Then great fear came on all the church and on all who had knowledge of these things.

But of the rest no man had the courage to unite himself with them: though the people extolled them.

And a great number of men and women had faith, and were joined to the Lord;

But the head priest and the Jewish sect of the Sadducees became very jealous,

Arrested the Apostles, and had them placed in custody.

Having received that command they went into the Temple, just before daybreak, and began to teach: So when the High Priest and his party came, and had called together the Sanhedrin as well as all the Elders of the descendants of Israel, they sent to the jail to fetch the Apostles.

Saying, The prison truly found we shut with all safety, and the keepers standing without before the doors: but when we had opened, we found no man within.

Presently, however, some one came and told them, that the men whom they had put in prison were actually standing in the Temple Courts, teaching the people.

And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them,

The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had murdered by hanging Him on a tree.

But when these words came to their ears, they were cut to the heart, and had a mind to put them to death.

Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space;

And said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men.

For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody [of importance], and a group of about four hundred men allied themselves with him. But he was killed, and all who followed him were scattered and came to nothing.

After him, rose up Judas the Galilaean, in the days of the enrolling, and drew a people into revolt after him; and, he, perished, and, all, as many as had trusted in him, were scattered.

but if it is of God, you can not bring it to an end: and take heed, lest you be found fighting also against God.

And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.

So they went out from the presence of the Sanhedrin rejoicing, because they had been considered worthy to be dishonored for the sake of the name.

And this saying was pleasing to all of them: and they made selection of Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip and Prochorus and Nicanor and Timon and Parmenas and Nicolas of Antioch, who had become a Jew:

Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.

But some of those who were of the Synagogue named that of the Libertines, and some of the men of Cyrene and of Alexandria and those from Cilicia and Asia, had arguments with Stephen.

Then they induced some men to assert that they had heard Stephen saying blasphemous things against Moses, and against God;

They had false witnesses stand up and say, "This man never stops saying things against this Holy Place and against the Law.

And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.

Then the head priest asked [Stephen], "Are these charges true?"

“Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. From there, after his father died, God had him move to this land you now live in.

And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child.

And God had spoken about this [beforehand] by saying that Abraham's descendants would live in a foreign country and that they would [eventually] be ill-treated as slaves for four hundred years.

And he made with him the agreement of which circumcision was the sign. And so Abraham had a son, Isaac, and gave him circumcision on the eighth day; and Isaac had a son, Jacob, and Jacob was the father of the twelve heads of the families of Israel.

Now there was no food to be had in all Egypt and Canaan, and there was great trouble: and our fathers were not able to get food.

When, however, Jacob heard that there was wheat to be had, he sent our forefathers into Egypt; that was the first time.

And the second time his brothers had a meeting with Joseph, and Pharaoh had knowledge of Joseph's family.

and [from Egypt] their bodies were taken back to Shechem and placed in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,

till another king rose, who had not known Joseph;

and when he had been abandoned, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son.

at length Moses was instructed in all the sciences of the Egyptians, and had great influence by his counsels and actions.

When he had completed his fortieth year, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the sons of Israel.

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.

And he was hoping that his brothers would see that God had sent him to be their saviour; but they did not see.

And at these words, Moses went in flight to the land of Midian, and was living there for a time, and had two sons.

“After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning thorn bush.

“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.

He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years.

"This is the Moses who had said to the Israelites [Deut. 18:15], 'God will raise up a prophet from among your countrymen who will be like me [in some ways].'

This is the man who was with our forefathers and with the assembly [of Hebrews] in the wilderness [after] the angel had spoken to him at Mt. Sinai. He [is the one] who received the living messages [from God at Mt. Sinai] and gave them to us.

They even made a calf in those days, offered sacrifice to the idol, and were celebrating what their hands had made.

You took with you the tabernacle of Moloch and the Star of the god Rephan--the images which you had made to worship. Therefore I will exile you 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.

Who was pleasing to God; and he had a desire to make a holy tent for the God of Jacob.

Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become;

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 he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Saul had pleasure in his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the congregation which was at Jerusalem, and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Jewry and Samaria, except the apostles.

But Saul was burning with hate against the church, going into every house and taking men and women and putting them in prison.

Those then that had been scattered went through the countries announcing the glad tidings of the word.

And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.

For from many of those that had unclean spirits, they came out, crying with a loud voice: and many that were palsied, and that were lame, were healed.

But a certain man, by name Simon, had been before in the city, using magic arts, and astonishing the nation of Samaria, saying 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 to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries.

But when they had faith in the good news given by Philip about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, a number of men and women had baptism.

And Simon himself had faith and, having had baptism, he went with Philip and, seeing the signs and the great wonders which he did, he was full of surprise.

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 had come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit;

for as yet it was fallen upon none of them: only they had been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.

But Peter said, May your money come to destruction with you, because you had the idea that what is freely given by God may be got for a price.

And they, when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.

Meanwhile an angel of the Lord had said to Philip: "Set out on a journey southwards, along the road that runs down from Jerusalem to Gaza." (It is now deserted).

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,

and had come to Jerusalem to worship, Was returning, and sitting in his chariot, read the prophet Isaiah.

And he said, "How can I, except I had a guide?" And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.

The portion of scripture which he had been reading was this: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and as a lamb before him who sheareth it is dumb, so he opened not his mouth:

By humbling himself he had his doom removed. Who can tell his family? For his life is cut off from the earth.

But no sooner had they come up out of the water than the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again. With a glad heart he resumed his journey;

With every breath [it seemed], Saul [expressed his desire to] threaten and murder the Lord's disciples and [even] went to the head priest

And he was going and had come nigh to Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven,

And when he had fallen to the earth, he heard a voice saying to him: Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?

And the men who traveled with him had stopped, speechless, indeed hearing the voice, but seeing no man.

Then he rose from the ground, but when he had opened his eyes, he could not see, and they led him by the arm and brought him to Damascus.

(Now Saul had seen [in a vision] a man named Ananias coming in and placing his hands on him, restoring his sight).

But Ananias said, Lord, I have had accounts of this man from a number of people, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem:

And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.

And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus.

And all that heard him were amazed, and said, Is not this he that in Jerusalem made havoc of them that called on this name? and he had come hither for this intent, that he might bring them bound before the chief priests.

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

When he arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple.

But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.

And he had his conversation with them at Jerusalem,

and speaking fearlessly in the name of the Lord. And he often talked with the Hellenists and had discussions with them.

And when the brothers had knowledge of it, they took him to Caesarea and sent him to Tarsus.

Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.

And there he found a certain man named AEneas, which had kept his bed eight years, and was sick of the palsy.

Then all who lived at Lydda and the plain of Sharon saw [what had happened to] him, and they turned to the Lord.

Among the disciples at Joppa there was a woman named Tabitha, which is in Greek Dorcas, that is, gazelle. She had devoted herself to doing good and to acts of charity.

And it came to pass in those days, that she was sick, and died: whom when they had washed, they laid her in an upper chamber.

And forasmuch as Lydda was nigh to Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent unto him two men, desiring him that he would not delay to come to them.

And Peter rising up went with them, whom, when arrived, they brought up into the upper chamber; and all the widows stood by him weeping and shewing him the body-coats and garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them.

And he gave her his hand, and lifted her up, and when he had called the saints and widows, presented her alive.

And news of it went all through Joppa, and a number of people had faith in the Lord.