For before these days Theudas arose, declaring himself to be some great one; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves; and he was slain; and all, as many as believed him, were scattered and brought to naught.

After him, at the time of the census, Judas of Galilee appeared, and raised a great following, but he too perished, and all his followers were scattered.

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.

And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.

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

"Now as the time approached for the fulfillment of the promise that God had made to Abraham, the people's population increased a great deal in Egypt.

So Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and possessed great influence through his eloquence and his achievements.

But they shouted with loud voices, and covered their ears and together rushed at him [considering him guilty of blasphemy].

And having set the knees, he cried with a great voice, Lord, wouldest thou not set this sin to them. And having said this he was set to sleep.

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.

And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.

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].

for the impure spirits, with great outcries, came out of many that were possessed: many paralytic, and lame people were cured.

And there was great joy in that city.

But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:

To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.

And Simon also himself believed: and being baptized, he continued with Philip; and beholding signs and great miracles wrought, he was amazed.

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

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;

For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.

but their design was discovered to Saul. And they kept guard at the gates of the city day and night, that they might kill him.

He was very devoted [to his religious principles] and had great respect for God, along with the members of his household. He gave [money] liberally to poor people and prayed to God regularly.

Cornelius fixed his eyes on him and, in great alarm, said: "What is it, Lord?" "Your prayers and your charities," the angel answered, "have been an acceptable offering to God.

And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth:

And saying these words, he went in, and saw that a great number of people had come together;

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:

And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord.

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 he was a good man and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith; and a large crowd of people were added to the Lord.

And having found him, he brought him to Antioch. And so it was with them that for a whole year they were gathered together in the assembly and taught a large crowd: and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

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.

Now about that time King Herod began a persecution of certain people in the [Jerusalem] church. [Note: This man was the grandson of Herod the Great. See Matt. 2:1].

And seeing that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to apprehend Peter also,??nd it was during the days of unleavened bread,??4 and having seized he put him in prison, committing him to four companies of four soldiers each to guard him, wishing after the passover to bring him before the people.

And when he had taken him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to guard him; intending after the Passover to bring him forth to the people.

Peter therefore was kept by the guard; but prayer was made incessantly by the church to God for him.

Then on the night that Herod was planning to have him brought [before the court], Peter was asleep, chained between two soldiers, with guards stationed at the jail doors.

And a great light was seen shining in the room, and an angel of the Lord came to Peter and, touching him on his side so that he came out of his sleep, said, Get up quickly. And his chains came off his hands.

And when they were past the first and the second guard, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth into the city; which opened to them of its own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and straightway the angel departed from him.

And considering within himself he came to the house of Mary the mother of John called Mark, where a great number were assembled together and praying.

At daylight, there was a great commotion among the soldiers as to what could have become of Peter.

And, when Herod had made further search for him and failed to find him, he closely questioned the Guard, and ordered them away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to stay at Caesarea.

Herod was then making warlike preparations against the Tyrians, and Sidonians: but they unanimously sent a deputation to court: where having gain'd Blastus the king's chamberlain, they brought matters to an accommodation: for their country was subsisted by the king's territorys.

one court-day, Herod array'd in his robes of state, and seated upon the throne, made a publick oration:

But the crowd began to shout, "The voice of a god, and not of a man!"

Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets [who spoke a new message of God to the people] and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod [Antipas] the tetrarch, and Saul.

He was at the court of the Governor, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who sent for Barnabas and Saul and asked to be told God's Message.

So, Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand [to get their attention], he said, "You Israelites and those who have great respect for God, listen [to me].

The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great and numerous during their stay [as foreigners] in the land of Egypt, and then with an uplifted arm He led them out of there.

As John was completing his ministry he said [to the great crowds], 'Who do you people think I am? [No], I am not the Messiah. But look, Someone is coming [to Israel] after [I complete] my mission whose sandal straps I am not even worthy to unfasten.'

But when the Jews saw such a great number of people, they were full of envy and said evil words against Paul's preaching.

And it came to pass in Iconium, that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed.

however the apostles stay'd there a considerable time, being inspir'd with great resolution by the Lord, who gave his attestation to the evangelical doctrine, by the prodigys and miracles, which he did by their hands.

But the large crowd in the city [who heard them] became divided [over how to respond to it]; some sided with the [unbelieving] Jews and some with the apostles.

Said with a great voice, Stand up upon thy feet upright.:And he leaped and walked.

And when the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the dialect of Lycaonia, "The gods have come down to us in human form."

