The Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court) took his advice; and after summoning the apostles, they flogged them and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and released them.

And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.

every day also in the temple, and in every house, they were not ceasing teaching and proclaiming good news -- Jesus the Christ.

And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.

So the Twelve called the disciples together and said, “It is not appropriate for us to neglect [teaching] the word of God in order to serve tables and manage the distribution of food.

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,

Then we will give all our time to prayer and the teaching of the word.

And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.

But there arose certain of them that were of the synagogue called the synagogue of the Libertines, and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and Asia, disputing with Stephen.

And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.

Then they got men to say, He has said evil against Moses and against God, in our hearing.

And the people, with the rulers and the scribes, were moved against him, and they came and took him before the Sanhedrin,

where they produc'd false witnesses, who said, this man is continually inveighing against the holy place, and against 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 gazing at him, all those sitting in the sanhedrim saw his face as it were the face of a messenger.

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 He said to him, ‘Leave your country and your relatives, and come to the land that I will show you.’

Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. And from there, after his father died, God sent him to this country in which you now live.

But God spoke as follows: 'Your descendants will be foreigners in a foreign country, whose citizens will enslave them and mistreat them for four hundred years.

And God said, 'I will judge the nation [i.e., Egypt] that enslaves them and [then] after my people are liberated, they will serve me in this place [i.e., Palestine].'

And the patriarchs, [because they] were jealous of Joseph, sold [him] into Egypt. And God was with him,

Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance.

But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first.

and, on their second visit, Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and the kindred of Joseph were made known to Pharaoh.

And Joseph having sent forth, he summoned Jacob his father. And all his kinfolk, in souls, were seventy-five.

So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he, and our fathers,

And were carried over into Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor the father of Sychem.

But when the time was near for putting into effect the undertaking which God had given to Abraham, the people were increasing in Egypt,

He dealing subtilely with our kindred,

The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live.

'And when forty years were fulfilled to him, it came upon his heart to look after his brethren, the sons of Israel;

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?

But he that was doing the injury to his neighbor, thrust him. away, saying, Who made you a ruler or a judge over us?

Are you going to kill me like you did that Egyptian yesterday?'

Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons.

And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.

‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.

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

{I have certainly seen} the mistreatment of my people [who are] in Egypt and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.'

“This Moses whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the very one whom God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer, with the [protecting and helping] hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the thorn 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.

This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:

To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into 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.’

'And they made a calf in those days, and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in the works of their hands,

So God turned from them and gave them up to the worship of the Host of Heaven, as it is written in the Book of the Prophets, "'Were they victims and sacrifices which you offered Me, forty years in the Desert, O House of Israel?

Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.

Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen.

Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David;

Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?

Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.

Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:

When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.

and having cast him forth outside of the city, they were stoning him -- and the witnesses did put down their garments at the feet of a young man called Saul --

and they were stoning Stephen, calling and saying, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit;'

And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.

Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.

Philip travelled down to a town in Samaria, where he preached Christ to the people.

And the multitudes gave heed with one accord unto the things that were spoken by Philip, when they heard, and saw the signs which he did.

For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed.

And many who were paralyzed or lame were cured, so that there was great rejoicing throughout that city.

to whom they were all giving heed, from small unto great, saying, 'This one is the great power of God;'

and they were giving heed to him, because of his having for a long time amazed them with deeds of magic.

But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.

Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:

Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost:

(For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)

then were they laying hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

But Peter said to him, “May your money be destroyed along with you, because you thought you could buy the [free] gift of God with money!

You have no part or share in this matter, because your heart (motive, purpose) is not right before God.

So repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, this thought of your heart may be forgiven you.

For I see that you are provoked by bitterness and bound by sin.”

So [when] they had solemnly testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they turned back toward Jerusalem, and were proclaiming the good news [to] many villages of the Samaritans.

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).

He was returning [to his home in Ethiopia] and was sitting in his chariot [Note: Chariots were stopped on long journeys occasionally for resting, eating, reading, etc.] reading [a scroll of] the prophet Isaiah.

And the Spirit said to Philip: Go forward and join your self to this chariot.

Philip ran up and heard the man reading the prophet Isaiah, and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

But he said, "How, in fact, were I able, unless some one should guide me?" And he besought Philip, having come up, to 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 eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?

And as they were going on the way, they came upon a certain water, and the eunuch said, 'Lo, water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?'

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

And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.

Philip, however, found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through the area, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.

and he fell to the ground and heard a voice [from heaven] saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting and oppressing Me?”

And Saul said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He answered, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting,

"But rise and go to the city, and you will be told what you are to do.

But the men who were travelling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but beholding no one.

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 he was {unable to see} [for] three days, and he did not eat or drink.

But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many people about this man, especially how much suffering and evil he has brought on Your saints (God’s people) at Jerusalem;

and here [in Damascus] he has authority from the high priests to put in chains all who call on Your name [confessing You as Savior].”

But the Lord said to him, "Go your way, for he is my chosen vessel to bear my name before the nations and kings, and the children of Israel.

For I am going to show him how great are the sufferings he must endure for my name's sake."

So Ananias left and entered the house, and he laid his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came [to Damascus], has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit [in order to proclaim Christ to both Jews and Gentiles].”

And straightway there fell from his eyes as it were scales, and he received his sight; and he arose and was baptized;