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In ye former treatise O Theophilus, we haue spoke of all that Iesus began to do and teache,
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Untyll the day in which he was take vp, after that he through the holy ghost, had geuen commaundementes vnto the Apostles, whom he had chosen,
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To whom also he shewed hym selfe alyue after his passion, and that by manye tokens, appearyng vnto them fourtie dayes, and speaking of the kingdome of God,
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And gatheryng them together, commaunded them that they shoulde not depart from Hierusalem, but wayte for the promise of the father, wherof [saith he] ye haue hearde of me.
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For Iohn truely baptized with water, but ye shalbe baptized with the holy ghost, after these fewe dayes.
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When they therfore were come together, they asked of hym, saying: Lorde, wylt thou at this tyme restore agayne the kyngdome to Israel?
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And he sayde vnto them: It is not for you to knowe the tymes, or the seasons, which the father hath put in his owne power.
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But ye shall receaue power, after that the holy ghost is come vpon you: And ye shalbe witnesses vnto me, both in Hierusalem, and in al Iurie, & in Samarie, and euen vnto the worldes ende.
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And when he had spoken these thynges, whyle they behelde, he was taken vp an hye, and a cloude receaued hym vp out of their syght.
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And while they loked stedfastly vp towarde heaue, as he went, beholde, two men stoode by them in whyte apparell,
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Which also sayde: Ye men of Galilee, why stande ye gasyng vp into heauen?
This same Iesus, which is taken vp from you into heauen, shall so come, euen as ye haue seene hym go into heauen.
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Then returned they vnto Hierusalem, from the mount that is called Oliuete, which is from Hierusalem a Sabboth dayes iourney.
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And when they were come in, they went vp into a parlour, where abode both Peter, and Iames, and Iohn, and Andrewe, Philip and Thomas, Barthelmewe and Matthewe, Iames the sonne of Alpheus, & Simo Zelotes, and Iudas the brother of Iames.
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These all continued with one accorde in prayer and supplication with the women, and Marie the mother of Iesus, and with his brethren.
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And in those dayes, Peter stoode vp in the middes of the disciples, and said (The number of names together, were about an hundred and twentie)
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Ye men and brethren, this scripture must needes haue ben fulfylled, which the holy ghost by the mouth of Dauid spake before of Iudas, which was guide to them that toke Iesus:
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For he was numbred with vs, & had obteyned felowship in this ministerie.
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And the same hath nowe purchased a fielde, with the rewarde of iniquitie?
And when he was hanged, he burst a sunder in the middes, & all his bowels gusshed out.
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And it is knowen vnto all the dwellers at Hierusalem, in so much that the same fielde is called in their mother tongue, Aceldema, that is to saye, the blood fielde.
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For it is written in ye booke of psalmes: Let his habitation be desert, and no man be dwellyng therein: And his bishopricke let another take.
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Wherfore, of these men which haue companyed with vs, all the tyme that the Lorde Iesus went in and out among vs,
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Begynnyng from the baptisme of Iohn, vnto that same day that he was take vp from vs, must one be ordeyned, to be a witnesse with vs of his resurrection.
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And they appoynted two, Ioseph which is called Barsabas, whose sirname was Iustus, and Matthias.
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And they prayed, saying: Thou Lord which knowest the heartes of all men, shewe whether of these two thou haste chosen,
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That he may take the rowme of this ministerie and Apostleship, from which Iudas by transgression fell, that he myght go to his owne place.
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And they gaue foorth their lottes, & the lot fell vpon Matthias, and he was counted with the eleuen Apostles.