Chapter 1

1 The first book I wrote to you, Theophilus, concerning all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning

2 until the day in which he was taken up, having given commandments by the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen,

3 To whom He also manifested Himself alive after His suffering, with many sure proofs, appearing to them for forty days, and speaking of the kingdom of God.

4 And having gathered them together, he commanded them, 'Do not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which you have heard from me,

5 For John baptized with water, but you, a few days after this, will be baptized with the Holy Ghost.

6 Wherefore they came together, and inquired of him, saying, 'Is it not at this time, O Lord, that thou dost restore the kingdom of Israel?'

7 And he said to them, 'It is not your business to know the times or seasons which the Father has set in his own power,

8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

9 And when he had said these things, he was lifted up in their eyes, and a cloud took him out of their sight.

10 And as they were looking up into heaven, while he was ascending, suddenly there appeared to them two men in white robes

11 And they said, Men of Galilee! Why do you stand and look up to heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you saw Him go into heaven.

12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from a mountain called the Mount of Olives, which is near Jerusalem, at the distance of the Sabbath journey.

13 And when they had come, they went up into the upper room, where they dwelt, Peter and James, John and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the brother of James.

14 They all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with certain women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.

15 And in those days Peter stood in the midst of the disciples, and said

16 (and there was a congregation of about a hundred and twenty men): Men, brethren! It was necessary to fulfill what the Holy Spirit had prophesied in the Scriptures through the mouth of David concerning Judas, the former leader of those who took Jesus;

17 He was numbered among us, and received the lot of this ministry;

18 but he hath acquired the earth with an unrighteous reward, and when he was cast down, his belly was split, and all his intestines fell out.

19 and this became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the land was called Akeldama in their native tongue, that is, the land of blood.