Acts — Legacy Standard Bible

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

1The first account, O ^aTheophilus, I ¹composed, about all that Jesus ^bbegan to do and teach, ²until the day when He ^awas taken up to heaven, after He ^bhad ¹by the Holy Spirit given orders to ^cthe apostles whom He had ^dchosen, ³to whom ^aHe also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over forty days and speaking about ^bthe things concerning the kingdom of God. ⁴And ¹gathering them together, He commanded them ^anot to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the ^bpromise of the Father, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; ⁵for ¹^,^aJohn baptized with water, but you will be baptized ²with the Holy Spirit ³^,^bnot many days from now.”

⁶So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, ^ais it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” ⁷But He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which ^athe Father has set by His own authority; ⁸but you will receive power ^awhen the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be ^bMy witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and ^cSamaria, and even to ¹^,^dthe end of the earth.”

The Ascension

⁹And after He had said these things, ^aHe was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. ¹⁰And as they were gazing intently into ¹the sky while He was going, behold, ^atwo men in white clothing stood beside them. ¹¹They also said, “^aMen of Galilee, why do you stand looking toward heaven? This Jesus, who ^bhas been taken up from you into heaven, will ^ccome in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”

Matthias Chosen to Replace Judas

¹²Then they ^areturned to Jerusalem from the ¹^,^bmount called ²Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a ³Sabbath day’s journey away. ¹³And when they had entered the city, they went up to ^athe upper room where they were staying; ^bthat is, Peter and John and ¹James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and ^cJudas the ²son of James. ¹⁴These all with one accord ^awere continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with ^bthe women, and Mary the ^cmother of Jesus, and His ^dbrothers.

¹⁵And in those days, Peter stood up in the midst of ^athe brothers (a crowd of about 120 ¹persons was there together), and said, ¹⁶“Men, brothers, ^athe Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, ^bwho became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. ¹⁷“For he was ^acounted among us and received his share in ^bthis ministry.” ¹⁸(Now this man ^aacquired a field with ^bthe price of his unrighteousness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out. ¹⁹And it became known to all who were living in Jerusalem; so that in ^atheir own language that field was called Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) ²⁰“For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘^aLet his residence be made desolate,And let no one dwell in it’; and,‘^bLet another man take his ¹office.’

²¹“Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that ^athe Lord Jesus went in and out ¹among us— ²²^abeginning ¹with the baptism of John until the day that He ^bwas taken up from us—one of these must become a ^cwitness with us of His resurrection.” ²³And they put forward two men, Joseph called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus), and ^aMatthias. ²⁴And they ^aprayed and said, “You, Lord, ^bwho know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two You have chosen ²⁵to take the place of ^athis ministry and ^bapostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” ²⁶And they ¹^,^acast lots for them, and the lot fell ²to ^bMatthias; and he was ³added to ^cthe eleven apostles.

The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost

2And when ^athe day of Pentecost ¹had fully come, they were all together in one place. ²And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing ^awind, and it filled ^bthe whole house where they were sitting. ³And there appeared to them tongues like fire ¹^,^adistributing themselves, and ²they ³rested on each one of them. ⁴And they were all ^afilled with the Holy Spirit and began to ^bspeak with other ¹tongues, as the Spirit was giving them ²utterance.

⁵Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, ^adevout men from every nation under heaven. ⁶And when ^athis sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own ¹language. ⁷^aSo they were astounded and marveling, saying, “Behold, are not all these who are speaking ^bGalileans? ⁸“And how is it that we each hear them in our own ¹language in which we were born? ⁹“Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and ^aCappadocia, ^bPontus and ¹^,^cAsia, ¹⁰^aPhrygia and ^bPamphylia, Egypt and the district of Libya around ^cCyrene, and ¹^,^dvisitors from Rome, both Jews and ²^,^eproselytes, ¹¹Cretans and Arabs—we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.” ¹²And ^athey all continued in astonishment and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” ¹³But others, mocking, were saying, “^aThey are full of new wine.”

Peter’s Sermon at Pentecost

¹⁴But Peter, ¹taking his stand with ^athe eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words. ¹⁵“For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, ^afor it is the ¹third hour of the day; ¹⁶but this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

¹⁷‘^aAnd it shall be in the last days,’ God says,‘That I will pour out My Spirit on all ¹mankind;And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,And your young men shall see visions,And your old men shall dream dreams;¹⁸Even on My male slaves and female slaves,I will in those days pour out My SpiritAnd they shall prophesy.¹⁹‘And I will put wonders in the sky aboveAnd signs on the earth below,Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke.²⁰‘The sun will be turned into darknessAnd the moon into blood,Before the great and awesome day of the ¹Lord comes.²¹‘And it will be that ^aeveryone who calls on the name of the ¹Lord will be saved.’

²²“Men of Israel, listen to these words: ^aJesus the Nazarene, ^ba man ¹attested to you by God with ²miracles and ^cwonders and ³signs which God did through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know— ²³this Man, delivered over by the ^apredetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, ^byou nailed to a cross by the hands of lawless men and put Him to death. ²⁴“¹But ^aGod raised Him up again, putting an end to the ²agony of death, since it ^bwas impossible for Him to be held ³in its power. ²⁵“For David says of Him, ‘^aI saw the ¹Lord continually before me;Because He is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken.

²⁶‘Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue exulted;Moreover my flesh also will live in hope;²⁷Because You will not forsake my soul to ^aHades,^bNor give Your ¹Holy One over to see corruption.²⁸‘You have made known to me the ways of life;You will make me full of gladness with Your presence.’

²⁹“Men, brothers, I may confidently say to you regarding the ^apatriarch David that he both ^bdied and ^cwas buried, and ^dhis tomb is ¹with us to this day. ³⁰“And so, because he was ^aa prophet and knew that ^bGod had sworn to him with an oath to set one of the fruit ¹of his body on his throne, ³¹he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the ¹Christ, that ^aHe was neither forsaken to Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. ³²“This Jesus ^aGod raised up again, to which we are all ^bwitnesses. ³³“Therefore having been exalted ¹^,^ato the right hand of God, and ^bhaving received from the Father ^cthe promise of the Holy Spirit, He has ^dpoured out this which you both see and hear. ³⁴“For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says: ‘^aThe ¹Lord said to my Lord,“Sit at My right hand,

³⁵Until I put Your enemies as a footstool for Your feet.”’

³⁶“Therefore let all the ^ahouse of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both ^bLord and ¹Christ—this Jesus ^cwhom you crucified.”

About Three Thousand Souls Saved

³⁷Now when they heard this, they were ¹pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men, brothers, ^awhat should we do?” ³⁸And Peter said to them, “^aRepent, and each of you be ^bbaptized in the name of Jesus Christ ¹for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹“For ^athe promise is for you and your children and for all who are ^bfar off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” ⁴⁰And with many other words he solemnly ^abore witness and kept on exhorting them, saying, “¹Be saved from this ^bcrooked generation!” ⁴¹So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand ^asouls. ⁴²And they were ^acontinually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to ^bthe breaking of bread and ^cto the prayers.

⁴³And fear came upon every soul; and many ^awonders and ¹signs were taking place through the apostles. ⁴⁴And all those who had believed ¹were together and ^ahad all things in common; ⁴⁵and they ^abegan selling their property and possessions and were ^bdividing them up with all, as anyone might have need. ⁴⁶^aAnd daily devoting themselves with one accord in the temple and ^bbreaking bread ¹from house to house, they were taking their ²meals together with gladness and ³sincerity of heart, ⁴⁷praising God and ^ahaving favor with all the people. And the Lord ^bwas adding ¹to their number daily ^cthose who were being saved.

The Lame Beggar Healed

3Now ^aPeter and John were going up to the temple at the ¹ninth hour, ^bthe hour of prayer. ²And ^aa man who had been lame from his mother’s womb was being carried, whom they ^bused to set down daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, ^cin order to beg ¹alms of those who were entering the temple. ³When he saw ^aPeter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms. ⁴But when Peter, along with John, ^afixed his gaze on him, he said, “Look at us!” ⁵And he began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. ⁶But Peter said, “I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: ^aIn the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene—walk!” ⁷And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened. ⁸^aAnd leaping up, he stood upright and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. ⁹And ^aall the people saw him walking and praising God; ¹⁰and they were recognizing him, that he was the one who used to ^asit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg alms, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Peter’s Sermon in Solomon’s Portico

¹¹And while he was clinging to ^aPeter and John, all the people ran together to them at the ¹^,^bportico called Solomon’s, full of wonder. ¹²But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this, or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk? ¹³“^aThe God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, ^bthe God of our fathers, has glorified His ^cServant Jesus, whom ^dyou delivered and denied in the presence of ^ePilate, when he had ^fdecided to release Him. ¹⁴“But you denied ^athe Holy and Righteous One and ^basked for a murderer to be granted to you, ¹⁵but put to death the ^aAuthor of life, whom ^bGod raised from the dead, a fact to which we are ^cwitnesses. ¹⁶“And on the basis of faith ^ain His name, it is ¹the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which is through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.

¹⁷“And now, brothers, I know that you acted ^ain ignorance, just as your ^brulers did also. ¹⁸“But the things which ^aGod announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, ^bthat His ¹Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. ¹⁹“Therefore ^arepent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that ¹^,^btimes of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; ²⁰and that He may send Jesus, the ¹Christ appointed for you, ²¹^awhom heaven must receive until the ¹period of ^brestoration of all things about which ^cGod spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. ²²“Moses said, ‘^aThe ¹Lord God will raise up for you a prophet ²like me from your brothers; to Him you shall listen to everything He says to you. ²³‘^aAnd it will be that every ^bsoul that does not heed that prophet ^cshall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ ²⁴“And likewise, ^aall the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also proclaimed these days. ²⁵“It is you who are ^athe sons of the prophets and of the ^bcovenant which God ¹made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘^cAnd in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ ²⁶“For you ^afirst, God ^braised up His ¹Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”

Peter and John Arrested

4Now as they were speaking to the people, the priests and ^athe captain of the temple guard and ^bthe Sadducees ^ccame up to them, ²being greatly agitated because they were teaching the people and proclaiming ¹^,^ain Jesus the resurrection from the dead. ³And they laid hands on them and ^aput them in jail until the next day, for it was already evening. ⁴But many of those who had heard the ¹message believed, and ^athe number of the men came to be about five thousand.

⁵Now it happened that on the next day, their ^arulers and elders and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem; ⁶and ^aAnnas the high priest was there, and ^bCaiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of high-priestly descent. ⁷And when they had placed them in their midst, they began to inquire, “By what power, or in what name, have you done this?” ⁸Then Peter, ¹^,^afilled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “²^,^bRulers and elders of the people, ⁹if we are ¹being examined today for ^aa good deed done to a sick man, ²as to how this man has been ³saved from his sickness, ¹⁰let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that ¹^,^aby the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom ^bGod raised from the dead—²by ³this name this man stands here before you in good health. ¹¹“¹^,^aHe is the ^bstone which was ^crejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief corner stone. ¹²“And there is salvation in ^ano one else, for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

Peter and John Threatened and Released

¹³Now as they observed the ^aconfidence of ^bPeter and John and comprehended that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were marveling, and ^cbegan to recognize them ¹as having been with Jesus. ¹⁴And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in reply. ¹⁵But when they had ordered them to leave the ¹^,^aSanhedrin, they began to confer with one another, ¹⁶saying, “^aWhat should we do with these men? For the fact that a ^bnoteworthy ¹sign has happened through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. ¹⁷“But lest it spread any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no longer to any man ^ain this name.” ¹⁸And when they had summoned them, they ^acommanded them not to speak or teach at all ¹in the name of Jesus. ¹⁹But ^aPeter and John answered and said to them, “^bWhether it is right in the sight of God to hear you rather than God, you be the judge; ²⁰for ^awe cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.” ²¹And when they had threatened them further, they let them go (finding no basis on which to punish them) ^aon account of the people, because they were all ^bglorifying God for what had happened; ²²for the man was more than forty years old on whom this sign of healing had occurred.

²³So when they were released, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. ²⁴And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said, “O Master, it is You who ^amade the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that is in them, ²⁵who ^aby the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Your servant, said, ‘^bWhy did the ¹Gentiles rage,And the peoples devise vain things?

²⁶‘^aThe kings of the earth ¹took their stand,And the rulers were gathered togetherAgainst the Lord and against His ²^,^bChrist.’

²⁷“For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy ¹^,^aServant Jesus, whom You anointed, both ^bHerod and ^cPontius Pilate, along with ^dthe ²Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, ²⁸to do whatever Your hand and ^aYour purpose predestined to occur. ²⁹“And ¹now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your slaves may ^aspeak Your word with all ^bconfidence, ³⁰while You extend Your hand to heal, and ¹^,^asigns and wonders happen through the name of Your holy ²^,^bServant Jesus.” ³¹And when they had prayed earnestly, the ^aplace where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all ^bfilled with the Holy Spirit and began to ^cspeak the word of God with ^dconfidence.

Distribution Among Needy Believers

³²And the ¹congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and not one was saying that any of his possessions was his own, but, for them, ^aeverything was common. ³³And ^awith great power the apostles were bearing ^bwitness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. ³⁴For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses ^awould sell them and bring the ¹proceeds of the sales ³⁵and ^alay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be ^bdistributed to each as any had need.

³⁶Now Joseph, a Levite of ^aCyprian birth, who was also called ^bBarnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of ¹^,^cEncouragement), ³⁷and who owned a field, sold it and brought the money and ^alaid it at the apostles’ feet.

