Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer.

²And a man who had been unable to walk from birth was being carried, whom they used to set down every day at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, in order for him to beg for charitable gifts from those entering the temple grounds.

³When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple grounds, he began asking to receive a charitable gift.

⁴But Peter, along with John, looked at him intently and said, “Look at us!”

⁵And he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.

⁶But Peter said, “I do not have silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk!”

⁷And grasping him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened.

⁸And leaping up, he stood and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.

⁹And all the people saw him walking and praising God;

¹⁰and they recognized him as being the very one who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg for charitable gifts, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

¹¹While he was clinging to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them at the portico named Solomon’s, completely astonished.

¹²But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, “Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why are you staring at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made him walk?

¹³The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus, the one whom you handed over and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him.

¹⁴But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,

¹⁵but put to death the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses.

¹⁶And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.

¹⁷“And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers also did.

¹⁸But the things which God previously announced by the mouths of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has fulfilled in this way.

¹⁹Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;

²⁰and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you,

²¹whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things, about which God spoke by the mouths of His holy prophets from ancient times.

²²Moses said, ‘THE LORD GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR COUNTRYMEN; TO HIM YOU SHALL LISTEN regarding everything He says to you.

²³And it shall be that every soul that does not listen to that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’

²⁴And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken from Samuel and his successors onward, have also announced these days.

²⁵It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God ordained with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘AND IN YOUR SEED ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED.’

²⁶God raised up His Servant for you first, and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”

¹As they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them,

²being greatly disturbed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

³And they laid hands on them and put them in prison until the next day, for it was already evening.

⁴But many of those who had heard the message believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.

⁵On the next day, their rulers and elders and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem;

⁶and Annas the high priest was there, and Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and all who were of high-priestly descent.

⁷When they had placed them in the center, they began to inquire, “By what power, or in what name, have you done this?”

⁸Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people,

⁹if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well,

¹⁰let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health.

¹¹He is the STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED by you, THE BUILDERS, but WHICH BECAME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE.

¹²And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among mankind by which we must be saved.”

¹³Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as 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 Council, they began to confer with one another,

¹⁶saying, “What are we to do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.

¹⁷But so that it will not spread any further among the people, let’s warn them not to speak any longer to any person in this name.”

¹⁸And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

¹⁹But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, make your own judgment;

²⁰for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

²¹When they had threatened them further, they let them go (finding no basis on which to punish them) on account of the people, because they were all glorifying God for what had happened;

²²for the man on whom this miracle of healing had been performed was more than forty years old.

²³When they had been released, they went to their own companions and reported everything that the chief priests and the elders had said to them.

²⁴And when they heard this, they raised their voices to God with one mind and said, “Lord, it is You who MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA, AND EVERYTHING THAT IS IN THEM,

²⁵who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Your servant, said, ‘WHY WERE THE NATIONS INSOLENT, AND THE PEOPLES PLOTTING IN VAIN?

²⁶THE KINGS OF THE EARTH TOOK THEIR STAND, AND THE RULERS WERE GATHERED TOGETHER AGAINST THE LORD AND AGAINST HIS CHRIST.’

²⁷For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,

²⁸to do whatever Your hand and purpose predestined to occur.

²⁹And now, Lord, look at their threats, and grant it to Your bond-servants to speak Your word with all confidence,

³⁰while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.”

³¹And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.

³²And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them.

³³And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all.

³⁴For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales

³⁵and lay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be distributed to each to the extent that any had need.

³⁶Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of Encouragement),

³⁷owned a tract of land. So he sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

¹But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property,

²and kept back some of the proceeds for himself, with his wife’s full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles’ feet.

³But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the proceeds of the land?

⁴While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God.”

⁵And as he heard these words, Ananias collapsed and died; and great fear came over all who heard about it.

⁶The young men got up and covered him up, and after carrying him out, they buried him.

⁷Now an interval of about three hours elapsed, and his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

⁸And Peter responded to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for this price?” And she said, “Yes, for that price.”

⁹Then Peter said to her, “Why is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out as well.”

¹⁰And immediately she collapsed at his feet and died; and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

¹¹And great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard about these things.

¹²At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all together in Solomon’s portico.

¹³But none of the rest dared to associate with them; however, the people held them in high esteem.

¹⁴And increasingly believers in the Lord, large numbers of men and women, were being added to their number,

¹⁵to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on any of them.

¹⁶The people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together as well, bringing people who were sick or tormented with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed.

¹⁷But the high priest stood up, along with all his associates (that is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy.

¹⁸They laid hands on the apostles and put them in a public prison.

