And while in their company He charged them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father's promised gift. "This you have heard of," He said, "from me.

When He had said this, and while they were looking at Him, He was carried up, and a cloud closing beneath Him hid Him from their sight.

who said, "Galilaeans, why stand looking into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken up from you into Heaven will come in just the same way as you have seen Him going into Heaven."

It was on one of these days that Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren--the entire number of persons present being about 120--and said,

But others, scornfully jeering, said, "They are brim-full of sweet wine."

Peter however, together with the Eleven, stood up and addressed them in a loud voice. "Men of Judaea, and all you inhabitants of Jerusalem," he said, "be in no uncertainty about this matter but pay attention to what I say.

For David did not ascend into Heaven, but he says himself, "'The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand

Stung to the heart by these words, they said to Peter and the rest of the Apostles, "Brethren, what are we to do?"

Peter fixing his eyes on him, as John did also, said, "Look at us."

"I have no silver or gold," Peter said, "but what I have, I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene-- walk!"

Peter, seeing this, spoke to the people. "Israelites," he said, "why do you wonder at this man? Or why gaze at us, as though by any power or piety of our own we had enabled him to walk?

"You are the heirs of the Prophets, and of the Covenant which God made with your forefathers when He said to Abraham, 'And through your posterity all the families of the world shall be blessed.'

After their release the two Apostles went to their friends, and told them all that the High Priests and Elders had said.

And they, upon hearing the story, all lifted up their voices to God and said, "O Sovereign Lord, it is Thou who didst make Heaven and earth and sea, and all that is in them,

"Ananias," said Peter, "why has Satan taken possession of your heart, that you should try to deceive the Holy Spirit and dishonestly keep back part of the price paid you for this land?

Peter at once questioned her. "Tell me," he said, "whether you sold the land for so much." "Yes," she replied, "for so much."

But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said,

"We strictly forbad you to teach in that name--did we not?" he said. "And see, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and are trying to make us responsible for that man's death!"

"Israelites," he said, "be careful what you are about to do in dealing with these men.

So the Twelve called together the general body of the disciples and said, "It does not seem fitting that we Apostles should neglect the delivery of God's Message and minister at tables.

and said to him, "'Leave your country and your relatives, and go into whatever land I point out to you.'

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

The next day, also, he came and found two of them fighting, and he endeavoured to make peace between them. "'Sirs,' he said, 'you are brothers. Why are you wronging one another?'

"'Take off your shoes,' said the Lord, 'for the spot on which you are standing is holy ground.

This is the Moses who said to the descendants of Israel, "'God will raise up a Prophet for you, from among your brethren, just as He raised me up.'

They said to Aaron, "'Make gods for us, to march in front of us; for as for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.'

"I can see Heaven wide open," he said, "and the Son of Man standing at God's right hand."

"Give me too," he said, "that power, so that every one on whom I place my hands will receive the Holy Spirit."

"Pray, both of you, to the Lord for me," answered Simon, "that nothing of what you have said may come upon me."

And an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Rise and proceed south to the road that runs down from Jerusalem to Gaza, crossing the Desert."

Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go and enter that chariot."

and falling to the ground he heard a voice which said to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?"

"Rise," said the Lord, "and go to Straight Street, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man called Saul, from Tarsus, for he is actually praying.

So Ananias went and entered the house; and, laying his two hands upon Saul, said, "Saul, brother, the Lord--even Jesus who appeared to you on your journey--has sent me, that you may recover your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."

Peter said to him, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ cures you. Rise and make your own bed." He at once rose to his feet.

Peter, however, putting every one out of the room, knelt down and prayed, and then turning to the body, he said, "Tabitha, rise." Dorcas at once opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, sat up.

Looking steadily at him, and being much alarmed, he said, "What do you want, Sir?" "Your prayers and charities," he replied, "have gone up and have been recorded before God.

and a voice came to him which said, "Rise, Peter, kill and eat."

Again a second time a voice was heard which said, "What God has purified, you must not regard as unholy."

This was said three times, and immediately the sail was drawn up out of sight.

And Peter was still earnestly thinking over the vision, when the Spirit said to him, "Three men are now inquiring for you.

So Peter went down and said to the men, "I am the Simon you are inquiring for. What is the reason of your coming?"

But Peter lifted him up. "Stand up," he said; "I myself also am but a man."

He said to them, "You know better than most that a Jew is strictly forbidden to associate with a Gentile or visit him; but God has taught me to call no one unholy or unclean.

who said, "'Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your charities have been put on record before God.

Then Peter began to speak. "I clearly see," he said, "that God makes no distinctions between one man and another;

For they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling the majesty of God. Then Peter said,

"You went into the houses of men who are not Jews," they said, "and you ate with them."

"While I was in the town of Jaffa, offering prayer," he said, "in a trance I saw a vision. There descended what seemed to be an enormous sail, being let down from the sky by ropes at the four corners, and it came close to me.

"This was said three times, and then everything was drawn up again out of sight.

"And," said Peter, "no sooner had I begun to speak than the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as He fell upon us at the first.

This statement of Peter's silenced his opponents. They extolled the goodness of God, and said, "So, then, to the Gentiles also God has given the repentance which leads to Life."

Suddenly an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the cell; and, striking Peter on the side, he woke him and said, "Rise quickly." Instantly the chains dropped off his wrists.

"Fasten your girdle," said the angel, "and tie on your sandals." He did so. Then the angel said, "Throw your cloak round you, and follow me."

Peter coming to himself said, "Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel and has rescued me from the power of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were anticipating."

"You are mad," they said. But she strenuously maintained that it was true. "It is his guardian angel," they said.

While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for Me, now at once, Barnabas and Saul, for the work to which I have called them."

said, "You who are full of every kind of craftiness and unscrupulous cunning--you son of the Devil and foe to all that is right--will you never cease to misrepresent the straight paths of the Lord?

After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the Wardens of the synagogue sent word to them. "Brethren," they said, "if you have anything encouraging to say to the people, speak."

So Paul rose, and motioning with his hand for silence, said, "Israelites, and you others who fear God, pay attention to me.

After removing him, He raised up David to be their king, to whom He also bore witness when He said, "'I have found David the son of Jesse, a man I love, who will obey all My commands.'

Then, throwing off all reserve, Paul and Barnabas said, "We were bound to proclaim God's Message to you first. But since you spurn it and judge yourselves to be unworthy of the Life of the Ages--well, we turn to the Gentiles.

said in a loud voice, "Stand upright upon your feet!"

But certain men who had belonged to the sect of the Pharisees but were now believers, stood up in the assembly, and said, "Yes, Gentile believers ought to be circumcised and be ordered to keep the Law of Moses."

and after there had been a long discussion Peter rose to his feet. "It is within your own knowledge," he said, "that God originally made choice among you that from my lips the Gentiles were to hear the Message of the Good News, and believe.

When they had finished speaking, James said, "Brethren, listen to me.

After a while Paul said to Barnabas, "Suppose we now revisit the brethren in the various towns in which we have made known the Lord's Message--to see whether they are prospering!"

This she persisted in for a considerable time, until Paul, wearied out, turned round and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And it came out immediately.

Then they brought them before the praetors. "These men," they said, "are creating a great disturbance in our city.

But Paul said to them, "After cruelly beating us in public, without trial, Roman citizens though we are, they have thrown us into prison, and are they now going to send us away privately? No, indeed! Let them come in person and fetch us out."

But, failing to find them, they dragged Jason and some of the other brethren before the magistrates of the city, loudly accusing them. "These men," they said, "who have raised a tumult throughout the Empire, have come here also.

A few of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also encountered him. Some of them asked, "What has this beggarly babbler to say?" "His business," said others, "seems to be to cry up some foreign gods." This was because he had been telling the Good News of Jesus and the Resurrection.

For it is in closest union with Him that we live and move and have our being; as in fact some of the poets in repute among yourselves have said, 'For we are also His offspring.'

When they heard Paul speak of a resurrection of dead men, some began to scoff. But others said, "We will hear you again on that subject."

But upon their opposing him with abusive language, he shook his clothes by way of protest, and said to them, "Your ruin will be upon your own heads. I am not responsible: in future I will go among the Gentiles."

And, in a vision by night, the Lord said to Paul, "Dismiss your fears: go on speaking, and do not give up.

"This man," they said, "is inducing people to offer unlawful worship to God."

But, when Paul was about to begin his defence, Gallio said to the Jews, "If it had been some wrongful act or piece of cunning knavery I might reasonably have listened to you Jews.

"John," he said, "administered a baptism of repentance, bidding the people believe on One who was to come after him; namely, on Jesus."

When matters had reached this point, Paul decided in his own mind to travel through Macedonia and Greece, and go to Jerusalem. "After that," he said, "I must also see Rome."

He called his workmen together, and others who were engaged in similar trades, and said to them, "You men well know that our prosperity depends on this business of ours;

No sooner, however, did they see that he was a Jew, than there arose from them all one roar of shouting, lasting about two hours. "Great is the Ephesian Diana," they said.

At length the Recorder quieted them down. "Men of Ephesus," he said, "who is there of all mankind that needs to be told that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Diana and of the image which fell down from Zeus?

Paul, however, went down, threw himself upon him, and folding him in his arms said, "Do not be alarmed; his life is still in him."

Upon their arrival he said to them, "You Elders well know, from the first day of my setting foot in the province of Asia, the kind of life I lived among you the whole time,

In all things I have set you an example, showing you that, by working as I do, you ought to help the weak, and to bear in mind the words of the Lord Jesus, how He Himself said, "'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"

When he arrived he took Paul's loincloth, and bound his own feet and arms with it, and said, "Thus says the Holy Spirit, 'So will the Jews in Jerusalem bind the owner of this loincloth, and will hand him over to the Gentiles.'"

So when he was not to be dissuaded, we ceased remonstrating with him and said, "The Lord's will be done!"

And they, when they had heard his statement, gave the glory to God. Then they said, "You see, brother, how many tens of thousands of Jews there are among those who have accepted the faith, and they are all zealous upholders of the Law.

When he was about to be taken into the barracks, Paul said to the Tribune, "May I speak to you?" "Do you know Greek?" the Tribune asked.

"Brethren and fathers," he said, "listen to my defence which I now make before you."

And on hearing him address them in Hebrew, they kept all the more quiet; and he said,

And I asked, "'What am I to do, Lord?' "And the Lord said to me, "'Rise, and go into Damascus. There you shall be told of all that has been appointed for you to do.'

came to me and standing at my side said, "'Brother Saul, recover your sight.' "I instantly regained my sight and looked up at him.

Then he said, 'The God of our forefathers has appointed you to know His will, and to see the righteous One and hear Him speak.

I saw Jesus, and He said to me, "'Make haste and leave Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.'

But, when they had tied him up with the straps, Paul said to the Captain who stood by, "Does the Law permit you to flog a Roman citizen--and one too who is uncondemned?"

On hearing this question, the Captain went to report the matter to the Tribune. "What are you intending to do?" he said. "This man is a Roman citizen."

So the Tribune came to Paul and asked him, "Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?" "Yes," he said.

"I paid a large sum for my citizenship," said the Tribune. "But I was born free," said Paul.