Then the people answered. "We have heard out of the Law that the Christ abides forever. What do you mean by 'The Son of man must be lifted up'? Who is this Son of man?"

This was why they could not believe, because Isaiah said again.

Now just before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his hour was come when he should leave this world to go to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, showed forth his love to the end.

"From this time forward, I tell you before it comes to pass, that when it is come to pass you may believe who I am.

Now no one at the table understood why he said this to him,

By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another."

"All this I told you while still with you.

"And now I tell you this before it happens, so that when it does happen you may believe.

"I shall not talk with you much more, for the Prince of this world is coming.

"By this is my Father glorified, by your bearing abundant fruit, and so being my disciples.

"This is my command, Love one another as I have loved you.

"Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

"This is my command. to love one another. If the worlds hates you,

"I have told you all this so that you may not stumble.

because the Prince of this world has been judged.

At this some of his disciples said among themselves. "What does he mean by telling us, 'In a little while you shall behold me no more; and again in a little while you shall see me,' and 'because I am going to the Father'?"

Now we are sure that you know all things, and have no need for any one to question you; by this we believe that you came forth from God."

I have said all this to you that in me you might have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but be courageous; I have overcome the world."

And this is eternal life, to know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.

Judas the Traitor also knew this place; for Jesus and his disciples often met there.

The doorkeeper (a maid servant) then said to Peter, "Are not you also one of this man's disciples?" "No I am not," he answered.

So Pilate came outside to them and asked, "What charge do you bring against this man?"

Jesus answered, "Are you saying this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?"

Jesus answered him. "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants have fought hard that I should not be handed the Jews; but in reality my kingdom is not of such origins."

"You are a king, then? You!" said Pilate. "You say truly that I am a king." answered Jesus, "for this purpose I was born, and to this end came I into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Every man who is of the truth listens to my voice."

Pilate said to him, "What is truth?" As he said this, he went outside again to the Jews and said to them.

"I find no crime in this man. Now it is a custom of yours that I release one prisoner to you at the time of the Passover feast. Do you wish me to release to you the King of the Jews?"

"You would have no power over me," answered Jesus, "unless it had been given you from above. For this reason he who has betrayed me to you has the greater sin."

After that Pilate began to seek to release him, but the Jews shouted out. "If you release this man you are no friend of the Emperor. Any man who makes himself out to be king is a rebel against the Emperor."

This inscription was read by many of the Jews, because the place where they crucified Jesus was near the city, and the inscription was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.

so the soldiers said one to another. "Let us not tear it. Let us draw lots, to see whose it shall be"??hat the Scripture might be fulfilled. They divided my garments among them, For my raiment did they cast lots. This was what the soldiers did.

For this happened that the Scripture might be fulfilled, Not one of his bones shall be broken.

When she had said this she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but did not know that it was Jesus.

As he said this he showed them his hands and his side. Then were the disciple glad, when they saw the Lord.

When he had said this he breathed upon them and said:

There were then many other signs which Jesus performed in the presence of his disciples, which have not been written in this book;

After this Jesus showed himself again to his disciples by the Sea of Tiberias. He showed himself as follows.

So Simon Peter went and dragged the net to shore, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them; but for all this number the net was not torn.

This was the third time that Jesus showed himself to the disciples after he had risen from among the dead.

This he said to show by what kind of death Peter was to glorify God. After speaking thus, he said to him, "Follow me."

Accordingly the report spread among the brothers that this disciple should not die; but Jesus did not say that he was not to die, but said, "If I choose that he remain until I come, what is that to you?"

It is this disciple who bears testimony to these facts and who recorded them; and we know that his testimony is true.

And once when he was eating with them he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father. "Of this," he said, "you have heard from me.

So, when they came together, they began to ask him, "Master, are you at this time about to restore the kingdom of Israel?"

When he had said this, and while they were looking at him, he was lifted up, and a cloud received him up out of their sight.

and they said: "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken up from you into the sky will come back in just the same way as you have seen him going into the sky."

"For he was numbered among us, and he did get his allotted share of this ministry.

"Now this man bought a plot of ground with the price of his treachery, and falling there headlong he burst asunder and all his bowels gushed out.

"This fact became known to the people of Jerusalem so that the place was called in their language, Acheldamach, The Field of Blood.

"in this ministry of this apostles from which Judas went out to go to his own place."

So when this noise was heard, the crowd gathered in bewilderment because each man heard them speaking in his own language.

All were astonished and bewildered and kept saying to one another, "What can this mean?"

Then Peter, with the Eleven, stood up and addresses them in a loud voice. "Men of Judea and dwellers in Jerusalem, have no doubt about this matter, but listen to what I say.