¹⁹But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the gates of the prison, and leading them out, he said,

²⁰“Go, stand and speak to the people in the temple area the whole message of this Life.”

²¹Upon hearing this, they entered into the temple area about daybreak and began to teach. Now when the high priest and his associates came, they called the Council together, that is, all the Senate of the sons of Israel, and sent orders to the prison for them to be brought.

²²But the officers who came did not find them in the prison; and they returned and reported,

²³saying, “We found the prison locked quite securely and the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.”

²⁴Now when the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them as to what would come of this.

²⁵But someone came and reported to them, “The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple area and teaching the people!”

²⁶Then the captain went along with the officers and proceeded to bring them back without violence (for they were afraid of the people, that they might be stoned).

²⁷When they had brought them, they had them stand before the Council. The high priest interrogated them,

²⁸saying, “We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this Man’s blood upon us.”

²⁹But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.

³⁰The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you put to death by hanging Him on a cross.

³¹He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.

³²And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”

³³But when they heard this, they became infuriated and nearly decided to execute them.

³⁴But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law, respected by all the people, stood up in the Council and gave orders to put the men outside for a short time.

³⁵And he said to them, “Men of Israel, be careful as to what you are about to do with these men.

³⁶For, some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and a group of about four hundred men joined him. But he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing.

³⁷After this man, Judas of Galilee appeared in the days of the census and drew away some people after him; he also perished, and all those who followed him were scattered.

³⁸And so in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and leave them alone, for if the source of this plan or movement is men, it will be overthrown;

³⁹but if the source is God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God.”

⁴⁰They followed his advice; and after calling the apostles in, they flogged them and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then released them.

⁴¹So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.

⁴²And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not stop teaching and preaching the good news of Jesus as the Christ.

¹Now at this time, as the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint developed on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food.

²So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables.

³Instead, brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task.

⁴But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

⁵The announcement found approval with the whole congregation; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch.

⁶And they brought these men before the apostles; and after praying, they laid their hands on them.

⁷The word of God kept spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.

⁸And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people.

⁹But some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and argued with Stephen.

¹⁰But they were unable to cope with his 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 came up to him and dragged him away, and brought him before the Council.

¹³They put forward false witnesses who said, “This man does not stop speaking against this holy place and the Law;

¹⁴for we have heard him say that this Nazarene, Jesus, will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses handed down to us.”

¹⁵And all who were sitting in the Council stared at him, and they saw his face, which was like the face of an angel.

¹Now the high priest said, “Are these things so?”

²And Stephen said, “Listen to me, brothers and fathers! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,

³and He said to him, ‘GO FROM YOUR COUNTRY AND YOUR RELATIVES, AND COME TO THE LAND WHICH I WILL SHOW YOU.’

⁴Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. And from there, after his father died, God had him move to this country in which you are now living.

⁵But He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground, and yet, He promised that He would give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him, even though he had no child.

⁶But God spoke to this effect, that his DESCENDANTS WOULD BE STRANGERS IN A LAND THAT WAS NOT THEIRS, AND THEY WOULD ENSLAVE AND MISTREAT them for four hundred years.

⁷‘AND WHATEVER NATION TO WHICH THEY ARE ENSLAVED I MYSELF WILL JUDGE,’ said God, ‘AND AFTER THAT THEY WILL COME OUT AND SERVE ME IN THIS PLACE.’

⁸And He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham fathered Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob, the twelve patriarchs.

⁹“The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt. Yet God was with him,

¹⁰and rescued him from all his afflictions, and granted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made him governor over Egypt and his entire household.

¹¹“Now a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction with it, and our fathers could find no food.

¹²But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time.

¹³And on the second visit, Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family was revealed to Pharaoh.

¹⁴Then Joseph sent word and invited his father Jacob and all his relatives to come to him, seventy-five people in all.

¹⁵And Jacob went down to Egypt, and he and our fathers died there.

¹⁶And they were brought back from there to Shechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

¹⁷“But as the time of the promise which God had assured to Abraham was approaching, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt,

¹⁸until ANOTHER KING AROSE OVER EGYPT WHO DID NOT KNOW JOSEPH.

¹⁹It was he who shrewdly took advantage of our nation and mistreated our fathers in order that they would abandon their infants in the Nile, so that they would not survive.

²⁰At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful to God. He was nurtured for three months in his father’s home.

²¹And after he had been put outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and nurtured him as her own son.

²²Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was proficient in speaking and action.

²³But when he was approaching the age of forty, it entered his mind to visit his countrymen, the sons of Israel.

²⁴And when he saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended and took vengeance for the oppressed man by fatally striking the Egyptian.

