There was one heart and one spirit in the whole body of the believers, nor did any one of them call any of his possessions his own, but they had everything in common. And with great force the apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and there was great good will among them all. Nor was anyone among them in need, for all those who happened to own lands or houses would sell them and bring in the proceeds of what had been sold and lay them at the feet of the apostles; and they were distributed, to each one as he had need. And there was Joseph, surnamed by the apostles Barnabas, which means, translated, Son of Consolation, a Lev- ite and a Cyprian by birth, who owned an estate. He sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the feet of the apostles.
1But a certain man, Ananias by name, whose wife was Sapphira, sold some property but, with the connivance of his wife, withheld some of the proceeds and brought only a part and laid it at the feet of the apostles. But Peter said to Ananias: Why was it that Satan put it into your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and withhold some of the proceeds from the property? If you had let it remain, would it not have remained yours and, even when sold, still been at your disposal? Why did you let this deed be put in your heart? You lied, not to men but to God. When Ananias heard these words he fell down and died; and great fear came upon aU those who heard. Then the younger men rose up and covered him and carried him out and buried him. There was an interval of about three hours and his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter said to her: Tell me, was this the amount for which you sold the property? She said: Yes, this amount. Peter said to her: Why did you both agree to make trial of the Spirit of the Lord? See! The feet of those who buried your husband are at the door; and they will carry you out. And immediately she fell at his feet and died; and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her by her husband. And great fear came upon the whole congregation and on all who heard about these things.
And many miracles and portentous things were wrought among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they all kept gathering in the Porch of Solomon; but none of the other people dared try to join their number, but the people thought them very great, and more and more a multitude of men and women came over to the Lord, believing in him; so that they even carried their sick out into the streets and set them there on cots and beds so that Peter's shadow at least might fall on them as he went by. And also a multitude from the cities round about Jerusalem gathered there, bringing their sick and those troubled by unclean spirits; and they were all healed.
Then the high priest and all who were with him, that is, the sect of Sadducees, rose up and were filled with jealousy and laid hands on the apostles and put them in the public prison. But an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison by night, and as he led them out he said: Go and stand in the temple and tell the people all the words of this life. When they heard this they went into the temple at dawnwn and began teaching. But the high priest and those with him came and called together the council and the whole board of elders of the sons of Israel, and sent to the prison to fetch them. But when the servingr;nen arrived, they did not find them in the prison, and came back and reported, saying: We found the prison locked quite securely and the guards standing at the doors, and we opened them and found no one inside. When the captain of the temple and the high priest heard these words they were puzzled about them, as to how this could be. But a man arrived and told them: See, the men you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people. Then the captain went with his servingmen and took them, not forcibly, for they were afraid of the people and that they might be stoned, and they brought them and stood them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, saying: We gave you a formal order not to teach in this name, and see, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching; and you want to put the blood of that man upon us. Peter and the apostles answered and said: We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on the cross. God elevated him to his right hand as ruler and savior, to give Israel repentance and remission of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, we and the Holy Spirit which God gave to those who obey him.
When they heard this, they were convulsed with rage and wanted to kill them. But a certain Pharisee who was in the council, Gamaliel by name, a teacher of the law honored by all the people, stood up and urged them to have the men removed for a little while, and said to the others: Men of Israel, be careful how you go about dealing with these people. For before these days Theudas set himself up, claiming to be important, and men inclined to him to the number of about four hundred; he was killed, and all who believed in him were dispersed and came to nothing. And after him Judas of Galilee set himself up in the days of the census and won people over to his foUowing; and he, too, was killed, and all those who believed in him were scattered. And as for now, I tell you, let these men be and release them. For if this purpose and this work come from men, they will come to nothing; but if they come from God, you will not be able to bring them to nothing. Do not be caught fighting against God.
They were persuaded by him, and they called back the apostles and had them lashed and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and released them. And they went away from the presence of the council rejoicing because they had been found worthy to suffer outrage for the sake of the name; and every day, in the temple and at home, they never stopped teaching and preaching the Christ, Jesus.
^During those days, as the number of disciples grew, loud complaints developed from the Hellenists against the Hebrews, that in the daily distribution the widows among their number were being overlooked. Then the twelve summoned the general body of disciples and said: It is not to our liking that we should neglect the word of God in order to see to the distribution of food. But, brothers, select from among yourselves seven men who are well recommended and who are full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we shall put in charge of this service; and we shall devote ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the word. And this word was pleasing to all the people, and they chose Stephen, a man filled with faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip and Prochorus and Nicanor and Timon and Parmenas and Nicolaus, a proselyte from Antioch, and these they set before the apostles, who said a prayer and laid their hands on them.
And the word of God increased, and the number of disciples in Jerusalem grew greatly, and a great number of the priests submitted to the faith.
And Stephen, filled with grace and power, accomplished portentous things and miracles among the people. But some people from the synagogue which is called that of the freedmen, and some of the Cyreneans and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, set themselves up against Stephen and disputed with him, but they were not able to stand up against the wisdom and spirit with which he spoke. Then they suborned certain men, who said: We have heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God. And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they set upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, and they set up false witnesses who said: This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and the law, for we have heard him say that Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses handed down to us. And all who were sitting in the council stared at him and saw his face, which was like the face of an angel.
iThen the high priest said: Is this so? He replied: Men, my brothers and fathers, listen. The God of glory appeared to our forefather Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Harran; and God said to him: Go out from your own country and your own people and come here to a country which I will show you. Then he left the country of the Chaldeans and settled in Harran. And from there, after his father died, God moved him to this land where you now live; and he did not give him any property in it, not one foot of land; but he promised to give it into his possession and to his seed after him. He had then no child. And God spoke to him thus, saying that his descendants would be alien in the land of others, and these would enslave them and afflict them for four hundred years. And I, he said, will judge that nation whom they will serve as slaves, and after that they will go from it and serve me in this place. And he gave him the covenant of the circumcision; and thus Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day, as did Isaac to Jacob and Jacob to the twelve patriarchs.