claiming to be a person of importance; a number of men, about four hundred of them, rallied to him, but he was slain, and all his followers were dispersed and wiped out.

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

"Listen, brothers and fathers," said Stephen. "The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was still in Mesopotamia, before ever he stayed in Haran,

But he did not give him any inheritance in it, not even a foot of the land. All be did was to promise that he would give it as a possession to him and to his offspring after him (he at the time being childless).

What God said was this: 'His offspring will sojourn in a foreign land, where they will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years.

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.

Out of jealousy the patriarchs sold Joseph into Egypt; but God was with him,

But, hearing there was food in Egypt, Jacob sent our ancestors on their first visit to that country;

at their second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Pharaoh was informed of Joseph's lineage.

It was at this period that Moses was born, a divinely beautiful child. For three months he was brought up in his father's house;

then he was exposed, but Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son.

So Moses was educated in all the culture of the Egyptians; he was a strong man in speech and action.

(He thought his brothers would understand God was going to bring them deliverance by means of him, but they did not understand.)

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

'I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.' Moses was so terrified that he did not dare to look at the bush.

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.

No, it was the tent of Moloch and the star-symbol of Rephan your god that you carried, figures that you manufactured for worship. So now I will transport you beyond Babylon!

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.

(Saul quite approved of his murder.) That day a severe persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and everyone, with the exception of the apostles, was scattered over Judaea and Samaria.

And the crowds attended like one man to what was said by Philip, listening to him and watching the miracles he performed.

So there was great rejoicing in that town.

and all sorts and conditions of people attached themselves to him, declaring he was that Power of God which is known as 'the Great Power.'

Now Simon noticed that the holy Spirit was conferred by the laying on of the apostles' hands; so he brought them money,

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

and was on his way home. He was sitting in his chariot, reading the prophet Isaiah.

Now the passage of scripture which he was reading was as follows: ??he was led like a sheep to be slaughtered, and as a lamb is dumb before the shearer, so he opens not his lips.

Now there was a disciple called Ananias in Damascus. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." He said, "I am here, Lord."

In a moment something like scales fell from his eyes, he regained his sight, got up and was baptized.

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?"

Saul became more and more vigorous. He put the Jewish residents in Damascus to confusion by his proof that Jesus was the Christ;

He got to Jerusalem and tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, unable to believe he was really a disciple.

Now, all over Judaea, Galilee, and Samaria, the church enjoyed peace; it was consolidated, inspired by reverence for the Lord and by its invocation of the holy Spirit, and so increased in numbers.

At Joppa there was a disciple called Tabitha (which may be translated Dorcas, or 'Gazelle'), a woman whose life was full of good actions and of charitable practices.

When the disciples heard that Peter was at Lydda (for Joppa is not far from Lydda), they sent two men to beg him to "Come on to us without delay."

So Peter got up and went with them. When he arrived, they took him up to the room, where all the widows stood beside him crying as they showed him the garments and dresses that Dorcas used to make when she was with them.

Now in Caesarea there was a man called Cornelius, a captain in the Italian regiment,

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.

This happened three times; then the vessel was at once raised to heaven.

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

and called out to ask if Simon, surnamed Peter, was staying there.

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

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."

So he invited them in and entertained them. Next day he was up and off with them, accompanied by some of the brothers from Joppa;

Peter was just going into the house when Cornelius met him, fell at his feet, and worshipped him;

and so I have come without any demur when I was sent for. Now I want to know why you sent for me?"

"Three days ago," said Cornelius, "at this very hour I was praying in my house at three o'clock in the afternoon, when a man stood before me in shining dress,

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.

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.

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

"I was in the town of Joppa at prayer," he said, "and in a trance I saw a vision ??a vessel coming down like a huge sheet lowered from heaven by the four corners. It came down to me,

This happened three times, and then the whole thing was drawn back into heaven.

At that very moment three men reached the house where I was living, sent to me from Caesarea.

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?"

the strong hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number believed and turned to the Lord.

(for he was a good man, full of the holy Spirit and faith). Considerable numbers of people were brought in for the Lord.

and on finding him he brought him to Antioch, where for a whole year they were guests of the church and taught considerable numbers. It was at Antioch too that the disciples were originally called "Christians."

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).

So the disciples put aside money, as each of them was able to afford it, for a contribution to be sent to the brothers in Judaea.

It was about that time that king Herod laid hands of violence on some members of the church.

and when he saw this pleased the Jews, he went on to seize Peter. (This was during the days of unleavened bread.)

So Peter was closely guarded in prison, while earnest prayer for him was offered to God by the church.

The very night before Herod meant to have him produced, Peter lay asleep between two soldiers; he was fastened by two chains, and sentries in front of the door guarded the prison.

And he followed him out, not realizing that what the angel did was real, but imagining that he saw a vision.

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.

but as soon as she recognized Peter's voice, instead of opening the door she ran inside from sheer joy and announced that Peter was standing in front of the porch.