²⁵And he thought that his brothers understood that God was granting them deliverance through him; but they did not understand.

²⁶And on the following day he appeared to them as they were fighting each other, and he tried to reconcile them to peace, by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers, why are you injuring each other?’

²⁷But the one who was injuring his neighbor pushed him away, saying, ‘WHO MADE YOU A RULER AND JUDGE OVER US?

²⁸YOU DO NOT INTEND TO KILL ME AS YOU KILLED THE EGYPTIAN YESTERDAY, DO YOU?’

²⁹At this remark, MOSES FLED AND BECAME A STRANGER IN THE LAND OF MIDIAN, where he fathered two sons.

³⁰“After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning thorn bush.

³¹When Moses saw it, he was astonished at the sight; and as he approached to look more closely, the voice of the Lord came:

³²‘I AM THE GOD OF YOUR FATHERS, THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND ISAAC, AND JACOB.’ Moses shook with fear and did not dare to look closely.

³³But the LORD said to him, ‘REMOVE YOUR SANDALS FROM YOUR FEET, FOR THE PLACE ON WHICH YOU ARE STANDING IS HOLY GROUND.

³⁴I HAVE CERTAINLY SEEN THE OPPRESSION OF MY PEOPLE WHO ARE IN EGYPT, AND HAVE HEARD THEIR GROANING, AND I HAVE COME DOWN TO RESCUE THEM; AND NOW COME, I WILL SEND YOU TO EGYPT.’

³⁵“This Moses whom they disowned, saying, ‘WHO MADE YOU A RULER AND A JUDGE?’ is the one whom God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the help of the angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush.

³⁶This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years.

³⁷This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR COUNTRYMEN.’

³⁸This is the one who was in the assembly in the wilderness together with the angel who spoke to him at length on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received living words to pass on to you.

³⁹Our fathers were unwilling to be obedient to him; on the contrary they rejected him and turned back to Egypt in their hearts,

⁴⁰saying to Aaron, ‘MAKE US A GOD WHO WILL GO BEFORE US; FOR THIS MOSES WHO LED US OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT—WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM.’

⁴¹At that time they made a calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in the works of their hands.

⁴²But God turned away and gave them over to serve the heavenly lights; as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘YOU DID NOT OFFER ME VICTIMS AND SACRIFICES FOR FORTY YEARS IN THE WILDERNESS, DID YOU, HOUSE OF ISRAEL?

⁴³YOU ALSO TOOK ALONG THE TABERNACLE OF MOLOCH AND THE STAR OF YOUR GOD ROMPHA, THE IMAGES WHICH YOU MADE TO WORSHIP. I ALSO WILL DEPORT YOU BEYOND BABYLON.’

⁴⁴“Our fathers had the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as He who spoke to Moses directed him to make it according to the pattern which he had seen.

⁴⁵Our fathers in turn received it, and they also brought it in with Joshua upon dispossessing the nations that God drove out from our fathers, until the time of David.

⁴⁶David found favor in God’s sight, and asked that he might find a dwelling place for the house of Jacob.

⁴⁷But it was Solomon who built a house for Him.

⁴⁸However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet says:

⁴⁹‘HEAVEN IS MY THRONE, AND THE 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?

⁵⁰WAS IT NOT MY HAND THAT MADE ALL THESE THINGS?’

⁵¹“You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did.

⁵²Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, and you have now become betrayers and murderers of Him;

⁵³you who received the Law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.”

⁵⁴Now when they heard this, they were infuriated, and they began gnashing their teeth at him.

⁵⁵But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God;

⁵⁶and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

⁵⁷But they shouted with loud voices, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one mind.

⁵⁸When they had driven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and the witnesses laid aside their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul.

⁵⁹They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”

⁶⁰Then he fell on his knees and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he fell asleep.

¹Now Saul approved of putting Stephen to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except for the apostles.

²Some devout men buried Stephen, and mourned loudly for him.

³But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house; and he would drag away men and women and put them in prison.

⁴Therefore, those who had been scattered went through places preaching the word.

⁵Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming the Christ to them.

⁶The crowds were paying attention with one mind to what was being said by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing.

⁷For in the case of many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been paralyzed or limped on crutches were healed.

⁸So there was much rejoicing in that city.

⁹Now a man named Simon had previously been practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great;

¹⁰and all the people, from small to great, were paying attention to him, saying, “This man is the Power of God that is called Great.”

¹¹And they were paying attention to him because for a long time he had astounded them with his magic arts.

¹²But when they believed Philip as he was preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were being baptized.

