2 The festival of Shavu‘ot arrived, and the believers all gathered together in one place. ² Suddenly there came a sound from the sky like the roar of a violent wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ Then they saw what looked like tongues of fire, which separated and came to rest on each one of them. ⁴ They were all filled with the Ruach HaKodesh and began to talk in different languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak.

⁵ Now there were staying in Yerushalayim religious Jews from every nation under heaven. ⁶ When they heard this sound, a crowd gathered; they were confused, because each one heard the believers speaking in his own language. ⁷ Totally amazed, they asked, “How is this possible? Aren’t all these people who are speaking from the Galil? ⁸ How is it that we hear them speaking in our native languages? ⁹ We are Parthians, Medes, Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Y’hudah, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome; ¹¹ Jews by birth and proselytes; Jews from Crete and from Arabia. . . ! How is it that we hear them speaking in our own languages about the great things God has done?” ¹² Amazed and confused, they all went on asking each other, “What can this mean?” ¹³ But others made fun of them and said, “They’ve just had too much wine!”

¹⁴ Then Kefa stood up with the Eleven and raised his voice to address them: “You Judeans, and all of you staying here in Yerushalayim! Let me tell you what this means! Listen carefully to me!

¹⁵ “These people ar en’t drunk, as you suppose — it’s only nine in the morning. ¹⁶ No, this is what was spoken about through the prophet Yo’el:

²² “Men of Isra’el! Listen to this! Yeshua from Natzeret was a man demonstrated to you to have been from God by the powerful works, miracles and signs that God performed through him in your presence. You yourselves know this. ²³ This man was arrested in accordance with God’s predetermined plan and foreknowledge; and, through the agency of persons not bound by the Torah, you nailed him up on a stake and killed him!

²⁴ “But God has raised him up and freed him from the suffering of death; it was impossible that death could keep its hold on him. ²⁵ For David says this about him:

²⁹ “Brothers, I know I can say to you frankly that the patriarch David died and was buried — his tomb is with us to this day. ³⁰ Therefore, since he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn an oath to him that one of his descendants would sit on his throne, ³¹ he was speaking in advance about the resurrection of the Messiah, that it was he who was not abandoned in Sh’ol and whose flesh did not see decay. ³² God raised up this Yeshua! And we are all witnesses of it!

³³ “Moreover, he has been exalted to the right hand of God; has received from the Father what he promised, namely, the Ruach HaKodesh; and has poured out this gift, which you are both seeing and hearing. ³⁴ For David did not ascend into heaven. But he says,

³⁶ Therefore, let the whole house of Isra’el know beyond doubt that God has made him both Lord and Messiah — this Yeshua, whom you executed on a stake!”

³⁷ On hearing this, they were stung in their hearts; and they said to Kefa and the other emissaries, “Brothers, what should we do?” ³⁸ Kefa answered them, “Turn from sin, return to God, and each of you be immersed on the authority of Yeshua the Messiah into forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Ruach HaKodesh! ³⁹ For the promise is for you, for your children, and for those far away — as many as Adonai our God may call!”

⁴⁰ He pressed his case with many other arguments and kept pleading with them, “Save yourselves from this perverse generation!”

⁴¹ So those who accepted what he said were immersed, and there were added to the group that day about three thousand people.

⁴² They continued faithfully in the teaching of the emissaries, in fellowship, in breaking bread and in the prayers. ⁴³ Everyone was filled with awe, and many miracles and signs took place through the emissaries. ⁴⁴ All those trusting in Yeshua stayed together and had everything in common; ⁴⁵ in fact, they sold their property and possessions and distributed the proceeds to all who were in need. ⁴⁶ Continuing faithfully and with singleness of purpose to meet in the Temple courts daily, and breaking bread in their several homes, they shared their food in joy and simplicity of heart, ⁴⁷ praising God and having the respect of all the people. And day after day the Lord kept adding to them those who were being saved.

3 One afternoon at three o’clock, the hour of minchah prayers, as Kefa and Yochanan were going up to the Temple, ² a man crippled since birth was being carried in. Every day people used to put him at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, so that he could beg from those going into the Temple court. ³ When he saw Kefa and Yochanan about to enter, he asked them for some money. ⁴ But they stared straight at him; and Kefa said, “Look at us!” ⁵ The crippled man fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. ⁶ Kefa said, “I don’t have silver, and I don’t have gold, but what I do have I give to you: in the name of the Messiah, Yeshua of Natzeret, walk!” ⁷ And taking hold of him by his right hand, Kefa pulled him up. Instantly his feet and ankles became strong; ⁸ so that he sprang up, stood a moment, and began walking. Then he entered the Temple court with them, walking and leaping and praising God! ⁹ Everyone saw him walking and praising God. ¹⁰ They recognized him as the same man who had formerly sat begging at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, and they were utterly amazed and confounded at what had happened to him. ¹¹ While he clung to Kefa and Yochanan, all the people came running in astonishment toward them in Shlomo’s Colonnade.

