for as for us we cannot refrain from speaking of the things which we have seen and heard.

They, however, further charging them with threats, let them go, finding nothing as to how they might chastise them, on account of the people; because, all, were glorifying God for that which had come to pass; -

But, when they had been let go, they came unto their own friends , and told as many things as, unto them, the High-priests and Elders, had said.

For, truly, in this town, against your holy servant, Jesus, who was marked out by you as Christ, Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, came together,

to do as much as your power and your plan had decided beforehand would happen.

As to the present things, then, O Lord, - look upon their threats, and grant unto thy servants, with all freedom of utterance, to be speaking thy word,

[as] you extend your hand to heal and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus."

And as soon as they had prayed, the place moved where they were assembled together, and they were all filled with the holy ghost, and they spake the word of God boldly.

Among all those who had embraced the faith there was but one heart and soul, so that none of them claimed any of his possessions as his own, but everything they had was common property;

while the Apostles with great force of conviction delivered their testimony as to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus; and great grace was upon them all.

Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold,

And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.

Thus Joseph, who was surnamed Barnabas or (as it may be translated) 'Son of Encouragement' by the apostles, a Levite of Cypriote birth,

But Peter said to Ananias, "Why has Satan filled your heart [causing you] to deceive the Holy Spirit by keeping back part of the selling price of the land [while representing it as the full price]?

As long as it remained [unsold], did it not remain your own [to do with as you pleased]? And after it was sold, was the money not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this act [of hypocrisy and deceit] in your heart? You have not [simply] lied to people, but to God.”

And, as Ananias heard these words, he fell, and expired. And there came great fear upon all that heard;

And it fortuned as it were about the space of three hours after, that his wife came in, ignorant of that which was done.

"How could you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord?" Peter asked her. "Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and these men will carry you outside as well."

And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.

More and more believers in the Lord, crowds of men and women, were constantly being added to their number,

insomuch that they even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that, as Peter came by, at the least his shadow might overshadow some one of them.

Moreover even the throng of the cities all round Jerusalem was coming together, bearing sick folk, and such as were harassed by impure spirits, - who, indeed, were being cured, one and all.

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.

But as the attendants did not find them when they got to the prison, they came back to report,

saying, "The prison found we shut as sure as was possible and the keepers standing without before the doors: but when we had opened we found no man within."

And when they heard these words, both the priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priests were in perplexity as to them, what this would come to.

Him has God exalted by his right hand as leader and saviour, to give repentance to Israel and remission of sins.

And we--and the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him--are witnesses as to these things."

But when they heard this, they were cut asunder as with a saw, and took counsel how to make away with them.

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

For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to nought.

After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him: he also perished; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed.

And therefore as to the present affair I advise you to refrain from these men and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nothing;

And every day, in the temple and at home, they ceased not to teach and to preach Jesus as the Christ.

Now in these days, [as] the disciples were increasing [in number], a complaint arose by the {Greek-speaking Jews} against the {Hebraic Jews} because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution [of food].

But, as for us, we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the delivery of the Message."

And the message of God kept on growing and spreading, and the number of disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem; and a large number of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith [accepting Jesus as Messiah and acknowledging Him as the Source of eternal salvation].

However, some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (freed Jewish slaves), both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and [the province of] Asia, rose up and questioned and argued with Stephen.

but as they were not able to withstand the force of that sublime knowledge which appeared in his discourse,

And they provoked and incited the people, as well as the elders and the scribes, and they came up to Stephen and seized him and brought him before the Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court).

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

And, upon that, Stephen spoke as follows: "Brothers and Fathers, hear what I have to say. God, who manifests himself in the Glory, appeared to our ancestor Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, and before he settled in Haran, and said to him--

Then came he out of the land of Chaldea and dwelt in Haran. And after that, as soon as his father was dead, he brought him into this land, in which ye now dwell,

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.

God spoke in this way: that his seed would live as aliens in a strange land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years.

and the nation {that} they will serve as slaves, I will judge,' God said, 'and after these [things] they will come out and will worship me in this place.'

And God gave Abraham the Agreement which required circumcision [as an identifying mark] so when Abraham fathered Isaac he circumcised him when he was eight days old. Then Isaac had a son, Jacob; and Jacob had [as sons] the twelve patriarchs [i.e., ruling fathers of families].

"Joseph's brothers became jealous of him and sold Joseph as a slave in Egypt. However, God was with him

And Jacob (Israel) went down into Egypt, and there he died, as did our fathers;

Their bodies were carried back [from Egypt] to Shechem and buried in the tomb that Abraham had purchased in Shechem from the sons of Hamor for a sum of silver. [Note: "Shechem" was a town in Israel, the country which in New Testament times was known as Samaria].

But as the time of the promise drew nigh which God vouchsafed unto Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,

The same, dealing craftily with our race, ill-treated our fathers, so as to cause their babes to be exposed, to the end they might not be suffered to live.

Then when he was set outside [to die], Pharaoh’s daughter rescued him and claimed him for herself, and cared for him as her own son.

“As he was approaching the age of 40, he decided to visit his brothers, the Israelites.

He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was using him as the means of delivering them, but they did not.

And the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another?

But the one who was trying to harm his neighbor pushed Moses away saying, 'Who gave you the right to act as a ruler and judge over us?

Wilt thou kill me, as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday?

Because of this, Moses fled and lived as a foreigner in the land of Midian. There he had two sons.

When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him,

I have most certainly seen the oppression of My people in Egypt and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them. Now come, and I will send you to Egypt [as My messenger].’

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.

It was he who brought them out of Egypt by performing wonders and signs there and at the Red Sea -- as he did also in the desert for forty years.

This is the Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your countrymen.’

Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness?

You even took along the tent of Moloch, the star of your god Rephan, and the images you made in order to worship them. So I will take you into exile as far as 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.

Our forefathers also brought this Tabernacle with them under Joshua's leadership when they entered [Canaan] to occupy the land of these Gentile nations. God removed these nations as our forefathers advanced through the land, up until the reign of King David,

Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,

Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.

ye who received the law as it was ordained by angels, and kept it not.

As they listened to these words, they became infuriated and gnashed their teeth at him.

He, filled as he was with the Holy Spirit, fixed his eyes intently on the heavens, and saw the Glory of God and Jesus standing at God's right hand.

And they kept on stoning Stephen [as he] was calling out and saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!"

Devout men buried Stephen as they mourned loudly for him.

As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.

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].

Unclean spirits screamed with a loud voice as they came out of the many people they had possessed, and many paralyzed and lame people were healed.

As a result, there was great rejoicing in that city.

But a certain man, named Simon, lived previously in that city, who practised magic, and astonished the nation of Samaria, giving out himself as an extraordinary great personage:

To him people of all classes paid attention, declaring, "This man is the Power of God, known as the great Power."

But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, both men and women.

Then even Simon himself believed. And after he was baptized, he went around constantly with Philip and was astounded as he observed the signs and great miracles that were being performed.

(For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)

saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and ask the Lord if perhaps the intent of your heart may be forgiven you!"

For see that thou servest as a gall-root of bitterness, and a bond of unrighteousness.

So after Peter and John had solemnly testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, proclaiming the good news to many Samaritan villages as they went.

Upon this he rose and went. Now, as it happened, an Ethiopian eunuch who was in a position of high authority with Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, as her treasurer, had visited Jerusalem to worship there,

and was now on his way home; and as he sat in his chariot he was reading the Prophet Isaiah.

The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:

And the eunuch answered [and] said to Philip, "I ask you, about whom does the prophet say this--about himself or about someone else?"

Then Philip began, and, taking this passage as his text, told him the Good News about Jesus.

And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?

[Philip said to him, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he replied, “I do believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”]

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

And when they came up out of the water, the Holy Spirit of the Lord [supernaturally?] directed Philip to go elsewhere and the eunuch did not see him anymore, as he continued on his journey rejoicing.

But Philip found himself at Azotus, and [as he] passed through, he proclaimed the good news [to] all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

Now Saul, as he was still breathing threats of murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest