The Promise of the Holy Spirit

11 I have given an earlier account, O Theophilus, of all the things which Jesus did, and of his teaching from the first, 2 Till the day when he was taken up to heaven after he had given his orders, through the Holy Spirit, to the Apostles of whom he had made selection: 3 And to whom he gave clear and certain signs that he was living, after his death; for he was seen by them for forty days, and gave them teaching about the kingdom of God: 4 And when they were all together, with him, he gave them orders not to go away from Jerusalem, but to keep there, waiting till the word of the Father was put into effect, of which, he said, I have given you knowledge: 5 For the baptism of John was with water, but you will have baptism with the Holy Spirit, after a little time.

The Ascension

6 So, when they were together, they said to him, Lord, will you at this time give back the kingdom to Israel? 7 And he said to them, It is not for you to have knowledge of the time and the order of events which the Father has kept in his control. 8 But you will have power, when the Holy Spirit has come on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judaea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. 9 And when he had said these things, while they were looking, he was taken up, and went from their view into a cloud. 10 And while they were looking up to heaven with great attention, two men came to them, in white clothing, 11 And said, O men of Galilee, why are you looking up into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken from you into heaven, will come again, in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.

Judas' Successor Chosen

12 Then they went back to Jerusalem from the mountain named Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away. 13 And when they came in, they went up into the room where they were living; Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James, the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas, the son of James. 14 And they all with one mind gave themselves up to prayer, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

15 And in those days Peter got up among the brothers (there were about one hundred and twenty of them), and said, 16 My brothers, the word of God had to be put into effect, which the Holy Spirit had said before, by the mouth of David, about Judas, who was guide to those who took Jesus, 17 For he was numbered among us, and had his part in our work. 18 (Now this man, with the reward of his evil-doing, got for himself a field, and falling head first, came to a sudden and violent end there. 19 And this came to the knowledge of all those who were living in Jerusalem, so that the field was named in their language, Akel-dama, or, The field of blood.) 20 For in the book of Psalms it says, Let his house be waste, and let no man be living in it: and, Let his position be taken by another. 21 For this reason, of the men who have been with us all the time, while the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 Starting from the baptism of John till he went up from us, one will have to be a witness with us of his coming back from death. 23 And they made selection of two, Joseph, named Barsabbas, whose other name was Justus, and Matthias. 24 And they made prayers and said, Lord, having knowledge of the hearts of all men, make clear which of these two has been marked out by you, 25 To take that position as a servant and Apostle, from which Judas by his sin was shut out, so that he might go to his place. 26 And they put it to the decision of chance, and the decision was given for Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven Apostles.

A Lame Man Healed at the Gate of the Temple

31 Now Peter and John were going up to the Temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer; 2 And a certain man who from birth had had no power in his legs, was taken there every day, and put down at the door of the Temple which is named Beautiful, requesting money from those who went into the Temple; 3 He then, seeing Peter and John going into the Temple, made a request to them. 4 And Peter, looking at him, with John, said, Keep your eyes on us. 5 And he gave attention to them, hoping to get something from them. 6 But Peter said, I have no silver or gold, but what I have, that I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up on your feet. 7 And he took him by his right hand, lifting him up; and straight away his feet and the bones of his legs became strong, 8 And, jumping up, he got on to his feet and went into the Temple with them, walking and jumping and giving praise to God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God: 10 And they saw that it was the man who made requests for money at the door of the Temple, and they were full of wonder and surprise at what had taken place.

Peter's Address in Solomon's Porch

11 And while he kept his hands on Peter and John, all the people came running together to the covered way which is named Solomon's, full of wonder.

12 And when Peter saw it he said to the people, You men of Israel, why are you so greatly surprised at this man? or why are you looking at us as if by our power or virtue we had given him the use of his legs? 13 The God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has given glory to his servant Jesus; whom you gave up, turning your backs on him, when Pilate had made the decision to let him go free. 14 But you would have nothing to do with the Holy and Upright One, and made request for a man of blood to be given to you, 15 And put to death the Lord of life; whom God gave back from the dead; of which fact we are witnesses. 16 And his name, through faith in his name, has made this man strong, whom you see and have knowledge of: yes, the faith which is through him has made him well, before you all. 17 And now, my brothers, I am conscious that you did this, as did your rulers, without knowledge. 18 But the things which God had made clear before, by the mouth of all the prophets, that the Christ would have to undergo, he has put into effect in this way. 19 So then, let your hearts be changed and be turned to God, so that your sins may be completely taken away, and times of blessing may come from the Lord; 20 And that he may send the Christ who was marked out for you from the first, even Jesus: 21 Who is to be kept in heaven till the time when all things are put right, of which God has given word by the mouth of his holy prophets, who have been from the earliest times. 22 For Moses said, The Lord will give you a prophet from among your people, like me; you will give ear to everything which he will say to you. 23 And every soul who does not give attention to that prophet, will be cut off from among the people. 24 And all the prophets from Samuel and those who came after, every one of them, gave word of these days. 25 You are the sons of the prophets, and of the agreement which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, Through your seed a blessing will come on all the families of the earth. 26 To you, first, God sent his servant, blessing you by turning every one of you from his sins.