Acts : Revised Murdock Translation

The Orthodox Peshitta places the Limudah (commonly called the "Didache") within the 15th chapter of Acts. The Church of Yerushalayim teaches that the Limudah is a part of the Apostolic Letter that was sent out by St. James the Righteous to the gentiles. The translation of the Limudah is copyright by The Peshitta Foundation.

I.

  ¹ THE former book have I written, O Theophilus concerning all the things which Maran Yeshua Mshikha began to do and teach,
  ² until the day when he was taken up, after he had instructed those Apostles whom he had chosen by the Holy Spirit. 
  ³ To whom also he showed himself alive after he had suffered, by numerous signs, during forty days, while he was seen by them, and spoke of the kingdom of Alaha. 
  ⁴ And when he had eaten bread with them, he instructed them not to depart from Yerushalayim, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which (said he) ye have heard from me.
  ⁵ For John baptized with water; but ye will be baptized with the Holy Spirit after not many days.
  ⁶ And they, when assembled, asked him and said to him: Our Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?
  ⁷ He said to them: It is not yours, to know the time or times which Alaha hath placed in his own power. 
  ⁸ But when the Holy Spirit shall come upon you, ye will receive energy, and will be witnesses for me in Yerushalayim, and in all Judaea, and also among the Samaritans, and unto the ends of the earth.
  ⁹ And when he had said these things, while they beheld him, he was taken up, and a cloud received him, and he was hidden from their eyes.
  ¹⁰ And while they were looking toward heav, as he departed, two men were found standing near them, in white garments,
  ¹¹ and saying to them: Ye Galilean men, why stand ye and look toward heaven? This Yeshua, who is taken up from you to heaven, will so come, as ye have seen him ascend to heaven.
  ¹² And afterwards they returned to Yerushalayim from the mount called the place of Olives, which was near to Yerushalayim, and distant from it about seven furlongs.
  ¹³ And when they had entered, they went to an upper chamber; where were Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, and Philip, and Thomas, and Matthew, and Bartholomew, and James the son of Alpheus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the son of James.
  ¹⁴ All these unitedly persevered in prayer, with one soul, together with the women, and with Mary the mother of Yeshua, and with his brothers.
  ¹⁵ And in those days stood up Simon Cephas in the midst of the disciples, (the persons there assembled being about one hundred and twenty,) and said:
  ¹⁶ Men, brethren, it was right that the scripture should be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spake, by the mouth of David, concerning Judas who was guide to them that apprehended Yeshua.
  ¹⁷ For he was numbered with us, and had a part in this ministry.
  ¹⁸ He purchased a field with the wages of sin; and he fell upon his face on the ground, and burst in the middle, and all his entrails were poured out.
  ¹⁹ And this was known to all that dwelt at Yerushalayim; so that the field was called, in the language of the country, Aceldama, which is interpreted Field of Blood.
  ²⁰ For it is written, in the book of Psalms: Let his habitation be desolate, and let no resident be in it; and let another take his service.
  ²¹ It should therefore be, that one of these persons, who have been with us all the time that Maran Yeshua went in and out with us,
  ²² commencing from the baptism of John, unto the day he was taken up from us, should be, with us, a witness of his resurrection.
  ²³ And they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabas, whose surname was Justus, and Matthias.
  ²⁴ And when they had prayed, they said: Thou, Lord, knowest what is in the hearts of all, manifest which thou hast chosen of these two,
  ²⁵ that he should take part in this ministry and Apostleship, from which Judas broke away, that he might go to his own place.
  ²⁶ And they cast lots, and it came upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven Apostles.

II.

  ¹ And when the days of pentecost were fully come, while they were all assembled together,
  ² suddenly there was a sound from heaven, as of a violent wind; and the whole house where they were sitting was filled with it.
  ³ And there appeared to them tongues, which were divided like flame; and they rested upon each of them.
  ⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in diverse languages, as the Spirit gave them to speak.
  ⁵ Now there were resident at Yerushalayim persons who feared Alaha, Jews from all the nations under heaven.
  ⁶ And when that sound occurred, all the people collected together; and they were agitated, because they every one heard them speaking in their own languages.
  ⁷ And they were all astonished, and wondered, saying one to another: All these who speak behold, are they not Galileans?
  ⁸ And how do we hear, each his own language, in which we were born ?
  ⁹ Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and those dwelling between the rivers, Jews and Cappadocians, and those from the region of Pontus and of Asia,
  ¹⁰ and those from the region of Phrygia, and of Pamphylia, and of Egypt, and of the parts of Lybia near Cyrene, and those who have come from Rome, Jews and proselytes ;
  ¹¹ and those from Crete, and Arabians. Lo, we hear them speak in our own languages the wonders of Alaha.
  ¹² And they all wondered and were astonished, saying one to another: From whom is this thing?
  ¹³ Others however ridiculed them, saying: They have drunken new wine, and are intoxicated.
  ¹⁴ And afterwards Simon Cephas rose up, with the eleven Apostles, and elevated his voice, and said to them: Men, Jews, and all ye that reside at Yerushalayim; be this known to you, and hearken ye to my words.
  ¹⁵ For these are not intoxicated, as ye suppose: for lo, it is yet but the third hour.
  ¹⁶ But this is what was spoken by Joel the prophet: 
  ¹⁷ It shall be in the last days, saith Alaha, that I will pour my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons shall prophesy, and your daughters and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.
  ¹⁸ And upon: my servants and my handmaids will I pour my Spirit, in those days, and they shall prophesy. 
  ¹⁹ And I will give signs in heaven, and prodigies on earth, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke.
  ²⁰ And the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and fearful day of the Lord come.
  ²¹ And it shall be, that whoever will call on the name of the Lord, shall live.
  ²² Men, B'nai Yisrael, hear ye these words: Yeshua the Nazaraean [Nasraya], a man made manifest among you by Alaha, by those deeds of power and prodigies which Alaha wrought among you by his hand, as ye yourselves know;
  ²³ him, being hereto appointed by the prescience and the good pleasure of Alaha, ye have delivered into the hands of the wicked; and have crucified and slain.
  ²⁴ But Alaha hath resuscitated him, and hath loosed the cords of the grave; because it could not be, that he should be held in the grave.
  ²⁵ For David said of him: I foresaw my Lord at all times; for he is on my right hand, so that I shall not be moved. 
  ²⁶ Therefore my heart doth rejoice, and my glory exult, and also my body shall abide in hope.
  ²⁷ For thou wilt not leave my soul in the grave, nor wilt thou give thy pious one to see corruption. 
  ²⁸ Thou hast revealed to me the path of life; thou wilt fill me with joy with thy presence.
  ²⁹ Men, brethren, I may speak to you explicitly of the patriarch David, that he died, and also was buried; and his sepulchre is with us to this day.
  ³⁰ For he was a prophet, and he knew, that Alaha had sworn to him by an oath: Of the fruit of thy bowels, I will seat [one] on thy throne.
  ³¹ And he foresaw, and spoke of the resurrection of Mshikha, that he was not left in the grave, neither did his body see corruption.
  ³² This Yeshua hath Alaha resuscitated; and we all are his witnesses.
  ³³ And he it is, who is exalted by the right hand of Alaha, and hath received from the Father a promise respecting the Holy Spirit, and hath sent this gift which, lo, ye see and hear.
  ³⁴ For David hath not ascended into heaven; because he himself said: The Lord said to my Lord, seat thyself at my right hand,
  ³⁵ until I shall place thy enemies a footstool to thy feet.
  ³⁶ Therefore, let all the house of Israel know, assuredly, that Alaha hath made that Yeshua whom ye crucified, to be Lord and Mshikha.
  ³⁷ And when they heard these things, they were agitated in their heart; and they said to Simon and to the rest of the Apostles: Brethren, what shall we do ?
  ³⁸ Simon said to them: Repent, and be baptized every one of you, in the name of the Lord Yeshua, for the remission of sins; so that ye may receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 
  ³⁹ For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all those afar off whom Alaha will call.
  ⁴⁰ And in many other words he testified to them, and entreated of them, saying: Live ye from this perverse generation.
  ⁴¹ And some of them readily received his discourse, and believed, and were baptized. And there were added, on that day, about three thousand souls.
  ⁴² And they persevered in the doctrine of the Apostles; and were associated together in prayer, and in breaking the eucharist.
  ⁴³ And fear was on every mind: and many signs and prodigies were [wrought] by the hand of the Apostles in Yerushalayim. 
  ⁴⁴ And all they who believed, were together; and whatever belonged to them, was of the community.
  ⁴⁵ And they who had a possession, sold it, and divided to each one as he had need.
  ⁴⁶ And they continued daily in the temple, with one soul: and at home, they broke bread and took food rejoicing, and in the simplicity of their heart.
  ⁴⁷ And they praised Alaha, and had favor with all the people. And our Lord added daily to the assembly those who became alive.