Ananias and Sapphira

5But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, ²and ^akept back some of the price for himself, with his wife’s ¹full knowledge. And bringing a portion of it, he ^blaid it at the apostles’ feet. ³But Peter said, “Ananias, why has ^aSatan filled your heart to lie ^bto the Holy Spirit and to ^ckeep back some of the price of the land? ⁴“While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not ¹under your authority? Why is it that you laid this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but ^ato God.” ⁵And as he heard these words, Ananias ^afell down and breathed his last; and ^bgreat fear came over all who heard. ⁶And the young men rose up and ^awrapped him up, and after carrying him out, they buried him.

⁷Now there was an interval of about three hours, and his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. ⁸And Peter responded to her, “Tell me whether you were paid ^athis much for the land?” And she said, “Yes, that much.” ⁹Then Peter said to her, “Why is it that you have agreed together to ^aput ^bthe Spirit of the ¹Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out as well.” ¹⁰And immediately she ^afell at his feet and breathed her last, and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. ¹¹And ^agreat fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard these things.

¹²Now ¹at the hands of the apostles many ^asigns and wonders were happening among the people, and they were all with one accord in ^bSolomon’s Portico. ¹³But none of the rest dared to associate with them; however, ^athe people were holding them in high esteem. ¹⁴And more than ever ^abelievers in the Lord were ^badded to their number, multitudes of men and women, ¹⁵to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, so that when Peter came by ^aat least his shadow might fall on any one of them. ¹⁶Also the multitude from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick ¹or afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed.

The Apostles Jailed and Freed

¹⁷But the high priest rose up and those with him (that is ^athe sect of ^bthe Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy. ¹⁸And they laid hands on the apostles and ^aput them in a public jail. ¹⁹But during the night ^aan angel of the ¹Lord opened the doors of the prison, and taking them out, he said, ²⁰“Go, stand and ¹speak to the people in the temple ²^,^athe whole message of this Life.” ²¹Upon hearing this, they entered into the temple ^aabout daybreak and began to teach. Now when ^bthe high priest and those with him came, they called ^cthe Sanhedrin together, even all the Council of the sons of Israel, and sent orders to the jailhouse for them to be brought. ²²But ^athe officers who came did not find them in the prison, and they returned and reported back, ²³saying, “We found the jailhouse locked quite securely and the guards standing at the doors, but we opened it and found no one inside.” ²⁴Now when ^athe captain of the temple guard and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them as to what ¹would come of this. ²⁵But someone came and reported to them, “The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!” ²⁶Then ^athe captain went along with ^bthe officers and proceeded to bring them back without violence (for ^cthey were afraid of the people, that they might be stoned).

²⁷And when they had brought them, they stood them ¹before ^athe Sanhedrin. And the high priest questioned them, ²⁸saying, “We ^astrictly commanded you not to continue teaching in this name, and ¹yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and ^bintend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” ²⁹But Peter and the apostles answered and said, “^aWe must obey God rather than men. ³⁰“^aThe God of our fathers ^braised up Jesus, ¹whom you ^cput to death by hanging Him on a tree. ³¹“^aThis One God exalted ¹to His right hand as ²a ^bLeader and a ^cSavior, to grant ^drepentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. ³²“And we are ^awitnesses ¹of these things, and ^bso is the Holy Spirit, whom God gave to those who obey Him.”

Gamaliel’s Counsel

³³But when they heard this, they became ^afurious and intended to kill them. ³⁴But a Pharisee named ^aGamaliel, a ^bteacher of the Law, respected by all the people, stood up in ^cthe Sanhedrin and gave orders to put the men outside for a short time. ³⁵And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you propose to do with these men. ³⁶“For some time ago Theudas rose up, ^aclaiming to be somebody, and a group of about four hundred men joined up with him. ¹But he was killed, and all who ²were following him were dispersed and came to nothing. ³⁷“After this man, Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of ^athe census and drew away people after him. He too perished, and all those who ¹were following him were scattered. ³⁸“So in the present case, I also say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or ¹action ^ais of men, it will be overthrown; ³⁹but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or you may even be found ^afighting against God.”

⁴⁰So they ¹followed his advice. And after calling the apostles in and ^abeating them, they commanded them not to ²speak in the name of Jesus, and then released them. ⁴¹So they went on their way from the presence of the ^aSanhedrin, ^brejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame ^cfor the Name. ⁴²^aAnd every day, in the temple and ¹from house to house, they did not cease teaching and ^bproclaiming the good news that Jesus is the ²Christ.

Selection of the Seven

6Now in those days, while the ^adisciples were ^bmultiplying in number, there was grumbling from the ¹^,^cHellenists against the ^dHebrews, because their ^ewidows were being overlooked in ^fthe daily serving of food. ²So the twelve summoned the ¹congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not pleasing to God for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. ³“Therefore, ^abrothers, select from among you seven men of good reputation, ^bfull of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this need. ⁴“But we will ^adevote ourselves to prayer and to the service of the word.” ⁵And this word pleased the whole ¹congregation, and they chose ^aStephen, a man ^bfull of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and ^cPhilip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a ²^,^dproselyte from ^eAntioch. ⁶And these they stood before the apostles, and after ^apraying, they ^blaid their hands on them.

⁷^aAnd the word of God kept on spreading, and ^bthe number of the disciples continued to multiply greatly in Jerusalem, and a great ¹many of the priests were becoming obedient to ^cthe faith.

Stephen Accused of Blasphemy

⁸And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great ^awonders and ¹signs among the people. ⁹But some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including both ^aCyrenians and ^bAlexandrians, and some from ^cCilicia and ¹^,^dAsia, rose up and were arguing with Stephen. ¹⁰But they were unable to oppose the wisdom and the Spirit by whom he was speaking. ¹¹Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” ¹²And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, and they ^acame up to him, dragged him away, and brought him to ^bthe Sanhedrin. ¹³And they put forward ^afalse witnesses who said, “This man never ceases speaking words against this ^bholy place and the Law; ¹⁴for we have heard him say that ^athis Jesus the Nazarene will destroy this place and alter ^bthe customs which Moses handed down to us.” ¹⁵And fixing their gaze on him, all who were sitting in the ^aSanhedrin saw his face like the face of an angel.

Stephen’s Defense

7And the high priest said, “Are these things so?”

²And he said, “Hear me, ^abrothers and fathers! ^bThe God of glory ^cappeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in ¹Haran, ³and said to him, ‘^aLeave your country and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.’ ⁴“^aThen he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in ¹Haran. ^bFrom there, after his father died, God had him move to this country in which you are now living. ⁵“But He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground, and ^aHe promised that He would give it to him as a possession, and to his seed after him, even when he had no child. ⁶“But ^aGod spoke in this way, that his seed would be sojourners in a foreign land, and that they would ¹be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years. ⁷“‘And I Myself will judge the nation to which they will be enslaved,’ said God, ‘and ^aafter that they will come out and ¹serve Me in this place.’ ⁸“And He ^agave him ¹the covenant of circumcision; and so ^bAbraham was the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and ^cIsaac was the father of Jacob, and ^dJacob of the twelve ^epatriarchs.

⁹“And the patriarchs, ^abecoming jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt. Yet God was with him, ¹⁰and rescued him from all his afflictions, and ^agranted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he appointed him governor over Egypt and all his household.

¹¹“Now ^aa famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction with it, and our fathers ¹could find no food. ¹²“But ^awhen Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time. ¹³“And on the second visit ^aJoseph ¹made himself known to his brothers, and ^bJoseph’s family was disclosed to Pharaoh. ¹⁴“Then ^aJoseph sent word and invited Jacob his father and all his relatives to come to him, ^bseventy-five ¹^,^cpersons in all. ¹⁵“And ^aJacob went down to Egypt and there he and our fathers died. ¹⁶“And from there they were removed to ¹^,^aShechem and placed in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of ²Hamor in ³Shechem.

¹⁷“But as the ^atime of the promise was drawing near which God had assured to Abraham, ^bthe people increased and multiplied in Egypt, ¹⁸until ^aanother king arose over Egypt who did not know about Joseph. ¹⁹“It was he who ^adeceitfully took advantage of our family and mistreated our fathers to ¹^,^bset their infants outside so that they would not survive. ²⁰“It was at this time that ^aMoses was born, and he was lovely ¹in the sight of God, and he was nurtured three months in his father’s home. ²¹“And after he had been set outside, ^aPharaoh’s daughter ¹took him away and nurtured him as her own son. ²²“And Moses was educated in all ^athe wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was powerful in words and deeds. ²³“But when he was approaching the age of forty, ^ait entered his heart to visit his brothers, the sons of Israel. ²⁴“And when he saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended him and took justice for the oppressed by striking down the Egyptian. ²⁵“And he supposed that his brothers understood that God was granting them salvation ¹through him, but they did not understand. ²⁶“^aOn the following day he appeared to them as they were fighting together, and he tried to reconcile them in peace, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers, why are you treating one another unjustly?’ ²⁷“But the one who was treating his neighbor unjustly pushed him away, saying, ‘^aWho made you a ruler and judge over us? ²⁸‘^aDo you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ ²⁹“At this remark, ^aMoses fled and became a sojourner in the land of ¹Midian, where he ^bwas the father of two sons.

³⁰“And after forty years had passed, ^aan angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush. ³¹“When Moses saw it, he was marveling at the sight; and as he approached to look more closely, there came the voice of the ¹Lord: ³²‘^aI am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and would not dare to look. ³³“^aBut the ¹Lord said to him, ‘^bRemove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. ³⁴‘^aI have surely seen the oppression of My people in Egypt and have heard their groans, and I have come down to deliver them; ¹^,^bcome now, and I will send you to Egypt.’

³⁵“This Moses whom they ^adisowned, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one whom God ¹sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the ²help of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. ³⁶“^aThis man led them out, doing ^bwonders and ¹signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the ^cwilderness for forty years. ³⁷“This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘^aGod will raise up for you a prophet ¹like me from your brothers.’ ³⁸“This is the one who, in ^athe ¹congregation in the wilderness, was with ^bthe angel who was speaking to him on Mount Sinai and with our fathers; the one who received ^cliving ^doracles to pass on to you. ³⁹“Our fathers were unwilling to be obedient to him, but ^arejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt, ⁴⁰^asaying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us; for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt—we do not know what has become of him.’ ⁴¹“¹At that time ^athey made a ²calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in ^bthe works of their hands. ⁴²“But God ^aturned away and delivered them up to ¹serve the ²host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, ‘^bDid you present Me with slain beasts and sacrifices ^cforty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? ⁴³‘^aYou also took along the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of the god ¹Rompha, the images which you made to worship. I also will remove you beyond Babylon.’

⁴⁴“Our fathers had ^athe tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as He, who spoke to Moses, directed him to make it ^baccording to the pattern which he had seen. ⁴⁵“And having received it in their turn, our fathers ^abrought it in with ¹Joshua when they dispossessed the ²nations whom God drove out before our fathers, until the time of David. ⁴⁶“^aDavid found favor in the sight of God, and ^basked that he might find a dwelling place for the ¹God of Jacob. ⁴⁷“But ^aSolomon built a house for Him. ⁴⁸“However, ^athe Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands, as the prophet says:

⁴⁹‘^aHeaven is My throne,And earth is the footstool of My feet.What kind of house will you build for Me?’ says the Lord,‘Or what place is there for My rest?⁵⁰‘^aWas it not My hand which made all these things?’

⁵¹“You men—^astiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears—are always resisting the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. ⁵²“^aAnd which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of ^bthe Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers ^cyou have now become; ⁵³you who received the Law as ^aordained by angels, and yet did not observe it.”

Stephen Is Stoned to Death

⁵⁴Now when they heard this, they became ^afurious in their hearts, and they began gnashing their teeth at him. ⁵⁵But being ^afull of the Holy Spirit, he ^bgazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing ^cat the right hand of God; ⁵⁶and he said, “Behold, I see the ^aheavens opened up and ^bthe Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” ⁵⁷But crying out with a loud voice, they covered their ears and rushed at him with one accord. ⁵⁸And when they had ^adriven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and ^bthe witnesses ^claid aside their garments at the feet of ^da young man named Saul. ⁵⁹They went on stoning Stephen as he ^awas calling out and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” ⁶⁰Then ^afalling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, ^bdo not hold this sin against them!” And having said this, he ¹^,^cfell asleep.

Saul Persecutes the Church

8^aNow Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death. And on that day a great persecution ¹began against ^bthe church in Jerusalem, and they were all ^cscattered throughout the regions of Judea and ^dSamaria, except the apostles. ²And some devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation over him. ³But ^aSaul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and ^bdragging off men and women, he was delivering them into prison.

Philip Preaches in Samaria

⁴Therefore, those ^awho had been scattered went about, ^bproclaiming the good news of the word. ⁵^aNow Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began preaching ¹Christ to them. ⁶And the crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was being said by Philip, as they heard and saw the ¹signs which he was doing. ⁷For in the case of many who had ^aunclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been ^bparalyzed and lame were healed. ⁸So there was ^agreat joy in that city.

⁹Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing ^amagic in the city and astounding the people of Samaria, ^bclaiming to be someone great; ¹⁰and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, “^aThis man is what is called the Great Power of God.” ¹¹And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astounded them with his ^amagic arts. ¹²But when they believed Philip ^aproclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being ^bbaptized, both men and women. ¹³Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed ^asigns and ^bgreat miracles taking place, he was constantly astounded.

¹⁴Now when ^athe apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them ^bPeter and John, ¹⁵who came down and prayed for them ^athat they might receive the Holy Spirit. ¹⁶For He had ^anot yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been ^bbaptized ¹in the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁷Then they ^abegan laying their hands on them, and they were ^breceiving the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸Now when Simon saw that the Spirit had been bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, ¹⁹saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” ²⁰But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you supposed you could ^aobtain the gift of God with money! ²¹“You have ^ano part or portion in this ¹matter, for your heart is not ^bright before God. ²²“Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray earnestly to the Lord that, ^aif possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. ²³“For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in ^athe ¹bondage of unrighteousness.” ²⁴But Simon answered and said, “^aPray earnestly to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

An Ethiopian Receives Christ

²⁵So, when they had solemnly ^aborne witness and spoken ^bthe word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were ^cproclaiming the gospel to many villages of the ^dSamaritans.

²⁶But ^aan angel of the ¹Lord spoke to ^bPhilip saying, “Rise up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to ^cGaza.” (²This is a desert road.) ²⁷So he rose up and went; and behold, ^athere was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he ^bhad come to Jerusalem to worship, ²⁸and he was returning and sitting in his ¹chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. ²⁹Then ^athe Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this ¹chariot.” ³⁰And Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” ³¹And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. ³²Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this: “^aAs a sheep is led to slaughter;And as a lamb before its shearer is silent,So He does not open His mouth.

³³“^aIn humiliation His judgment was taken away;Who will ¹recount His ²generation?For His life is removed from the earth.”

³⁴And the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you earnestly, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?” ³⁵Then Philip ^aopened his mouth, and ^bbeginning from this Scripture he ^cproclaimed the good news about Jesus to him. ³⁶And as they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch *said, “Look! Water! ^aWhat prevents me from being baptized?” ³⁷¹[And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”] ³⁸And he ordered the ¹chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. ³⁹When they came up out of the water, ^athe Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, and the eunuch no longer saw him, ¹but went on his way rejoicing. ⁴⁰But Philip ¹found himself at ²^,^aAzotus, and as he passed through he ^bkept proclaiming the gospel to all the cities until he came to ^cCaesarea.

The Conversion of Saul

9^aNow ¹Saul, still ^bbreathing ²threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, ²and asked for ^aletters from him to ^bthe synagogues at ^cDamascus, so that if he found any belonging to ^dthe Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. ³And as he was traveling, it happened that when he was approaching Damascus, ^asuddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; ⁴and ^afalling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” ⁵And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, ⁶but rise up and enter the city, and ^ait will be told you what you must do.” ⁷And the men who traveled with him ^astood speechless, ^bhearing the ¹voice but seeing no one. ⁸And Saul got up from the ground, and ^athough his eyes were open, he ¹could see nothing. Leading him by the hand, they brought him into ^bDamascus. ⁹And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

¹⁰Now there was a disciple at ^aDamascus named ^bAnanias, and the Lord said to him in ^ca vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” ¹¹And the Lord said to him, “Rise up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from ^aTarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, ¹²and he has seen ¹in a vision a man named Ananias come in and ^alay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.” ¹³But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, ^ahow much harm he did to ^bYour ¹saints at Jerusalem. ¹⁴“And here he ^ahas authority from the chief priests to bind all who ^bcall on Your name.” ¹⁵But the Lord said to him, “Go, for ^ahe is a chosen ¹instrument of Mine, to bear My name before ^bthe Gentiles and ^ckings and the sons of Israel; ¹⁶for ^aI will show him how much he must suffer for My name.” ¹⁷So Ananias departed and entered the house. And he ^alaid his hands on him and said, “^bBrother Saul, the Lord sent me—that is Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming—so that you may regain your sight and be ^cfilled with the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁸And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he rose up and was baptized; ¹⁹and he took food and was strengthened.

Saul Begins to Preach Christ

Now ^afor several days he was with ^bthe disciples who were at Damascus, ²⁰and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus ^ain the synagogues, ¹saying, “He is ^bthe Son of God.” ²¹And all those hearing him continued to be astounded, and were saying, “Is this not the one who in Jerusalem ^adestroyed those that ^bcalled on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?” ²²But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this One is the ¹Christ.

²³And when ^amany days had elapsed, ^bthe Jews plotted together to put him to death, ²⁴but ^atheir plot became known to Saul. ^bThey were also watching the gates day and night so that they might put him to death; ²⁵but his disciples took him by night and let him down through the wall, lowering him in a large basket.

²⁶^aAnd when he came to Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples, ¹but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. ²⁷But ^aBarnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and recounted to them how he had ^bseen the Lord on the road, and that He had talked to him, and how ^cat Damascus he had ^dspoken out boldly in the name of Jesus. ²⁸So he was with them, ¹moving about freely in Jerusalem, ^aspeaking out boldly in the name of the Lord. ²⁹And he was talking and arguing with the ¹^,^aHellenistic Jews, but they were attempting to put him to death. ³⁰But when ^athe brothers learned of it, they brought him down to ^bCaesarea and ^csent him away to ^dTarsus.

³¹So ^athe church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria was having peace, being built up. And going on in the fear of the Lord and in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it continued to multiply.

Peter Heals Aeneas

³²Now it happened that as Peter was traveling through all those regions, he came down also to ^athe ¹saints who lived at ²^,^bLydda. ³³And there he found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden eight years, for he was paralyzed. ³⁴And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Rise up and make your bed.” Immediately he rose up. ³⁵And all who lived at ¹^,^aLydda and ^bSharon saw him, and they ^cturned to the Lord.

Peter Raises Tabitha to Life

³⁶Now in ^aJoppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which translated is called ¹Dorcas). This woman was full of good works and charity which she continually did. ³⁷And it happened ¹at that time that she fell sick and died; and when they had washed her body, they laid it in an ^aupper room. ³⁸Now since Lydda was near ^aJoppa, ^bthe disciples, having heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him, pleading with him, “Do not delay in coming to us.” ³⁹So Peter arose and went with them. When he arrived, they brought him into the ^aupper room; and all the ^bwidows stood beside him, crying and showing all the ¹tunics and garments that Dorcas used to make while she was with them. ⁴⁰But Peter ^asent them all out and ^bknelt down and prayed, and turning to the body, he said, “^cTabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. ⁴¹And he gave her his hand and raised her up. And calling ^athe ¹saints and ^bwidows, he presented her alive. ⁴²And it became known all over ^aJoppa, and ^bmany believed in the Lord. ⁴³And it happened that he stayed many days in ^aJoppa with ^ba tanner named Simon.

Cornelius’ and Peter’s Visions

10Now there was a man at ^aCaesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was ^bcalled the Italian ¹cohort, ²a devout man and ^aone who feared God with all his household, and ^bgave many ¹alms to the people and prayed to God continually. ³About ^athe ¹ninth hour of the day he clearly saw ^bin a vision ^can angel of God who had come in and said to him, “Cornelius!” ⁴And ^alooking intently on him and becoming afraid, he said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and ¹alms ^bhave ascended ^cas a memorial before God. ⁵“Now send some men to ^aJoppa and summon a man named Simon, who is also called Peter; ⁶he is lodging with a tanner named ^aSimon, whose house is by the sea.” ⁷And when the angel who was speaking to him had left, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier of those who were his personal attendants, ⁸and after he explained everything to them, he sent them to ^aJoppa.

⁹And on the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, ^aPeter went up on ^bthe housetop about ^cthe ¹sixth hour to pray. ¹⁰But he became hungry and was desiring to eat. And while they were making preparations, he ^afell into a trance ¹¹and *saw ^aheaven opened up, and ¹an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, ¹²and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the ¹sky. ¹³And a voice came to him, “Rise up, Peter, ¹slaughter and eat!” ¹⁴But Peter said, “By no means, ^aLord, for ^bI have never eaten anything defiled and unclean.” ¹⁵Again a voice came to him a second time, “^aWhat God has cleansed, no longer consider defiled.” ¹⁶And this happened three times and immediately the ¹object was taken up into heaven.

¹⁷Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in ¹mind as to what ^athe vision which he had seen might be, behold, ^bthe men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions for Simon’s house, appeared at the gate; ¹⁸and calling out, they were asking whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was lodging there. ¹⁹And while Peter was reflecting on ^athe vision, ^bthe Spirit said to him, “Behold, ¹three men are looking for you. ²⁰“But rise up, go down and ^aaccompany them without taking issue at all, for I have sent them Myself.” ²¹And Peter went down to the men and said, “Behold, I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for which you have come?” ²²And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and ^aGod-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, ^bwas directed by a ^choly angel to summon you to his house and hear ¹^,^da message from you.” ²³So he invited them in and gave them lodging.

Peter at Caesarea

And on the next day he rose up and went away with them, and ^asome of ^bthe brothers from ^cJoppa went with him. ²⁴And on the following day he entered ^aCaesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close friends. ²⁵And when Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell at his feet and ¹^,^aworshiped him. ²⁶But Peter raised him up, saying, “^aStand up; I too am just a man.” ²⁷As he talked with him, he entered and *found ^amany people assembled. ²⁸And he said to them, “You yourselves know how ^aunlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet ^bGod has shown me that I should not call any man defiled or unclean. ²⁹“That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was summoned. So I ask for what reason you have summoned me.”

³⁰And Cornelius said, “^aFour days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during ^bthe ¹ninth hour; and behold, ^ca man stood before me in shining garments, ³¹and he *said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your ¹alms have been remembered before God. ³²‘Therefore send to ^aJoppa and invite Simon, who is also called Peter, to come to you; he is lodging at the house of Simon the tanner by the sea.’ ³³“So I sent for you immediately, and you have ¹been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to hear all that you have been ordered by the Lord.”

The Holy Spirit Poured Out on the Gentiles

³⁴^aAnd opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most truly comprehend now that ^bGod is not one to show partiality, ³⁵but ^ain every nation the one who ¹^,^bfears Him and does righteousness is welcome to Him. ³⁶“As for the word which He sent to the sons of Israel, ^aproclaiming the good news of ^bpeace through Jesus Christ—He is ^cLord of all— ³⁷you yourselves know the thing which happened throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed. ³⁸“¹You know of ^aJesus of Nazareth, how God ^banointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, ²^,^cand how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for ^dGod was with Him. ³⁹“And we are ^awitnesses of all the things He did both in the ¹land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also ^bput Him to death by hanging Him on a tree. ⁴⁰“^aGod raised Him up on the third day and granted that He appear, ⁴¹^anot to all the people, but to ^bwitnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us ^cwho ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. ⁴²“And He ^acommanded us to ¹preach to the people, and solemnly to ^bbear witness that this is the One who has been ^cdesignated by God as ^dJudge of the living and the dead. ⁴³“Of Him ^aall the prophets bear witness that through ^bHis name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”

⁴⁴While Peter was still speaking these things, ^athe Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the word. ⁴⁵^aAnd all the ¹circumcised believers who came with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been ^bpoured out on the Gentiles also. ⁴⁶For they were hearing them ^aspeaking with tongues and magnifying God. Then Peter answered, ⁴⁷“^aCan anyone refuse water for these to be baptized who ^bhave received the Holy Spirit just as we did?” ⁴⁸And he ^aordered them to be baptized ^bin the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for a few days.

Peter’s Report in Jerusalem

11Now the apostles and ^athe brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. ²And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, ¹^,^athose who were circumcised took issue with him, ³saying, “^aYou ¹went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” ⁴But Peter began speaking ¹and proceeded to explain to them ^ain orderly sequence, saying, ⁵“^aI was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw ^ba vision, ¹an object coming down like a great sheet lowered by four corners from heaven, and it came right down to me, ⁶and when looking closely at it, I was observing it and saw the four-footed animals of the earth and the wild beasts and the crawling creatures and the birds of the ¹sky. ⁷“And I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise up, Peter; ¹slaughter and eat.’ ⁸“But I said, ‘By no means, Lord, for nothing defiled or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ ⁹“But a voice from heaven answered a second time, ‘^aWhat God has cleansed, no longer consider defiled.’ ¹⁰“And this happened three times, and everything was drawn back up into heaven. ¹¹“And behold, immediately three men appeared at the house in which we were, having been sent to me from ^aCaesarea. ¹²“^aAnd the Spirit told me to go with them ¹^,^bwithout taking issue at all. ^cThese six brothers also went with me and we entered the man’s house. ¹³“And he reported to us how he had seen the angel ¹standing in his house, and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and summon Simon, who is also called Peter; ¹⁴and he will speak ^awords to you by which you will be saved, you and ^ball your household.’ ¹⁵“And as I began to speak, ^athe Holy Spirit fell upon them just ^bas He did upon us at the beginning. ¹⁶“And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘^aJohn baptized with water, but you will be baptized ¹with the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷“Therefore if ^aGod gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, ^bwho was I that I could prevent God’s way?” ¹⁸And when they heard this, they ¹quieted down and ^aglorified God, saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the ^brepentance that leads to life.”

