"*** ACTS 05 ***" 
"All the believers one in heart and mind  and share everything they have   1All the believers were one in heart and mind ,"
"and no one claimed his possessions as his own but all shared everything they had .   2There were no needy among them , for from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them and brought the money from the sale and laid it at the apostles  feet and it was distributed to anyone who had need . Ananias lies to the Holy Spirit   3Barnabas sold a field he owned and laid the money at the apostles  feet . 4And a man named Ananias together with his wife Sapphira also sold some land . But with his wife s knowledge Ananias secretly kept back part ofthe money for himself . He brought"
"the rest and laid it at the apostles  feet.    Peter said to him , Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you receivedfor the land?    Did it not belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold was not themoney at your disposal? Why then did you lie? You have not lied to man but to God. Ananias and his wife die    When Ananias heard these words he fell down and died . And great fear came on all who heard what happened . 8Then the young men wrapped up his body and carried him out"
"andburied him .    About three hours later his wife came in not knowing what had happened . Peter said to her , Is this the full price you and Ananias got for the land?    She replied , Yes that is the full price .   10Peter said to her , How could you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? The feet of the young men whoburied your husband are at the door. They will carry you out also.    At these words she also fell down at Peter s feet and died . Then the young men came in and carried her out and buried her beside her husband . More believers than ever  added to"
"the church   12Many miracles were done among the people by the apostles , and all the believers would meet together in Solomon s Porch .  13The rulers dared not join them but they were highly regarded by the people of Jerusalem . And more men and women than ever believed and great numbers were added to the Lord . All the sick and those tormented by  demons healed by Peter   14They would carry their sick into the streets on beds and mats so that at least Peter s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by .   15A great many also came from towns around"
"Jerusalem bringing the sick and those tormented by demons , and all were healed . The apostles are impris oned by the Sadducees  because of jealousy   16Soon the high priest and all those with him who were of the sect of the Sadducees werefilled with jealousy . So they arrested the apostles and put them in prison . The apostles freed by an angel during the night    But during the night an angel opened the doors of the prison and brought the apostles out saying , Go into the Temple courtyards and teach the people the full message ofEternal Life.    At daybreak"
"the apostles entered the courtyards of the Temple as they had been toldand began to teach the people . Solomons Porch is recreated in this model  of Herods Temple. The Sanhedrin assemble for the trial  but find the prison empty   19Meanwhile the Sanhedrin assembled and sent to the prison for the apostles . But the officers returned and reported , We found the prison locked and the guards at the doors but when we opened them we found no one inside .   20Then someone came in and announced , The men you imprisoned are in the Temple courtyards teaching the people . The apostles brought before"
"the Sanhedrin   21The captain of the Temple guard immediately took his men and brought in the apostles , but not with force for they feared the people would stone them .   22They had the apostles stand before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest . He said to them , Did we not give you strict orders not to teach in this name? Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching . 23You are determined to make us guilty of this man s blood . Peter again testifies of Jesus   24But Peter and the apostles replied , We must obey God rather than men . 25The God of our forefathers raised"
"Jesus from the dead whom you put to death on a tree . He has exalted him to his own right hand as Prince andSaviour that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel .   26We are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to thosewho obey him . The Jewish leaders become enraged and  want to put the apostles to death    When the Sanhedrin heard this they were enraged and decided to put the apostles to death . Gamaliel speaks up for the apostles   28But a Pharisee named Gamaliel , a teacher of the Law who was honoured by all the people stood up in the"
"Sanhedrin and asked that the apostles be put outside for a while .   29Then he said , Men of Israel , consider carefully what you intend doing to these men . Some time ago Theudas appeared , claiming to be someone of importance and about 400 men gathered to him . 30He was slain and his followers dispersed and it all came to nothing .   31After him , Judas of Galilee appeared and drew away some of the people after him . He too perished and his followers scattered .   32Therefore in this present case I advise you to leave these men alone . If their purpose is of human origin it will fail ."
"But if it is from God you will be unable to stop them . You may even find yourselves fighting against God . The apostles are flogged then released   33His speech persuaded them against putting the apostles to death , however they called the apostles back in and had them flogged . Then they again ordered them not to speak in thename of Jesus and let them go . The apostles rejoice at being worthy to suffer    The apostles left the Sanhedrin rejoicing that they had been counted worthy of sufferingdisgrace for the name of Jesus .    And day after day in the Temple courtyards , and from house to"
"house they never stoppedteaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ."   
