Chapter 2

005:021 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.

005:022 But the officers went and could not find them in the prison. So they came back and brought word,

005:023 saying, "The jail we found quite safely locked, and the warders were on guard at the doors, but upon going in we found no one there."

005:024 When the Commander of the Temple Guards and the High Priests heard this statement, they were utterly at a loss with regard to it, wondering what would happen next.

005:025 And some one came and brought them word, saying, "The men you put in prison are actually in the Temple, standing there, teaching the people."

005:026 Upon this the Commander went with the officers, and brought the Apostles; but without using violence; for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

005:027 So they brought them and made them stand in front of the Sanhedrin. And then the High Priest questioned them.

005:028 "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!"

005:029 Peter and the other Apostles replied, "We must obey God rather than man.

005:030 The God of our forefathers has raised Jesus to life, whom you crucified and put to death.

005:031 God has exalted Him to His right hand as Chief Leader and as Saviour, to give Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins.

005:032 And we--and the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him-- are witnesses as to these things."

005:033 Infuriated at getting this answer, they were disposed to kill the Apostles.

005:034 But a Pharisee of the name of Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law, held in honour by all the people, rose from his seat and requested that they should be sent outside the court for a few minutes.

005:035 "Israelites," he said, "be careful what you are about to do in dealing with these men.

005:036 Years ago Theudas appeared, professing to be a person of importance, and a body of men, some four hundred in number, joined him. He was killed, and all his followers were dispersed and annihilated.

005:037 After him, at the time of the Census, came Judas, the Galilaean, and was the leader in a revolt. He too perished, and all his followers were scattered.

005:038 And now I tell you to hold aloof from these men and leave them alone--for if this scheme or work is of human origin, it will come to nothing.

005:039 But if it is really from God, you will be powerless to put them down--lest perhaps you find yourselves to be actually fighting against God."

005:040 His advice carried conviction. So they called the Apostles in, and-- after flogging them--ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then let them go.

005:041 They, therefore, left the Sanhedrin and went their way, rejoicing that they had been deemed worthy to suffer disgrace on behalf of the NAME.

005:042 But they did not desist from teaching every day, in the Temple or in private houses, and telling the Good News about Jesus, the Christ.

006:001 About this time, as the number of disciples was increasing, complaints were made by the Greek-speaking Jews against the Hebrews because their widows were habitually overlooked in the daily ministration.

006:002 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.

006:003 Therefore, brethren, pick out from among yourselves seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, and we will appoint them to undertake this duty.

006:004 But, as for us, we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the delivery of the Message."

006:005 The suggestion met with general approval, and they selected Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte of Antioch.

006:006 These men they brought to the Apostles, and, after prayer, they laid their hands upon them.

006:007 Meanwhile God's Message continued to spread, and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem very greatly increased, and very many priests obeyed the faith.

006:008 And Stephen, full of grace and power, performed great marvels and signs among the people.

006:009 But some members of the so-called `Synagogue of the Freed-men,' together with some Cyrenaeans, Alexandrians, Cilicians and men from Roman Asia, were roused to encounter Stephen in debate.

006:010 They were quite unable, however, to resist the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke.

006:011 Then they privately put forward men who declared, "We have heard him speak blasphemous things against Moses and against God."

006:012 In this way they excited the people, the Elders, and the Scribes. At length they came upon him, seized him with violence, and took him before the Sanhedrin.

006:013 Here they brought forward false witnesses who declared, "This fellow is incessantly speaking against the Holy Place and the Law.

006:014 For we have heard him say that Jesus, the Nazarene, will pull this place down to the ground and will change the customs which Moses handed down to us."

006:015 At once the eyes of all who were sitting in the Sanhedrin were fastened on him, and they saw his face looking just like the face of an angel.

007:001 Then the High Priest asked him, "Are these statements true?"

007:002 The reply of Stephen was, "Sirs--brethren and fathers--listen to me. God Most Glorious appeared to our forefather Abraham when he was living in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran,

007:003 and said to him, "`Leave your country and your relatives, and go into whatever land I point out to you.'

007:004 "Thereupon he left Chaldaea and settled in Haran till after the death of his father, when God caused him to remove into this country where you now live.

007:005 But he gave him no inheritance in it, no, not a single square yard of ground. And yet He promised to bestow the land as a permanent possession on him and his posterity after him-- and promised this at a time when Abraham was childless.

007:006 And God declared that Abraham's posterity should for four hundred years make their home in a country not their own, and be reduced to slavery and be oppressed.

007:007 "`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.'

007:008 "Then He gave him the Covenant of circumcision, and under this Covenant he became the father of Isaac--whom he circumcised on the eighth day. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve Patriarchs.

007:009 "The Patriarchs were jealous of Joseph and sold him into slavery in Egypt. But God was with him

007:010 and delivered him from all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him governor over Egypt and all the royal household.

007:011 But there came a famine throughout the whole of Egypt and Canaan-- and great distress--so that our forefathers could find no food.

007:012 When, however, Jacob heard that there was wheat to be had, he sent our forefathers into Egypt; that was the first time.