III.

  ¹ And it occurred, as Simon Cephas and John went together up to the temple, at the time of prayer, being the ninth hour,
  ² that, lo, those accustomed to bring a man lame from his mother's womb, brought him and laid him at the gate of the temple called Beautiful; that he might ask alms of those going into the temple.
  ³ This man, when he saw Simon and John going into the temple, asked them to give him alms.
  ⁴ And Simon and John looked on him, and said to him: Look on us.
  ⁵ And he looked on them, expecting to receive something from them.
  ⁶ Simon said to him: Gold and silver, I have not; but what I have, I give to thee; in the name of Maran Yeshua Mshikha, the Nazaraean, rise up and walk.
  ⁷ And he took him by the right hand, and raised him up: and forthwith, his feet and his heels recovered strength. 
  ⁸ And he sprang, stood up, and walked: and he entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising Alaha.
  ⁹ And all the people saw him, as he walked and praised Alaha.
  ¹⁰ And they knew that he was the beggar, who sat daily and asked alms, at the gate called Beautiful: and they were filled with wonder and admiration at what had occurred.
  ¹¹ And as he held fast to Simon and John, all the people admiring ran to them at the portico called Solomon's. 
  ¹² And when Simon saw [it], he answered and said to them: Men, sons of Israel, why do ye wonder at this ? or why do ye gaze on us, as if by our own power or authority we had made this man to walk ?
  ¹³ The Alaha of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, the Alaha of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Yeshua; whom ye delivered up, and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he would have justified him and set him free.
  ¹⁴ But ye denied the holy and just One, and demanded that a murderer should be released to you.
  ¹⁵ And that Prince of life ye slew; and him, hath Alaha raised from the dead, and all of us are witnesses of it. 
  ¹⁶ And, by the faith in his name, he hath strengthened and cured this man, whom ye see and know; and faith in him hath given the man this soundness before you all.
  ¹⁷ And now, my brethren, I know that through misapprehensions ye did this, as did also your chiefs:
  ¹⁸ and Alaha, according as he had previously announced by the mouth of all the prophets that the Mshikha would suffer, hath in this manner fulfilled [it].
  ¹⁹ Repent, therefore, and be converted; that so your sins may be blotted out,
  ²⁰ and times of rest may come to you from before the face of the Lord; and he may send to you him, who was made ready for you, Yeshua the Mshikha:
  ²¹ whom the heavens must retain, until the completion of the times of those things, which Alaha hath spoken by the mouth of his holy prophets of old.
  ²² For Moses said: A prophet, like me, will the Lord raise up to you, from among your brethren ; to him hearken ye, in all that he shall say to you.
  ²³ And it will be, that every soul who will not hearken to that prophet, that soul shall perish from his people. 
  ²⁴ And all the prophets that have been, from Samuel and those after him, have spoken and proclaimed of these days.
  ²⁵ Ye are the children of the prophets: and that covenant which Alaha made with our fathers, when he said to Abraham, that in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed,
  ²⁶ he hath first established to you: and Alaha hath sent his Son to bless you, if ye will be converted, and repent of your wickedness.

IV.

  ¹ And while they were speaking these words to the people, the priests and the Sadducees and the rulers of the temple rose up against them;
  ² being angry with them, that they taught the people, and preached a resurrection from the dead by the Mshikha. 
  ³ And they laid hands on them, and kept them until the next day; because evening was drawing near.
  ⁴ And many who had heard the word, believed; and they were, in number, about five thousand men.
  ⁵ And the next day, the rulers and the Elders and the Scribes assembled;
  ⁶ and also Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and they who were of the kindred of the high priests.
  ⁷ And when they had set them in the midst, they interrogated them: By what power or what name, have ye done this ?
  ⁸ Then Simon Cephas was filled with the Holy Spirit, and said to them: Ye rulers of the people, and Elders of the house of Israel, hear ye.
  ⁹ If we are judged by you this day, respecting the good deed done to the infirm man, by what means he was healed; 
  ¹⁰ be it known to you, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Yeshua Mshikha the Nazaraean, whom ye crucified, and whom Alaha hath raised from the dead, lo, by him, doth this [man] stand here before you recovered. 
  ¹¹ This is the stone, which ye builders rejected; and it hath become the head of the corner.
  ¹² Neither is there deliverance in any other; for there is not another name under heaven, which is given to men, whereby to live.
  ¹³ And when they heard the speech of Simon and John, which they pronounced confidently, they reflected that these were unlearned and plebeian men, and they were surprised at them, and recognized them as having been conversant with Yeshua.
  ¹⁴ And they saw that the lame man, who had been healed, stood near them; and they could say nothing to confront them.
  ¹⁵ Then they commanded to remove them from the presence of the council; and said one to another:
  ¹⁶ What shall we do to these men? For lo, that a manifest sign hath been wrought by them, is known to all that reside at Yerushalayim, and we cannot deny it.
  ¹⁷ But that the fame of it spread no further, let us interdict their speaking any more to any man in this name. 
  ¹⁸ And they called them, and commanded them not to speak nor to teach at all in the name of Yeshua.
  ¹⁹ Simon Cephas and John answered, and said to them: Whether it be right before Alaha, that we hearken to you more than to Alaha, judge ye.
  ²⁰ For we cannot but speak that which we have seen and heard.
  ²¹ And they threatened them, and dismissed them. For they found no ground for punishing them, because of the people: for every one praised Alaha for what had been done;
  ²² for the man, on whom this sign of healing had been wrought, was more than forty years old.
  ²³ And when they were dismissed, they went to their brethren, and told them all that the priests and Elders had said.
  ²⁴ And they, when they heard [it], unitedly lifted up their voice to Alaha and said: Lord, thou art Alaha, who hast made heaven, and earth, and seas, and every thing in them.
  ²⁵ And it is thou who hast said, by the Holy Spirit in the mouth of David thy servant: Why do the nations rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
  ²⁶ The kings of the earth and the potentates stood up, and they consulted together, against the Lord, and against his anointed.
  ²⁷ For, in reality, against thy holy Son Yeshua whom thou hast anointed, Herod and Pilate, with the Gentiles and the congregation of Israel, have been combined together in this city,
  ²⁸ to do whatever thy hand and thy pleasure previously marked out to be done.
  ²⁹ And also now, Lord, behold and see their menaces: and grant to thy servants, that they may proclaim thy word boldly,
  ³⁰ while thou extendest thy hand for cures and prodigies, to be done in the name of thy holy Son Yeshua.
  ³¹ And when they had prayed and made supplications, the place in which they were assembled was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and spoke the word of Alaha boldly.
  ³² And in the assembly of the persons that believed, there was one soul, and one mind: and no one of them said, of the property he possessed, that it was his own; but whatever was theirs, it was the community's.
  ³³ And with great power, the Apostles testified to the resurrection of Yeshua Mshikha: and great grace was with them all.
  ³⁴ And no one among them was destitute; for those who possessed lands or houses, sold, and brought the price of what was sold,
  ³⁵ and placed [it] at the feet of the Apostles; and distribution was made to every one, as he had need.
  ³⁶ And Joseph, who by the Apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is interpreted Son of Consolation,) a Levite of the country of Cyprus,
  ³⁷ had a field: and he sold it, and brought the price of it, and laid [it] before the feet of the Apostles.

V.