¹² Seeing this, Kefa addressed the people: “Men of Isra’el! Why are you amazed at this? Or why do you stare at us as if we had made this man walk through some power or godliness of our own? ¹³ The God of Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov, the God of our fathers,^[d] has glorified his servant Yeshua — the same Yeshua you handed over and disowned before Pilate, even after he had decided to release him. ¹⁴ You denied the holy and innocent one, and instead asked for the reprieve of a murderer! ¹⁵ You killed the author of life!

“But God has raised him from the dead! Of this we are witnesses. ¹⁶ And it is through putting trust in his name that his name has given strength to this man whom you see and know. Yes, it is the trust that comes through Yeshua which has given him this perfect healing in the presence of you all.

¹⁷ “Now, brothers, I know that you did not understand the significance of what you were doing; neither did your leaders. ¹⁸ But this is how God fulfilled what he had announced in advance, when he spoke through all the prophets, namely, that his Messiah was to die.

¹⁹ “Therefore, repent and turn to God, so that your sins may be erased; ²⁰ so that times of refreshing may come from the Lord’s presence; and he may send the Messiah appointed in advance for you, that is, Yeshua. ²¹ He has to remain in heaven until the time comes for restoring everything, as God said long ago, when he spoke through the holy prophets. ²² For Moshe himself said, ‘Adonai will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You are to listen to everything he tells you. ²³ Everyone who fails to listen to that prophet will be removed from the people and destroyed.’^{[e] 24} Indeed, all the prophets announced these days, starting with Sh’mu’el and continuing through all who followed.

²⁵ “You are the sons of the prophets; and you are included in the covenant which God made with our fathers when he said to Avraham, ‘By your seed will all the families of the earth be blessed.’^{[f] 26} So it is to you first that God has sent his servant whom he has raised up, so that he might bless you by turning each one of you from your evil ways.”

4 Kefa and Yochanan were still speaking to the people when the cohanim, the captain in charge of the Temple police, and the Tz’dukim came upon them, ² very annoyed that they were teaching the people the doctrine of resurrection from the dead and offering Yeshua as proof. ³ The Temple police arrested them; and since it was already evening, they put them in custody overnight. ⁴ However, many of those who heard the message trusted; the number of men alone was about five thousand.

⁵ The next day, the people’s rulers, elders and Torah-teachers assembled in Yerushalayim, ⁶ along with ‘Anan the cohen hagadol, Kayafa, Yochanan, Alexander and the other men from the family of the cohen hagadol. ⁷ They had the emissaries stand before them and asked, “By what power or in what name did you do this?”

⁸ Then Kefa, filled with the Ruach HaKodesh, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people! ⁹ If we are being examined today about a good deed done for a disabled person, if you want to know how he was restored to health, ¹⁰ then let it be known to you and to all the people of Isra’el that it is in the name of the Messiah, Yeshua from Natzeret, whom you had executed on a stake as a criminal but whom God has raised from the dead, that this man stands before you perfectly healed.

¹¹ “This Yeshua is the stone rejected by you builders which has become the cornerstone.^{[g] 12} There is salvation in no one else! For there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by whom we must be saved!”

¹³ When they saw how bold Kefa and Yochanan were, even though they were untrained ‘am-ha’aretz, they were amazed; also they recognized them as having been with Yeshua. ¹⁴ Moreover, since they could see the man who had been healed standing right there beside them, there was nothing they could say to discredit the healing. ¹⁵ So they told them to step away from the Sanhedrin while they discussed the matter privately. ¹⁶ “What can we do with these men?” they asked each other. “Why, anyone in Yerushalayim can see that a remarkable miracle has come about through them — we can’t possibly deny that. ¹⁷ But to prevent it from spreading any further among the people, let’s warn them not to speak any more to anyone in this name.”

¹⁸ So they called them in again and ordered them under no circumstances to speak or teach in the name of Yeshua. ¹⁹ But Kefa and Yochanan answered, “You must judge whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than God. ²⁰ As for us, we can’t help talking about what we have actually seen and heard.” ²¹ They threatened them some more but finally let them go — they couldn’t punish them because of the people, for everyone was praising God over what had happened, ²² since the man who had been miraculously healed was more than forty years old.