The Church in Antioch

¹⁹^aSo then those who were scattered because of the ¹persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way ²to ^bPhoenicia and ^cCyprus and ^dAntioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone. ²⁰But there were some of them, men of ^aCyprus and ^bCyrene, who came to ^cAntioch and began speaking to the ¹^,^dGreeks also, ^eproclaiming the good news of the Lord Jesus. ²¹And ^athe hand of the Lord was with them, and ^ba large number who believed turned to the Lord. ²²Now the ¹news about them ²reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent ^aBarnabas off ³to ^bAntioch, ²³who, when he arrived and saw ^athe grace of God, rejoiced and began to encourage them all with a purposeful heart to remain true to the Lord; ²⁴for he was a good man, and ^afull of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a ^bconsiderable crowd was ¹brought to the Lord. ²⁵And he left for ^aTarsus to search for Saul; ²⁶and when he found him, he brought him to ^aAntioch. And it happened that for an entire year they ¹met with the church and taught a considerable crowd. And ^bthe disciples were first called ^cChristians in ^dAntioch.

²⁷Now in those days, ^asome prophets came down from Jerusalem to ^bAntioch. ²⁸And one of them named ^aAgabus stood up and indicated ¹by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine ^ball over the ²world. ³And this took place in the reign of ^cClaudius. ²⁹And as any of ^athe disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the service of ^bthe brothers living in Judea. ³⁰^aAnd this they did, sending it ¹in charge of ^bBarnabas and Saul to the ^celders.

An Angel Frees Peter from Prison

12Now about that time ¹Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church in order to harm them. ²And he ^ahad James the brother of John ^bput to death with a sword. ³And when he saw that it ^apleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. Now ¹it was during ^bthe days of Unleavened Bread. ⁴When he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him to four ¹^,^asquads of soldiers to guard him, intending after ^bthe Passover to bring him out before the people. ⁵So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.

⁶Now on ¹the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, ^abound with two chains, and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison. ⁷And behold, ^aan angel of the Lord suddenly ^bappeared and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter’s side and woke him up, saying, “Rise up quickly.” And ^chis chains fell off his hands. ⁸And the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and ¹put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he *said to him, “Wrap your garment around yourself and follow me.” ⁹And he went out and continued to follow, and he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but was thinking he was seeing ^aa vision. ¹⁰And when they had passed the first and second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which ^aopened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. ¹¹When Peter ^acame ¹to himself, he said, “Now truly I know that ^bthe Lord has sent His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all ²that the Jewish people were expecting.” ¹²And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of ^aJohn who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and ^bwere praying. ¹³And when he knocked at the door of the gate, ^aa servant-girl named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴And when she recognized Peter’s voice, ^abecause of her joy she did not open the gate. But she ran in and reported that Peter was standing in front of the gate. ¹⁵And they said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was so. They kept saying, “It is ^ahis angel.” ¹⁶But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened the door, they saw him and were astounded. ¹⁷But ^amotioning to them with his hand to be silent, he recounted to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, “Report these things to ^bJames and ^cthe brothers.” Then he left and went to another place.

¹⁸Now when day came, there was no small disturbance among the soldiers as to what ¹had become of Peter. ¹⁹And when Herod had searched for him and had not found him, he examined the guards and ordered that they ^abe led away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to ^bCaesarea and was spending time there.

The Death of Herod

²⁰Now he was very angry with the people of ^aTyre and Sidon; and with one accord they came to him, and having won over Blastus the king’s chamberlain, they were asking for peace, because ^btheir country was fed by the king’s country. ²¹And on an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal apparel and sitting on the judgment seat, began delivering an address to them. ²²And the assembly kept crying out, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” ²³And immediately ^aan angel of the ¹Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.

²⁴But ^athe word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied.

²⁵And ^aBarnabas and ^bSaul ¹returned ²to Jerusalem, ^cfulfilling their ministry, taking along with them ^dJohn, who was also called Mark.

Barnabas and Saul Sent from Antioch by the Holy Spirit

13Now there were at ^aAntioch, in the ^bchurch that was there, ^cprophets and ^dteachers: ^eBarnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of ^fCyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. ²And while they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, ^athe Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me ^bBarnabas and Saul for ^cthe work to which I have called them.” ³Then, when they had fasted and ^aprayed and ^blaid their hands on them, ^cthey sent them away.

On Cyprus

⁴So, being ^asent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to ^bCyprus. ⁵And when they reached Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in ^athe synagogues of the Jews, and they also had ^bJohn as their helper. ⁶And when they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a ^amagician, a Jewish ^bfalse prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus, ⁷who was with the ^aproconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. ⁸But Elymas the ^amagician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the ^bproconsul away from ^cthe faith. ⁹But Saul, who was also known as Paul, ¹^,^afilled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on him, ¹⁰and said, “You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you ^ason of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked ^bthe straight ways of the ¹Lord? ¹¹“Now, behold, ^athe hand of the ¹Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time.” And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand. ¹²Then the ^aproconsul believed when he saw what had happened, being astonished at ^bthe teaching of the Lord.

In Pisidian Antioch

¹³Now after Paul and his companions set sail from ^aPaphos, they came to ^bPerga in ^cPamphylia, but ^dJohn left them and returned to Jerusalem. ¹⁴But going on from Perga, they arrived at ^aPisidian ^bAntioch. And on ^cthe Sabbath day, they went into ^dthe synagogue and sat down. ¹⁵And after ^athe reading of the Law and ^bthe Prophets ^cthe synagogue officials sent to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it.” ¹⁶So Paul stood up, and ^amotioning with his hand said, “Men of Israel, and ^byou who fear God, listen: ¹⁷“The God of this people Israel ^achose our fathers and ¹^,^blifted up the people during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm ^cHe led them out from it. ¹⁸“And for ^aa period of about forty years ^bHe put up with them in the wilderness. ¹⁹“^aAnd when He destroyed ^bseven nations in the land of Canaan, He ^cdistributed their land as an inheritance—all of which took ^dabout 450 years. ²⁰“After these things He ^agave them judges until ^bSamuel the prophet. ²¹“Then they ^aasked for a king, and God gave them ^bSaul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. ²²“And after He had ^aremoved him, He raised up David to be their king, about whom He also said, bearing witness, ‘^bI have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My ¹will.’ ²³“^aFrom the seed of this man, ^baccording to promise, God has brought to Israel ^ca Savior, Jesus, ²⁴after ^aJohn had preached before ¹His coming a ^bbaptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. ²⁵“And as John ^awas fulfilling his course, ^bhe kept saying, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not He. But behold, one is coming after me of whom I am not worthy to untie the sandals of His feet.’

²⁶“Brothers, sons of Abraham’s family, and those among you who fear God, to us the word of ^athis salvation was sent. ²⁷“For those who live in Jerusalem, and their ^arulers, ^brecognizing neither Him nor the ¹utterances of ^cthe prophets which are ^dread every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning Him. ²⁸“And though they found no ground for death, they ^aasked Pilate that He be ¹executed. ²⁹“And when they had ^afinished all that was written concerning Him, ^bthey took Him down from ^cthe tree and ^dlaid Him in a tomb. ³⁰“But God ^araised Him from the dead; ³¹and for many days ^aHe appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now ^bHis witnesses to the people. ³²“And we ^aproclaim to you the good news of ^bthe promise made to the fathers, ³³that God has fulfilled this promise ¹to our children in that He ^araised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘^bYou are My Son; today I have begotten You.’ ³⁴“But that He ^araised Him up from the dead, no longer to return to corruption, He has spoken in this way: ‘^bI will give you the holy and ¹faithful lovingkindnesses of David.’ ³⁵“Therefore He also says in another Psalm, ‘^aYou will not give Your ¹Holy One over to see corruption.’ ³⁶“For ^aDavid, after he had ¹served ^bthe purpose of God in his own generation, ^cfell asleep and was laid among his fathers and saw corruption; ³⁷but He whom God ^araised did not see corruption. ³⁸“Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that ^athrough ¹Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, ³⁹and that in Him, ^aeveryone who believes is justified from all things which you could not be justified from ¹through the Law of Moses. ⁴⁰“Therefore watch out, so that the thing spoken of ^ain the Prophets may not come upon you:

⁴¹‘^aLook, you scoffers, and marvel, and ¹perish;For I am accomplishing a work in your days,A work which you will never believe, though someone should recount it to you.’”

⁴²And as ¹Paul and Barnabas were leaving, the people kept pleading that these words might be spoken to them the next ^aSabbath. ⁴³Now when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and of the ^aGod-fearing ¹^,^bproselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, were urging them to continue in ^cthe grace of God.

Many Gentiles Believe

⁴⁴And the next ^aSabbath, nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of ¹the ²Lord. ⁴⁵But when ^athe Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, ¹blaspheming. ⁴⁶Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you ^afirst. Since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, ^bwe are turning to the Gentiles. ⁴⁷“For so the ¹Lord has commanded us, ‘^aI have placed You as a ^blight for the Gentiles,That You may ²bring salvation to the end of the earth.’”

⁴⁸And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying ^athe word of ¹the ²Lord, and as many as ^bhad been appointed to eternal life believed. ⁴⁹And ^athe word of the ¹Lord was being spread through the whole region. ⁵⁰But ^athe Jews incited the ¹^,^bGod-fearing women ^cof prominence and the leading men of the city, and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their ²district. ⁵¹But ^ahaving shaken off the dust of their feet against them, they went to ^bIconium. ⁵²And the disciples were continually ^afilled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

In Iconium

14Now it happened that in ^aIconium ^bthey entered the synagogue of the Jews together and spoke in such a manner ^cthat a large number of people believed, both of Jews and of ^dGreeks. ²But ^athe ¹^,^bunbelieving Jews instigated and embittered the ²minds of the Gentiles against ^cthe brothers. ³Therefore they spent a long time there ^aspeaking boldly with reliance upon the Lord, who was testifying to the word of His grace, granting that ¹^,^bsigns and wonders be done through their hands. ⁴^aBut the multitude of the city was divided; and some ¹sided with ^bthe Jews, and some with ^cthe apostles. ⁵And when an attempt was made by both the Gentiles and ^athe Jews with their rulers to mistreat and to ^bstone them, ⁶they became aware of it and fled to the cities of ^aLycaonia, ^bLystra and ^cDerbe, and the surrounding region; ⁷and there they continued to ^aproclaim the gospel.

In Lystra and Derbe

⁸And at ^aLystra ^ba man was sitting who had no strength in his feet, lame from his mother’s womb, who had never walked. ⁹This man listened to Paul as he spoke, who, ^awhen he fixed his gaze on him and saw that he had ^bfaith to be ¹saved from being lame, ¹⁰said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” ^aAnd he leaped up and began to walk. ¹¹And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voice, saying in the ^aLycaonian language, “^bThe gods have become like men and have come down to us.” ¹²And they began calling Barnabas, ¹Zeus, and Paul, ²Hermes, because he was ³the chief speaker. ¹³And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was ¹just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and ^awas wanting to offer sacrifice with the crowds. ¹⁴But when ^athe apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they ^btore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out ¹⁵and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We are also ^amen of the same nature as you, ^bproclaiming the gospel to you that you should turn from these ¹^,^cvain things to a ^dliving God, ^ewho made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. ¹⁶“¹In the generations gone by He ^apermitted all the ²nations to ^bgo their own ways; ¹⁷and yet ^aHe did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and ^bgave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.” ¹⁸And saying these things, with difficulty they restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them.

¹⁹But ^aJews came from ^bAntioch and ^cIconium, and after winning over the crowds and ^dstoning Paul, they were dragging him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. ²⁰But while ^athe disciples stood around him, he rose up and entered the city. The next day he went away with Barnabas to ^bDerbe. ²¹And after they had ^aproclaimed the gospel to that city and had ^bmade many disciples, they returned to ^cLystra and to ^dIconium and to ^eAntioch, ²²strengthening the souls of ^athe disciples, encouraging them to continue in ^bthe faith, and saying, “^cThrough many afflictions we must enter the kingdom of God.” ²³And when ^athey had appointed ^belders for them in every church, having ^cprayed with fasting, they ^dcommended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

The Return to Antioch

²⁴And when they passed through ^aPisidia, they came into ^bPamphylia. ²⁵And when they had spoken the word in ^aPerga, they went down to Attalia. ²⁶And from there they sailed to ^aAntioch, from ^bwhere they had been ^ccommitted to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled. ²⁷And when they had arrived and gathered the church together, they began to ^areport all things that God had done with them and ¹how He had opened a ^bdoor of faith to the Gentiles. ²⁸And they spent not a little time with ^athe disciples.

The Jerusalem Council

15^aSome men came down from Judea and began teaching ^bthe brothers, “Unless you are ^ccircumcised according to ^dthe custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” ²And when Paul and Barnabas had not a little dissension and ^adebate with them, ^bthe brothers determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the ^capostles and elders concerning this issue. ³Therefore, being ^asent on their way by the church, they were passing through both ^bPhoenicia and Samaria, ^crecounting in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and were bringing great joy to all ^dthe brothers. ⁴When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the church and ^athe apostles and the elders, and they ^breported all that God had done with them. ⁵But some of ^athe sect of the ^bPharisees who had believed stood up, saying, “It is necessary to ^ccircumcise them and to command them to keep the Law of Moses.”

⁶^aBoth the apostles and the elders came together to ¹look into this ²matter. ⁷And after there had been much ^adebate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that ¹in the early days ^bGod made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of ^cthe gospel and believe. ⁸“And God, ^awho knows the heart, testified to them ^bgiving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; ⁹and ^aHe made no distinction between us and them, ^bcleansing their hearts by faith. ¹⁰“Now therefore why do you ^aput God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which ^bneither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? ¹¹“But we believe that we are saved through ^athe grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.”