  ¹ And a certain man whose name was Ananias, with his wife whose name was Sapphira, sold his field,
  ² and carried away [part] of the price and concealed it, his wife consenting; and he brought [a part] of the money, and laid [it] before the feet of the Apostles. 
  ³ And Simon said to him: Ananias, why hath Satan so filled thy heart, that thou shouldst lie against the Holy Spirit, and conceal of the money of the price of the field ?
  ⁴ Was it not thine own before it was sold ? And when sold, again thou hadst authority over the price of it. Why hast thou set thy heart to do this purpose? Thou hast not lied against men, but against Alaha.
  ⁵ And when Ananias heard these words, he fell down, and died. And great fear was upon all them that heard [of it].
  ⁶ And the young men among them arose, and gathered him up, and carried [him] out, and buried him.
  ⁷ And when three hours had passed, his wife also came in, without knowing what had occurred.
  ⁸ Simon said to her: Tell me, if ye sold the field for this price? And she said: Yes, for this price.
  ⁹ Simon said to her: Since ye have been equals in tempting the Spirit of the Lord, lo, the feet of the buriers of thy husband are at the door, and they will carry thee out.
  ¹⁰ And immediately she fell before their feet, and died. And those young men came in, and found her dead; and they took up, carried forth, and buried her by the side of her husband.
  ¹¹ And great fear was on all the assembly, and on all them that heard [it].
  ¹² And there were many signs and prodigies wrought by the Apostles among the people. And they were all assembled together in the porch of Solomon.
  ¹³ And of the others, no one ventured to come near them; but the people magnified them.
  ¹⁴ And the more were those added who feared the Lord, a multitude both of men and of women.
  ¹⁵ So that they brought out into the streets the sick, laid on beds, that when Simon should pass, at least his shadow might cover them.
  ¹⁶ And many came to them from other cities around Yerushalayim, bringing the sick and those who had unclean spirits; and they were all cured.
  ¹⁷ And the high priest was filled with indignation, and all those with him who were of the doctrine of the Sadducees.
  ¹⁸ And they laid hands on the Apostles, and took and bound them in prison.
  ¹⁹ Then the angel of the Lord, by night, opened the door of the prison, and let them out; and said to them: 
  ²⁰ Go, stand in the temple, and speak to the people all these words of life.
  ²¹ And in the morning, they went and entered into the temple, and taught. And the high priest and those with him, convoked their associates and the Elders of Israel, and sent to the prison to bring forth the Apostles. 
  ²² And when those sent by them went, they found them not in the prison; and they returned and came back, 
  ²³ and said: We found the prison carefully closed, and also the keepers standing before the doors; and we opened, but found no one there.
  ²⁴ And when the chief priests and rulers of the temple heard these words, they were astonished at them; and they studied what this could mean.
  ²⁵ And one came and informed them: Those men, whom ye shut up in the prison, lo, they are standing in the temple, and teaching the people.
  ²⁶ Then went the rulers with attendants, to bring them without violence; for they feared, lest the people should stone them.
  ²⁷ And when they had brought them, they placed them before the whole council; and the high priest began to say to them:
  ²⁸ Did we not strictly charge you, to teach no person in this name? And behold, ye have filled Yerushalayim with your doctrine; and ye would bring the blood of this man upon us.
  ²⁹ And Simon, with the Apostles, answered and said to them: Alaha is to be obeyed, rather than men.
  ³⁰ The Alaha of our fathers hath raised up that Yeshua, whom ye slew when ye hanged him on a tree.
  ³¹ Him hath Alaha established as a head and vivifier; and hath exalted him to his own right hand, so that he might give repentance and remission of sins to Israel. 
  ³² And we are the witnesses of these things; and also the Holy Spirit, whom Alaha giveth to them that believe in him.
  ³³ And when they heard these things, they burned with indignation, and thought of putting them to death. 
  ³⁴ Then rose up one of the Pharisees whose name was Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, and honored by all the people; and he directed them to put the Apostles aside for a short time.
  ³⁵ And he said, to them: Men, B'nai Yisrael, take heed to yourselves, and consider what ye ought to do in regard to these men.
  ³⁶ For before this time, rose up Theudas, and said of himself, that he was some great one; and there went after him about four hundred men. And he was slain; and they who went after him, were dispersed and became as nothing. 
  ³⁷ And after him, rose up Judas a Galilean, in the days when the people were enrolled for the capitation tax; and he seduced much people after him. And he died, and all they that went after him were dispersed.
  ³⁸ And now, I say to you: Desist from these men, and let them lone. For if this device and this work originate from men, they will dissolve and come to nothing. 
  ³⁹ But if it be from Alaha, it is not in your power to frustrate it: that ye may not be found placing yourselves in opposition to Alaha. And they, assented to him. 
  ⁴⁰ And they called the Apostles, and scourged them, and commanded them not to teach in the name of Yeshua, and dismissed them.
  ⁴¹ And they went from before them, rejoicing that they were worthy to suffer abuse on account of that name. 
  ⁴² And they ceased not to teach daily, in the temple and at home, and to preach concerning Maran Yeshua Mshikha.

VI.

  ¹ And in those days, when the disciples had become numerous, the Grecian disciples murmured against the Hebrew, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration [to the needy].
  ² And the twelve Apostles convoked the whole company of the disciples, and said to them: It is not proper, that we should neglect the word of Alaha, and serve tables. 
  ³ Therefore brethren, search out, and elect from among you, seven men of whom there is good testimony, men full of the Spirit of the Lord, and of wisdom; that we may place them over this business:
  ⁴ and we will continue in prayer, and in the ministration of the word.
  ⁵ And this proposal was acceptable before all the people. And they elected Stephen, a man who was full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas an Antiochian  proselyte.
  ⁶ These stood before the Apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid the hand on them.
  ⁷ And the word of Alaha increased, and the number of disciples was enlarged at Yerushalayim greatly; and many people from among the Judaeans, were obedient to the faith.
  ⁸ And Stephen was full of grace and energy; and he wrought signs and prodigies among the people.
  ⁹ And there rose up some of the synagogue which is called that of the freed men, Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and persons from Cilicia and from Asia; and they disputed with Stephen.
  ¹⁰ And they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit that spoke by him.
  ¹¹ Then they sent men, and instructed them to say: We have heard him speak words of blasphemy, against Moses and against Alaha.
  ¹² And they excited the people, and the Elders, and the Scribes; and they came, and rose upon him, and seized him, and carried him into the midst of the council. 
  ¹³ And they set up false witnesses, who said: This man ceaseth not to utter words contrary to the law, and against this holy place.
  ¹⁴ For we have heard him say, that this Yeshua the Nazaraean will destroy this place, and will change the rites which Moses delivered to you.
  ¹⁵ And all they who were sitting in the council looked upon him, and they beheld his face, as the face of an angel.

VII.