"No, this is what the prophet Joel predicted.

"Men and brothers, I can speak plainly to you concerning the patriarch David, because he not only died and was buried, but his tomb is among us even to this very day.

"he, foreseeing this, spoke of the resurrection of Christ that neither was he left in Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.

This Jesus God has raised up, of this we are all witnesses.

Since he is by the mighty hand of God exalted, and has received from his Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured forth this which you now see and hear.

"Therefore let the whole House of Israel know assuredly that Gods has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you have crucified."

With many other words he continued to bear testimony, and kept entreating them, saying, "Save yourselves from this perverse generation."

"I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have, this I am going to give to you; in the name of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene, walk!"

and recognized that this was the man who used to sit and beg at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, they were filled with awe and amazement at what had happened to him.

When he saw this, Peter said to the people. "Men of Israel, why are you wondering at this? Why do you stare at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made this man to walk?

"And his name, on the ground of faith in his name, has made strong this man, whom you now see and know; yes, the faith that is through him has made this man sound and strong again, in the presence of you all.

"whom the heavens must receive until the time of restoration of all things. "God spoke of this ages ago, through the mouth of his holy prophets.

Then they made the men stand before them and demanded, "By what power, or in what name, have you fellows done this?"

"Rulers and elders of the people, if we are being examined today concerning a benefit conferred upon a cripple, as to how has this man been cured,

"be it known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, in him does this man stand before you strong and well.

"But that the matter may spread no further among the people, let us threaten them not to speak to any one hereafter about this name."

For the man on whom this miracle of healing had been wrought was over forty years old.

"In this very city they did gather together against thy holy Servant, Jesus whom thou hast anointed??erod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and also the tribes of Israel??28 "to do all that thy power and thy will had predetermined should be done.

In this way Joseph, whom the apostles called Barnabas ("Son of Encouragement" is what it means), who was a native Cyprus,

"While it remained unsold, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was not the price at your own disposal? How could you conceive this act in your heart? You have not lied unto men, but unto God."

This aroused bitter indignation among the high priest and his followers who were of the sect of the Sadducees,

He said to them, "Go take your stand in the Temple, and continue to tell the people all the words of this Life."

When they heard this they went at early dawn to the Temple, and began to teach. Meantime when the high priest and his followers arrived, they summoned the Sanhedrin and all the Council of the Elders of the sons of Israel, and sent to the prison to fetch the apostles.

On this the officer went off with his men and fetched them, not, however, by force, for they were afraid that the people would stone them.

"We strictly forbade you, did we not, to teach about this Name, and here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us."

When they heard this they were infuriated, and were minded to kill the apostles;

"And now, I say to you, hold aloof from these men. Let them alone; for if this scheme or work be of human origin it will come to nothing;

"So, brothers, find from among your own number seven men of good reputation who are full of the Spirit and of wisdom, and we will appoint them over this business.

This plan commended itself to the whole body, and they selected Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte of Antioch.

Then they instigated some to say, "We have heard him speaking blasphemy against Moses and against God;" and in this way they excited the people.

They also set up false witnesses who testified. "This fellow is continually talking against the Holy Place and against the law.

"For we have heard him say that Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place, and will change the customs which were handed down to us by Moses."

"So he left Chaldea and settled in Haran, and from there, after his father's death, God moved him to this land which you inhabit.

"What God said was this. "'His offspring will sojourn in a foreign land where they will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years.

"'And the nation, whichever it is, that enslaves them I will judge, said God, 'and after ward they shall come out, and they shall worship me in this place.

"Then he gave him a covenant of circumcision, and under this covenant he became the father of Isaac, whom he circumcised on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve Patriarchs.

"In this time Moses was born, a divinely beautiful child, who was brought up for three months in his father's house.

"Alarmed at this question, Moses fled from the land, and went to live in the land of Midian. There he became the father of two sons.

"This Moses whom they refused when they said, Who made you to be a ruler and a judge? that same Moses we find God sending as a ruler and a redeemer by the hand in the bush.

"This was he who brought them out, after he had shown signs and wonders in the wilderness, for forty years.

"It was this Moses who said to the Children of Israel, "God will raise up a Prophet for you from among your brothers, as he did me.

"This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness along with the angel who spoke to him in Mt. Sinai, and with our ancestors to whom he gave living words to hand down to us.

"Said they to Aaron. "Make Gods for us who shall march in front of us! As for this Moses who led us forth out of the land of Egypt, we know not what has happened to him.

"And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to this idol, and began to rejoice over what they had made with their hands.

Did not my hand make this universe?

Then he knelt down and cried aloud, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge."

With these words he fell asleep. And Saul fully approved of his murder. On this very day there broke out a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostle were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.