007:013 On their second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Pharaoh was informed of Joseph's parentage.

007:014 Then Joseph sent and invited his father Jacob and all his family, numbering seventy-five persons, to come to him,

007:015 and Jacob went down into Egypt. There he died, and so did our forefathers,

007:016 and they were taken to Shechem and were laid in the tomb which Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a sum of money paid in silver.

007:017 "But as the time drew near for the fulfilment of the promise which God had made to Abraham, the people became many times more numerous in Egypt,

007:018 until there arose a foreign king over Egypt who knew nothing of Joseph.

007:019 He adopted a crafty policy towards our race, and oppressed our forefathers, making them cast out their infants so that they might not be permitted to live.

007:020 At this time Moses was born--a wonderfully beautiful child; and for three months he was cared for in his father's house.

007:021 At length he was cast out, but Pharaoh's daughter adopted him, and brought him up as her own son.

007:022 So Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and possessed great influence through his eloquence and his achievements.

007:023 "And when he was just forty years old, it occurred to him to visit his brethren the descendants of Israel.

007:024 Seeing one of them wrongfully treated he took his part, and secured justice for the ill-treated man by striking down the Egyptian.

007:025 He supposed his brethren to be aware that by him God was sending them deliverance; this, however, they did not understand.

007:026 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?'

007:027 "But the man who was doing the wrong resented his interference, and asked, "`Who appointed you magistrate and judge over us?

007:028 Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?'

007:029 "Alarmed at this question, Moses fled from the country and went to live in the land of Midian. There he became the father of two sons.

007:030 "But at the end of forty years there appeared to him in the Desert of Mount Sinai an angel in the middle of a flame of fire in a bush.

007:031 When Moses saw this he wondered at the sight; but on his going up to look further, the voice of the Lord was heard, saying,

007:032 "`I am the God of your forefathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob.' "Quaking with fear Moses did not dare gaze.

007:033 "`Take off your shoes,' said the Lord, `for the spot on which you are standing is holy ground.

007:034 I have seen, yes, I have seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt and have heard their groans, and I have come down to deliver them. And now I will send you to Egypt.'

007:035 "The Moses whom they rejected, asking him, `Who appointed you magistrate and judge?'--that same Moses we find God sending as a magistrate and a deliverer by the help of the angel who appeared to him in the bush.

007:036 This was he who brought them out, after performing marvels and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea, and in the Desert for forty years.

007:037 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.'

007:038 `This is he who was among the Congregation in the Desert, together with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai and with our forefathers, who received ever-living utterances to hand on to us.

007:039 "Our forefathers, however, would not submit to him, but spurned his authority and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.

007:040 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.'

007:041 "Moreover they made a calf at that time, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and kept rejoicing in the gods which their own hands had made.

007:042 So God turned from them and gave them up to the worship of the Host of Heaven, as it is written in the Book of the Prophets, "'Were they victims and sacrifices which you offered Me, forty years in the Desert, O House of Israel?

007:043 Yes, you lifted up Moloch's tent and the Star of the God Rephan-- the images which you made in order to worship them; and I will remove you beyond Babylon.'

007:044 "Our forefathers had the Tent of the Testimony in the Desert, built as He who spoke to Moses had instructed him to make it in imitation of the model which he had seen.

007:045 That Tent was bequeathed to the next generation of our forefathers. Under Joshua they brought it with them when they were taking possession of the land of the Gentile nations, whom God drove out before them. So it continued till David's time.

007:046 David obtained favour with God, and asked leave to provide a dwelling-place for the God of Jacob.

007:047 But it was Solomon who built a house for Him.

007:048 Yet the Most High does not dwell in buildings erected by men's hands. But, as the Prophet declares,

007:049 "`The sky is My throne, and earth is the footstool for My feet. What kind of house will you build for Me, says the Lord, or what resting place shall I have?

007:050 Did not My hand form this universe.'

007:051 "O stiff-necked men, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you also are continually at strife with the Holy Spirit-- just as your forefathers were.

007:052 Which of the Prophets did not your forefathers persecute? Yes, they killed those who announced beforehand the advent of the righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become--

007:053 you who received the Law given through angels, and yet have not obeyed it."

007:054 As they listened to these words, they became infuriated and gnashed their teeth at him.

007:055 But, full of the Holy Spirit and looking up to Heaven, Stephen saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at God's right hand.

007:056 "I can see Heaven wide open," he said, "and the Son of Man standing at God's right hand."

007:057 Upon this, with a loud outcry they stopped their ears, rushed upon Stephen in a body,

007:058 dragged him out of the city, and stoned him, the witnesses throwing off their outer garments and giving them into the care of a young man called Saul.

007:059 So they stoned Stephen, while he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."

007:060 Then, rising on his knees, he cried aloud, "Lord, do not reckon this sin against them." And with these words he fell asleep.

008:001 And Saul fully approved of his murder. At this time a great persecution broke out against the Church in Jerusalem, and all except the Apostles were scattered throughout Judaea and Samaria.

008:002 A party of devout men, however, buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him.

008:003 But Saul cruelly harassed the Church. He went into house after house, and, dragging off both men and women, threw them into prison.