  ¹ And the high priest asked him: Are these things so? 
  ² And he said: Men, brethren, and our fathers, hear ye. The Alaha of glory appeared to our father Abraham, when he was between the rivers, before he came to reside in Charran;
  ³ and he said to him: Depart from thy country, and from thy kindred, and go to a land which I will show to thee. 
  ⁴ And then Abraham departed from the land of the Chaldeans, and came and dwelt in Charran. And from there, after his father had died, Alaha removed him to this land, in which ye this day dwell.
  ⁵ And he did not give him an inheritance in it, not even a foot-track: but he promised that he would give it him, as an inheritance to him and to his seed, when as yet he had no son.
  ⁶ And Alaha conversed with him, and said to him: Thy seed will be a sojourner in a foreign land; and they will reduce it to servitude, and will treat it ill, during four hundred years.
  ⁷ And the nation, to whom they perform bondservice, I will judge saith Alaha. And afterwards, they will go out, and will worship me in this land.
  ⁸ And he gave them the covenant of circumcision. And then he begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day. And Isaac begat Jacob: and Jacob begat our twelve fathers.
  ⁹ And those our fathers envied Joseph, and sold him into Egypt: but Alaha was with him,
  ¹⁰ and delivered: him from all his afflictions; and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made him chief over Egypt, and over all his house.
  ¹¹ And there was a famine and great distress in all Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, and our fathers lacked food.
  ¹² And when Jacob heard that there was bread-stuff in Egypt, he sent our fathers a first time.
  ¹³ And when they went the second time, Joseph made himself known to his brethren; and the kindred of Joseph was known to Pharaoh.
  ¹⁴ And Joseph sent and brought is father Jacob, and all his family; and they were in number seventy and five souls.
  ¹⁵ And Jacob went down into Egypt; and he died there, he and our fathers.
  ¹⁶ And he was transported to Sychem, and was deposited in the sepulchre which Abraham bought with money of the sons of Emmor.
  ¹⁷ And when the time arrived for that which Alaha had promised to Abraham with an oath, the people had multiplied and become strong, in Egypt:
  ¹⁸ until there arose another king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph.
  ¹⁹ And he dealt craftily with our kindred, and ill-treated our fathers, and gave orders that their infants should be cast away, and should not live.
  ²⁰ At that time was Moses born; and he was lovely to Alaha: and he was nursed three months in his father's house. 
  ²¹ And when he was cast out, by his people, the daughter of Pharaoh found him, and brought him up for her own son. 
  ²² And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians; and he was eminent in his words, and also in his deeds.
  ²³ And when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. 
  ²⁴ And he saw one of the race of his kindred treated with violence; and he avenged him, and did him justice, and killed the Egyptian who had abused him.
  ²⁵ And he supposed that his brethren the B'nai Yisrael would have understood, that by his hand Alaha would give them deliverance; but they understood not.
  ²⁶ And on another day, he appeared to them, as they were quarrelling one with another. And he exhorted them to become reconciled, saying: Men, ye are brethren; why do ye seek to harm each other?
  ²⁷ But he who did the wrong to his fellow, repulsed him from him, and said to him: Who constituted thee a ruler and a judge over us?
  ²⁸ Dost thou seek to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian yesterday?
  ²⁹ And Moses fled at that speech, and became a sojourner in the land of Midian. And he had two sons.
  ³⁰ And when forty years had been passed by him there, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sinai, in a fire that burned in a bush. 
  ³¹ And when Moses saw [it], he admired the sight: and as he drew near to behold [it], the Lord said to him, audibly :
  ³² I am the Alaha of thy fathers, the Alaha of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob. And Moses trembled, and dared not to gaze at the sight.
  ³³ And the Lord said to him: Loose thy shoes from thy feet; for the ground on which thou standest is holy. 
  ³⁴ I have attentively seen the affliction of my people, who are in Egypt; and I have heard their groans, and have come down to deliver them. And now, come, I will send thee to Egypt.
  ³⁵ This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, Who constituted thee a ruler and judge over us ? this same did Alaha, by the hand of the angel that appeared to him in the bush, send to them to be their captain and deliverer. 
  ³⁶ He it was that brought them out, working signs and wonders and prodigies in the land of Egypt, and at the sea of rushes, and in the desert, forty years.
  ³⁷ This Moses is the man who said to the children of Israel: A prophet, like me, will the Lord Alaha raise up to you from among your brethren; to him give ear. 
  ³⁸ He it was, who was in the congregation in the wilderness, with the angel that conversed with him and with our fathers at mount Sinai; and he it was, received the living words to give [them] to us.
  ³⁹ And our fathers would not hearken to him, but forsook him, and in their hearts returned again to Egypt; 
  ⁴⁰ when they said to Aaron: Make us gods who may go before us; because, as for this Moses who brought us from the land of Egypt, we know not what hath become of him. 
  ⁴¹ And he made them a calf in those days; and they offered sacrifices to idols, and were voluptuous with the work of their hands.
  ⁴² And Alaha turned away, and gave them up to worship the hosts of heaven: as it is written in the book of the prophets: Did ye, for forty years, in the wilderness, present to me a slain animal or a sacrifice, ye B'nai Yisrael?
  ⁴³ But ye bore the tabernacle of Malchum, and the star of the god Rephon, images which ye had made, that ye might bow down to them. I will transport you beyond Babylon. 
  ⁴⁴ Lo, the tabernacle of the testimony of our fathers, was in the wilderness; as he who talked with Moses, commanded to make it after the form which he showed him.
  ⁴⁵ And this same tabernacle, our fathers, with Joshua, actually brought into the land which Alaha gave to them for an inheritance from those nations which he drove out before them; and it was borne about, until the days of David.
  ⁴⁶ He found favor before Alaha; and he requested, that he might find a residence for the Alaha of Jacob. 
  ⁴⁷ But Solomon built the house.
  ⁴⁸ Yet the most High lodgeth not in a work of [human] hands; as saith the prophet:
  ⁴⁹ Heaven is my throne, and earth the footstool under my feet. What is the house, ye will build for me ? saith the Lord: or, what is the place of my repose?
  ⁵⁰ Lo, hath not my hand made all these things?
  ⁵¹ O ye stiff of neck, and uncircumcised in their heart, and in their hearing; ye do always set yourselves against the Holy Spirit; as your fathers, so also ye.
  ⁵² For, which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute and kill, [even] them, who foretold the coming of the Just One, whom ye delivered up and slew ?
  ⁵³ And ye have received the law by the ordination of angels, and have not kept it.
  ⁵⁴ And when they heard these things, they were filled with rage in their souls; and they gnashed their teeth against him.
  ⁵⁵ And he, as he was full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, looked towards heaven, and saw the glory of Alaha, and Yeshua standing at the right hand of Alaha.
  ⁵⁶ And he said: Lo, I see heaven open, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of Alaha.
  ⁵⁷ And they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and all rushed upon him.
  ⁵⁸ And they seized him, and hurried him out of the city, and stoned him. And they who testified against him, laid their clothes at the feet of a certain young man who was called Saul.
  ⁵⁹ And they stoned Stephen, while he prayed and said: Our Lord Yeshua, receive my spirit.
  ⁶⁰ And when he had kneeled down, he cried with a loud voice, and said: Our Lord, establish not this sin against them. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. 

VIII.

  ¹ And Saul was consenting and participating in his death. And there was, in that day, a great persecution against the church that was at Yerushalayim; and they were all dispersed, except the Apostles, among the villages of Judaea and likewise among the Samaritans.
  ² And believing men gathered up and buried Stephen. And they lamented over him greatly.
  ³ And Saul persecuted the church of Alaha, entering houses, and dragging forth men and women and committing them to prison.
  ⁴ And they who were dispersed, travelled about and preached the word of Alaha.
  ⁵ And Philip went down to a city of the Samaritans, and preached concerning the Mshikha.
  ⁶ And when the people who were there heard his discourse, they gave ear to him, and acquiesced in all that he said; because they saw the signs which he wrought.
  ⁷ For many who were possessed by unclean spirits, cried with a loud voice, and came out of them: and others, who were paralytic and lame, were healed.
  ⁸ And there was great joy in that city.
  ⁹ And there was a certain man there, whose name was Simon, who had resided in that city a long time, and who seduced the people of the Samaritans by his sorceries, magnifying himself, and saying, I am a great personage. 
  ¹⁰ And they all inclined towards him, great and small; and they said, This is the mighty power of Alaha. 
  ¹¹ And they acquiesced in him, because for a long time he had astonished them by his sorceries.
  ¹² But when they gave credence to Philip, as he preached the kingdom of Alaha, in the name of Maran Yeshua Mshikha; they were baptized, both men and women.
  ¹³ And Simon himself also believed, and was baptized, and adhered to Philip. And when he saw the signs and mighty deeds which were wrought by his hand, he was surprised and astonished.
  ¹⁴ And when the Apostles at Yerushalayim, heard that the people of the Samaritans had received the word of Alaha, they sent out to them Simon Cephas and John.
  ¹⁵ And they went down, and prayed over them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit.
  ¹⁶ For he was not yet on any one of them; and they had only been baptized in the name of Maran Yeshua. 
  ¹⁷ Then they laid the hand on them; and they received the Holy Spirit.
  ¹⁸ And when Simon saw that, by the imposition of a hand of the Apostles, the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money,
  ¹⁹ saying: Give me also this prerogative, that he on whom I impose a hand, may receive the Holy Spirit. 
  ²⁰ Simon Cephas said to him: Thy money go with thee to perdition ! because thou hast supposed, that the gift of Alaha may be purchased by a worldly substance. 
  ²¹ Thou hast no part nor lot in this faith; because thy heart is not right before Alaha.
  ²² Nevertheless, repent of this thy wickedness, and entreat of Alaha, if perhaps the guile of thy heart may be forgiven thee.
  ²³ For I perceive that thou art in the bitter gall and in the bonds of iniquity.
  ²⁴ Simon answered and said: Intercede ye with Alaha for me, that nothing of which ye have mentioned may come upon me.
  ²⁵ And Simon and John, when they had testified, and had taught them the word of Alaha, returned to Yerushalayim. And they had preached in many villages of the Samaritans.
  ²⁶ And the angel of the Lord spake with Philip, and said to him: Arise, go to the south, along the desert way that leadeth down from Yerushalayim to Gaza.
  ²⁷ And he arose and went. And there met him a eunuch, who had come from Cush, an officer of Candace, queen of the Cushites, who had charge of all her treasure; and he had come to worship at Yerushalayim.
  ²⁸ And as he turned to go, he was sitting in his chariot, and was reading in Isaiah the prophet.
  ²⁹ And the Holy Spirit said to Philip: Go near, and join thyself to the chariot.
  ³⁰ And when he came near, he heard him reading in Isaiah the prophet; and he said to him: Understandest thou what thou readest ?
  ³¹ And he said: How can I understand, unless some one instruct me ? And he requested of Philip, that he would come up and sit with him.
  ³² And the section of scripture in which he was reading, was this: As a lamb to the slaughter he was led away, and as a sheep before the shearer is silent, so also he in his humility opened not his mouth.
  ³³ From prison and from judgment he was carried: and his generation, who will declare? for his life is taken away from the earth.
  ³⁴ And the eunuch said to Philip: I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this ? of himself, or of some other person ?
  ³⁵ Then Philip opened his mouth and, from that scripture, began to preach to him concerning Maran Yeshua. 
  ³⁶ And as they proceeded on the way, they came to a certain place in which there was water. And the eunuch said: Lo, [here is] water; what doth forbid, that I should be baptized?
  ³⁷ [And Philip said: If thou believest with all thy heart, it is allowable. And he answered, and said: I believe that Yeshua Mshikha is the Son of Alaha.]*
  ³⁸ And he commanded the chariot to stop; and they both went down to the water, and Philip baptized the eunuch. 
  ³⁹ And when they came up from the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip; and the eunuch saw him no more; but he went on his way rejoicing.
  ⁴⁰ And Philip was found at Azotus; and from there he travelled about, and preached in all the cities, until he came to Caesarea.