¹³Now even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was repeatedly amazed.

¹⁴Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John,

¹⁵who came down and prayed for them that they would receive the Holy Spirit.

¹⁶(For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)

¹⁷Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given 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 thought you could acquire the gift of God with money!

²¹You have no part or share in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.

²²Therefore, repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart will be forgiven you.

²³For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of unrighteousness.”

²⁴But Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

²⁵So, when they had solemnly testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.

²⁶But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Get ready and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.)

²⁷So he got ready and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship,

²⁸and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading Isaiah the prophet.

²⁹Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.”

³⁰Philip 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: “HE WAS LED LIKE A SHEEP TO SLAUGHTER; AND LIKE A LAMB THAT IS SILENT BEFORE ITS SHEARER, SO HE DOES NOT OPEN HIS MOUTH.

³³IN HUMILIATION HIS JUSTICE WAS TAKEN AWAY; WHO WILL DESCRIBE HIS GENERATION? FOR HIS LIFE IS TAKEN AWAY FROM THE EARTH.”

³⁴The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself, or of someone else?”

³⁵Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.

³⁶As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch *said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?”

³⁷

³⁸And he ordered that the chariot 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, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing.

⁴⁰But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities, until he came to Caesarea.

¹Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest,

²and asked for letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them in shackles to Jerusalem.

³Now as he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him;

⁴and he fell to the ground and 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 get up and enter the city, and it will be told to you what you must do.”

⁷The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.

⁸Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus.

⁹And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

¹⁰Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.”

¹¹And the Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying,

¹²and he has seenin a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.”

¹³But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many people about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints in Jerusalem;

¹⁴and here he has authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on Your name.”

¹⁵But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a choseninstrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel;

¹⁶for I will show him how much he must suffer in behalf of My name.”

¹⁷So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

¹⁸And immediately something like fish scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized;

¹⁹and he took food and was strengthened. Now for several days he was with the disciples who were in Damascus,

²⁰and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”

²¹All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, “Is this not the one who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?”

²²But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ.

²³When many days had elapsed, the Jews plotted together to do away with him,

²⁴but their plot became known to Saul. They were also closely watching the gates day and night so that they might put him to death;

²⁵but his disciples took him at night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a large basket.

²⁶When he came to Jerusalem, he tried repeatedly to associate with the disciples; and yet they were all afraid of him, as they did not believe that he was a disciple.

²⁷But Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had talked to him, and how he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus at Damascus.

²⁸And he was with them, moving about freely in Jerusalem, speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord.

²⁹And he was talking and arguing with the Hellenistic Jews; but they were attempting to put him to death.

³⁰Now when the brothers learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus.

³¹So the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria enjoyed peace, as it was being built up; and as it continued in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it kept increasing.

³²Now as Peter was traveling through all those regions, he also came down to the saints who lived at Lydda.

³³There he found a man named Aeneas who had been bedridden for eight years, because he was paralyzed.

³⁴Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; get up and make your own bed.” Immediately he got up.

³⁵And all who lived at Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.

³⁶Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which when translated means Dorcas); this woman was excelling in acts of kindness and charity which she did habitually.

³⁷But it happened at that time that she became sick and died; and when they had washed her body, they laid it in an upstairs room.

³⁸Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, having heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, “Do not delay in coming to us.”

³⁹So Peter got ready and went with them. When he arrived, they brought him into the room upstairs; and all the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing all the tunics and garments that Dorcas used to make while she was with them.

⁴⁰But Peter sent them all out and knelt down and prayed, and turning to the body, he said, “Tabitha, 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 the saints and widows, he presented her alive.

⁴²It became known all over Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.

⁴³And Peter stayed in Joppa many days with a tanner named Simon.

¹Now there was a man in Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort,

²a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, and made many charitable contributions to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually.

³About the ninth hour of the day he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had just come in and said to him, “Cornelius!”

⁴And he looked at him intently and became terrified, and said, “What is it, lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and charitable gifts have ascended as a memorial offering before God.

⁵Now dispatch some men to Joppa and send for a man named Simon, who is also called Peter;

⁶he is staying with a tanner named Simon, whose house is by the sea.”

⁷When the angel who *spoke to him left, he summoned two of his servants and a devout soldier from his personal attendants,

⁸and after he had explained everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.

⁹On the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray.

¹⁰But he became hungry and wanted to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance;

¹¹and he *saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground,

¹²and on it were all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the sky.

¹³A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!”

¹⁴But Peter said, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.”

¹⁵Again a voice came to him a second time, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.”

¹⁶This happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into the sky.

