At that time Peter got up among the brothers (there were about a hundred and twenty present) and said,

"Brothers, that Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit uttered by the mouth of David in the former times about Judas who became the guide to those who arrested Jesus;

It became known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that this piece of land was called in their language Akeldamach, that is, The Field of Blood.)

So how is it that each of us hears them speaking in his own native tongue?

'It will occur in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all mankind. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will have visions. Your old men will have dreams.

For David says of Him: 'I always kept my eyes upon the Lord, for He is at my right hand, so that I may not be removed.

"Brothers, I may confidently say to you about the patriarch David, that he died and was buried, and that his grave is here among us to this very day.

So, as he was a prophet and knew that God with an oath had promised to put one of his descendants on his throne,

"Therefore, let all the descendants of Israel understand beyond a doubt that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ."

Peter said to them, "You must repent -- and, as an expression of it, let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ -- that you may have your sins forgiven; and then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit,

With many more words he continued to testify and to plead with them to save themselves from that crooked age.

So they accepted his message and were baptized, and about three thousand persons united with them on that day.

The beggar looked at them, supposing that he was going to get something from them.

It is His name, that is, on condition of faith in His name, that has made strong again this man whom you see and recognize -- yes, faith inspired by Him has given this man the perfect health you all see.

"And yet, I know, brothers, that you did not realize what you were doing, any more than your leaders did.

But in this way God fulfilled what He by the lips of all the prophets foretold, that the Christ should suffer.

So now repent and turn to Him, to have your sins wiped out, that times of revival may come from the presence of the Lord,

Moses, indeed, said: 'The Lord God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, as He did me. You must attentively listen to everything that He tells you.

The result will be, that any person who will not listen to that prophet will be utterly destroyed from among the people.'

It was to you first that He sent His Servant, after raising Him from the dead, to bless you by causing every one of you to turn from his wicked ways."

met in Jerusalem, including Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and all that were members of the high priest's family.

if it is for a good deed to a helpless man, or to learn how he was cured, that we are today being tried,

you and all the people of Israel must know that it is by the authority of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead -- yes, I repeat it, it is by His authority that this man stands here before you well.

He is the stone that was thrown away by you builders, which has become the cornerstone.

They were surprised to see the courage shown by Peter and John and to find that they were uneducated men, and especially untrained in the schools, but they recognized the fact that they had been companions of Jesus,

and repeated, "What shall we do with these men? For it is evident to everybody living in Jerusalem that an unmistakable wonder-work has been done by them; and we cannot deny it.

When they heard this, with one united prayer to God they said: "O Lord, you are the Maker of heaven, earth, and sea, and everything that is in them, and the One

to do all that your hand and will had predetermined to take place.

Now there was but one heart and soul in the vast number of those who had become believers, and not one of them claimed that anything that he had was his own, but they shared everything that they had as common property.

And Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan so completely possessed your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and kept back for yourselves a part of the money received for the land?

Peter said to her, "Tell me, did you sell the land for such and such a sum?" She answered, "Yes, that is it."

so that they kept bringing out into the streets their sick ones and putting them on little couches or pallets, that at least the shadow of Peter, as he went by, might fall on some of them.

But somebody came by and reported to them, "The men that you put in jail are standing right here in the temple square, teaching the people."

We and the Holy Spirit that God has given to those who practice obedience to Him are witnesses to these things."

For in the days gone by Theudas appeared, claiming that he was a man of importance, and a considerable number of men, about four hundred, espoused his cause, but he was slain and all his followers were dispersed and as a party annihilated.

but if it has its origin in God, you can never stop it. It is to be feared that you may find yourselves fighting God."

So they went out from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer disgrace for Jesus' name;

In those days, as the number of the disciples was increasing, complaint was made by the Greek-speaking Jews against the native Jews that their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food.

So the Twelve called together the whole body of the disciples, and said, "It is not desirable that we should leave off preaching the word of God to wait on tables.

But members of the synagogue known as that of the Libyans, Cyreneans, and Alexandrians, and men from Cilicia and Asia, got to debating with Stephen,

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

Then all who were seated in the council fixed their eyes upon him and saw that his face was like that of an angel.

He gave him no property in it, not even a foot of land, and yet He promised to give it to him and his descendants after him, as a permanent possession, although he had no child at that time.

But God further promised: 'I will pass sentence on the nation that enslaves them, and after that they will leave that country and worship me on this very spot.'

But Jacob heard that there was food in Egypt and sent our forefathers on their first visit down there.

By taking a cunning advantage of our race he oppressed our forefathers by forcing them to expose their infants so that they should not live.

He supposed that his brothers would understand that God through his instrumentality was going to deliver them, but they did not.

'I am the God of your forefathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.' Moses was so terrified that he did not dare to look at the bush.

That very Moses whom they refused, saying, 'Who made you our ruler and referee?' was the man whom God sent to be both their ruler and deliverer, by the help of the angel who had appeared to him in the bush.

This is the one who in the congregation in the desert went between the angel, who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and our forefathers, who also received, to be handed down to you, utterances that still live.

Was it not my hand that made them all?"'

Saul heartily approved of his being put to death. So on that day a severe persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all of them, except the apostles, were scattered over Judea and Samaria.

So there was great rejoicing in that city.

When the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted God's message, they sent Peter and John there.

They came and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit,

So when Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was conferred by the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money,

and said, "Give me this power too, that when I lay my hands on anyone he may receive the Holy Spirit."

For I see that you are a bitter weed and a bundle of crookedness!"

So Simon answered, "Both of you beg the Lord for me that none of the things you have said may befall me!"

Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Get up and go south by the road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza; this is the desert road."

Now this was the passage of Scripture that he was reading: "Like a sheep He was led away to be slaughtered, and just as a lamb is dumb before its shearer, so He does not open His mouth.

and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, that if he found any men or women belonging to The Way he might bring them in chains to Jerusalem.

So Ananias left and went to that house, and there he laid his hands upon Saul, and said, "Saul, my. brother, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road on which you were coming here, has sent me that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."

and at once he began to preach in their synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.

But Saul grew stronger and stronger and continued to put to utter confusion the Jews who lived in Damascus, by proving that Jesus is the Christ.

Now when Saul arrived at Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples there, but they were all afraid of him, because they did not believe that he was really a disciple.

So the church all over Judea, Galilee, and Samaria enjoyed peace, and as it continued to be built up spiritually and to live in reverence for the Lord, it continued to increase in numbers through the encouragement that the Holy Spirit gave.

At Joppa there was a woman, a disciple, whose name was Tabitha, which in Greek means Dorcas, that is, Gazelle. She had filled her life with good deeds and works of charity, which she was always doing.

Just at that time it happened that she had been taken ill and had died. They washed her body and laid her out in a room upstairs.

As Joppa was near Lydda, the disciples heard that Peter was there, and sent two men to him, begging him to come to them without delay.

So Peter at once got up and went with them. When he reached there, they took him to the room upstairs, and all the widows took their stand around him, crying and showing him the shirts and coats that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

So it came about that Peter stayed in Joppa several days, at the house of a tanner named Simon.

A second time the voice came to him, "The things that God has cleansed you must not call unclean."

The next day he started off with them, and some of the brothers in Joppa went along with him. The day after that they reached Caesarea. Cornelius was waiting for him, as he had invited in his kinsmen and close friends.

and he said to him, "You know that it is against the law for a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit one, but God has taught me not to call any man vulgar or ceremonially unclean;

So at once I sent for you, and you have been kind enough to come. So now we are all here in God's presence to listen to anything that the Lord has commanded you to say."

Then Peter opened his mouth and said, "Now I really see that God shows no partiality,

You know the story yourselves that spread all over Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John preached,

We are witnesses of everything that He did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. Yet they murdered Him by hanging Him upon a tree.

He also ordered us to proclaim to the people and solemnly to testify that this is the One whom God has appointed to be the Judge of the living and the dead.

To this very One all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in Him is to receive the forgiveness of sins through His name."

Now the apostles and the brothers all over Judea heard that the heathen too had accepted God's message.

Then the voice from heaven answered again, 'The things that God has cleansed you must not call unclean.'

Just at that moment three men, who had been sent from Caesarea for me, stopped at the house where we were staying.

So if God had given them the same gift that He gave us when we believed upon the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to try -- and how could I if I tried -- to thwart God?"

When they heard this, they had no answer to make, but gave God the glory, saying, "So God has given even the heathen the repentance that leads to life."

Now the fugitives from the persecution that started over Stephen went all the way to Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, telling the message to none but Jews.

and after he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. Now for a whole year their meeting with the church lasted, and they taught large numbers of people. It was at Antioch too that the disciples first came to be known as "Christians."

At that time some prophets from Jerusalem came down to Antioch,

and one of them named Agabus got up and, through the Holy Spirit, foretold that there was going to be a great famine all over the world, which occurred in the reign of Claudius.

About that time Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, in order to do them violence.

and when he saw that this was agreeable to the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter too -- it was at the time of the feast of Unleavened Bread.

Now just as Herod was going to bring him out, that is, the very night before, Peter was fastened with two chains and was sleeping between two soldiers, and the guards were at the door guarding the prison.

So he kept following him out, but he was not conscious that what was being done by the angel was real; he thought he was dreaming it.

Then Peter came to himself and said, "Now I really know that the Lord has sent His angel and rescued me from the power of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting to do to me."

and on recognizing Peter's voice, in her joy she failed to open the door but ran and told them that Peter was standing at the door.

They said to her, "You are crazy!" But she persistently insisted that it was so. Then they said, "It is his guardian angel!"

So, as they were sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from that port sailed away to Cyprus.

and said, "You expert in every form of deception and sleight-of-hand, you son of the devil, you enemy of all that is right, will you never stop trying to make the Lord's straight paths crooked!

Right now the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be so blind that you cannot see the sun for a time." And suddenly a dark mist fell upon him, and he kept groping about begging people to lead him by the hand.