* This 37th verse is not in any of the earlier editions, and is excluded from the text of the London editions of 1816 and 1826.

IX.

  ¹ And Saul was still full of threats and deadly hatred against the disciples of our Lord.
  ² And he requested that a letter from the high priest might be given him unto Damascus to the synagogues; that if he should find persons pursuing this course, men or women, he might bind and bring them to Yerushalayim. 
  ³ And as he was going, and began to approach Damascus, suddenly there was poured upon him a light from heaven. 
  ⁴ And he fell to the ground; and he heard a voice which said to him: Saul! Saul! why persecutest thou me? It will be hard for thee to kick against the goads.
  ⁵ He replied, and said: Who art thou, my Lord? And our Lord said: I am Yeshua the Nazaraean, whom thou persecutest. 
  ⁶ But arise and go into the city, and there it will be told thee what thou oughtest to do.
  ⁷ And the men who travelled with him in the way, stood amazed; for they heard merely the voice, and no one was visible to them.
  ⁸ And Saul arose from the ground; and nothing was visible to him, with his eyes opened. And they took him by the hand, and led him into Damascus.
  ⁹ And he had no sight for three days; and he neither ate nor drank.
  ¹⁰ And there was in Damascus a certain disciple, whose name was Ananias. And the Lord said to him, in a vision: Ananias ! And he said: Lo, I [am here], my Lord. 
  ¹¹ And our Lord said to him: Arise, go to the street which is called Straight; and inquire in the house of Judas, for Saul who is from the city of Tarsus: for, lo, while he prayed,
  ¹² he saw in vision a man named Ananias, who came and laid his hand upon him, that his eyes might be opened. 
  ¹³ And Ananias said: My Lord, I have heard of this man, from many, how much evil he hath perpetrated towards thy saints at Yerushalayim.
  ¹⁴ And, lo, here also, he hath authority from the chief priests, to bind all them that call on thy name. 
  ¹⁵ The Lord said to him: Arise and go; for he is to me a chosen vessel, to carry my name to the Gentiles, and to kings, and among the sons of Israel.
  ¹⁶ For I will show him, how much he is to suffer on account of my name.
  ¹⁷ Then Ananias went to the house to him; and he laid his hand upon him, and said to him: Saul, my brother, Maran Yeshua, he who appeared to thee by the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thy eyes might be opened, and thou be filled with the Holy Spirit.
  ¹⁸ And immediately there fell from his eyes something like a scab; and his eyes were opened. And he arose and was baptized.
  ¹⁹ And he took food, and was invigorated. And he was [some] days with the disciples of Damascus.
  ²⁰ And forthwith he announced Yeshua, in the synagogues of the Judaeans, that he is the Son of Alaha.
  ²¹ And all they that heard him were amazed; and they said: Is not this he, who persecuted all them that call on this name in Yerushalayim ? And lo, for this very thing also, was he sent hither, that he might bind and carry them to the chief priests.
  ²² But Saul was the more strengthened; and he confounded those Jews who dwelt at Damascus, while be demonstrated that this is the Mshikha.
  ²³ And when he had been there many days, the Judaeans formed a conspiracy against him, to kill him.
  ²⁴ And the plot which they sought to execute upon him, was made known to Saul: and they watched the gates of the city by day and by night, in order to kill him. 
  ²⁵ Then the disciples placed him in a basket, and let him down from the wall by night.
  ²⁶ And he went to Yerushalayim; and he wished to join himself with the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple.
  ²⁷ But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the Apostles, and related to them how the Lord appeared to him in the way, and how he conversed with him; and how, in Damascus, he had discoursed openly in the name of Yeshua.
  ²⁸ And he went in and out with them, at Yerushalayim. 
  ²⁹ And he spoke openly in the name of Yeshua and disputed with those Jews who understood Greek. But they wished to kill him:
  ³⁰ and when the brethren knew [it], they conducted him by night to Caesarea, and from there they sent him to Tarsus.
  ³¹ Moreover the church, in all Judaea, and in Galilee, and in Samaria, had peace and was edified; and it walked in the fear of Alaha, and abounded in the consolation of the Holy Spirit.
  ³² And it occurred, that, as Simon travelled about the cities, he came down to the saints also who dwelt in the city of Lydda.
  ³³ And he found a certain man whose name was 'neas, who had lain on a bed and been paralytic eight years. 
  ³⁴ And Simon said to him: 'neas, Yeshua the Mshikha doth heal thee; arise, and spread thy bed. And he rose up immediately. 
  ³⁵ And all they that dwelt at Lydda and Saron, saw him; and they turned to Alaha.
  ³⁶ And there was in the city of Joppa, a certain female disciple named Tabitha; [and] she was rich in good works, and in the alms which she did.
  ³⁷ And she fell sick in those days, and died; and they washed her, and laid her in an upper room.    ³⁸ And the disciples heard that Simon was in the city of Lydda, which is near to Joppa; and they sent two men to him, to request of him that he would not delay to come to them.
  ³⁹ And Simon arose and went with them. And when he arrived, they conducted him to the chamber; and there were assembled around her all the widows, weeping, and showing him the tunics and the cloaks which Tabitha had given them when alive.
  ⁴⁰ And Simon put all the people out, and fell on his knees and prayed; and he turned to the corpse and said: Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes; and when she saw Simon, she sat up.    ⁴¹ And he reached to her his hand, and raised her up: and he called the saints and the widows, and presented her to them alive.
  ⁴² And this became known throughout the city; and many believed on our Lord.
  ⁴³ And he tarried in Joppa not a few days: and he lodged in the house of Simon a tanner.

X.

  ¹ And there was a certain man in Caesarea, whose name was Cornelius, a centurion of the regiment called the Italian.
  ² And he was righteous, and feared Alaha, he and all his house; [and] he did much alms among the people, and prayed to Alaha at all times.
  ³ This man distinctly saw, in a vision, about the ninth hour of the day, an angel of Alaha, who came in to him and said to him: Cornelius!
  ⁴ And he looked upon him, and was afraid; and he said: What, my Lord? And the angel said to him: Thy prayers and thy alms have come up in remembrance before Alaha. 
  ⁵ And now, send men to the city of Joppa, and bring Simon who is called Cephas.
  ⁶ Lo, he lodgeth in the house of Simon the tanner, which is by the side of the sea.
  ⁷ And when the angel that talked with him was gone, he called two of his household, and a soldier who feared Alaha and was obedient to him.
  ⁸ And he related to them all that he had seen, and sent them to Joppa.
  ⁹ And the next day, as they travelled the road and approached the city, Simon ascended the roof to pray, at the sixth hour.
  ¹⁰ And he became hungry, and desired to eat. And while they were providing for him, he fell into a trance.
  ¹¹ And he saw the heavens opened, and a certain vessel fastened at the four corners, and it was like a great sheet; and it descended from heaven to the a earth. 
  ¹² And there were in it all fourfooted animals, and creeping things of the earth, and fowls of heaven. 
  ¹³ And a voice came to him, which said: Simon, arise, slay and eat.
  ¹⁴ And Simon said: Far be it, my Lord: for never have I eaten any thing unclean and polluted.
  ¹⁵ And again the second time, there was a voice to him: What Alaha hath cleansed, make thou not unclean.
  ¹⁶ And this was done three times; and the vessel was taken up to heaven.
  ¹⁷ And while Simon was wondering with himself, what the vision he had seen could denote, the men who were sent by Cornelius arrived; and they inquired for the house in which Simon lodged, and came and stood at the gate of the court.
  ¹⁸ And there they called out, and asked if Simon who is called Cephas lodged there ?
  ¹⁹ And while Simon was reflecting on the vision, the Spirit said to him: Lo, three men are inquiring for thee. 
  ²⁰ Arise, go down, and accompany them; and let not thy mind hesitate, for I have sent them.
  ²¹ Then Simon went down to the men, and said to them: I am he for whom ye inquire: what is the cause for which ye have come?
  ²² They say to him: A certain man whose name is Cornelius, a centurion fearing Alaha, and of whom all the people of the Judaeans bear good report, was told in vision, by a holy angel, to send and bring thee to his house, that he might hear discourse from thee.
  ²³ And Simon led them in, and entertained them where he lodged. And the following day, he arose, departed, and went with them: and some of the brethren of Joppa also went with them.
  ²⁴ And the next day, they entered Caesarea. And Cornelius was expecting them: and all the kindred of his family, and also such intimate friends as he had, were assembled with him.
  ²⁵ And as Simon came up, Cornelius met him, and fell down worshipping at his feet.
  ²⁶ And Simon raised him up, and said to him: Arise; I also am a man.
  ²⁷ And as he talked with him, he went in, and found that many had come there.
  ²⁸ And he said to them: Ye know, that it is not lawful for a Jewish man, to associate with an alien who is not of his race: but Alaha hath showed me, that I should not say of any one, that he is defiled or unclean.
  ²⁹ Therefore I came readily, when ye sent for me. But, I ask you, for what cause did ye send for me?
  ³⁰ And Cornelius said to him: It is four days ago, that, lo, I was fasting; and at the ninth hour, while I was praying in my house, a certain man stood before me, clothed in white,
  ³¹ and said to me: Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and there remembrance of thy alms before Alaha.
  ³² But send to the city of Joppa, and bring Simon who is called Cephas: lo, he lodgeth in the house of Simon the tanner, which is by the side of the sea. And he will come and converse with thee.
  ³³ And immediately I sent to thee; and thou hast done well to come: and lo, we are all of us before thee, and desirous to hear whatever is commanded thee from Alaha.
  ³⁴ And Simon opened his mouth, and said: Truly I discover that Alaha is no respecter of persons.
  ³⁵ but, among all the nations, he who feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is acceptable with him.
  ³⁶ For [this is] the word, which he sent to the B'nai Yisrael, announcing to them peace and rest by Yeshua Mshikha, He is Lord of all;
  ³⁷ and ye also know the word, which was in all Judaea, which commenced from Galilee, after the baptism that John preached,
  ³⁸ concerning Yeshua, who was of Nazareth, whom Alaha anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power. And he it was, who went about and healed those that were suffering from evil, because Alaha was with him.
  ³⁹ And we [are] his witnesses, as to whatever he did in all the region of Judaea and in Yerushalayim. This same person the Judaeans hanged on a tree, and slew him. 
  ⁴⁰ And him did Alaha raise up, on the third day; and caused him to be seen with naked eyes;
  ⁴¹ not indeed by all the people, but by us, who were chosen of Alaha to be his witnesses, [and] who ate and drank with him after his resurrection from the dead.
  ⁴² And he commanded us to proclaim and testify to the people, that he is appointed of Alaha to be judge of the living and of the dead.
  ⁴³ And of him all the prophets testify, that whoever believeth in his name, will receive remission of sins.
  ⁴⁴ And while Simon was uttering these things, the Holy Spirit overshadowed all them that were hearing the word. 
  ⁴⁵ And the circumcised brethren who came with him, were amazed and astonished, that the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the Gentiles also.
  ⁴⁶ For they heard them speak with diverse tongues, and magnify Alaha.
  ⁴⁷ And Simon said: Can any one forbid water, that those should not be baptized, they who have received, lo, the Holy Spirit, as well as we ?
  ⁴⁸ Then he commanded them to be baptized in the name of our Lord Yeshua Mshikha. And they requested him to remain with them [some] days.

XI.

  ¹ And it was reported to the Apostles and the brethren in Judaea, that the Gentiles also had received the word of Alaha.
  ² And when Simon went up to Yerushalayim, they who were of the circumcision contended with him,
  ³ saying; that he had gone in to be with uncircumcised persons, and had eaten with them.
  ⁴ And Simon began to address them methodically: 
  ⁵ As I was in Joppa, praying, I saw in vision, that a certain vessel descended, which was like a sheet, and it was tied at its four corners; and it descended from heaven and came to me.
  ⁶ And I looked upon it, and I saw that in it were fourfooted animals, and reptiles of the earth, and fowls of heaven. 
  ⁷ And I heard a voice, which said to me: Simon, arise slay and eat.
  ⁸ And I said: Far be it, my Lord. For never hath any thing polluted or unclean entered my mouth.
  ⁹ And again, a voice from heaven said to me: What Alaha hath cleansed, make thou not unclean.
  ¹⁰ And this was done three times: and the whole was taken up to heaven.
  ¹¹ And at the same instant, three men, who were sent to me by Cornelius from Caesarea, came and stood at the gate of the court where I lodged.
  ¹² And the Spirit said to me: Go with them, without hesitation. And these six brethren went also with me, and we entered the man's house.
  ¹³ And he related to us, how he had seen an angel in his house, who stood and said to him: Send to the city of Joppa, and bring Simon who is called Cephas; 
  ¹⁴ and he will utter to thee discourses, by which thou wilt live, thou and all thy house.
  ¹⁵ And when I there commenced speaking, the Holy Spirit overshadowed them, as it did us from the beginning. 
  ¹⁶ And I remembered the word of our Lord, when he said: John baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.
  ¹⁷ If then Alaha equally gave the gift to the Gentiles that believed in Maran Yeshua Mshikha, as he did to us: who was I, that I could forbid Alaha?
  ¹⁸ And when they heard these words, they desisted; and they glorified Alaha and said: Now to the Gentiles also doth Alaha give repentance unto life.
  ¹⁹ And they who were dispersed, by the oppression which occurred on account of Stephen, travelled as far as Phenicia, and even to the country of Cyprus, and to Antioch, speaking the word to none except to Jews only.
  ²⁰ And there were some of them from Cyprus and from Cyrene, who went up to Antioch, and spoke to the Greeks, and preached concerning our Lord Yeshua.
  ²¹ And the hand of the Lord was with them; and many believed, and turned to the Lord.
  ²² And this came to the ears of the sons of the church at Yerushalayim: and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 
  ²³ And when he came there, and saw the grace of Alaha, he rejoiced: and he entreated them, that with all their heart, they would adhere to our Lord.
  ²⁴ For he was a good man, and was full of the Holy Spirit, and of faith. And many people were added to our Lord.
  ²⁵ And he went away to Tarsus, to seek for Saul. 
  ²⁶ And when he had found him, he brought him with him to Antioch. And a whole year they met together in the church, and instructed many people. From that time forth, the disciples were first called CHRISTIANS, at Antioch.
  ²⁷ In those days came prophets thither from Yerushalayim. 
  ²⁸ And one of them whose name was Agabus, stood up and informed them, by the Spirit, that there would be a great famine in all the country. And that famine occurred in the days of Claudius Caesar.
  ²⁹ And moreover the disciples, each of them according to his several ability, determined to send to the relief of the brethren who dwelt in Judaea.
  ³⁰ And they sent, by the hand of Barnabas and Saul, unto the Elders there.