²³ Upon being released, they went back to their friends and reported what the head cohanim and elders had said to them. ²⁴ When they heard it, they raised their voices to God with singleness of heart. “Master,” they prayed, “You made heaven, earth, the sea and everything in them.^{[h] 25} By the Ruach HaKodesh, through the mouth of our father David, your servant, you said,

²⁷ “This has come true in this city, since Herod and Pontius Pilate, with Goyim and the peoples of Isra’el, all assembled against your holy servant Yeshua, whom you made Messiah, ²⁸ to do what your power and plan had already determined beforehand should happen.

²⁹ “So now, Lord, take note of their threats; and enable your slaves to speak your message with boldness! ³⁰ Stretch out your hand to heal and to do signs and miracles through the name of your holy servant Yeshua!”

³¹ While they were still praying, the place where they were gathered was shaken. They were all filled with the Ruach HaKodesh, and they spoke God’s message with boldness.

³² All the many believers were one in heart and soul, and no one claimed any of his possessions for himself, but everyone shared everything he had. ³³ With great power the emissaries continued testifying to the resurrection of the Lord Yeshua, and they were all held in high regard. ³⁴ No one among them was poor, since those who owned lands or houses sold them and turned over the proceeds ³⁵ to the emissaries to distribute to each according to his need. ³⁶ Thus Yosef, whom the emissaries called Bar-Nabba (which means “the Exhorter”), a Levi and a native of Cyprus, ³⁷ sold a field which belonged to him and brought the money to the emissaries.

5 But there was a man named Hananyah who, with his wife Shappirah, sold some property ² and, with his wife’s knowledge, withheld some of the proceeds for himself; although he did bring the rest to the emissaries. ³ Then Kefa said, “Why has the Adversary so filled your heart that you lie to the Ruach HaKodesh and keep back some of the money you received for the land? ⁴ Before you sold it, the property was yours; and after you sold it, the money was yours to use as you pleased. So what made you decide to do such a thing? You have lied not to human beings but to God!”

⁵ On hearing these words, Hananyah fell down dead; and everyone who heard about it was terrified. ⁶ The young men got up, wrapped his body in a shroud, carried him out and buried him.

⁷ Some three hours later, his wife came in, unaware of what had happened. ⁸ Kefa challenged her: “Tell me, is it true that you sold the land for such-and-such a price?” “Yes,” she answered, “that is what we were paid for it.” ⁹ But Kefa came back at her, “Then why did you people plot to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The men who buried your husband are at the door. They will carry you out too!” ¹⁰ Instantly she collapsed at his feet and died. The young men entered, found her there dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. ¹¹ As a result of this, great fear came over the whole Messianic community, and indeed over everyone who heard about it.

¹² Meanwhile, through the emissaries many signs and miracles continued to be done among the people. United in mind and purpose, the believers met in Shlomo’s Colonnade; ¹³ and no one else dared to join them. Nevertheless, the people continued to regard them highly; ¹⁴ and throngs of believers were added to the Lord, both men and women. ¹⁵ They went so far as to bring the sick into the streets and lay them on mattresses and stretchers, so that at least Kefa’s shadow might fall on them as he passed by. ¹⁶ Crowds also gathered from the towns around Yerushalayim, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits; and every one of them was healed.

¹⁷ But the cohen hagadol and his associates, who were members of the party of the Tz’dukim, were filled with jealousy. ¹⁸ They arrested the emissaries and put them in the public jail. ¹⁹ But during the night, an angel of Adonai opened the doors of the prison, led them out and said, ²⁰ “Go, stand in the Temple court and keep telling the people all about this new life!” ²¹ After hearing that, they entered the Temple area about dawn and began to teach.

Now the cohen hagadol and his associates came and called a meeting of the Sanhedrin (that is, of Isra’el’s whole assembly of elders) and sent to the jail to have them brought. ²² But the officers who went did not find them in the prison. So they returned and reported, ²³ “We found the jail securely locked and the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened it, we found no one inside!” ²⁴ When the captain of the Temple police and the head cohanim heard these things, they were puzzled and wondered what would happen next.

²⁵ Then someone came and reported to them, “Listen! The men you ordered put in prison are standing in the Temple court, teaching the people!” ²⁶ The captain and his officers went and brought them, but not with force; because they were afraid of being stoned by the people. ²⁷ They conducted them to the Sanhedrin, where the cohen hagadol demanded of them, ²⁸ “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name! Look here! you have filled Yerushalayim with your teaching; moreover, you are determined to make us responsible for this man’s death!”

²⁹ Kefa and the other emissaries answered, “We must obey God, not men. ³⁰ The God of our fathers^[j] raised up Yeshua, whereas you men killed him by having him hanged on a stake.^{[k] 31} God has exalted this man at his right hand^[l] as Ruler and Savior, in order to enable Isra’el to do t’shuvah and have her sins forgiven. ³² We are witnesses to these things; so is the Ruach HaKodesh, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

³³ On hearing this, the members of the Sanhedrin were infuriated and wanted to put the emissaries to death. ³⁴ But one of the members of the Sanhedrin rose to his feet, a Parush named Gamli’el, a teacher of the Torah highly respected by all the people. He ordered the men put outside for a little while ³⁵ and then addressed the court: “Men of Isra’el, take care what you do to these people. ³⁶ Some time ago, there was a rebellion under Todah, who claimed to be somebody special; and a number of men, maybe four hundred, rallied behind him. But upon his being put to death, his whole following was broken up and came to nothing. ³⁷ After this, Y’hudah HaG’lili led another uprising, back at the time of the enrollment for the Roman tax; and he got some people to defect to him. But he was killed, and all his followers were scattered. ³⁸ So in the present case, my advice to you is not to interfere with these people, but to leave them alone. For if this idea or this movement has a human origin, it will collapse. ³⁹ But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop them; you might even find yourselves fighting God!”

They heeded his advice. ⁴⁰ After summoning the emissaries and flogging them, they commanded them not to speak in the name of Yeshua, and let them go. ⁴¹ The emissaries left the Sanhedrin overjoyed at having been considered worthy of suffering disgrace on account of him. ⁴² And not for a single day, either in the Temple court or in private homes, did they stop teaching and proclaiming the Good News that Yeshua is the Messiah.

6 Around this time, when the number of talmidim was growing, the Greek-speaking Jews began complaining against those who spoke Hebrew that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution. ² So the Twelve called a general meeting of the talmidim and said, “It isn’t appropriate that we should neglect the Word of God in order to serve tables. ³ Brothers, choose seven men from among yourselves who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will appoint them to be in charge of this important matter, ⁴ but we ourselves will give our full attention to praying and to serving the Word.”

⁵ What they said was agreeable to the whole gathering. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Ruach HaKodesh, Philip, Prochoros, Nikanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicholas, who was a proselyte from Antioch. ⁶ They presented these men to the emissaries, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

⁷ So the word of God continued to spread. The number of talmidim in Yerushalayim increased rapidly, and a large crowd of cohanim were becoming obedient to the faith.

⁸ Now Stephen, full of grace and power, performed great miracles and signs among the people. ⁹ But opposition arose from members of the Synagogue of the Freed Slaves (as it was called), composed of Cyrenians, Alexandrians and people from Cilicia and the province of Asia. They argued with Stephen, ¹⁰ but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by which he spoke.

¹¹ So they secretly persuaded some men to allege, “We heard him speak blasphemously against Moshe and against God.” ¹² They stirred up the people, as well as the elders and the Torah-teachers; so they came and arrested him and led him before the Sanhedrin. ¹³ There they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking against this holy place and against the Torah; ¹⁴ for we have heard him say that Yeshua from Natzeret will destroy this place and will change the customs Moshe handed down to us.”

¹⁵ Everyone sitting in the Sanhedrin stared at Stephen and saw that his face looked like the face of an angel.

7 The cohen hagadol asked, “Are these accusations true?” ² and Stephen said:

“Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to Avraham avinu in Mesopotamia before he lived in Haran ³ and said to him, ‘Leave your land and your family, and go into the land that I will show you.’^{[m] 4} So he left the land of the Kasdim and lived in Haran. After his father died, God made him move to this land where you are living now. ⁵ He gave him no inheritance in it, not even space for one foot;^[n] yet he promised to give it to him as a possession and to his descendants after him,^[o] even though at the time he was childless. ⁶ What God said to him was, ‘Your descendants will be aliens in a foreign land, where they will be in slavery and oppressed for four hundred years. ⁷ But I will judge the nation that enslaves them,’ God said, ‘and afterwards they will leave and worship me in this place.’^{[p] 8} And he gave him b’rit-milah. So he became the father of Yitz’chak and did his b’rit-milah on the eighth day, and Yitz’chak became the father of Ya‘akov, and Ya‘akov became the father of the Twelve Patriarchs.

⁹ “Now the Patriarchs grew jealous of Yosef and sold him into slavery in Egypt. But Adonai was with him;^{[q] 10} he rescued him from all his troubles and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him chief administrator over Egypt and over all his household.^{[r] 11} Now there came a famine that caused much suffering throughout Egypt and Kena‘an^{[s] 12} But when Ya‘akov heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time. ¹³ The second time, Yosef revealed his identity to his brothers,^[t] and Yosef’s family became known to Pharaoh. ¹⁴ Yosef then sent for his father Ya‘akov and all his relatives, seventy-five people. ¹⁵ And Ya‘akov went down to Egypt; there he died, as did our other ancestors. ¹⁶ Their bodies were removed to Sh’khem and buried in the tomb Avraham had bought from the family of Hamor in Sh’khem for a certain sum of money.

