And indeed, all the prophets from Samuel and all those who followed [him] have spoken [about] and proclaimed these days.

God, [after he] had raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning each [of you] back from your wickedness!"

let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead--by him this man stands before you healthy!

Now the group of those who believed were one heart and soul, and no one said anything of what belonged to him was his own, but all [things] were theirs in common.

sold a field that belonged to him [and] brought the money and placed [it] at the feet of the apostles.

So the young men stood up, wrapped him up, and carried [him] out [and] buried [him].

Now the high priest rose up and all those [who were] with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), [and] they were filled with jealousy.

And [when they] heard [this], they entered at daybreak into the temple [courts] and began teaching. Now [when] the high priest and those with him arrived, they summoned the Sanhedrin--even the whole council of elders of the sons of Israel--and sent to the prison to have them brought.

The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you killed [by] hanging [him] on a tree.

And we are witnesses of these things, and [so is] the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him."

For before these days, Theudas rose up saying he was somebody. A number of men, about four hundred, joined {him}. {He} was executed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing.

After this man, Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and {caused people to follow him in revolt}. And that one perished, and all who followed him were scattered.

But if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them, lest you even be found fighting against God." So they were persuaded by him.

Then they secretly instigated men who said, "We have heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God!"

And they incited the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came up [and] seized him and brought [him] to the Sanhedrin.

For we have heard him saying that this Nazarene Jesus will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses handed down to us."

And [as they] looked intently at him, all those who were sitting in the Sanhedrin saw his face [was] like the face of an angel.

and said to him, 'Go out from your land and from your relatives and come to the land that I will show you.'

Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans [and] settled in Haran. And from there, after his father died, he caused him to move to this land in which you now live.

And he did not give him an inheritance in it--not even a footstep--and he promised to give [it] to him for his possession, and to his descendants after him, {although he did not have} a child.

And he gave him the covenant of circumcision, and so he became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac [did so with] Jacob, and Jacob [did so with] the twelve patriarchs.

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

and rescued him from all his afflictions and granted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And he appointed him ruler over Egypt and all his household.

and [when] he was abandoned, the daughter of Pharaoh took him [up] and brought him [up] {as her own son}.

And [when he] saw one of them being unjustly harmed, he defended [him] and {avenged} the one who had been oppressed [by] striking down the Egyptian.

But the one who was doing wrong to [his] neighbor pushed him aside, saying, 'Who appointed you a ruler and a judge over us?

"And [when] forty years had been completed, an angel appeared to him in the desert of Mount Sinai in the flame of a burning bush.

And the Lord said to him, 'Untie the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.

This Moses whom they had repudiated, saying, 'Who appointed you a ruler and a judge?'--this man God sent [as] both ruler and redeemer with {the help} of the angel who appeared to him in the bush.

This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and who [with] our fathers received living oracles to give to us,

to whom our fathers were not willing to become obedient, but rejected [him] and turned [back] in their hearts to Egypt,

saying to Aaron, 'Make us gods who will go on before us! For this Moses, who led us out from the land of Egypt--we do not know what has happened to him!'

The tabernacle of the testimony {belonged} to our fathers in the wilderness, just as the one who spoke to Moses directed [him] to make it according to the design that he had seen,

But Solomon built a house for him.

Now [when they] heard these [things], they were infuriated in their hearts and gnashed [their] teeth at him.

But crying out with a loud voice, they stopped their ears and rushed at him with one purpose.

And [after they] had driven [him] out of the city, they began to stone [him], and the witnesses laid aside their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul.

And devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation over him.

And the crowds with one mind were paying attention to what was being said by Philip, [as] they heard [him] and saw the signs that he was performing.

They were all paying attention to {him}, from the least to the greatest, saying, "This man is the power of God that is called 'Great.'"

And they were paying attention to him because for a long time he had astonished them with [his] magic.

But Peter said to him, "May your silver {be destroyed along with you}, because you thought {you could acquire} the gift of God by means of money!

So Philip ran up to [it] [and] heard him reading aloud Isaiah the prophet and said, "So then, do you understand what you are reading?"

And he said, "So how could I, unless someone will guide me?" And he invited Philip to come up [and] sit with him.

In his humiliation justice was taken from him. Who can describe his {descendants}? For his life was taken away from the earth."

So Philip opened his mouth and beginning from this scripture, proclaimed the good news to him [about] Jesus.

And he ordered the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water--Philip and the eunuch--and he baptized him.

And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him any longer, for he went on his way rejoicing.

[and] asked for letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, both men and women, he could bring [them] tied up to Jerusalem.

Now as [he] proceeded, it happened that [when] he approached Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.

And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?"

(Now the men who were traveling together with him stood speechless, [because they] heard the voice but saw no one.)

So Saul got up from the ground, but [although] his eyes were open he could see nothing. And leading him by the hand, they brought [him] into Damascus.

Now there was a certain disciple in Damascus {named} Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias!" And he said, "Behold, [here] I [am], Lord!"

And the Lord [said] to him, "Get up, go to the street called 'Straight' and in the house of Judas look for {a man named Saul from Tarsus}. For behold, he is praying,

and he has seen in a vision a man {named} Ananias coming in and placing hands on him so that he may regain [his] sight."

But the Lord said to him, "Go, because this man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel.

For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name."

So Ananias departed and entered into the house, and placing [his] hands on him, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you came, has sent me so that you may regain [your] sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."

And all who heard [him] were amazed, and were saying, "Is this not the one who was wreaking havoc in Jerusalem [on] those who call upon this name, and had come here for this [reason], that he could bring them tied up to the chief priests?"

And when many days had elapsed, the Jews plotted to do away with him.

But their plot became known to Saul, and they were also watching the gates both day and night so that they could do away with him.

But his disciples took [him] at night [and] let him down through the wall [by] lowering [him] in a basket.

And [when he] arrived in Jerusalem, he was attempting to associate with the disciples, and they were all afraid of him, [because they] did not believe that he was a disciple.

But Barnabas took him [and] brought [him] to the apostles and related to them how he had seen the Lord on the road and that he had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus.

And he was speaking and debating with the {Greek-speaking Jews}, but they were trying to do away with him.

And [when] the brothers found out, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus.

And Peter said to him, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you! Get up and make your bed yourself!" And immediately he got up.

And all those who lived [in] Lydda and Sharon saw him, who [all] indeed turned to the Lord.

And [because] Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, [when they] heard that Peter was in {Lydda}, sent two men to him, urging, "Do not delay to come to us!"

So Peter got up [and] accompanied them. [When he] arrived, they brought [him] up to the upstairs room, and all the widows came to him, weeping and showing [him] tunics and [other] clothing that Dorcas used to make [while she] was with them.

About the ninth hour of the day, he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming to him and saying to him, "Cornelius."

And he stared at him and became terrified [and] said, "What is [it], Lord?" And he said to him, "Your prayers and your charitable deeds have gone up for a memorial offering before God.

And when the angel who spoke to him departed, he summoned two of the household slaves and a devout soldier from those who attended him,

And he became hungry and wanted to eat. But [while] they were preparing [the food], a trance came over him.

And a voice came to him, "Get up, Peter, slaughter and eat!"

And the voice [came] again to him for the second time: "[The things] which God has made clean, you must not consider unclean!"

And [while] Peter was reflecting about the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Behold, men are looking for you.

So he invited them in [and] entertained them as guests, and on the next day he got up [and] went away with them. And some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him.

So it happened that when Peter entered, Cornelius met him, fell at [his] feet, [and] worshiped [him].

But Peter helped him up, saying, "Get up! I myself am also a man!"

And [as he] conversed with him, he went in and found many [people] gathered.

but in every nation the one who fears him and who does what is right is acceptable to him.

Jesus of Nazareth--how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with him.

And we [are] witnesses of all [the things] that he did both in the land of the Judeans and in Jerusalem, whom they also executed [by] hanging [him] on a tree.

not to all the people but to us who had been chosen beforehand by God [as] witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

To this one all the prophets testify, [that] through his name everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins."

So he ordered [that] they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay for several days.

So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision took issue with him,

And [when he] found [him], he brought [him] to Antioch. And it happened to them also [that they] met together [for] a whole year with the church and taught a large number [of people]. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.

[After he] had arrested {him}, he also put [him] in prison, handing [him] over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending to bring him {out for public trial} after the Passover.

Thus Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer was fervently being made to God by the church for him.

Now when Herod was about to bring him [out], on that [very] night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and guards before the door were watching the prison.

And behold, an angel of the Lord stood near [him], and a light shone in the prison cell. And striking Peter's side, he woke him up, saying, "Get up {quickly}!" And his chains fell off of [his] hands.

And the angel said to him, "Gird yourself and put on your sandals!" And he did so. And he said to him, "Wrap your cloak around you and follow me!"

And he went out [and] was following [him]. And he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but was thinking [he] was seeing a vision.

And [after they] had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened for them by itself, and they went out [and] went forward [along] one narrow street, and at once the angel departed from him.

But Peter was continuing to knock, and [when they] opened [the door] they saw him and were astonished.

But motioning to them with [his] hand to be silent, he related to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, "Report these [things] to James and to the brothers," and he departed [and] went to another place.

And [when] Herod had searched for him and did not find [him], he questioned the guards [and] ordered [that they] be led away to execution. And he came down from Judea to Caesarea [and] stayed [there].