XII.

  ¹ And at that time Herod the king, who was surnamed Agrippa, laid hands on some of the church, to maltreat them.
  ² And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. 
  ³ And when he saw that this pleased the Judaeans, he proceeded also to arrest Simon Cephas. And the days of unleavened bread were then passing.
  ⁴ He seized him and cast him into prison, and delivered him to sixteen soldiers, who were to guard him; that he might, after the passover, deliver him up to the people of the Judaeans.
  ⁵ And while Simon was in custody in the prison, continual prayer to Alaha in his behalf, was offered to Alaha by the church.
  ⁶ And on the night before the morning in which he was to be delivered up, while Simon was sleeping between two soldiers, and was bound with two chains, and others were guarding the doors of the prison;
  ⁷ an angel of the Lord stood over him, and a light shone in all the building; and he pricked his side, and awaked him, and said to him: Arise, instantly. And the chains fell from his hands.
  ⁸ And the angel said to him: Gird thy loins, and put on thy sandals. And he did so. And again he said to him: Wrap thyself in thy cloak, and come after me.
  ⁹ And he went out and followed him, not knowing that what had been done by the angel was a reality; for he supposed, that he saw a vision.
  ¹⁰ And when the first ward was passed and the second, they came to the iron gate, and it opened to them of its own accord. And when they had gone out, and had passed one street, the angel departed from him.
  ¹¹ Then Simon recognized [where he was]; and he said: Now I know, in reality, that Alaha hath sent his angel, and delivered me from the hand of Herod the king, and from what the Judaeans were devising against me.
  ¹² And when he had considered, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John surnamed Mark; because many brethren were assembled there and praying.
  ¹³ And he knocked at the gate of the court; and a maid named Rhoda came to reply to him.
  ¹⁴ And she recognized the voice of Simon: and, In her joy, she did not open to him the gate, but ran back, and told them: Lo, Simon is standing at the gate of the court. 
  ¹⁵ They said to her: Thou art delirious. But she maintained that it was a fact. They said to her: Perhaps it is his spirit.
  ¹⁶ And Simon was knocking at the gate; and they went out, saw him, and were astonished.
  ¹⁷ And he beckoned to them with the hand to be still; and he went in, and related to them how the Lord had released him from the prison. And he said to them: Tell these things to James and to the brethren. And he went out, and departed to another place.
  ¹⁸ And when it was morning, there was a great dispute among the soldiers concerning Simon, what had become of him.
  ¹⁹ And Herod, when he sought him, and could not find him, arraigned the keepers, and sentenced them to die. And he went from Judaea, and resided at Caesarea.
  ²⁰ And because he was angry against the Tyrians and Sidonians, they assembled and came to him in a body; and having persuaded Blastus, the king's chamberlain, they begged of him that they might have peace; because the supplies of their country were derived from the kingdom of Herod.
  ²¹ And on a day appointed, Herod was arrayed in royal apparel, and sat on a tribunal, and made a speech to the assembly.
  ²² And all the people shouted, and said: These are the utterances of a Alaha, and not of a mortal.
  ²³ And, because he gave not the glory to Alaha, immediately the angel of Alaha smote him; and he was eaten of worms, and died.
  ²⁴ And the gospel of Alaha was proclaimed, and made progress.
  ²⁵ And Barnabas and Saul, after they had completed their ministration, returned from Yerushalayim to Antioch. And they took with them John, who was surnamed Mark.

XIII.

  ¹ Now there were in the church at Antioch, [several] prophets and teachers; Barnabas, and Simon called Niger, and Lucius who was from the city Cyrene, and Menaen, a son of the guardians of Herod the Tetrarch, and Saul. 
  ² And while they were fasting and making supplication to Alaha, the Holy Spirit said to them: Separate to me Saul and Barnabas, for the work to which I have called them. 
  ³ And after they had fasted and prayed, they laid the hand on them, and sent them away.
  ⁴ And they, being sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia, and from there they went by sea as far as Cyprus.
  ⁵ And when they entered the city of Salamis, they announced the word of our Lord in the synagogues of the Judaeans. And John ministered to them.
  ⁶ And when they had travelled over the whole island as far as the city Paphos, they found a certain man, a sorcerer, a Jew, who was a false prophet, and whose name was Bar-Suma.
  ⁷ He adhered to a wise man, who was the proconsul, and was called Sergius Paulus. And the proconsul sent for Saul and Barnabas, and requested to hear from them the word of Alaha.
  ⁸ And this sorcerer, Bar-Suma, (whose name is interpreted, Elymas,) withstood them; because he wished to divert the proconsul from the faith.
  ⁹ And Saul who is called Paul, was filled with the Holy Spirit; and he looked upon him,
  ¹⁰ and said: O thou full of all subtilties, and all mischiefs, thou child of the calumniator, and enemy of all righteousness; wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?
  ¹¹ And now, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, and shalt not see the sun for a time. And immediately there fell upon him a mist and darkness; and he went about, inquiring who would take him by the hand.
  ¹² And when the proconsul saw what occurred, he was astonished; and he believed the doctrine of the Lord. 
  ¹³ And Paul and Barnabas went by sea, from the city of Paphos, and came to Perga, a city of Pamphylia. And John separated from them, and went away to Yerushalayim. 
  ¹⁴ And they departed from Perga, and came to Antioch, a city of Pisidia: and they entered the synagogue, on the sabbath day, and sat down.
  ¹⁵ And after the law had been read, and the prophets, the Elders of the synagogue sent to them, and said: Men, brethren, if ye have a word of exhortation, address the people.
  ¹⁶ And Paul arose, and waved his hand, and said: Men, sons of Israel, and ye that fear Alaha, hear ye.
  ¹⁷ The Alaha of this people chose our fathers, and raised them up, and multiplied them, when they resided in the land of Egypt; and, with a high arm, he brought them out of it.
  ¹⁸ And he fed them in the wilderness forty years. 
  ¹⁹ And he extirpated seven nations in the land of Canaan, and gave them their land for an inheritance.
  ²⁰ And for four hundred and fifty years he gave  them judges, until Samuel the prophet.
  ²¹ And then they asked for themselves a king: and Alaha gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, during forty years.
  ²² And he removed him, and raised up to them David as king: and he testified of him, and said: I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my heart: he will do all my pleasure.
  ²³ From the seed of this man, hath Alaha raised up to Israel, as he promised, Yeshua a deliverer.
  ²⁴ And, before his advent, he sent John to proclaim the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 
  ²⁵ And while John was fulfilling his ministry, he said: Who, suppose ye, that I am ? I am not he. But lo, he cometh after me; of whom I am not worthy to untie his shoe-strings. 
  ²⁶ Men, brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and all who, with you, fear Alaha, to you is this word of life sent.
  ²⁷ For, those inhabitants of Yerushalayim and their chiefs, did not apprehend it; neither [did they apprehend] also the writings of the prophets, which are read every sabbath; but they condemned him, and fulfilled all the things written. 
  ²⁸ And while they found no ground for [his] death, they desired of Pilate that they might kill him.
  ²⁹ And when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning him, they took him down from the cross, and laid him in a sepulchre.
  ³⁰ But Alaha raised him from the dead.
  ³¹ And he was seen many days, by them who came up with him from Galilee to Yerushalayim; and they are now his witnesses to the people.
  ³² And lo, we also announce to you, that the promise, which was made to our fathers,
  ³³ lo, Alaha hath fulfilled it to us their children, in that he raised up Yeshua; as it is written in the second psalm: Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. 
  ³⁴ And Alaha hath so raised him from the dead, that he will not return again and see corruption; as he said: I will give to you the sure grace of David.
  ³⁵ And again he said, in another place: Thou hast not given thy devout one to see corruption.
  ³⁶ For David, in his generation, served the pleasure of Alaha, and went to rest, and was added to his fathers, and saw corruption.
  ³⁷ But this person, whom Alaha raised up, did not see corruption.
  ³⁸ Know therefore, brethren, that through this man remission of sins is proclaimed to you.
  ³⁹ And every one that believeth in this man, is made just from all things, from which ye could not be made just by the law of Moses.
  ⁴⁰ Beware, therefore, lest that come upon you, which is written in the prophets:
  ⁴¹ Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish; for I work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though a man relate it to you.
  ⁴² And when they had gone from them, they besought them to speak the same things to them the next sabbath day. 
  ⁴³ And when the synagogue was dismissed, many Jews went after them, and likewise proselytes who feared Alaha. And they conversed with them, and persuaded them to adhere to the grace of Alaha.
  ⁴⁴ And the next sabbath, the whole city assembled to hear the word of Alaha.
  ⁴⁵ And when the Judaeans saw the great assembly, they were filled with envy, and set them selves against the words which Paul spoke, and blasphemed.
  ⁴⁶ And Paul and Barnabas said openly: To you first, ought the word of Alaha to be spoken; but because ye repel it from you, and decide, against yourselves, that ye are not worthy of life eternal, lo, we turn ourselves to the Gentiles.
  ⁴⁷ For so hath our Lord commanded us; as it is written: I have set thee a light to the Gentiles; that thou shouldst be for life unto the ends of the earth.
  ⁴⁸ And when the Gentiles heard [this], they rejoiced and glorified Alaha. And those believed, who were appointed to life eternal.
  ⁴⁹ And the word of the Lord was talked of in all that region.
  ⁵⁰ But the Judaeans stirred up the chiefs of the city, and the opulent women who with them feared Alaha, and set up a persecution against Paul and against Barnabas, and expelled them from their borders.
  ⁵¹ And when they went out, they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and went to the city of Iconium. 
  ⁵² And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Spirit.