¹²And all the multitude kept silent, and they were listening to Barnabas and Paul as they were ^arelating what ^bsigns and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.

James Issues a Judgment

¹³Now after they had stopped speaking, ^aJames answered, saying, “Brothers, listen to me. ¹⁴“^aSimeon has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name. ¹⁵“And with this the words of ^athe Prophets agree, just as it is written,

¹⁶‘^aAfter these things ^bI will return,And I will rebuild the ^cfallen ¹booth of David,And I will rebuild its ruins,And I will restore it,¹⁷^aSo that the rest of ¹mankind may seek the Lord,And all the Gentiles ²^,^bwho are called by My name,’¹⁸^aSays the ¹Lord, who ²^,^bmakes these things known from long ago.

¹⁹“Therefore ^aI judge that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, ²⁰but that we write to them that they abstain from ^athings contaminated by idols and from ^bsexual immorality and from ^cwhat is strangled and from blood. ²¹“For from ancient generations, ^aMoses has those who preach him in every city, since ¹he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

²²Then it seemed good to ^athe apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them—Judas called Barsabbas, and ^bSilas, leading men among ^cthe brothers—to send to ^dAntioch with Paul and Barnabas, ²³and they ¹sent this letter by them, “^aThe apostles and the brothers who are elders, to ^bthe brothers in ^cAntioch and ^dSyria and ^eCilicia who are from the Gentiles, ^fgreetings. ²⁴“Since we have heard that ^asome of us, to whom we gave no instruction, have gone out and ^bdisturbed you with their words, unsettling your souls, ²⁵^ait seemed good to us, having ¹come to one accord, to select men to send to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, ²⁶men who have ¹^,^arisked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁷“Therefore we have sent ^aJudas and ^bSilas, and they themselves will report the same things by word of mouth. ²⁸“For ^ait seemed good to ^bthe Holy Spirit and to ^cus to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials: ²⁹that you abstain from ^athings sacrificed to idols and from ^bblood and from ^cthings strangled and from ^dsexual immorality, from which if you keep yourselves, you will do well. Farewell.”

³⁰So when they were sent away, ^athey went down to Antioch; and having gathered the ¹congregation together, they delivered the letter. ³¹And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its ¹encouragement. ³²^aAnd both Judas and ^bSilas, also being ^cprophets themselves, ¹encouraged and strengthened ^dthe brothers with a lengthy message. ³³And after they had spent time there, they were sent away from the brothers ^ain peace to those who had ^bsent them. ³⁴¹[But it seemed good to Silas to remain there.] ³⁵But ^aPaul and Barnabas spent a long time in Antioch, teaching and ¹^,^bpreaching with many others also, ^cthe word of the Lord.

Disagreement Between Paul and Barnabas

³⁶Now after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in ^aevery city in which we proclaimed ^bthe word of the Lord, and see how they are.” ³⁷And Barnabas wanted to take ^aJohn, called Mark, along with them also. ³⁸But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had ^adeserted them ¹in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. ³⁹And there was such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took ^aMark with him and sailed away to ^bCyprus. ⁴⁰But Paul chose ^aSilas and left, being ^bcommitted by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. ⁴¹And he was traveling through ^aSyria and ^bCilicia, strengthening the churches.

Timothy Joins Paul and Silas

16Now Paul also arrived at ^aDerbe and at ^bLystra. And behold, a disciple was there, named ^cTimothy, the son of a ^dJewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek, ²and he was well spoken of by ^athe brothers who were in ^bLystra and ^cIconium. ³Paul wanted this man to ¹go with him, and he ^atook him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. ⁴Now while they were passing through the cities, they were delivering ^athe decrees which had been decided upon by ^bthe apostles and ^celders who were in Jerusalem, for them to keep. ⁵So ^athe churches were being strengthened ¹in the faith, and were ^babounding in number daily.

The Macedonian Vision

⁶And they passed through the ¹^,^aPhrygian and ^bGalatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in ²^,^cAsia; ⁷and after they came to ^aMysia, they were trying to go into ^bBithynia, and the ^cSpirit of Jesus did not permit them; ⁸and passing by ^aMysia, they came down to ^bTroas. ⁹^aAnd a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of ^bMacedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” ¹⁰And when he had seen ^athe vision, immediately ^bwe sought to ¹go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to ^cproclaim the gospel to them.

Lydia’s Conversion in Philippi

¹¹So setting sail from ^aTroas, we ran ^ba straight course to Samothrace, and on the day following to Neapolis; ¹²and from there to ^aPhilippi, which is a leading city of the district of ^bMacedonia, ^ca Roman colony; and we were staying in this city for some days. ¹³And on ^athe Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were supposing that there would be a place of prayer; and sitting down, we began speaking to the women who had assembled. ¹⁴And a woman named Lydia, from the city of ^aThyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, ^ba worshiper of God, was listening, whose heart the Lord ^copened to pay attention to the things spoken by Paul. ¹⁵And when she and ^aher household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.

Paul and Silas in Prison

¹⁶Now it happened that as we were going to ^athe place of prayer, a servant-girl having ^ba spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling. ¹⁷Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, “These men are slaves of ^athe Most High God, who are proclaiming to you ¹the way of salvation.” ¹⁸And she continued doing this for many days. But being greatly annoyed, Paul turned and said to the spirit, “I command you ^ain the name of Jesus Christ to leave her!” And it left at that very ¹moment.

¹⁹But when her masters saw that their hope of ^aprofit had left, they seized ^bPaul and Silas and ^cdragged them into the marketplace before the authorities, ²⁰and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, “These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews, ²¹and ^aare proclaiming customs that are not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being ^bRomans.” ²²And the crowd joined together to attack them, and the chief magistrates, tearing their garments off of them, proceeded to order them to be ^abeaten with rods. ²³And when they had inflicted them with many wounds, they threw them into prison, commanding ^athe jailer to guard them securely, ²⁴who, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in ^athe ¹stocks.

The Philippian Jailer Converted

²⁵But about midnight ^aPaul and Silas were praying and ^bsinging hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶And suddenly ^athere came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the jailhouse were shaken; and immediately ^ball the doors were opened and everyone’s ^cchains were unfastened. ²⁷And when ^athe jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about ^bto kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” ²⁹And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before ^aPaul and Silas, ³⁰and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, ^awhat must I do to be saved?” ³¹And they said, “^aBelieve in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and ^byour house.” ³²And they spoke the word of ¹the Lord to him together with all who were in his household. ³³And he took them ^athat very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. ³⁴And he brought them into his house and set ¹food before them, and rejoiced ²greatly with ^ahis whole household, because he had believed in God.

³⁵Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their policemen, saying, “Release those men.” ³⁶And ^athe jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The chief magistrates have sent to release you. Therefore come out now and go ^bin peace.” ³⁷But Paul said to them, “Having beaten us in public without trial, ^amen who are Romans, they have thrown us into prison. And now are they sending us away secretly? No indeed! But let them come themselves and bring us out.” ³⁸And the policemen reported these words to the chief magistrates. ^aThey were afraid when they heard that they were Romans, ³⁹and they came and appealed to them, and when they had brought them out, they kept requesting them ^ato leave the city. ⁴⁰And they went out of the prison and entered the house of ^aLydia, and when they saw ^bthe brothers, they ¹encouraged them and left.

Paul and Silas in Thessalonica

17Now when they had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to ^aThessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. ²And ^aaccording to Paul’s custom, he went to them, and for three ^bSabbaths reasoned with them from ^cthe Scriptures, ³¹explaining and setting before them that the ²Christ ^ahad to suffer and ^brise again from the dead, and saying, “^cThis Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is that ³Christ.” ⁴^aAnd some of them were persuaded and joined ^bPaul and Silas, ¹along with a great multitude of the ^cGod-fearing ^dGreeks and not a few of the ^eleading women. ⁵But ^athe Jews, becoming jealous, taking along some wicked men from the marketplace, and forming a mob, set the city in an uproar. And attacking the house of ^bJason, they were seeking to bring them out to the assembly. ⁶And when they did not find them, they began ^adragging Jason and some brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have upset ¹^,^bthe world have come here also; ⁷¹and Jason ^ahas welcomed them, and they all act ^bcontrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” ⁸And they disturbed the crowd and the city authorities who heard these things. ⁹And when they had received the bond from ^aJason and the others, they released them.

In Berea

¹⁰^aAnd the brothers immediately sent ^bPaul and Silas away by night to ^cBerea, ¹and when they arrived, they went into ^dthe synagogue of the Jews. ¹¹Now these were more noble-minded than those in ^aThessalonica, ¹for they received the word with ²great eagerness, ³examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. ¹²Therefore ^amany of them believed, along with not a few ^bprominent Greek ^cwomen and men. ¹³But when the Jews of ^aThessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in ^bBerea also, they came there as well, shaking up and disturbing the crowds. ¹⁴Then immediately ^athe brothers sent Paul out to go as far as the sea; and ^bSilas and ^cTimothy remained there. ¹⁵Now ^athose who escorted Paul brought him as far as ^bAthens; and after receiving a command for ^cSilas and Timothy to ^dcome to him as soon as possible, they left.

In Athens

¹⁶Now while Paul was waiting for them at ^aAthens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols. ¹⁷So he was reasoning ^ain the synagogue with the Jews and ^bthe God-fearing Gentiles, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be present. ¹⁸And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were ¹conversing with him. Some were saying, “What would ^athis ²idle babbler wish to say?” Others, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,”—because he was proclaiming the good news of ^bJesus and the resurrection. ¹⁹And they ^atook him and brought him ¹to the ²^,^bAreopagus, saying, “May we know what ^cthis new teaching is ³which you are speaking? ²⁰“For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. So we want to know what these things mean.” ²¹(Now all the Athenians and the strangers ^avisiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something newer.)

²²So Paul stood in the midst of the ¹Areopagus and said, “Men of ^aAthens, I observe that you are very ^breligious in all respects. ²³“For while I was passing through and examining the ^aobjects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what ^byou worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. ²⁴“^aThe God who made the world and all things in it, since He is ^bLord of heaven and earth, does not ^cdwell in temples made with hands; ²⁵nor is He served by human hands, ^aas though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; ²⁶and ^aHe made from one man every nation of mankind to inhabit all the face of the earth, having ^bdetermined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, ²⁷that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, ^athough He is not far from each one of us; ²⁸for ^ain Him we live and move and ¹exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His offspring.’ ²⁹“Being then the offspring of God, we ^aought not to suppose that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the craft and thought of man. ³⁰“Therefore having ^aoverlooked ^bthe times of ignorance, God is ^cnow commanding men that everyone everywhere should repent, ³¹because He has fixed ^aa day in which ^bHe will judge ¹^,^cthe world in righteousness ²through a Man whom He ^ddetermined, having furnished proof to all ³by ^eraising Him from the dead.”

³²Now when they heard about ^athe resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer, but others said, “We shall hear you ¹again concerning this.” ³³In this way, Paul went out of their midst. ³⁴But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the ^aAreopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.

In Corinth

18After these things he departed ^aAthens and went to ^bCorinth. ²And he found a Jew named ^aAquila, a native of ^bPontus, and his wife ^cPriscilla, who recently came from ^dItaly because ^eClaudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome. He came to them, ³and because he was of the same trade, he was staying with them and ^athey were working, for by trade they were tent-makers. ⁴And he was reasoning ^ain the synagogue every ^bSabbath and trying to persuade both ^cJews and Greeks.

⁵But when ^aSilas and Timothy ^bcame down from ^cMacedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly ^dbearing witness to the Jews that ^eJesus is the ¹Christ. ⁶But when they resisted and blasphemed, he ^ashook out his garments and said to them, “Your ^bblood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go ^cto the Gentiles.” ⁷Then he left there and went to the house of a man named ¹Titius Justus, a ^aGod-fearer, whose house was next to the synagogue. ⁸^aAnd Crispus, ^bthe leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord ^cwith all his household, and many of the ^dCorinthians when they heard were believing and being baptized. ⁹And the Lord said to Paul in the night by ^aa vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent; ¹⁰for I am with you, and no man will lay a hand on you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.” ¹¹And he stayed there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

¹²But while Gallio was ^aproconsul of ^bAchaia, ^cthe Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him before ^dthe judgment seat, ¹³saying, “This man persuades men to worship God contrary to ^athe law.” ¹⁴But when Paul was about to ^aopen his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you; ¹⁵but if there are ^aquestions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves; I am not willing to be a judge of these matters.” ¹⁶And he drove them away from ^athe judgment seat. ¹⁷And they all took hold of ^aSosthenes, ^bthe leader of the synagogue, and began beating him in front of ^cthe judgment seat. But Gallio was not concerned about any of these things.

Priscilla, Aquila, and Apollos

¹⁸And Paul, having remained many days longer, ^atook leave of ^bthe brothers and put out to sea for ^cSyria, and with him were ^dPriscilla and ^eAquila. In ^fCenchreae ¹he ^ghad his hair cut, for he was keeping a vow. ¹⁹And they arrived at ^aEphesus, and he left them there. Now he himself entered ^bthe synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. ²⁰When they asked him to stay for a longer time, he did not consent, ²¹but ^ataking leave of them and saying, “I will return to you again ^bif God wills,” he set sail from ^cEphesus.