¹⁷ “As the time drew near for the fulfillment of the promise God had made to Avraham, the number of our people in Egypt increased greatly, ¹⁸ until there arose another king over Egypt who had no knowledge of Yosef.^{[u] 19} With cruel cunning this man forced our fathers to put their newborn babies outside their homes, so that they would not survive.

²⁰ “It was then that Moshe was born, and he was beautiful in God’s sight. For three months he was reared in his father’s house; ²¹ and when he was put out of his home, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. ²² So Moshe was trained in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and became both a powerful speaker and a man of action.

²³ “But when he was forty years old, the thought came to him to visit his brothers, the people of Isra’el. ²⁴ On seeing one of them being mistreated, he went to his defense and took revenge by striking down the Egyptian. ²⁵ He supposed his brothers would understand that God was using him to rescue them, but they didn’t understand. ²⁶ When he appeared the next day, as they were fighting, and tried to make peace between them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers! Why do you want to hurt each other?’ ²⁷ the one who was mistreating his fellow pushed Moshe away and said, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us? ²⁸ Do you want to kill me, the way you killed that Egyptian yesterday?’^{[v] 29} On hearing this, Moshe fled the country and became an exile in the land of Midyan, where he had two sons.

³⁰ “After forty more years, an angel appeared to him in the desert near Mount Sinai in the flames of a burning thorn bush. ³¹ When Moshe saw this, he was amazed at the sight; and as he approached to get a better look, there came the voice of Adonai, ³² ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov.’ But Moshe trembled with fear and didn’t dare to look. ³³ Adonai said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, because the place where you are standing is holy ground. ³⁴ I have clearly seen how My people are being oppressed in Egypt, I have heard their cry, and I have come down to rescue them, and now I will send you to Egypt.’^[w]

³⁵ “This Moshe, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge?’ is the very one whom God sent as both ruler and ransomer by means of the angel that appeared to him in the thorn bush. ³⁶ This man led them out, performing miracles and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. ³⁷ This is the Moshe who said to the people of Isra’el, ‘God will raise up a prophet like me from among your brothers’^{[x] 38} This is the man who was in the assembly in the wilderness, accompanied by the angel that had spoken to him at Mount Sinai and by our fathers, the man who was given living words to pass on to us.

³⁹ “But our fathers did not want to obey him. On the contrary, they rejected him and in their hearts turned to Egypt, ⁴⁰ saying to Aharon, ‘Make us some gods to lead us; because this Moshe, who led us out of Egypt — we don’t know what has become of him.’^{[y] 41} That was when they made an idol in the shape of a calf and offered a sacrifice to it and held a celebration in honor of what they had made with their own hands. ⁴² So God turned away from them and gave them over to worship the stars^[z] — as has been written in the book of the prophets,

⁴⁴ “Our fathers had the Tent of Witness in the wilderness. It had been made just as God, who spoke to Moshe, had ordered it made, according to the pattern Moshe had seen. ⁴⁵ Later on, our fathers who had received it brought it in with Y’hoshua when they took the Land away from the nations that God drove out before them.

“So it was until the days of David. ⁴⁶ He enjoyed God’s favor and asked if he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Ya‘akov ⁴⁷ and Shlomo did build him a house. ⁴⁸ But Ha‘Elyon does not live in places made by hand! As the prophet says,

⁵¹ “Stiffnecked people,^[ac] with uncircumcised hearts and ears!^[ad] You continually oppose the Ruach HaKodesh!^[ae] You do the same things your fathers did! ⁵² Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who told in advance about the coming of the Tzaddik, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers! — ⁵³ you! — who receive the Torah as having been delivered by angels — but do not keep it!”

⁵⁴ On hearing these things, they were cut to their hearts and ground their teeth at him. ⁵⁵ But he, full of the Ruach HaKodesh, looked up to heaven and saw God’s Sh’khinah, with Yeshua standing at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶ “Look!” he exclaimed, “I see heaven opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”^[af]

⁵⁷ At this, they began yelling at the top of their voices, so that they wouldn’t have to hear him; and with one accord, they rushed at him, ⁵⁸ threw him outside the city and began stoning him. And the witnesses laid down their coats at the feet of a young man named Sha’ul.

⁵⁹ As they were stoning him, Stephen called out to God, “Lord Yeshua! Receive my spirit!” ⁶⁰ Then he kneeled down and shouted out, “Lord! Don’t hold this sin against them!” With that, he died;

8 and Sha’ul gave his approval to his murder.