008:004 Those, however, who were scattered abroad went from place to place spreading the Good News of God's Message;

008:005 while Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed Christ there.

008:006 Crowds of people, with one accord, gave attention to what they heard from him, listening, and witnessing the signs which he did.

008:007 For, with a loud cry, foul spirits came out of many possessed by them, and many paralytics and lame persons were restored to health.

008:008 And there was great joy in that city.

008:009 Now for some time past there had been a man named Simon living there, who had been practising magic and astonishing the Samaritans, pretending that he was more than human.

008:010 To him people of all classes paid attention, declaring, "This man is the Power of God, known as the great Power."

008:011 His influence over them arose from their having been, for a long time, bewildered by his sorceries.

008:012 But when Philip began to tell the Good News about the Kingdom of God and about the Name of Jesus Christ, and they embraced the faith, they were baptized, men and women alike.

008:013 Simon himself also believed, and after being baptized remained in close attendance on Philip, and was full of amazement at seeing such signs and such great miracles performed.

008:014 When the Apostles in Jerusalem heard that the Samaritans had accepted God's Message, they sent Peter and John to visit them.

008:015 They, when they came down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit:

008:016 for He had not as yet fallen upon any of them. They had only been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.

008:017 Then the Apostles placed their hands upon them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

008:018 When, however, Simon saw that it was through the laying on of the Apostles' hands that the Spirit was bestowed, he offered them money.

008:019 "Give me too," he said, "that power, so that every one on whom I place my hands will receive the Holy Spirit."

008:020 "Perish your money and yourself," replied Peter, "because you have imagined that you can obtain God's free gift with money!

008:021 No part or lot have you in this matter, for your heart is not right in God's sight.

008:022 Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord, in the hope that the purpose which is in your heart may perhaps be forgiven you.

008:023 For I perceive that you have fallen into the bitterest bondage of unrighteousness."

008:024 "Pray, both of you, to the Lord for me," answered Simon, "that nothing of what you have said may come upon me."

008:025 So the Apostles, after giving a solemn charge and delivering the Lord's Message, travelled back to Jerusalem, making known the Good News also in many of the Samaritan villages.

008:026 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."

008:027 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,

008:028 and was now on his way home; and as he sat in his chariot he was reading the Prophet Isaiah.

008:029 Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go and enter that chariot."

008:030 So Philip ran up and heard the eunuch reading the Prophet Isaiah. "Do you understand what you are reading?" he asked.

008:031 "Why, how can I," replied the eunuch, "unless some one explains it to me?" And he earnestly invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

008:032 The passage of Scripture which he was reading was this: "Like a sheep He was led to slaughter, and just as a lamb before its shearer is dumb so He opened not His mouth.

008:033 In His humiliation justice was denied Him. Who will make known His posterity? For He is destroyed from among men."

008:034 "Pray, of whom is the Prophet speaking?" inquired the eunuch; "of himself or of some one else?"

008:035 Then Philip began to speak, and, commencing with that same portion of Scripture, told him the Good News about Jesus.

008:036 So they proceeded on their way till they came to some water; and the eunuch exclaimed, "See, here is water; what is there to prevent my being baptized?"

008:037 []

008:038 So he stopped the chariot; and both of them--Philip and the eunuch-- went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.

008:039 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;

008:040 but Philip found himself at Ashdod. Then visiting town after town he everywhere made known the Good News until he reached Caesarea.

009:001 Now Saul, whose every breath was a threat of destruction for the disciples of the Lord,

009:002 went to the High Priest and begged from him letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, in order that if he found any believers there, either men or women, he might bring them in chains to Jerusalem.

009:003 But on the journey, as he was getting near Damascus, suddenly there flashed round him a light from Heaven;

009:004 and falling to the ground he heard a voice which said to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?"

009:005 "Who art thou, Lord?" he asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," was the reply.

009:006 "But rise and go to the city, and you will be told what you are to do.

009:007 Meanwhile the men who travelled with Saul were standing dumb with amazement, hearing a sound, but seeing no one.

009:008 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.

009:009 And for two days he remained without sight, and did not eat or drink anything.

009:010 Now in Damascus there was a disciple of the name of Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, saying, "Ananias!" "I am here, Lord," he answered.

009:011 "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.

009:012 He has seen a man called Ananias come and lay his hands upon him so that he may recover his sight."

009:013 "Lord," answered Ananias, "I have heard about that man from many, and I have heard of the great mischief he has done to Thy people in Jerusalem;

009:014 and here he is authorized by the High Priests to arrest all who call upon Thy name."

009:015 "Go," replied the Lord; "he is a chosen instrument of Mine to carry My name to the Gentiles and to kings and to the descendants of Israel.

009:016 For I will let him know the great sufferings which he must pass through for My sake."

009:017 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."

009:018 Instantly there dropped from his eyes what seemed to be scales, and he could see once more. Upon this he rose and received baptism;

009:019 after which he took food and regained his strength. Then he remained some little time with the disciples in Damascus.

009:020 And in the synagogues he began at once to proclaim Jesus as the Son of God;