²²And when he had landed at ^aCaesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and went down to ^bAntioch. ²³And having spent some time there, he left and passed successively through the ^aGalatian region and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

²⁴Now a Jew named ^aApollos, an ^bAlexandrian by birth, ¹an eloquent man, arrived at ^cEphesus; and he was mighty in the Scriptures. ²⁵This man had been instructed in ^athe way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus, being acquainted only with ^bthe baptism of John; ²⁶and ¹he began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when ^aPriscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him ^bthe way of God more accurately. ²⁷And when he wanted to go across to ^aAchaia, ^bthe brothers encouraged him and wrote to ^cthe disciples to welcome him; and when he had arrived, he greatly ¹helped those who had believed through grace, ²⁸for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating ^aby the Scriptures that ^bJesus is the ¹Christ.

Paul in Ephesus

19Now it happened that while ^aApollos was at ^bCorinth, Paul passed through the ^cupper regions and came to ^dEphesus and found some disciples. ²And he said to them, “^aDid you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “No, ^bwe have not even heard if the Holy Spirit is being received.” ³And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “^aInto John’s baptism.” ⁴Then Paul said, “^aJohn baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people ^bto believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” ⁵And when they heard this, they were ^abaptized ¹in the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶And when Paul had ^alaid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began ^bspeaking with tongues and ^cprophesying. ⁷Now there were in all about twelve men.

⁸And after he entered ^athe synagogue, he continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them ^babout the kingdom of God. ⁹But when ^asome were becoming hardened and were not believing, speaking evil of ^bthe Way before the multitude, he left them and took away ^cthe disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. ¹⁰This took place for ^atwo years, so that all who lived in ¹^,^bAsia heard ^cthe word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

Miracles in Ephesus

¹¹And God was doing ^aextraordinary ¹miracles by the hands of Paul, ¹²^aso that cloths or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and ^bthe evil spirits went out. ¹³But also some of the Jewish ^aexorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to invoke over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “I implore you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.” ¹⁴Now seven sons of one named Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. ¹⁵And the evil spirit answered and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” ¹⁶And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them, subdued all of them, and utterly prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. ¹⁷And this became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived in ^aEphesus; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified. ¹⁸Also, many of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. ¹⁹And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and were burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand ¹^,^apieces of silver. ²⁰So ¹^,^athe word of the Lord ^bwas growing mightily and prevailing.

Riots in Ephesus

²¹Now after these things were finished, Paul purposed in the ¹Spirit to ^ago to Jerusalem ^bafter he had passed through ^cMacedonia and ^dAchaia, saying, “After I have been there, ^eI must also see Rome.” ²²And having sent into ^aMacedonia two of ^bthose who ministered to him, ^cTimothy and ^dErastus, he himself stayed in ¹^,^eAsia for a while.

²³Now about that time there occurred no small disturbance concerning ^athe Way. ²⁴For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of ¹Artemis, ^awas bringing no little ²business to the craftsmen; ²⁵these he gathered together with the workers of similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that our prosperity is from this business. ²⁶“And you see and hear that not only in ^aEphesus, but in almost all of ^bAsia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable crowd, saying that ^cthings made with hands are not gods. ²⁷“And not only is there danger that this trade of ours fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess ¹Artemis be considered as worthless and that she, whom all of ^aAsia and ^bthe ²world worship, is even about to be brought down from her majesty.”

²⁸When they heard this and were filled with rage, they began crying out, saying, “Great is ¹Artemis of the ^aEphesians!” ²⁹And the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed ¹with one accord into the theater, dragging along ^aGaius and ^bAristarchus, Paul’s traveling ^ccompanions from ^dMacedonia. ³⁰And when Paul wanted to go into the ¹assembly, ^athe disciples would not let him. ³¹Also some of the ¹Asiarchs who were friends of his sent to him and repeatedly urged him not to ²venture into the theater. ³²^aSo then, some were shouting one thing and some another, for the ¹meeting was in confusion and the majority did not know ²for what reason they had come together. ³³And some of the crowd ¹concluded it was Alexander, since the Jews had put him forward; and having ^amotioned with his hand, Alexander was intending to make a defense to the ²assembly. ³⁴But when they recognized that he was a Jew, a single cry arose from them all as they shouted for about two hours, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” ³⁵Now after calming the crowd, the city clerk *said, “Men of ^aEphesus, what man is there after all who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of the image which fell down from heaven? ³⁶“So, since these are undeniable facts, you ought to keep calm and to do nothing rash. ³⁷“For you have brought these men here who are neither ^arobbers of temples nor blasphemers of our goddess. ³⁸“So then, if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are in session and ¹^,^aproconsuls are available; let them bring charges against one another. ³⁹“But if you want anything beyond this, it shall be settled in the ¹lawful meeting. ⁴⁰“For indeed we are in danger of being accused of a riot in connection with today’s events, since there is no cause for which we can give as an account for this disorderly gathering.” ⁴¹After saying this he dismissed the meeting.

Through Macedonia and Greece

20Now after the uproar had ceased, Paul having summoned and exhorted ^athe disciples, said farewell and left ^bto go to ^cMacedonia. ²And when he had gone through those districts and had given them much exhortation, he came to Greece. ³And there he spent three months, and when ^aa plot was formed against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for ^bSyria, he decided to return through ^cMacedonia. ⁴And he was accompanied by Sopater of ^aBerea, the son of Pyrrhus, and by ^bAristarchus and Secundus of the ^cThessalonians, and ^dGaius of ^eDerbe, and ^fTimothy, and ^gTychicus and Trophimus of ¹Asia. ⁵But these had gone on ahead and were waiting for ^aus at ^bTroas. ⁶^aAnd we sailed from ^bPhilippi after ^cthe days of Unleavened Bread, and came to them at ^dTroas within five days; and there we stayed seven days.

Eutychus Raised from the Dead in Troas

⁷And on ^athe first day of the week, when ^bwe were gathered together to ^cbreak bread, Paul began speaking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his ¹message until midnight. ⁸Now there were many ^alamps in the ^bupper room where we were gathered together. ⁹And there was a young man named ¹Eutychus sitting on the windowsill, sinking into a deep sleep. And as Paul kept on talking, he sunk into that sleep and fell down from the third floor and was picked up dead. ¹⁰But Paul went down and ^afell upon him, and after embracing him, he ^bsaid, “¹Do not be troubled, for his life is in him.” ¹¹And when he had gone back up and had ^abroken the bread and ¹eaten, he talked with them a long while until daybreak, and then left. ¹²And they took away the boy alive, and were not a little comforted.

Paul’s Farewell to the Ephesian Elders

¹³But ^awe, going ahead to the ship, set sail for Assos, intending from there to take Paul on board; for so he had arranged it, intending himself to go ¹by land. ¹⁴And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and came to Mitylene. ¹⁵And sailing from there, we arrived the following day opposite Chios; and the next day we crossed over to Samos; and the day following we came to ^aMiletus. ¹⁶For Paul had decided to sail past ^aEphesus so that he would not have to spend time in ¹^,^bAsia; for he was hurrying ^cto be in Jerusalem, if possible, ^don the day of Pentecost.

¹⁷Now from Miletus he sent to ^aEphesus and called to him ^bthe elders of the church. ¹⁸And when they had come to him, he said to them, “You yourselves know, ^afrom the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, ¹⁹serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me ¹through ^athe plots of the Jews; ²⁰how I ^adid not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and ¹from house to house, ²¹solemnly ^atestifying to both Jews and Greeks about ^brepentance toward God and ^cfaith in our Lord Jesus Christ. ²²“And now, behold, bound by the ¹Spirit, ^aI am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, ²³except that ^athe Holy Spirit solemnly ^btestifies to me in every city, saying that ^cchains and afflictions await me. ²⁴“But ^aI do not make my life of any account nor dear to myself, so that I may ^bfinish my course and ^cthe ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to ^dtestify solemnly of the gospel of ^ethe grace of God.

²⁵“And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about ^apreaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face. ²⁶“Therefore, I ¹testify to you this day that ^aI am ²innocent of the blood of all. ²⁷“For I ^adid not shrink from declaring to you the whole ^bpurpose of God. ²⁸“Be on guard for yourselves and for all ^athe flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you ¹overseers, to shepherd ^bthe church of God which ^cHe ²purchased ³with His own blood. ²⁹“I know that after my departure ^asavage wolves will come in among you, not sparing ^bthe flock; ³⁰and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away ^athe disciples after them. ³¹“Therefore be watchful, remembering that night and day for a period of ^athree years I did not cease to admonish each one ^bwith tears. ³²“And now I ^acommend you to God and to ^bthe word of His grace, which is able to ^cbuild you up and to give you ^dthe inheritance among all those who have been sanctified. ³³“^aI have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes. ³⁴“You yourselves know that ^athese hands ministered to my own needs and to those ^bwho were with me. ³⁵“In everything I showed you that by laboring in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

³⁶And when he had said these things, he ^aknelt down and prayed with them all. ³⁷And ¹they began to weep aloud and ^afalling on Paul’s neck, they were kissing him, ³⁸being in agony especially over ^athe word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they were ^baccompanying him to the ship.

Paul Sets Out for Jerusalem

21Now when ^awe had parted from them and had set sail, we came by ^ba straight course to Cos and the next day to Rhodes and from there to Patara; ²and having found a ship crossing over to ^aPhoenicia, we went aboard and set sail. ³And when we came in sight of ^aCyprus, leaving it on the left, we kept sailing to ^bSyria and landed at ^cTyre; for there the ship was to unload its cargo. ⁴And after looking up ^athe disciples, we stayed there seven days; and they kept telling Paul ^bthrough the Spirit not to set foot in Jerusalem. ⁵And when ¹our days there were ended, we left and started on our journey, while they all, with wives and children, ^aescorted us until we were out of the city. After ^bkneeling down on the beach and praying, we said farewell to one another. ⁶Then we went on board the ship, and they returned ^ahome again.

⁷And when we had finished the voyage from ^aTyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and after greeting ^bthe brothers, we stayed with them for a day. ⁸And on the next day we left and came to ^aCaesarea, and entering the house of ^bPhilip the ^cevangelist, who was ^done of the seven, we stayed with him. ⁹Now this man had four virgin daughters who ^aprophesied. ¹⁰And as we were staying there for some days, a prophet named ^aAgabus came down from Judea. ¹¹And coming to us, he ^atook Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands, and said, “This ^bis what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews at Jerusalem will ^cbind the man who owns this belt and ^ddeliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’” ¹²And when we had heard this, we as well as the local residents began begging him ^anot to go up to Jerusalem. ¹³Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, crying and breaking my heart? For ^aI am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for ^bthe name of the Lord Jesus.” ¹⁴And since he would not be persuaded, we fell silent, saying, “^aThe will of the Lord be done!”

¹⁵Now after these days we got ready and ^astarted on our way up to Jerusalem. ¹⁶And some of ^athe disciples from ^bCaesarea also came with us, taking us to Mnason of ^cCyprus, an ^dearly disciple with whom we were to lodge.

In Jerusalem

¹⁷And after we arrived in Jerusalem, ^athe brothers welcomed us gladly. ¹⁸And the following day Paul went in with us to ^aJames, and all ^bthe elders were present. ¹⁹And after he had greeted them, he ^abegan to relate one by one the things which God did among the Gentiles through his ^bministry. ²⁰And when they heard it they began ^aglorifying God; and they said to him, “You see, brother, how many ¹thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all ^bzealous for the Law; ²¹and they have been told about you, that you are ^ateaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them ^bnot to circumcise their children nor to ¹walk according to ^cthe customs. ²²“What, then, is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. ²³“Therefore do this that we tell you. We have four men who ¹^,^aare under a vow; ²⁴take them and ^apurify yourself along with them, and ¹pay their expenses so that they may ^bshave their ²heads. Then all will know that there is nothing to the things which they have been told about you, but that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the Law. ²⁵“But concerning the Gentiles who have believed, we wrote, ^ahaving decided that they should keep from ¹meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from sexual immorality.” ²⁶Then Paul ¹took the men, and the next day, ^apurifying himself along with them, ^bwent into the temple giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the sacrifice was offered for each one of them.

Paul Is Arrested

²⁷Now when ^athe seven days were almost over, ^bthe Jews from ¹^,^cAsia, upon noticing him in the temple, began to throw all the crowd into confusion and laid hands on him, ²⁸crying out, “Men of Israel, help! ^aThis is the man who teaches to everyone everywhere against our people and the Law and this place; and besides, he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has ^bdefiled this holy place.” ²⁹For they had previously seen ^aTrophimus the ^bEphesian in the city with him, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. ³⁰Then all the city was stirred, and ¹the people rushed together, and taking hold of Paul they ^adragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut. ³¹While they were seeking to kill him, a report came up to the ¹commander of the ^aRoman ²cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. ³²At once he ^atook along soldiers and centurions and ran down to them; and when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. ³³Then the commander came up and took hold of him, and ordered him to be ^abound with ^btwo chains; and he began asking who he was and what he had done. ³⁴But among the crowd ^asome were shouting one thing and some another, and when he could not find out the ¹facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into ^bthe barracks. ³⁵And when he got to ^athe stairs, he actually was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd; ³⁶for the multitude of the people kept following them, shouting, “^aAway with him!”