Starting with that day, there arose intense persecution against the Messianic Community in Yerushalayim; all but the emissaries were scattered throughout the regions of Y’hudah and Shomron. ² Some godly men buried Stephen and mourned him deeply. ³ But Sha’ul set out to destroy the Messianic Community — entering house after house, he dragged off both men and women and handed them over to be put in prison. ⁴ However, those who were scattered announced the Good News of the Word wherever they went.

⁵ Now Philip went down to a city in Shomron and was proclaiming the Messiah to them; ⁶ and the crowds were paying close attention to what Philip said, as they heard and saw the miraculous signs he was doing. ⁷ For many people were having unclean spirits driven out of them, shrieking; also many paralytics and crippled persons were being healed; ⁸ so that there was great joy in that city.

⁹ But there was a man named Shim‘on in the city who for some time had been practicing magic and astonishing the nation of Shomron, claiming to be somebody great. ¹⁰ Everyone gave heed to him, from the lowest to the highest, saying, “This man is the power of God called ‘The Great Power’.” ¹¹ They followed him because for a considerable time he had amazed them with his magic.

¹² But when they came to believe Philip, as he announced the Good News concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Yeshua the Messiah, they were immersed, both men and women. ¹³ Moreover, Shim‘on himself came to believe; and after being immersed, he attached himself closely to Philip; and he was amazed as he saw the miraculous signs and great works of power that kept taking place.

¹⁴ When the emissaries in Yerushalayim heard that Shomron had received the Word of God, they sent them Kefa and Yochanan, ¹⁵ who came down and prayed for them, that they might receive the Ruach HaKodesh. ¹⁶ For until then he had not come upon any of them; they had only been immersed into the name of the Lord Yeshua. ¹⁷ Then, as Kefa and Yochanan placed their hands on them, they received the Ruach HaKodesh.

¹⁸ Shim‘on saw that the Spirit was given when the emissaries placed their hands on them, and he offered them money. ¹⁹ “Give this power to me, too,” he said, “so that whoever I place my hands on will receive the Ruach HaKodesh.” ²⁰ But Kefa said to him, “Your silver go to ruin — and you with it, for thinking the free gift of God can be bought! ²¹ You have no part at all in this matter; because in the eyes of God, your heart is crooked. ²² So repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord. Perhaps you will yet be forgiven for holding such a thought in your heart. ²³ For I see that you are extremely bitter and completely under the control of sin!” ²⁴ Shim‘on answered, “Pray to the Lord for me, so that none of the things you have spoken about will happen to me.”

²⁵ Then, after giving a thorough witness and speaking the Word of the Lord, Kefa and Yochanan started back to Yerushalayim, announcing the Good News to many villages in Shomron.

²⁶ An angel of Adonai said to Philip, “Get up, and go southward on the road that goes down from Yerushalayim to ‘Azah, the desert road.” ²⁷ So he got up and went. On his way, he caught sight of an Ethiopian, a eunuch who was minister in charge of all the treasure of the Kandake, or queen, of Ethiopia. He had been to Yerushalayim to worship; ²⁸ and now, as he was returning home, he was sitting in his chariot, reading the prophet Yesha‘yahu. ²⁹ The Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to this chariot, and stay close to it.” ³⁰ As Philip ran up, he heard the Ethiopian reading from Yesha‘yahu the prophet. “Do you understand what you’re reading?” he asked. ³¹ “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” And he invited Philip to climb up and sit with him.

³² Now the portion of the Tanakh that he was reading was this:

³⁴ The eunuch said to Philip, “Here’s my question to you — is the prophet talking about himself or someone else?” ³⁵ Then Philip started to speak — beginning with that passage, he went on to tell him the Good News about Yeshua.

³⁶ As they were going down the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look! Here’s some water! Is there any reason why I shouldn’t be immersed?” ^{37 [ah] 38} He ordered the chariot to stop; then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and Philip immersed him. ³⁹ When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. The eunuch saw no more of him, because he continued on his way — full of joy. ⁴⁰ But Philip showed up at Ashdod and continued proclaiming the Good News as he went through all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

9 Meanwhile, Sha’ul, still breathing murderous threats against the Lord’s talmidim, went to the cohen hagadol ² and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Dammesek, authorizing him to arrest any people he might find, whether men or women, who belonged to “the Way,” and bring them back to Yerushalayim.

³ He was on the road and nearing Dammesek, when suddenly a light from heaven flashed all around him. ⁴ Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Sha’ul! Sha’ul! Why do you keep persecuting me?” ⁵ “Sir, who are you?” he asked. “I am Yeshua, and you are persecuting me. ⁶ But get up, and go into the city, and you will be told what you have to do.”

⁷ The men traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. ⁸ They helped Sha’ul get up off the ground; but when he opened his eyes, he could see nothing. So, leading him by the hand, they brought him into Dammesek. ⁹ For three days he remained unable to see, and he neither ate nor drank.