XIV.

  ¹ And they came and entered into the synagogue of the Judaeans, and so spoke with them, that many of the Judaeans and of the Greeks believed.
  ² But Jews of the class of unbelievers, excited the Gentiles, to maltreat the brethren.
  ³ And they continued there a long time, and spoke openly concerning the Lord; and he gave testimony to the word of his grace, by the signs and prodigies which he wrought by their hands.
  ⁴ And the whole multitude of the city was divided; and a part were with the Judaeans, and a part adhered to the Apostles. 
  ⁵ And an assault was made on them, by the Gentiles, and by the Jews and their chiefs, to insult them, and to stone them with stones.
  ⁶ And when they knew [it], they departed and fled to the cities of Lycaonia and Lystra and Derbe, and to the villages around them;
  ⁷ and there they preached.
  ⁸ And a certain man dwelt in the city Lystra, who was afflicted in his feet, a cripple from his mother's womb, who had never walked.
  ⁹ He heard Paul speak: and when Paul saw him, and knew that he had faith to live;
  ¹⁰ he said to him, with a loud voice: In the name of Maran Yeshua Mshikha, I say to thee, Rise upon thy feet. And he sprang up, stood, and walked.
  ¹¹ And the assembly of people, when they saw what Paul had done, raised their voice, and said, in the language of the country: The gods have assumed the likeness of men, and have come down to us.
  ¹² And they named Barnabas the Lord of the Gods; and Paul Hermes, because he commenced the speaking. 
  ¹³ And the priest of the Lord of the Gods, who was without the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gate of the court where they lodged, and was disposed to offer sacrifices to them.
  ¹⁴ But Barnabas and Paul, when they heard [it], rent their garments, and sprang and went among the throng, 
  ¹⁵ and called out, and said: Men, what do ye ? We also are frail mortals like yourselves, who preach to you, that ye should turn from these useless things, unto the living Alaha, who made heaven and earth and seas, and whatever is in them.
  ¹⁶ He, in former ages, left all the nations to go in their own ways:
  ¹⁷ although he did not leave himself without testimony, while he did them good from heaven, and sent down the rain, and made the fruits to grow in their seasons, and filled their hearts with food and pleasure.
  ¹⁸ And, by saying these things, they with difficulty prevented the people from offering sacrifice to them.
  ¹⁹ But Jews came hither from Iconium and Antioch, and excited the people against them. And they stoned Paul, and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.
  ²⁰ And the disciples assembled around him; and he arose, and went into the city. And the next day, he departed from there, with Barnabas; and they came to the city of Derbe.
  ²¹ And while they were preaching to the inhabitants of that city, they made many disciples. And turning back, they came to the city Lystra, and to Iconium, and to Antioch, 
  ²² confirming the souls of the disciples, and entreating them to persevere in the faith; and they told them, that it was necessary, through much affliction, to enter into the kingdom of Alaha.
  ²³ And they established for them Elders in each church, while they fasted with them, and prayed, and commended them to our Lord in whom they believed.
  ²⁴ And when they had travelled over the region of Pisidia they came to Pamphylia.
  ²⁵ And when they had spoken the word of the Lord in the city of Perga, they went down to Attalia.
  ²⁶ And thence they proceeded by sea, and came to Antioch; because from there they had been commended to the grace of the Lord, for that work which they had accomplished. 
  ²⁷ And when they had collected together the whole church, they narrated all that Alaha had wrought with them, and that he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. 
  ²⁸ And they remained there a long time with the disciples.

XV.

  ¹ And certain men came down from Judaea, and taught the brethren, that unless ye be circumcised, in accordance with the rite of Torah, ye cannot have life.
  ² And Paul and Barnabas had much trouble and disputation with them. And it resulted, that Paul and Barnabas, and others with them, went up to the Apostles and Bishops at Yerushalayim, because of this matter.
  ³ And the church waited on them, and sent them away; and they travelled through all Phenicia and the territory of the Samaritans, narrating the conversion of the Gentiles, and causing great joy to all the brethren.
  ⁴ And when they came to Yerushalayim, they were received by the church, and by the Bishops, and by the Apostles; and they recounted all that Alaha had wrought by them. 
  ⁵ And some who from the sect of the Pharisees had believed, rose up and said: It is necessary for you to circumcise them, and to command them to observe the law of Moses.
  ⁶ And the Apostles and Bishops assembled, to look into this matter.
  ⁷ And when there had been much discussion, Simon arose and said to them: Men, brethren, ye know that, from the earlier days, Alaha chose that from my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel, and should believe.
  ⁸ And Alaha, who knoweth what is in hearts, bore testimony concerning them, and gave the Holy Spirit to them, even as to us.
  ⁹ And he made no distinction between them and us; because he purified their hearts by faith.
  ¹⁰ And now, why tempt ye Alaha, by putting a yoke on the necks of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we could bear?
  ¹¹ But we believe, that we as well as they, are to have life by the grace of Maran Yeshua Mshikha.
  ¹² And the whole assembly were silent, and listened to Paul and Barnabas, who related how Alaha by their hands had wrought signs and prodigies among the Gentiles. 
  ¹³ And after they ceased, James arose and said: Men, brethren, listen to me.
  ¹⁴ Simon hath related to you, how Alaha hath begun to elect a people for his name from among the Gentiles. 
  ¹⁵ And with this the words of the prophets accord, as it is written:
  ¹⁶ After these things I will return, and will set up the tabernacle of David that had fallen; and will build that which was in ruins in it, and will raise it up: 
  ¹⁷ so that the residue of men may seek the Lord, and all the nations on whom my name is called; saith the Lord, who doth all these things.
  ¹⁸ Known, from of old, are the works of Alaha.
  ¹⁹ Therefore I say to you, let them not crush those who from among the Gentiles have turned unto Alaha. 
  ²⁰ But let word be sent to them, that they keep aloof from the defilement of a sacrifice [to idols], and from whoredom, and from what is strangled, and from blood. 
  ²¹ For in every city, from former ages, Moses has heralds in the synagogues, who read him every Sabbath.
  ²² Then the Apostles and Bishops, with all the church, chose men from among themselves, and sent them to Antioch, with Paul and Barnabas; [namely], Jude, who was called Barsabas, and Silas, men who were chiefs among the brethren. 
  ²³ And they wrote a letter by them, thus: The Apostles and Bishops and brethren, to them that are in Antioch, and in Syria, and in Cilicia, brethren who are from the Gentiles, greeting:
  ²⁴ We have heard that some are claiming to have been sent out from our assembly and that they have greatly disturbed you with their discourses and have attempted to subvert your minds by saying that you are obligated to be circumcised and observe the law; these are things which we have not yet commanded them. [Dalin text adds: and they had no authority from us].