And the priest of Zeus--the temple of Zeus being at the entrance to the city--brought bullocks and garlands to the gates, and in company with the crowd was intending to offer sacrifices to them.

But the apostles Barnabas and Paul, having heard it, rent their garments, and rushed out to the crowd, crying

Even with words like these they had difficulty in preventing the thronging crowd from offering sacrifices to them.

But now a party of Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and, having won over the crowd, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the town, believing him to be dead.

And when they had arrived and had gathered the church together, they related what great things God had wrought with them, and that he had opened a door of faith to the gentiles.

And when Paul and Barnabas had great dissension and debate with them, the brethren determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders concerning this issue.

And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they caused great joy unto all the brethren.

And having come to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church, and by the apostles and elders, and they related what great things God had wrought with them.

The whole crowd was silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul tell about all the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the gentiles.

That you abstain from food offered to idols, from blood, from eating the flesh of strangled animals, and from impurity. If you guard yourselves against such things, it will be well with you. Farewell.'

And delivered the letter, the reading of which caused great rejoicing by its encouraging contents.

And when we were going to the place of prayer, we came across a girl with a spirit which gave knowledge of the future, whose masters made great profit from her power.

And he came out that instant. And when her masters saw, that the hope of their gain was gone, they seized on Paul and Silas, and dragged them into the court to the magistrates.

and when they had brought them before the chief magistrates, they said, “These men, who are Jews, are throwing our city into confusion and causing trouble.

And the crowd rose up too against them; and the praetors, having torn off their clothes, commanded to scourge them.

And [after they] had inflicted many blows on them, they threw [them] into prison, giving orders to the jailer to guard them securely.

And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.

And Paul called with a great voice, saying, Thou shouldest do no injury to thyself; for we are all here.

When day broke, the chiefs of the police court sent policemen with the message to let the men go.

The jailer reported this message to Paul, saying, "The chiefs of the police court have sent orders to let you go. So now you may come out and go in peace."

The policemen reported this message to the chiefs of the police court, and they became alarmed when they heard that they were Roman citizens,

And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.

But the Jews, being moved with jealousy, took unto them certain vile fellows of the rabble, and gathering a crowd, set the city on an uproar; and assaulting the house of Jason, they sought to bring them forth to the people.

And they troubled the crowd and the politarchs when they heard these things.

Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.

And when the Jews from Thessalonica heard that also in Berea the word of God was announced by Paul, they came there also, agitating the crowd.

So they laid hold of him and took him to the Court of Areopagus. "May we hear," they asked, "what new teaching this is which you are giving?

So Paul took his stand in the middle of the Court, and said- -"Men of Athens, on every hand I see signs of your being very devout.

And so Paul left the Court.

There were, however, some men who joined him, and became believers in Christ. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the Court of Areopagus, a woman named Damaris, and several others.

and when Silas and Timothy were arriv'd from Macedonia, Paul with great concern remonstrated to the Jews, that Jesus was the Messiah:

And Crispus, the ruler of the Synagogue, with all his family, had faith in the Lord; and a great number of the people of Corinth, hearing the word, had faith and were given baptism.

But when Gallio became Proconsul of Greece, the Jews with one accord made a dead set at Paul, and brought him before the court.

So he ordered them out of court.

Then the people all set upon Sosthenes, the Warden of the synagogue, and beat him severely in front of the court. Gallio did not concern himself in the least about this.

And when he had landed at Caesarea and had gone up to greet the church, he went down to Antioch.

Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos came to Ephesus. He was a native of Alexandria, a man of great learning and well versed in the Scriptures.

He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and with great enthusiasm he spoke and taught accurately the facts about Jesus, although he knew only the baptism of John.

having talk'd with great freedom in the synagogue, Aquila and Priscilla, who had heard him, invited him home, and gave him a more distinct view of the gospel.

And when Apollos wanted to go across to Achaia (southern Greece), the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples, [urging them] to welcome him gladly. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who, through grace, had believed and had followed Jesus as Lord and Savior,

For he with great force convinced the Jews publicly, shewing by the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.

At length Paul went to the synagogue, where he spoke with great freedom, and for three months he conferr'd with them to persuade them of the truth of the evangelical kingdom.

But when some became hardened and would not believe, slandering the Way in front of the crowd, he withdrew from them and met separately with the disciples, conducting discussions every day in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.

And God was working great miracles through the hands of Paul;

And this came to the ears of all those, Jews and Greeks, who were living at Ephesus; and fear came on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was made great.