¹⁰ There was a talmid in Dammesek, Hananyah by name; and in a vision the Lord said to him, “Hananyah!” He said, “Here I am, Lord.” ¹¹ The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to Straight Street, to Y’hudah’s house; and ask for a man from Tarsus named Sha’ul; for he is praying, ¹² and in a vision he has seen a man named Hananyah coming in and placing his hands on him to restore his sight.” ¹³ But Hananyah answered, “Lord, many have told me about this man, how much harm he has done to your people in Yerushalayim; ¹⁴ and here he has a warrant from the head cohanim to arrest everyone who calls on your name.” ¹⁵ But the Lord said to him, “Go, because this man is my chosen instrument to carry my name to the Goyim, even to their kings, and to the sons of Isra’el as well. ¹⁶ For I myself will show him how much he will have to suffer on account of my name.”

¹⁷ So Hananyah left and went into the house. Placing his hands on him, he said, “Brother Sha’ul, the Lord — Yeshua, the one who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here — has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Ruach HaKodesh.” ¹⁸ In that moment, something like scales fell away from Sha’ul’s eyes; and he could see again. He got up and was immersed; ¹⁹ then he ate some food and regained his strength.

Sha’ul spent some days with the talmidim in Dammesek, ²⁰ and immediately he began proclaiming in the synagogues that Yeshua is the Son of God. ²¹ All who heard him were amazed. They asked, “Isn’t he the man who in Yerushalayim was trying to destroy the people who call on this name? In fact, isn’t that why he came here, to arrest them and bring them back to the head cohanim?” ²² But Sha’ul was being filled with more and more power and was creating an uproar among the Jews living in Dammesek with his proofs that Yeshua is the Messiah.

²³ Quite some time later, the non-believing Jews gathered together and made plans to kill him; ²⁴ but their plot became known to Sha’ul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to do away with him; ²⁵ but under cover of night, his talmidim took him and let him down over the city wall, lowering him in a large basket.

²⁶ On reaching Yerushalayim, he tried to join the talmidim; but they were all afraid of him — they didn’t believe he was a talmid. ²⁷ However, Bar-Nabba got hold of him and took him to the emissaries. He told them how Sha’ul had seen the Lord while traveling, that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Dammesek Sha’ul had spoken out boldly in the name of Yeshua. ²⁸ So he remained with them and went all over Yerushalayim continuing to speak out boldly in the name of the Lord. ²⁹ He talked and debated with the Greek-speaking Jews, but they began making attempts to kill him. ³⁰ When the brothers learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus.

³¹ Then the Messianic community throughout Y’hudah, the Galil and Shomron enjoyed peace and was built up. They lived in the fear of the Lord, with the counsel of the Ruach HaKodesh; and their numbers kept multiplying.

³² As Kefa traveled around the countryside, he came down to the believers in Lud. ³³ There he found a man named Aeneas who had lain bedridden for eight years, because he was paralyzed. ³⁴ Kefa said to him, “Aeneas! Yeshua the Messiah is healing you! Get up, and make your bed!” ³⁵ Everyone living in Lud and the Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.

Now in Yafo there was a talmidah named Tavita ³⁶ (which means “gazelle”); she was always doing tzedakah and other good deeds. ³⁷ It happened that just at that time, she took sick and died. After washing her, they laid her in a room upstairs. ³⁸ Lud is near Yafo, and the talmidim had heard that Kefa was there, so they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come to us without delay.” ³⁹ Kefa got up and went with them.

When he arrived, they led him into the upstairs room. All the widows stood by him, sobbing and showing all the dresses and coats Tavita had made them while she was still with them. ⁴⁰ But Kefa put them all outside, kneeled down and prayed. Then, turning to the body, he said, “Tavita! Get up!” She opened her eyes; and on seeing Kefa, she sat up. ⁴¹ He offered her his hand and helped her to her feet; then, calling the believers and the widows, he presented her to them alive. ⁴² This became known all over Yafo, and many people put their trust in the Lord. ⁴³ Kefa stayed on in Yafo for some time with a man named Shim‘on, a leather-tanner.

10 There was a man in Caesarea named Cornelius, a Roman army officer in what was called the Italian Regiment. ² He was a devout man, a “God-fearer,” as was his whole household; he gave generously to help the Jewish poor and prayed regularly to God. ³ One afternoon around three o’clock he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!” ⁴ Cornelius stared at the angel, terrified. “What is it, sir?” he asked. “Your prayers,” replied the angel, “and your acts of charity have gone up into God’s presence, so that he has you on his mind. ⁵ Now send some men to Yafo to bring back a man named Shim‘on, also called Kefa. ⁶ He’s staying with Shim‘on the leather-tanner, who has a house by the sea.” ⁷ As the angel that had spoken to him went away, Cornelius called two of his household slaves and one of his military aides, who was a godly man; ⁸ he explained everything to them and sent them to Yafo.