Paul’s Defense Before the Jews

³⁷As Paul was about to be brought into ^athe barracks, he said to the commander, “May I say something to you?” And he *said, “Do you know Greek? ³⁸“Then you are not ^athe Egyptian who some ¹time ago raised a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out ^binto the wilderness?” ³⁹But Paul said, “^aI am a Jew of Tarsus in ^bCilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city; and I beg you, allow me to speak to the people.” ⁴⁰And when he had given him permission, Paul, standing on ^athe stairs, ^bmotioned to the people with his hand; and when there ¹was a great hush, he spoke to them in the ^cHebrew language, saying,

22“^aMen, brothers, and fathers, hear my defense which I now offer to you.”

²And when they heard that he was addressing them in the ^aHebrew language, they became even quieter; and he *said,

³“^aI am ^ba Jew, born in ^cTarsus of ^dCilicia, but having been brought up in this city, having been instructed at the feet of ^eGamaliel according to the ^fstrictness of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as you all are today, ⁴^aI persecuted this ^bWay to the death, binding and delivering both men and women into prisons, ⁵as also ^athe high priest and all ^bthe Council of the elders ¹can testify. From them I also ^creceived letters to ^dthe brothers, and started off for ^eDamascus in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem ²as prisoners to be punished.

⁶“^aBut it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me, ⁷and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ ⁸“And I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am ^aJesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’ ⁹“And those who were with me ^abeheld the light, to be sure, but ^bdid not ¹understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me. ¹⁰“And I said, ‘^aWhat should I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told of all that has been determined for you to do.’ ¹¹“But since I ^acould not see because of the glory of that light, being led by the hand by those who were with me, I came into Damascus.

¹²“Now a certain ^aAnanias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law, and ^bwell spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, ¹³came to me, and standing near, said to me, ‘^aBrother Saul, regain your sight!’ And ¹^,^bat that very hour I regained my sight and saw him. ¹⁴“And he said, ‘^aThe God of our fathers has ^bappointed you to know His will and to ^csee the ^dRighteous One and to hear a ¹voice from His mouth. ¹⁵‘For you will be ^aa witness for Him to all men of ^bwhat you have seen and heard. ¹⁶‘Now why do you delay? ^aRise up and be baptized, and ^bwash away your sins, ^ccalling on His name.’

¹⁷“Now it happened when I ^areturned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I ^bfell into a trance, ¹⁸and I saw Him saying to me, ‘^aHurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your witness about Me.’ ¹⁹“And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another ^aI used to imprison and ^bbeat those who believed in You. ²⁰‘And ^awhen the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing by approving, and guarding the garments of those who were slaying him.’ ²¹“And He said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away ^ato the Gentiles.’”

Paul, a Citizen of Rome

²²And they were listening to him up to this statement, and then they raised their voices and said, “^aAway with such a fellow from the earth, for ^bhe should not be allowed to live!” ²³And as they were crying out and ^athrowing off their garments and ^btossing dust into the air, ²⁴the ¹commander ordered him to be brought into ^athe barracks, stating that he should be ^bexamined by flogging so that he might find out the reason why they were shouting against him that way. ²⁵But when they stretched him out ¹with leather straps, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it ²lawful for you to flog ^aa man who is a Roman and uncondemned?” ²⁶And when the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported to him, saying, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman.” ²⁷And the commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” And he said, “Yes.” ²⁸And the commander answered, “I acquired this citizenship with a large sum of money.” And Paul said, “But I have been born a citizen.” ²⁹Therefore those who were about to ^aexamine him immediately withdrew from him; and the commander also ^bwas afraid when he learned that he was a Roman, and because he had ^cbound him.

Paul Before the Sanhedrin

³⁰But on the next day, ^awishing to know for certain why he had been accused by the Jews, he ^breleased him and ordered the chief priests and all ^cthe Sanhedrin to come together, and brought Paul down and set him before them.

23Now Paul, looking intently at ^athe Sanhedrin, said, “^bBrothers, ^cI have ¹lived my life in all good conscience before God up to this day.” ²And the high priest ^aAnanias commanded those standing beside him ^bto strike him on the mouth. ³Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, ^ayou whitewashed wall! Do you ^bsit to try me according to the Law, and in violation of the Law order me to be struck?” ⁴But those standing nearby said, “Do you revile the high priest of God?” ⁵And Paul said, “I was not aware, brothers, that he was high priest; for it is written, ‘^aYou shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”

⁶But knowing that one group were ^aSadducees and the other Pharisees, Paul began crying out in ^bthe Sanhedrin, “^cBrothers, ^dI am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for ^ethe hope and resurrection of the dead!” ⁷As he said this, there was dissension between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. ⁸For ^athe Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. ⁹And there occurred a great outcry; and some of ^athe scribes of the Pharisaic party stood up and began to argue heatedly, saying, “^bWe find nothing wrong with this man. ^cSuppose a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” ¹⁰And as a great dissension was developing, because the ¹commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them, he ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force, and bring him into ^athe barracks.

¹¹But on ^athat very night, the Lord stood at his side and said, “^bTake courage; for ^cas you have ^dsolemnly borne witness to My cause at Jerusalem, so you must bear witness at Rome also.”

A Plot to Kill Paul

¹²Now when it was day, ^athe Jews formed a ¹conspiracy and ^bbound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. ¹³And there were more than forty who formed this scheme. ¹⁴They came to the chief priests and the elders and said, “We have ^abound ourselves under a curse to taste nothing until we have killed Paul. ¹⁵“So now you, along with ^athe Sanhedrin, notify the commander to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his case more carefully; and we for our part are ready to slay him before he comes near.”

¹⁶But when the son of Paul’s sister heard of their ambush, ¹he came and entered ^athe barracks and reported it to Paul. ¹⁷And Paul called one of the centurions to him and said, “Lead this young man to the commander, for he has something to report to him.” ¹⁸So he took him and led him to the ¹commander and *said, “Paul ^athe prisoner called me to him and asked me to lead this young man to you since he has something to tell you.” ¹⁹And the ¹commander took him by the hand and stepping aside, began to inquire of him privately, “What is it that you have to report to me?” ²⁰And he said, “^aThe Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down tomorrow to ^bthe Sanhedrin, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more carefully about him. ²¹“So do not be persuaded by them, for more than forty of them—who have ^abound themselves under a curse not to eat or drink until they slay him—are ^blying in wait for him and now they are ready and waiting for the promise from you.” ²²So the commander let the young man go, instructing him, “Tell no one that you have notified me of these things.”

Paul Is Brought to Caesarea

²³And when he called to him two of the centurions, he said, “Make ready two hundred soldiers, ¹seventy horsemen, and two hundred ²spearmen to proceed to ^aCaesarea by the ³third hour of the night, ²⁴and provide mounts to put Paul on and bring him safely to ^aFelix the governor.” ²⁵And he wrote a letter having this form:

²⁶“Claudius Lysias, to the ^amost excellent governor Felix, ^bgreetings.

²⁷“When this man was arrested by the Jews and was about to be slain by them, ^aI came up to them with the troops and rescued him, ^bhaving learned that he was a Roman. ²⁸“And ^awanting to ascertain the charge for which they were accusing him, I ^bbrought him down to their ^cSanhedrin; ²⁹and I found him to be accused over ^aquestions about their Law, but ¹under ^bno accusation deserving death or ²imprisonment.

³⁰“And when I was ^ainformed that there would be ^ba plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, also instructing ^chis accusers to speak against him before you.”

³¹So the soldiers, according to their orders, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. ³²But the next day, leaving ^athe horsemen to go on with him, they returned to ^bthe barracks. ³³When these had come to ^aCaesarea and delivered the letter to ^bthe governor, they also presented Paul to him. ³⁴And when he had read it, he asked from what ^aprovince he was, and when he learned that ^bhe was from Cilicia, ³⁵he said, “I will give you a hearing after your ^aaccusers arrive also,” giving orders for him to be ^bkept in Herod’s ¹Praetorium.

Paul’s Trial Before Felix the Governor

24Now after ^afive days the high priest ^bAnanias came down with some elders, ¹with an ²attorney named Tertullus, and they ³brought charges to ^cthe governor against Paul. ²And after Paul had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying, “As we have attained much peace through you—and because by your provision reforms are being carried out for this nation— ³we welcome this in every way and everywhere, ^amost excellent Felix, with all thankfulness. ⁴“But, that I may not weary you any further, I plead with you by your forbearance to hear us briefly. ⁵“For we have found this man a real pest and a fellow who stirs up dissension among all the Jews throughout ¹the world, and a ringleader of the ^asect of the Nazarenes. ⁶“And he even tried to ^adesecrate the temple; and ¹then we arrested him. ²[We wanted to judge him according to our own Law. ⁷“But Lysias the commander came along, and with much violence took him out of our hands, ⁸ordering his accusers to come before you.] By examining him yourself concerning all these matters you will be able to ascertain the things of which we accuse him.” ⁹^aAnd the Jews also joined in the attack, asserting that these things were so.

¹⁰And when ^athe governor had nodded for him to speak, Paul answered: “Knowing that for many years you have been a judge to this nation, I cheerfully make my defense, ¹¹since you are able to ascertain the fact that no more than ^atwelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship. ¹²“^aAnd neither in the temple, nor in the synagogues, nor across the city did they find me carrying on a discussion with anyone or ^bcausing ¹a riot. ¹³“^aNor are they able to prove to you of what they are now accusing me. ¹⁴“But this I confess to you, that according to ^athe Way, which they call a ^bsect, I do serve ¹^,^cthe God of our fathers, ^dbelieving everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets; ¹⁵having a hope in God, for which ^athese men are waiting, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous. ¹⁶“In view of this, ^aI also ¹do my best to maintain always a conscience without fault both before God and before men. ¹⁷“Now ^aafter several years I ^bcame to bring ¹alms to my nation and offerings; ¹⁸in which they found me, having been ^apurified in the temple, without any ^bcrowd or uproar. But there were some ^cJews from ¹Asia— ¹⁹who ought to have been present before you and to ^amake accusation, if they should have anything against me. ²⁰“Or else let these men themselves tell what wrongdoing they found when I stood before ^athe Sanhedrin, ²¹other than for this one statement which ^aI shouted out while standing among them, ‘For the resurrection of the dead I am on trial before you today.’”

²²But Felix, having a more accurate knowledge about ^athe Way, put them off, saying, “When Lysias the ¹commander comes down, I will decide your case.” ²³Then he gave orders to the centurion for him to be ^akept in custody and yet ^bhave some rest, and not to prevent any of ^chis friends from ministering to him.

²⁴But some days later Felix arrived with Drusilla, his ¹wife who was a Jewess, and summoned Paul and heard him speak about ^afaith in Christ Jesus. ²⁵But as he was discussing ^arighteousness, ^bself-control, and ^cthe judgment to come, Felix became frightened and answered, “Go away for the present, and when I find time I will call for you.” ²⁶At the same time, he was also hoping that ^amoney would be given him by Paul; therefore he also used to summon for him quite often and converse with him. ²⁷But after two years had passed, Felix ¹was succeeded by Porcius ^aFestus, and ^bwishing to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul ^cimprisoned.

Paul Before Festus

25Festus then, having arrived in ^athe province, after three days went up to Jerusalem from ^bCaesarea. ²And the chief priests and the leading men of the Jews ^abrought charges against Paul, and they were pleading with him, ³requesting a favor against ¹Paul, that he might ²have him brought to Jerusalem (while they ^aset an ambush to kill him on the way). ⁴Festus then ^aanswered that Paul ^bwas being kept in custody at ^cCaesarea and that he himself was about to leave shortly. ⁵“Therefore,” he *said, “let the influential men among you go down there with me, and if there is anything wrong ¹about the man, let them accuse him.”

⁶And after he had spent not more than eight or ten days among them, he went down to ^aCaesarea, and on the next day he took his seat on ^bthe judgment seat and ordered Paul to be brought. ⁷And after Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing ^amany and serious charges against him ^bwhich they could not prove, ⁸while Paul said in his own defense, “^aI have committed no sin either against the Law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar.” ⁹But Festus, ^awishing to do the Jews a favor, answered Paul and said, “^bAre you willing to go up to Jerusalem and to be tried before me on these matters?” ¹⁰But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s ^ajudgment seat, where I ought to be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you also very well know. ¹¹“If, then, I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die; but if none of those things is true of which these men accuse me, no one can hand me over to them. I ^aappeal to Caesar.” ¹²Then when Festus had conferred with ¹his council, he answered, “You have appealed to Caesar, to Caesar you shall go.”

Festus and Agrippa Discuss Paul’s Trial

¹³Now when several days had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at ^aCaesarea ¹and greeted Festus. ¹⁴And while they were spending many days there, Festus laid Paul’s case before the king, saying, “There is a man who was ^aleft as a prisoner by Felix; ¹⁵and when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews ^abrought charges against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him. ¹⁶“I ^aanswered them that it is not the custom of the Romans to hand over any man before ^bthe accused meets his accusers face to face and has an opportunity to make his defense against the charges. ¹⁷“So after they had assembled here, I did not delay, but on the next day took my seat on ^athe judgment seat and ordered the man to be brought before me. ¹⁸“When the accusers stood up, they were not bringing any charges against him for the evil deeds I was expecting, ¹⁹but they had some ^apoints of disagreement with him about their own ¹^,^breligion and about a certain Jesus, a dead man whom Paul asserted to be alive. ²⁰“^aAnd being perplexed about how to investigate ¹such matters, I was asking whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and there to be tried on these matters. ²¹“But when Paul ^aappealed to be held in custody for ¹the Emperor’s decision, I ordered him to be kept in custody until I send him to Caesar.” ²²Then ^aAgrippa said to Festus, “I also would like to hear the man myself.” “Tomorrow,” he *said, “you shall hear him.”