"*** ACTS 06 ***" 
"Widows of the Greek Jews neglected   1In those days when the believers were increasing rapidly , the Greek Jews complained that their widows were being neglected in thedaily distribution of food . The task of looking after the widows  to be given to seven Spirit-filled men    So the Twelve gathered the church together and said to them , It is not right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in orderto wait on tables .    Therefore brethren , choose seven men from among you"
"who are known to be full of theSpirit and of wisdom and we will turn this task over to them .  Then we will be able to give our full attention to prayer and the ministry of theword .The Seven called and ordained    This proposal pleased the church , so they chose Stephen a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit , and also Philip , Procorus , Nicanor , Timon , Parmenas and Nicolas , a convert to Judaism . 6They presented these men to the apostles who prayed and laid their hands upon them . Many Jewish priests join the Church   7So the word of God spread and the number of believers in"
"Jerusalem increased rapidly . A great number of priests also became obedient to the faith . Stephen one of the Seven does great miracles   8Now Stephen , one of the Seven was a man full of God s grace and power and he did great miracles among the people . Stephen arrested and put on trial   9However opposition arose from members of the synagogue of Freedmen (as it was called) . These men , who were Jews from other nations began to dispute with Stephen , but they could not prevail against his wisdom or the Spirit by which he spoke .   10So they stirred up the elders and teachers of the Law who"
"arrested Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin .   11False witnesses there testified against him saying , This man never ceases to blaspheme . He says that Jesus of Nazareth is to destroyJerusalem and change the customs that Moses handed down to us .    The high priest said to Stephen , Are these things so?  Stephens face glows like an angel    13Then all who sat in the Sanhedrin saw the face of Stephen glowing , like the face of an angel . Stephen relates the history of Israel   14Stephen replied , Brethren and fathers , hear me . The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham"
"and said , Leave your country and people and go to the land I will showyou.  And God sent him to Canaan to this land where we are now living .    He gave Abraham no inheritance at that time but promised him that he and his descendants would possess the land , even though at that time Abraham was childless . Abrahams descendants   16God said to him , Your descendants will be strangers in Egypt and shall be enslaved and mistreated 400 years. But I will punishEgypt and they shall come out of that land and worship me in this place.   Then he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision ."
"19Abraham became the father of Isaac . Isaac became the father of Jacob who became the father of the twelve patriarchs . Israel in Egypt   18Because the patriarchs were jealous of their brother Joseph they sold him as a slave into Egypt . But God was with him and gave him wisdom and made him vizier over all Egypt andPharaoh s palace .    Then a famine struck both Egypt and Canaan and our fathers could not find food . When Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt he sent our fathers on their first visit . 22On their second"
"visit Joseph told his brothers who hewas and Pharaoh learned of Joseph s family .    After this Joseph sent for his father Jacob , and his whole household seventy-five in allwent down to live in Egypt where he and our fathers died .    As the time drew near for God to fulfil his promise to Abraham the number of our people in Egypt greatly increased .   25Then another king who knew not Joseph became ruler of Egypt . He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed them by forcing them to abandon their new born infants to die . Birth of Moses   26At that time Moses was born . When he"
"was exposed to the elements Pharaoh s daughter took him and raised him as her own son .   27Moses was educated in all the wisdom of Egypt and was powerful in word and deed . When he was forty years old he saw one of his fellow Israelites being mistreated by an Egyptian and he killed the Egyptian . 29Then Moses fled to Midian where he settled as aforeigner and had two sons .    Forty years passed by , then an angel of Jehovah appeared to Moses in a flame of fire ina bush in the desert near Mount Sinai .    When Moses went to look more closely he heard the voice of Jehovah say to him , I"
"have heard the groaning of my people in Egypt and have come down to set them free. I shall send you back to Egypt.   Moses was sent to be their deliverer by God himself , through the angel who appeared in the bush .  33Moses led them out of Egypt , doing wonders and miracles in Egypt and at the sea and for forty years in the desert .   34This is the Moses who said to the Israelites , God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your own people.   But our fathers refused to obey Moses . They rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt . 36They said to Aaron , Make us a"
"god who will go before us . As for this Moses who led us out of Egypt , we know not what has happened to him . Idolatry in the desert   37They made an idol in the form of a calf and held a celebration in honour of what their hands had made. So God turned away from them , and as is written in the book of the Prophets he said , Did you bring me sacrifices and offeringswhen you wandered forty years in the desert O Israel?  Because you have lifted up idols you made to worship I will sendyou into exile beyond Damascus. The"
"building of the Temple    Having received the Tabernacle , our fore- fathers under the leadership of Joshua broughtit with them when they took this land from the nations God drove out before them .    It remained in the land until the time of David who enjoyed God s favour and asked that he might build a house for God . But it was Solomon who built the Temple .   42However the Most High does not live in Temples made by men . As the Lord through the prophet says , Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. Did not my hand make all these things? Stephen strongly rebukes the Jewish"
"leaders   43You stiff-necked men , uncircumcised in heart and ears , you are just like your fathers You always resist the Holy Spirit    44Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? 45They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One , and now you have betrayed and murdered him .   46You have received the Law but have not kept it . Stephen sees Jesus in heaven standing  at the right hand of the Father   47When the Sanhedrin heard these words they were enraged and ground their teeth .   48But Stephen , full of the Holy Spirit looked up to heaven and saw a"
"vision of the glory of God and Jesus standing at his right hand .   49He cried out , I see the heavens open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. The Jewish leaders stone Stephen  to death for blasphemy   50At this they covered their ears and shouting at the top of their voices rushed at Stephen and dragged him out of the city andbegan to stone him . Stephen prays for those who are stoning him    While they were stoning him Stephen prayed saying , Lord Jesus receive my spirit .   52Then he fell to his knees and cried out , Lord do not hold this sin against them . When"
"he had said this he died . A young man Saul approves of Stephens death   53The witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul who gave his approval to the death of Stephen.  St Stephen Gate at Jerusalem, near the spot where Stephen was stoned."