threw him out of the city, and stoned him. The witnesses left their cloaks in the care of a young man named Saul.

And when your witness Stephen was put to death, I myself was there, approving of his murder and taking care of the cloaks of his murderers.'

When the members of the Council heard this, they were so furious that they wanted to have the apostles put to death.

They called the apostles in, had them whipped, and ordered them never again to speak in the name of Jesus; and then they set them free.

As the members of the Council listened to Stephen, they became furious and ground their teeth at him in anger.

So a pupil should be satisfied to become like his teacher, and a slave like his master. If the head of the family is called Beelzebul, the members of the family will be called even worse names!

What I am telling you in the dark you must repeat in broad daylight, and what you have heard in private you must announce from the housetops.

while others grabbed the servants, beat them, and killed them.

And so I tell you that I will send you prophets and wise men and teachers; you will kill some of them, crucify others, and whip others in the synagogues and chase them from town to town.

For this reason the Wisdom of God said, 'I will send them prophets and messengers; they will kill some of them and persecute others.'

So the people of this time will be punished for the murder of all the prophets killed since the creation of the world,

Remember what I told you: 'Slaves are not greater than their master.' If people persecuted me, they will persecute you too; if they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours too.

You will be expelled from the synagogues, and the time will come when those who kill you will think that by doing this they are serving God.

praising God, and enjoying the good will of all the people. And every day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved.

He is the one who was with the people of Israel assembled in the desert; he was there with our ancestors and with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and he received God's living messages to pass on to us.

The news about this reached the church in Jerusalem, so they sent Barnabas to Antioch.

In the church at Antioch there were some prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon (called the Black), Lucius (from Cyrene), Manaen (who had been brought up with Governor Herod ), and Saul.

The believers who were scattered went everywhere, preaching the message.

Some of the believers who were scattered by the persecution which took place when Stephen was killed went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, telling the message to Jews only.

The Lord's power was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

"You are like salt for the whole human race. But if salt loses its saltiness, there is no way to make it salty again. It has become worthless, so it is thrown out and people trample on it.

I want you to know, my friends, that the things that have happened to me have really helped the progress of the gospel.

The apostles in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had received the word of God, so they sent Peter and John to them.

But when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be filled with power, and you will be witnesses for me in Jerusalem, in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

Many of the Samaritans in that town believed in Jesus because the woman had said, "He told me everything I have ever done."

Many more believed because of his message,

They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.

"Go and stand in the Temple, and tell the people all about this new life."

When the members of the Council heard this, they were so furious that they wanted to have the apostles put to death.

They called the apostles in, had them whipped, and ordered them never again to speak in the name of Jesus; and then they set them free.

He said to Moses, "Get out of my sight! Don't let me ever see you again! On the day I do, you will die!"

"You are right," Moses answered. "You will never see me again."

I sent messengers to say to them, "I am doing important work and can't go down there. I am not going to let the work stop just to go and see you."

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered, "Your Majesty, we will not try to defend ourselves.

But even if he doesn't, Your Majesty may be sure that we will not worship your god, and we will not bow down to the gold statue that you have set up."

When Daniel learned that the order had been signed, he went home. In an upstairs room of his house there were windows that faced toward Jerusalem. There, just as he had always done, he knelt down at the open windows and prayed to God three times a day.

The king was overjoyed and gave orders for Daniel to be pulled up out of the pit. So they pulled him up and saw that he had not been hurt at all, for he trusted God.

It was faith that made Moses leave Egypt without being afraid of the king's anger. As though he saw the invisible God, he refused to turn back.