Paul Before Agrippa and Bernice

²³So, on the next day when ^aAgrippa came ¹together with ^bBernice amid great pomp, and entered the hall ²accompanied by the ³commanders and the prominent men of the city, at the order of Festus, Paul was brought in. ²⁴And Festus *said, “King Agrippa, and all you gentlemen here present with us, you see this man about whom ^aall the people of the Jews appealed to me, both at Jerusalem and here, loudly declaring that ^bhe ought not to live any longer. ²⁵“But I found that he had committed ^anothing worthy of death, and since he himself ^bappealed to ¹the Emperor, I decided to send him. ²⁶“¹Yet I have nothing definite about him to write to my lord. Therefore I have brought him before you all and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the investigation has taken place, I may have something to write. ²⁷“For it seems absurd to me in sending a prisoner, not to indicate also the charges against him.”

26^aNow Agrippa said to Paul, “You are ¹permitted to speak for yourself.” Then Paul, stretching out his hand, began to make his defense:

²“Concerning all the things of which I am accused by the Jews, I regard myself blessed, King Agrippa, that I am about to make my defense before you today; ³¹especially because you are an expert in all ^acustoms and ²questions among the Jews; therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.

⁴“So then, all Jews know ^amy manner of life from my youth, which from the beginning was spent among my own nation and at Jerusalem; ⁵since they have known about me for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that I lived as a ^aPharisee ^baccording to the strictest ^csect of our religion. ⁶“And now I am standing here being tried ^afor the hope of ^bthe promise made by God to our fathers; ⁷the promise ^ato which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly serve God night and day. And for this ^bhope, O King, I am being ^caccused by Jews. ⁸“Why is it considered unbelievable among all of you ^aif God does raise the dead?

⁹“So then, ^aI thought to myself that I had to do many things hostile to ^bthe name of Jesus the Nazarene. ¹⁰“And this is ¹just what I ^adid in Jerusalem; not only did I lock up many of the ²saints in prisons, having ^breceived authority from the chief priests, but also when they were being put to death I ^ccast my vote against them. ¹¹“And ^aas I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and being ^bfuriously enraged at them, I kept pursuing them ^ceven to ¹foreign cities.

Paul Tells of His Conversion

¹²“¹While so engaged ^aas I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, ¹³at midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven, ¹brighter than the sun, shining all around me and those who were journeying with me. ¹⁴“And when we had ^aall fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the ¹^,^bHebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? ²It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ ¹⁵“And I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. ¹⁶‘But rise up and ^astand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to ^bappoint you a ^cservant and ^da witness not only to the things which you have ¹seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; ¹⁷^arescuing you ^bfrom the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, ¹⁸to ^aopen their eyes so that they may turn from ^bdarkness to light and from the authority of ^cSatan to God, that they may receive ^dforgiveness of sins and an ^einheritance among those who have been sanctified by ^ffaith in Me.’

¹⁹“So, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision, ²⁰but kept declaring both ^ato those of Damascus first, and also ^bat Jerusalem and then throughout all the region of Judea, and even ^cto the Gentiles, that they should ^drepent and turn to God, practicing deeds ^eappropriate to repentance. ²¹“For this reason some Jews ^aseized me in the temple and were trying ^bto put me to death. ²²“Therefore, having obtained help from God to this day, I stand here ^abearing witness both to small and great, stating nothing but what ^bthe Prophets and Moses said was going to take place; ²³¹^,^athat the ²Christ was ³to suffer, and ⁴that ^bas first of the resurrection from the dead, He was going to proclaim ^clight both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.”

²⁴Now while ¹Paul was saying this in his defense, Festus *said in a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind! ²Great ^alearning is driving you out of your mind.” ²⁵But Paul *said, “I am not out of my mind, ^amost excellent Festus, but I utter words ¹of sober truth. ²⁶“For the king ¹^,^aknows about these matters, and I speak to him also with confidence, since I am persuaded that none of these things escape his notice; for this has not been done in a ²corner. ²⁷“King Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets? I know you believe.” ²⁸But Agrippa replied to Paul, “¹In such short time ²are you persuading me to become a ^aChristian?” ²⁹And Paul said, “I would pray to God, that whether ¹in a short or long time, not only you, but also all who hear me this day, might become such as I am, except for these ^achains.”

³⁰^aAnd the king stood up and the governor and Bernice, and those who were sitting with them, ³¹and when they had gone aside, they began talking to one another, saying, “^aThis man is not doing anything worthy of death or ¹imprisonment.” ³²And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been ^aset free if he had not ^bappealed to Caesar.”

Paul Is Sent to Rome

27Now when it was decided that ^awe ^bwould sail for ^cItaly, they proceeded to deliver Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan ¹^,^dcohort named Julius. ²And getting aboard an Adramyttian ship, which was about to sail to the regions along the coast of ¹^,^aAsia, we set sail accompanied by ^bAristarchus, a ^cMacedonian of ^dThessalonica. ³The next day we put in at ^aSidon, and Julius ^btreated Paul with consideration and ^callowed him to go to his friends and receive care. ⁴And from there we set sail and sailed under the shelter of ^aCyprus because ^bthe winds were against us. ⁵And when we had sailed through the sea along the coast of ^aCilicia and ^bPamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia. ⁶There the centurion found an ^aAlexandrian ship sailing for ^bItaly, and he put us aboard it. ⁷And when we had sailed slowly for a good many days, and with difficulty had arrived off Cnidus, ^asince the wind did not permit us to go farther, we sailed under the shelter of ^bCrete, off Salmone; ⁸and with difficulty, we ^asailed past it and came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea.

⁹And when considerable time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous, since even ^athe ¹Fast was already over, Paul began to advise them, ¹⁰and said to them, “Men, I perceive that the voyage will certainly be with ^adamage and great loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.” ¹¹But the centurion was being more persuaded by the ^apilot and the ¹captain of the ship than by what was being said by Paul. ¹²And because the harbor was not suitable for wintering, the majority reached a decision to set sail from there, if somehow they could arrive at Phoenix, a harbor of ^aCrete facing southwest and northwest, to spend the winter there.

¹³And when a moderate ¹south wind came up, thinking that they had attained their purpose, they weighed anchor and began ^asailing along ²the shore of ^bCrete.

The Storm at Sea

¹⁴But before very long there ^arushed down from ¹the land a violent wind, called ²Euraquilo; ¹⁵and when the ship was caught in it and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and let ourselves be carried along. ¹⁶And running under the shelter of a small island called Clauda, we were scarcely able to get the ship’s ¹boat under control. ¹⁷After they had hoisted it up, they used ¹supporting cables in undergirding the ship. Fearing that they might ^arun aground on the shallows of Syrtis, they let down the ²sea anchor and in this way let themselves be carried along. ¹⁸And the next day as we were being violently storm-tossed, ¹they began to ^ajettison the cargo; ¹⁹and on the third day they cast the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. ²⁰And since neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small storm was assailing us, from then on all hope of our being saved was gradually abandoned.

²¹And ¹when they had gone a long time without food, then Paul stood up in their midst and said, “^aMen, you ought to have ²followed my advice to not set sail from ^bCrete and to ³avoid this ^cdamage and loss. ²²“And now I advise you to ^abe cheerful, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. ²³“For this very night ^aan angel of the God to whom I belong and ^bwhom I serve ^cstood before me, ²⁴saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; ^ayou must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you ^ball those who are sailing with you.’ ²⁵“Therefore, ^abe cheerful, men, for I believe God that ¹it will turn out exactly as I have been told. ²⁶“But we must ^arun aground on some ^bisland.”

²⁷But when the fourteenth night came, as we were being carried about in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors began to suspect that some land was approaching them. ²⁸And when they took soundings, they found it to be ¹twenty fathoms; and a little farther on they took another sounding and found it to be ²fifteen fathoms. ²⁹And fearing that we might ^arun aground somewhere on the ¹rocks, they cast four anchors from the stern and were praying for daybreak. ³⁰But as the sailors were trying to escape from the ship and had let down ^athe ship’s boat into the sea, on the pretense of intending to lay out anchors from the bow, ³¹Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, “Unless these men remain in the ship, you yourselves cannot ¹be saved.” ³²Then the soldiers cut away the ^aropes of the ship’s boat and let it fall away.

³³Until the day was about to dawn, Paul was encouraging them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been constantly watching and going without eating, having taken nothing. ³⁴“Therefore I encourage you to take some food, for this is for your ¹salvation, for ^anot a hair from the head of any of you will perish.” ³⁵And having said these things, he took bread and ^agave thanks to God in the presence of all. And he broke it and began to eat. ³⁶And all ^aof them became cheerful and they themselves also took food. ³⁷And all of us in the ship were 276 ¹^,^apersons. ³⁸And when they had eaten enough, they began to lighten the ship by ^athrowing out the wheat into the sea.

The Shipwreck

³⁹Now when day came, ^athey ¹could not recognize the land; but they were noticing a bay with a beach, and they were resolving to drive the ship onto it if they could. ⁴⁰And casting off ^athe anchors, they left them in the sea while at the same time they were loosening the ropes of the rudders. And hoisting the foresail to the wind, they were heading for the beach. ⁴¹But striking a ¹reef where two seas met, they ran the vessel aground; and the bow stuck fast and remained immovable, but the stern began to be broken up by the force of the waves. ⁴²Now the soldiers’ plan was to ^akill the prisoners, so that none of them would swim away and escape; ⁴³but the centurion, ^awanting to bring Paul safely through, kept them from their intention, and ordered that those who could swim should ¹jump overboard first and get to land, ⁴⁴and the rest should follow, some on planks, and others on various things from the ship. And so it happened that ^athey all were brought safely to land.

On the Island of Malta

28And when ^athey had been brought safely through to shore, ^bthen we learned that ^cthe island was called ¹Malta. ²^aAnd the ¹natives showed us extraordinary affection; for because of the rain that had set in and because of the cold, they kindled a fire and ^breceived us all. ³But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out ¹because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand. ⁴And when ^athe ¹natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they began saying to one another, “^bUndoubtedly this man is a murderer, and though he has been saved from the sea, ²Justice has not allowed him to live.” ⁵However ^ahe shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm. ⁶But they were waiting for him to soon swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had waited a long time and had seen nothing unusual happen to him, changing their minds, they ^abegan to say that he was a god.

⁷Now in the areas around that place were lands belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius, who welcomed us and entertained us courteously three days. ⁸And it happened that the father of Publius was lying afflicted with fever and dysentery; and Paul, going to see him and having ^aprayed, ^blaid his hands on him and healed him. ⁹And after this had happened, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases were coming to him and being healed. ¹⁰They also bestowed on us many honors of respect; and when we were setting sail, they ¹supplied us with ²all we needed.

Paul Arrives in Rome

¹¹Now at the end of three months we set sail on ^aan Alexandrian ship which had wintered at the island, and which had ¹the Twin Brothers for its figurehead. ¹²After we put into Syracuse, we stayed there for three days. ¹³From there we sailed around and arrived at Rhegium, and after a day when a south wind sprang up, on the second day we came to Puteoli. ¹⁴¹There we found some ^abrothers, and were invited to stay with them for seven days; and thus we came to Rome. ¹⁵And the ^abrothers, when they heard about us, came from there as far as the ¹Market of Appius and ²Three Inns to meet us. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.

¹⁶And when we entered Rome, Paul was ^aallowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who was guarding him.

Paul’s Ministry in Rome

¹⁷And it happened that after three days ¹Paul called together those who were ^athe leading men of the Jews, and when they came together, he began saying to them, “^bBrothers, ^cthough I had done nothing against our people or ^dthe customs of our ²fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. ¹⁸“And when they had ^aexamined me, they ^bwere willing to release me because there was ^cno ground ¹for putting me to death. ¹⁹“But when the Jews ¹objected, I was forced to ^aappeal to Caesar, not that I had any accusation against my nation. ²⁰“For this reason, therefore, I ¹requested to see you and to speak with you, for I am wearing ^athis chain for ^bthe sake of the hope of Israel.” ²¹And they said to him, “We have neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor have any of ^athe brothers come here and reported or spoken anything bad about you. ²²“But we desire to hear from you what you think; for concerning this ^asect, it is known to us that ^bit is spoken against everywhere.”

²³And when they had set a day for Paul, they came to him at ^ahis lodging in large numbers; and he was explaining to them by solemnly ^bbearing witness about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, ^cfrom both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets, from morning until evening. ²⁴^aAnd some were being persuaded by the things spoken, but others were not believing. ²⁵And when they disagreed with one another, they began leaving after Paul had spoken one word, “The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers, ²⁶saying, ‘^aGo to this people and say,“¹^,^bYou will keep on hearing, ²but will not understand;And ³you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive;

²⁷^aFor the heart of this people has become dull,And with their ears they scarcely hear,And they have closed their eyes;Lest they might see with their eyes,And hear with their ears,And understand with their heart and return,And I heal them.”’

²⁸“Therefore let it be known to you that ^athis salvation of God was sent ^bto the Gentiles—they will also hear.” ²⁹¹[When he had spoken these words, the Jews departed, having a great dispute among themselves.]

³⁰And he stayed two full years ¹in his own rented quarters and was welcoming all who came to him, ³¹¹^,^apreaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ ^bwith all confidence, unhindered.