Study Desk

The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.

So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables.

For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us."

God spoke to him in this way: ‘For four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated.

After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five in all.

Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money.

"As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had greatly increased.

"At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. For three months he was cared for by his family.

"Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.

He led them out of Egypt and performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the wilderness.

"This is the Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your own people.'

They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt—we don't know what has happened to him!'

who enjoyed God's favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.

But it was Solomon who built a house for him.

"‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord. Or where will my resting place be?

Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him.

For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.

Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great,

They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery.

When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit,