5:1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a piece of property,
5:2 And, with his wife's knowledge, kept back part of the price, and brought a certain part of it, and laid it at the apostles' feet.
5:3 But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
5:4 While it was unsold, was it not your own? and even after it was sold, was not the money in your own power? why have you conceived this deed in your heart? you have not lied to men, but to God.
5:5 On hearing these words Ananias fell down and died: and great fear came on all those who heard these things.
5:6 And the young men arose, wrapped him up, and carried him out, and buried him.
5:7 And it was about three hours later, when his wife, not knowing what had happened, came in.
5:8 And Peter said to her, Tell me whether you sold the land for so much? And she said, Yes, for that much.
5:9 Then Peter said to her, How is it that you have agreed to test the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and shall carry you out as well.
5:10 Then she immediately fell down at his feet, and died: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband.
5:11 And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.
5:12 And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders being performed among the people; and they were all together in Solomon's porch.
5:13 And none of the rest dared join them: but the people held them in great esteem.
5:14 And even more believers were added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.
5:15 So that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and mats, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall upon some of them.
5:16 There also came a multitude from the cities around Jerusalem, bringing sick people, and those who were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were all healed.
5:17 Then the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him, (that is, the party of the Sadducees,) and were filled with indignation,
5:18 And laid hands on the apostles, and put them in the public jail.
5:19 But at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said,
5:20 Go, stand in the temple and declare to the people all the words of this life.
5:21 And when they heard that, they entered the temple early in the morning, and taught. Now the high priest came, and those who were with him, and called the council together, the full senate of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.
5:22 But when the officers arrived, and did not find them in the prison, they returned, and reported,
5:23 We found the prison quite securely shut, and the guards standing at the doors: but when we opened them, we found no one within.
5:24 Now when the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these things, they were perplexed and wondered what would come of this.
5:25 Then someone came and told them, Behold, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple, and teaching the people.
5:26 Then the captain with the officers went, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people might stone them.
5:27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them,
5:28 Did we not sternly command you that you should not teach in this name? and, behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us.
5:29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
5:30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.
5:31 God has exalted him with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
5:32 And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.
5:33 When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and wanted to kill them.
5:34 But then there stood up in the council a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who had a good reputation among all the people, and he commanded that the apostles be put outside for a while;
5:35 And he said to them, You men of Israel, take care what you intend to do about these men.
5:36 For before these days Theudas rose up, who boasted of being somebody; and a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves to him. He was slain; and all those who followed him were scattered, and brought to nothing.
5:37 After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census, and drew away many people after him: he also perished; and all those who followed him were dispersed.
5:38 And now I say to you, Stay away from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work is from men, it will come to nothing:
5:39 But if it is from God, you cannot overthrow it; you might even be found fighting against God.
5:40 And they agreed with him: and when they had called in the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
5:41 And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.
5:42 And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease to teach and preach Jesus as the Christ.
6:1 And in those days, when the number of the disciples was increasing, there arose a murmuring among the Hellenists against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution of food.
6:2 Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples to them, and said, It is not right that we should neglect the word of God to serve tables.
6:3 Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.
6:4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.
6:5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch.
6:6 These they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.
6:7 And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
6:8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people.
6:9 Then there arose some from what is called the synagogue of the Freedmen, including Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, and disputed with Stephen.
6:10 But they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke.
6:11 Then they secretly instigated men, who said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.
6:12 And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council,
6:13 And they set up false witnesses, who said, This man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law:
6:14 For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered to us.
6:15 And all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
7:1 Then the high priest said, Are these things so?
7:2 And he said, Brethren and fathers, listen; The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran,
7:3 And said to him, Depart from your country, and from your family, and come into the land which I shall show you.
7:4 Then he came out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and lived in Harran: and from there, when his father was dead, God sent him into this land, in which you now live.
7:5 And he gave him no inheritance in it, no, not even enough to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him, even though as yet he had no child.
7:6 And God spoke to this effect, That his descendants would be strangers in a foreign land; and that they would bring them into bondage, and mistreat them for four hundred years.
7:7 And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage I will judge, said God: and after that they shall come forth, and serve me in this place.
7:8 And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac became the father of Jacob; and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.
7:9 And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him,
7:10 And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; who made him governor over Egypt and all his house.
7:11 Now there came a famine over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction: and our fathers could find no food.
7:12 But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers the first time.
7:13 And at the second time Joseph made himself known to his brothers; and Joseph's family was made known to Pharaoh.
7:14 Then Joseph sent for his father Jacob, and for all his family, seventy-five in all.
7:15 So Jacob went down to Egypt, and died, he, and our fathers,
7:16 And they were carried over into Shechem, and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Emmor, the father of Shechem.
7:17 But when the time of the promise drew near, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,
7:18 Until another king arose, who knew nothing of Joseph.
7:19 He dealt treacherously with our race, and mistreated our fathers, forcing them to expose their young children, that they might not live.
