The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has done honor to his Servant Jesus--him whom you gave up and disowned before Pilate, when he had decided to set him free.

And through faith in his name hath his name restored this man to strength, whom ye behold and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the sight of you all.

For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.

Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.

And they put hands upon them, and set in guard for the morrow: for it was already evening.

But many of those who had heard what they said believed it, and their number grew to be about five thousand.

And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel,

This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.

And there is in no one else, salvation, for, neither is there any other name, under heaven, which hath been set forth among men, in which we must needs be saved.

They said, "What should we do with these men? For it's obvious to everybody living in Jerusalem that an unmistakable sign has been done by them, and we cannot deny it.

But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.

And when they had said more sharp words to them, they let them go, not seeing what punishment they might give them, because of the people; for all men were giving praise to God for what had taken place.

And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them.

And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is:

Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?

The kings of the earth set themselves in array, And the rulers were gathered together, Against the Lord, and against his Anointed:

And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.

But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?

And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much.

Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.

Instantly she fell down dead at his feet, and the young men came in and found her dead. So they carried her out and buried her by her husband's side.

And put their hands upon the sent, and set them in the public keeping.

But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said,

"Go," he said, "and stand in the Temple Courts, and tell the people the whole Message of this new Life."

and sent to the prison, to have them brought, But when the officers came, they found them not in the prison; and returning they said,

And someone came and said to them, The men, whom you put in prison, are in the Temple teaching the people.

And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them,

"We strictly forbad you to teach in that name--did we not?" he said. "And see, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and are trying to make us responsible for that man's death!"

Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

But God exalted Him at His right side to be a Prince and Savior and to give the people of Israel [an opportunity] to repent [i.e., change their hearts and lives] and [receive] forgiveness of [their] sins [through Him].

But a Pharisee of the name of Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law, held in honour by all the people, rose from his seat and requested that they should be sent outside the court for a few minutes.

And said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men.

For before this there was Theudas, who said he was someone important, to whom about four hundred men gave their support: he was put to death, and his band was broken up and came to nothing.

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;

The Council followed his advice, and, calling the Apostles in, had them flogged, and then, after cautioning them not to speak in the Name of Jesus, set them free.

Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.

look out, therefore, brethren, seven men of you who are well testified of, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may set over this necessity,

And the word was pleasing in the sight of all the throng; and they selected Stephen, a man full of faith and Holy Spirit, and Philip and Prochorus and Nicanor and Timon and Parmenas and Nicholaus, a proselyte of Antioch;

Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.

Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.

And they stirred up the people, as well as the Councillors and the Teachers of the Law, and set upon Stephen, and arrested him, and brought him before the High Council.

And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law:

For he has said in our hearing that this Jesus of Nazareth will put this place to destruction and make changes in the rules which were handed down to us by Moses.

And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.

Then said the high priest, Are these things so?

And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran,

And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.

And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child.

And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years.

And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that shall they come forth, and serve me in this place.

And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.

The same took advantage of our race, and mistreated our fathers, and forced them to throw out their babies, so that they wouldn't stay alive.

It was at this [critical] time that Moses was born; and he was lovely in the sight of God, and for three months he was nourished in his father’s house.

And after he had been set outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and nurtured him as her own son.

And the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another?

and he who is doing injustice to the neighbour, did thrust him away, saying, Who set thee a ruler and a judge over us?

When the man said this, Moses fled and became a foreigner in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.

When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him,

Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground.

'This Moses, whom they did refuse, saying, Who did set thee a ruler and a judge? this one God a ruler and a redeemer did send, in the hand of a messenger who appeared to him in the bush;

This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear.

By whom our fathers would not be controlled; but they put him on one side, turning back in their hearts to Egypt,

They said to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us; for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’

[No], you set up a tent for Moloch [i.e., a heathen idol worshiped by the Ammonites] and [another one for] the star [representing the false god] Rephan and images used in worshiping them. I will allow you to be transported beyond [the country of] Babylon.'

The tent of testimony was with our fathers in the desert, as he speaking set to Moses, to make it according to the type which he had seen.

and which our fathers receiving, they with Joshua, brought into the territory of the nations, whom God drove out from before the face of our fathers, till the days of David, who found favor in the sight of God,

who found favor in the sight of God, and asked to find a habitation for the God of Jacob.

However, the Highest [i.e., God] does not live in a house made by human beings, as the prophet said [Isaiah 66:1ff],

Heaven is the seat of my power, and earth is a resting-place for my feet: what sort of house will you make for me, says the Lord, or what is my place of rest?

you who received the law as ordained and delivered to you by angels, and yet you did not obey it!”

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,

And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.

They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”

And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

The crowds gathered and were paying close attention to everything Philip said, as they heard [the message] and saw the [miraculous] signs which he was doing [validating his message].

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!”

And him they set much by, because of long time with sorcery he had mocked their wits.

nay, Simon himself became a proselyte: and after he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and was transported at the sight of the miracles and prodigies which he perform'd.

When Simon saw that it was through the placing of the Apostles' hands on them that the Spirit was given, he brought them a sum of money and said:

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

But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.

Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.

Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me.

But an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go south to the road that runs from Jerusalem down to Gaza.” (This is a desert road).

So Philip set out on a journey; and on his way he came upon an official of high rank, in the service of Candace, Queen of the Abyssinians. He was her treasurer, and had been to Jerusalem to worship,

and was now on his way home; and as he sat in his chariot he was reading the Prophet Isaiah.

Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.

And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?

And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.

Now the passage of Scripture he was reading said [Isa. 53:7ff], "He was led out to be slaughtered as a sheep; He made no sound, just like a lamb when it was being sheared.

And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?

And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?

And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

When they came up from the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, and the eunuch lost sight of him. He went on his way rejoicing,

and falling to the ground he heard a voice which said to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?"

And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.

And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord.