I wrote my first volume, Theophilus, about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning

he foresaw the resurrection of the Christ and told of it, for He was not forsaken to Hades, and His body did not undergo decay.

I mean Jesus whom God raised from the dead, to which fact we are all witnesses,

For David did not go up to heaven, but he himself says: 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand,

Peter looked him straight in the eye, and so did John, and said, "Look at us."

and you killed the Prince of life, but God raised Him from the dead, to which fact we are witnesses.

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

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.

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."

because they were very much disturbed over their continuing to teach the people and to declare in the case of Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

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.

who spoke thus through the Holy Spirit by the lips of our forefather David, your servant: 'Why did the heathen rage, and the peoples make vain designs?

As long as it was unsold, was it not yours, and when it was sold, was not the money at your disposal? How could you have the heart to do such a thing! You did not lie to men but to God!"

When Ananias heard these words, he fell dead, and a strange awe seized everybody who heard it.

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

She instantly fell dead at his feet. When the young men came in, they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

"Did we not positively forbid you to teach anymore on this authority, and yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and now want to bring on us the people's vengeance for this man's death!"

and not for a single day did they stop teaching in the temple square and in private houses the good news of Jesus the Christ.

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

Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?'

'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.

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.

It was this Moses who said to the descendants of Israel, 'God will raise up a prophet for you from among you, just as He did me.'

So God turned away from them and gave them over to worship the starry host, as it is written in the Book of the Prophets: 'Did you really offer me victims and sacrifices those forty years in the desert, O house of Israel?

"You people, stubborn in will, heathenish in hearts and ears, you are always resisting the Holy Spirit, as your forefathers did, too.

Which of the prophets did your forefathers fail to persecute? They killed the prophets who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have betrayed and murdered Him,

you who received the law by order of the angels, and yet you did not obey it!"

and for three days he could not see, and he did not eat or drink anything.

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.

When Peter went into the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet and did homage to him.

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.

not by all the people but by witnesses whom God had beforehand appointed, namely, by us who ate and drank with Him after His resurrection from the dead.

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.

"No one can refuse the use of water, can he, for these to be baptized, since they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did ourselves?"

When I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them as He did upon us at the beginning,

And this they did and sent it to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.

Then the angel said to him, "Tighten your belt and put on your shoes? He did so. Then the angel said to him, "Put on your coat and follow me!"

But the angel of the Lord at once struck him down, because he did not give the glory to God; he was eaten by worms, and so died.

But God raised Him from the dead,

that God has fulfilled it to us their children, by raising Jesus to life, just as the Scripture says in the Second Psalm, 'You are my Son, today I have become your Father.'

Now as a proof that He has raised Him from the dead, no more to return to decay, He has spoken this, 'I will fulfill to you the holy promises made to David.'

For David, after having served God's purpose in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid among his forefathers, and so he did experience decay,

but He whom God raised to life did not experience it.

though He did not fail to furnish evidences about Himself, in constantly showing His kindness to you, in sending you rain from heaven and fruit-producing seasons, in giving you food and happiness to your heart's content."

But some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and won the crowds by persuasion, and they stoned Paul, and dragged him outside the town, supposing he was dead.

And God who knows men's hearts testifies for them by giving them the Holy Spirit, as He did us,

Paul, however, did not consider such a man fit to take along with them, the man who deserted them in Pamphylia and did not go on with them to the work.

So Paul, as he usually did, went to the synagogue, and for three sabbaths discussed with them the Scriptures,

explaining them and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead, and said, "This very Jesus whom I proclaim to you is the Christ."

since He has set a day on which He will justly judge the world through a man whom He has appointed. He has made this credible to all by raising Him from the dead."

But when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some sneered, but others said, "We will hear you again on this subject."

But Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, became a believer in the Lord, and so did all his family, and from time to time many of the Corinthians heard, believed, and were baptized.

and asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" They answered him, "So far from that, we never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit."

So they kept on shouting, some one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and the majority of them did not know why they had met.

For we are in danger of being charged with rioting for today's assembly, as there is not a single reason we can give for it."

and a young man named Eutychus, who was sitting by the window, was gradually overcome by heavy drowsiness, as Paul kept speaking longer and longer, and at last he went fast asleep and fell from the third story to the ground and was picked up dead.

I therefore protest to you today that I am not responsible for the blood of any of you,

"I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up here in this city, and carefully educated under the teaching of Gamaliel in the law of our forefathers. I was zealous for God, as all of you are today.

The men who were with me saw the light, but they did not hear the voice of Him who was speaking to me.

came to see me, and standing by my side said to me, 'Saul, my brother, recover your sight!' Then instantly I did recover it and looked at him,

Paul answered, "I did not know, brothers, that he was high priest, for the Scripture says, 'You must not speak evil against any ruler of your people.'"

Because Paul knew that part of them were Sadducees and part of them Pharisees, he began to cry out in the council chamber, "Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a Pharisee's son, and now I am on trial for the hope of the resurrection of the dead."

unless it is for one thing that I shouted out as I stood among them, 'It is for the resurrection of the dead that I am here on trial before you today.'"

But when his accusers appeared before me, they did not charge him with the crimes of which I had been suspecting him.

"I count myself fortunate, King Agrippa," said he, "that it is before you that I can defend myself today against all the charges which the Jews have preferred against me,

Why is it considered incredible by all of you that God should raise the dead?

That was what I did at Jerusalem; yes, I received authority from the high priests and shut behind the prison bars many of God's people. Yes, when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them, and often in all the synagogues

if the Christ should suffer, and by being the first to rise from the dead was to proclaim the light to the Jewish people and to the heathen."

The king, indeed, knows about this and I can speak to him with freedom. I do not believe that any of this escaped his notice, for it did not occur in a corner!

Paul answered, "In brief or at length, I would to God that not only you but all my hearers today were what I am -- excepting these chains!"

For a number of days we sailed on slowly and with difficulty arrived off Cnidus. Then, because the wind did not permit us to go on, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Cape Salmone,

Until day was about to break Paul kept begging them all to take something to eat. He said, "For fourteen days today you have been constantly waiting and going without food, not even taking a bite.

The natives kept on looking for him to swell up or suddenly drop dead, but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual take place on him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.

When we did arrive at Rome, Paul was granted permission to live by himself -- excepting a soldier to guard him.

For this people's soul has grown dull, and they scarcely hear with their ears, and they have shut tight their eyes, so that they may never see with their eyes, and understand with their souls, and turn to me, that I may cure them."'