And [this] Simon also believed [Philip's message] and was immersed. [After that] he continued [to travel] with Philip and was amazed by the [supernatural] signs and great miracles he saw [him perform].

Who, when they came there, made prayer for them, that the Holy Spirit might be given to them:

Then Peter and John laid their hands on them [one by one], and they received the Holy Spirit.

But Simon, having seen that by the laying on of the hands of the apostles the Holy Spirit was given, offered them money,

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

Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.

for I see thee to be in the gall of bitterness, and bond of unrighteousness.

after this the apostles having certified and preached the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel by the way in many villages of the Samaritans.

And, a messenger of the Lord, spake unto Philip, saying - Arise, and be journeying along southward, unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, - the same, is desert.

And he arose and went. And be hold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem to worship,

And the Spirit said to Philip, 'Go near, and be joined to this chariot;'

And he said, How should I then be able unless some one guide me? And he begged Philip to come up and sit with him.

Now the place in the book where he was reading was this: He was taken, like a sheep, to be put to death; and as a lamb is quiet when its wool is being cut, so he made no sound:

“In humiliation His judgment was taken away [justice was denied Him].
Who will describe His generation?
For His life is taken from the earth.”

And the Ethiopian said to Philip, About whom are these words said by the prophet? about himself, or some other?

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 dost believe out of all the heart, it is lawful;' and he answering said, 'I believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God;'

And he ordered that the chariot be stopped; and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.

and he asked for letters [of authority] from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any men or women there belonging to the Way [believers, followers of Jesus the Messiah], men and women alike, he could arrest them and bring them bound [with chains] to Jerusalem.

And he said, "What art thou, Lord?" And the Lord said, "I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it shall be hard for thee to kick against the prick."

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 Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.

And there was a certain disciple in Damascus by name Ananias. And the Lord said to him in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, here am I, Lord.

And the Lord said to him, Rise up and go into the street which is called Straight, and seek in the house of Judas one by name Saul, he is of Tarsus: for, behold, he is praying,

and has seen in a vision a man by name Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he should see.

Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem:

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

And the Lord said unto him, 'Be going on, because a choice vessel to Me is this one, to bear My name before nations and kings -- the sons also of Israel;

for I will make clear to him how much he must suffer and endure for My name’s sake.”

And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.

Instantly there dropped from his eyes what seemed to be scales, and he could see once more. Upon this he rose and received baptism;

And, receiving food, gained strength. And he came to be with the disciples who were in Damascus certain days;

All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, “Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?”

But Saul increased in strength more and more, and continued to perplex the Jews who lived in Damascus by examining [theological evidence] and proving [with Scripture] that this Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed).

After considerable time had passed [about three years or so], the Jews plotted together to kill him,

but their plot was found out by Saul. Day and night they kept guarding the city gates, to murder him,

Then the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket.

And when he came to Jerusalem, he made an attempt to be joined to the disciples, but they were all in fear of him, not taking him for a disciple.

Barnabas, however, taking him by the hand, brought him to the Apostles, and told them the whole story of how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord, and how the Lord had talked to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken out fearlessly in the Name of Jesus.

But they kept trying to take his life. On learning this, the brethren brought him down to Caesarea, and then sent him by sea to Tarsus.

So then, the assembly throughout the whole of Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, had peace, building itself up, and going on its way in the fear of the Lord; and, by the advocacy of the Holy Spirit, was being multiplied.

And he found there a certain man, Aeneas by name, who had been lying for eight years upon a couch, who was paralysed.

Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did.

But as time went on, she became [very] sick and [eventually] died. Her body was washed [by the women attendants] and placed in an upstairs room [during the mourning process].

Because Lydda was nigh to Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there - they sent unto him, desiring him that he would not be grieved to come unto them.

Then Peter arose and went with them. When he was come, they brought him into the upper chamber: and all the widows stood by him weeping, and shewing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them.

Now there was a certain man in Caesarea, Cornelius by name, a centurion of the band called the Italian band ,

About the ninth hour (3:00 p.m.) of the day he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had come to him and said, “Cornelius!”

Cornelius was frightened and stared intently at him and said, “What is it, lord (sir)?” And the angel said to him, “Your prayers and gifts of charity have ascended as a memorial offering before God [an offering made in remembrance of His past blessings].

He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do.

He became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while lunch was being prepared he was overcome by a "trance" [i.e., a semi-conscious, vision-like state]

and he beholdeth the heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending, as it were a great sheet, let down by four corners upon the earth:

But Peter said, “Not at all, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is common (unholy) and [ceremonially] unclean.”

And the voice came to him a second time, “What God has cleansed and pronounced clean, no longer consider common (unholy).”

Now while Peter was much perplexed in himself what the vision which he had seen might mean, behold, the men that were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon's house, stood before the gate,

But rise, go down, and be journeying with them, nothing, doubting; because, I, have sent them.

Then Peter went down to the men who were sent by Cornelius to him; and said, Lo! I am the person that ye ask for: what is the business on which ye are come hither?

And they said, Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God by an holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words of thee.

So Peter invited them in and gave them lodging [for the night].

The next day Peter got up and left with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa went with him.

and the day after that they reached Caesarea. There Cornelius was awaiting their arrival, and had invited all his relatives and intimate friends to be present.

and as it came that Peter entered in, Cornelius having met him, having fallen at his feet, did bow before him;

And he said to them, Ye know how it is unlawful for a Jew to be joined or come to one of a strange race, and to me God has shewn to call no man common or unclean.

Cornelius answered. "Three days ago, at this very hour, I was praying in my house at three o'clock in the afternoon, when suddenly a man in a shining robe stood by me,

'Cornelius,' he said, 'your prayer has been heard, and your charities have been accepted, by God.

Send therefore to Joppa, and call hither Simon, whose surname is Peter; he is lodged in the house of one Simon a tanner by the sea side: who, when he cometh, shall speak unto thee.

at once, therefore, I sent to thee; thou also didst do well, having come; now, therefore, are we all before God present to hear all things that have been commanded thee by God.'

but in every nation the person who fears God and does what is right [by seeking Him] is acceptable and welcomed by Him.

The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)

you know the things that have taken place throughout Judea, starting in Galilee after the baptism preached by John—

Jesus who is from Nazareth -- how God did anoint him with the Holy Spirit and power; who went through, doing good, and healing all those oppressed by the devil, because God was with him;

We are [personally] eyewitnesses of everything that He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem [in particular]. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross;

Him God raised up the third day, and gave him to be made manifest,

not to all the people, but to witnesses, to those having been chosen before by God -- to us who did eat with him, and did drink with him, after his rising out of the dead;

And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead.

Unto the same, do all the prophets bear witness, That, remission of sins, is to be received through his name, by every one that believeth on him.

Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?

And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.

But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it by order unto them, saying,

I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, A certain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came even to me:

But I said, ‘Not at all, Lord; for nothing common (unholy) or [ceremonially] unclean has ever entered my mouth.’

But the voice from heaven answered a second time, ‘What God has cleansed and pronounced clean, no longer consider common (unholy).’

Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved.

And, as I began to be speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as upon us also at the beginning.

Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.

If then God has given them the same gift as also to us when we had believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who indeed was I to be able to forbid God?

When they heard this, they calmed down, and praised God by saying, "So God has given repentance that leads to life even to gentiles."

They therefore who were scattered abroad by the oppression that arose about Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews only.

And the news about [what was being done by] these people reached the church in Jerusalem, so that they sent Barnabas to Antioch [in Syria].

On coming there he saw to his great joy these tokens of the loving-kindness of God, and encouraged them all to make up their minds to be faithful to the Lord--

For Barnabas was a good man [privately and publicly—his godly character benefited both himself and others] and he was full of the Holy Spirit and full of faith [in Jesus the Messiah, through whom believers have everlasting life]. And a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

and found him and brought him to Antioch. The result was that for a whole year they met with the church, and taught large numbers of people, and it was at Antioch that the disciples first came to be known as Christians.

And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar.

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.

Which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.

he caus'd James the brother of John to be beheaded.

Whom also having seized, he put into prison, delivering him up unto four quaternions of soldiers, to be guarding him, - intending, after the passover, to bring him up unto the people.

Peter therefore was kept in the prison; but unceasing prayer was made by the assembly to God concerning him.

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 behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shined in the cell: and he smote Peter on the side, and awoke him, saying, Rise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands.

The messenger also said to him, 'Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals;' and he did so; and he saith to him, 'Put thy garment round and be following me;'