7:20 At this time Moses was born, and was exceedingly fair in God's sight, and he was cared for in his father's house for three months:
7:21 And when he was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and raised him as her own son.
7:22 And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.
7:23 When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the sons of Israel.
7:24 And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck the Egyptian:
7:25 For he supposed his brethren understood that God was granting them deliverance by his hand: but they did not understand.
7:26 And the next day he appeared to some as they fought, and tried to reconcile them, saying, Men, you are brethren; why do you wrong one another?
7:27 But he who was doing his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?
7:28 Do you want to kill me, as you did the Egyptian yesterday?
7:29 At this remark, Moses fled, and became a stranger in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.
7:30 And when forty years had passed, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sinai an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.
7:31 When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came to him,
7:32 Saying, I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and dared not look.
7:33 Then the Lord said to him, Take the sandals off your feet: for the place where you stand is holy ground.
7:34 I have surely seen the affliction of my people in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and have come down to deliver them. Now come, and I will send you to Egypt.
7:35 This Moses whom they rejected, saying, Who made you a ruler and a judge? was the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush.
7:36 He brought them out, after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and at the Red sea, and in the wilderness for forty years.
7:37 This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, The Lord your God shall raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brethren.
7:38 This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on mount Sinai, and with our fathers: and he received the living oracles to give to us.
7:39 Our fathers would not obey him, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again to Egypt,
7:40 Saying to Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: as for this Moses, who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.
7:41 And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
7:42 Then God turned away and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, Was it to me you offered slain beasts and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
7:43 You took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Rephan, figures which you made to worship: therefore I will carry you away beyond Babylon.
7:44 Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, made according to the pattern appointed by the one who spoke to Moses.
7:45 Our fathers then brought it in with Joshua when they took possession of the land of the Gentiles, whom God drove out before our fathers. And so it remained there until the days of David;
7:46 Who found favour with God, and desired to find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.
7:47 But it was Solomon who built him a house.
7:48 Yet the most High does not dwell in temples made with hands; as the prophet says,
7:49 Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will you build for me? says the Lord: or what is the place in which I can rest?
7:50 Has not my hand made all these things?
7:51 You stiffnecked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so you do.
7:52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? and they killed those who told beforehand of the coming of the Righteous One; whom you have now betrayed and murdered:
7:53 You who have received the law as delivered by angels, and have not kept it.
7:54 When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed their teeth at him.
7:55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
7:56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
7:57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,
7:58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.
7:59 And as they stoned Stephen he called upon God, saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
7:60 And he knelt down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, do not hold this sin against them. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
8:1 And Saul was consenting to his death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.
8:2 And devout men buried Stephen, and made great lamentation over him.
8:3 As for Saul, he ravaged the church, entering into every house, and dragging off men and women and committing them to prison.
8:4 Therefore, those who were scattered abroad went about preaching the word.
8:5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ to them.
8:6 And the people with one accord gave heed to the things of which Philip spoke, hearing and seeing the miraculous signs which he did.
8:7 For unclean spirits, crying out with loud voices, came out of many who were possessed: and many taken with paralysis, and those who were lame, were healed.
8:8 And there was great joy in that city.
8:9 But there was a certain man, named Simon, who formerly practiced sorcery in the city, and amazed the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great:
8:10 And they all gave heed to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.
8:11 And they gave heed to him, because for so long he had amazed them with sorceries.
8:12 But when they believed Philip as he preached about the good news of the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
8:13 Even Simon himself believed: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and was amazed, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.
8:14 Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John:
8:15 Who, when they had come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit:
8:16 (For as yet he had fallen upon none of them: they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)
8:17 Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
8:18 And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money,
8:19 Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Spirit.
8:20 But Peter said to him, Your silver perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.
8:21 You have no part or portion in this matter: for your heart is not right in the sight of God.
8:22 Therefore, repent of this wickedness, and pray to God, that perhaps the intent of your heart may be forgiven you.
8:23 For I perceive that you are full of bitterness, and in the bondage of iniquity.
8:24 Then Simon answered, Pray to the Lord for me, that none of these things which you have spoken may come upon me.
8:25 And when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, and preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.
8:26 And the angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert road.
8:27 And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem to worship,
8:28 Was returning, and sitting in his chariot reading Isaiah the prophet.
8:29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, Go near, and join this chariot.
8:30 And Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, Do you understand what you are reading?
8:31 And he said, How can I, unless some man should guide me? And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
8:32 Now the passage of scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb silent before his shearer, so he did not open his mouth:
8:33 In his humiliation justice was taken from him: and who shall describe his generation? for his life was taken from the earth.
8:34 And the eunuch answered Philip, I pray you, of whom does the prophet speak? of himself, or of some other man?
8:35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at the same scripture, preached Jesus to him.
8:36 And as they went on their way, they came to some water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what prevents me from being baptized?
8:37 [And Philip said, If you believe with all your heart, you may. And he answered, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.]
8:38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.
8:39 And when they had come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more: but he went on his way rejoicing.
8:40 But Philip found himself at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, until he came to Caesarea.