⁹ The next day about noon, while they were still on their way and approaching the city, Kefa went up onto the roof of the house to pray. ¹⁰ He began to feel hungry and wanted something to eat; but while they were preparing the meal, he fell into a trance ¹¹ in which he saw heaven opened, and something that looked like a large sheet being lowered to the ground by its four corners. ¹² In it were all kinds of four-footed animals, crawling creatures and wild birds. ¹³ Then a voice came to him, “Get up, Kefa, slaughter and eat!” ¹⁴ But Kefa said, “No, sir! Absolutely not! I have never eaten food that was unclean or treif.” ¹⁵ The voice spoke to him a second time: “Stop treating as unclean what God has made clean.” ¹⁶ This happened three times, and then the sheet was immediately taken back up into heaven.

¹⁷ Kefa was still puzzling over the meaning of the vision he had seen, when the men Cornelius had sent, having inquired for Shim‘on’s house, stood at the gate ¹⁸ and called out to ask if the Shim‘on known as Kefa was staying there. ¹⁹ While Kefa’s mind was still on the vision, the Spirit said, “Three men are looking for you. ²⁰ Get up, go downstairs, and have no misgivings about going with them, because I myself have sent them.”

²¹ So Kefa went down and said to the men, “You were looking for me? Here I am. What brings you here?” ²² They answered, “Cornelius. He’s a Roman army officer, an upright man and a God-fearer, a man highly regarded by the whole Jewish nation; and he was told by a holy angel to have you come to his house and listen to what you have to say.” ²³ So Kefa invited them to be his guests.

The next day, he got up and went with them, accompanied by some of the brothers from Yafo; ²⁴ and he arrived at Caesarea the day after that. Cornelius was expecting them — he had already called together his relatives and close friends. ²⁵ As Kefa entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell prostrate at his feet. ²⁶ But Kefa pulled him to his feet and said, “Stand up! I myself am just a man.”

²⁷ As he talked with him, Kefa went inside and found many people gathered. ²⁸ He said to them, “You are well aware that for a man who is a Jew to have close association with someone who belongs to another people, or to come and visit him, is something that just isn’t done. But God has shown me not to call any person common or unclean; ²⁹ so when I was summoned, I came without raising any questions. Tell me, then, why did you send for me?”

³⁰ Cornelius answered, “Three days ago around this time, I was at minchah prayers in my house, when suddenly a man in shining clothes stood in front of me ³¹ and said, ‘God has heard your prayer and remembered your acts of charity. ³² Now send to Yafo and ask for Shim‘on, known as Kefa; he is staying in the house of Shim‘on, a leather-tanner, by the sea.’ ³³ So I sent for you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. Now all of us are here in the presence of God to hear everything the Lord has ordered you to say.”

³⁴ Then Kefa addressed them: “I now understand that God does not play favorites, ³⁵ but that whoever fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him, no matter what people he belongs to.

³⁶ “Here is the message that he sent to the sons of Isra’el announcing shalom through Yeshua the Messiah, who is Lord of everything. ³⁷ You know what has been going on throughout Y’hudah, starting from the Galil after the immersion that Yochanan proclaimed; ³⁸ how God anointed Yeshua from Natzeret with the Ruach HaKodesh and with power; how Yeshua went about doing good and healing all the people oppressed by the Adversary, because God was with him.

³⁹ “As for us, we are witnesses of everything he did, both in the Judean countryside and in Yerushalayim. They did away with him by hanging him on a stake;^{[ai] 40} but God raised him up on the third day and let him be seen, ⁴¹ not by all the people, but by witnesses God had previously chosen, that is, by us, who ate and drank with him after he had risen again from the dead.

⁴² “Then he commanded us to proclaim and attest to the Jewish people that this man has been appointed by God to judge the living and the dead. ⁴³ All the prophets bear witness to him, that everyone who puts his trust in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

⁴⁴ Kefa was still saying these things when the Ruach HaKodesh fell on all who were hearing the message. ⁴⁵ All the believers from the Circumcision faction who had accompanied Kefa were amazed that the gift of the Ruach HaKodesh was also being poured out ⁴⁶ on the Goyim, for they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Kefa’s response was, ⁴⁷ “Is anyone prepared to prohibit these people from being immersed in water? After all, they have received the Ruach HaKodesh, just as we did.” ⁴⁸ And he ordered that they be immersed in the name of Yeshua the Messiah. Then they asked Kefa to stay on with them for a few days.