¹⁷Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in mind as to what the vision which he had seen might mean, behold, the men who had been sent by Cornelius had asked directions to Simon’s house, and they appeared at the gate;

¹⁸and calling out, they were asking whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was staying there.

¹⁹While Peter was reflecting on the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you.

²⁰But get up, go downstairs and accompany them without misgivings, for I have sent them Myself.”

²¹Peter 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?”

²²They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and God-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, was divinely directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and hear a message from you.”

²³So he invited them in and gave them lodging. Now on the next day he got ready and went away with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him.

²⁴On the following day he entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends.

²⁵When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell at his feet and worshiped him.

²⁶But Peter helped him up, saying, “Stand up; I, too, am just a man.”

²⁷As he talked with him, he entered and *found many people assembled.

²⁸And he said to them, “You yourselves know that it is forbidden for a Jewish man to associate with or visit a foreigner; and yet God has shown me that I am not to call any person unholy or unclean.

²⁹That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was sent for. So I ask, for what reason did you send for me?”

³⁰Cornelius said, “Four days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during the ninth hour; and behold, a man stood before me in shining clothing,

³¹and he *said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your charitable gifts have been remembered before God.

³²Therefore send some men to Joppa and invite Simon, who is also called Peter, to come to you; he is staying at the house of Simon the tanner, by the sea.’

³³So I sent men to you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to hear everything that you have been commanded by the Lord.”

³⁴Opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality,

³⁵but in every nation the one who fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him.

³⁶The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ (He is Lord of all)—

³⁷you yourselves know the thing that happened throughout Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed.

³⁸You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

³⁹We are witnesses of all the things that He did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross.

⁴⁰God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He be revealed,

⁴¹not to all the people, but to witnesses who had been chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.

⁴²And He ordered us to preach to the people, and to testify solemnly that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead.

⁴³All the prophets testify of Him, that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”

⁴⁴While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message.

⁴⁵All the Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had also been poured out on the Gentiles.

⁴⁶For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter responded,

⁴⁷“Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?”

⁴⁸And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.

¹Now the apostles and the brothers and sisters who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.

²And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, the Jewish believers took issue with him,

³saying, “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

⁴But Peter began and explained at length to them in an orderly sequence, saying,

⁵“I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, an object coming down like a great sheet lowered by four corners from the sky; and it came to where I was,

⁶and I stared at it and was thinking about it, and I saw the four-footed animals of the earth, the wild animals, the crawling creatures, and the birds of the sky.

⁷I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’

⁸But I said, ‘By no means, Lord, for nothing unholy or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’

⁹But a voice from heaven answered a second time, ‘What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.’

¹⁰This happened three times, and everything was drawn back up into the sky.

¹¹And behold, at that moment three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea came up to the house where we were staying.

¹²And the Spirit told me to go with them without misgivings. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house.

¹³And he reported to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, and saying, ‘Send some men to Joppa and have Simon, who is also called Peter, brought here;

¹⁴and he will speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’

¹⁵And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning.

¹⁶And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptizedwith the Holy Spirit.’

¹⁷Therefore, if God gave them the same gift as He also gave to us after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?”

¹⁸When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has also granted to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.”

¹⁹So then those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way to Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone.

²⁰But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks as well, preaching the good news of the Lord Jesus.

²¹And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord.

²²The news about them reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas off to Antioch.

²³Then when he arrived and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord;

²⁴for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and faith. And considerable numbers were added to the Lord.

²⁵And he left for Tarsus to look for Saul;

²⁶and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers of people; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

²⁷Now at this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.

²⁸One of them, named Agabus, stood up and indicated by the Spirit that there would definitely be a severe famine all over the world. And this took place in the reign of Claudius.

²⁹And to the extent that any of the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the relief of the brothers and sisters living in Judea.

³⁰And they did this, sending it with Barnabas and Saul to the elders.

¹Now about that time Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church, to do them harm.

²And he had James the brother of John executed with a sword.

³When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter as well. (Now these were the days of Unleavened Bread.)

⁴When he had arrested him, he put him in prison, turning him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending only after the Passover to bring him before the people.

⁵So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made to God intensely by the church.

⁶On the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison.

⁷And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly stood near Peter, and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter’s side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And his chains fell off his hands.

⁸And the angel said to him, “Put on your belt and strap on your sandals.” And he did so. And he *said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.”

⁹And he went out and continued to follow, and yet he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.

¹⁰Now when they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.

¹¹When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”

¹²And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.

¹³When he knocked at the door of the gate, a slave woman named Rhoda came to answer.

¹⁴When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her joy she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate.

¹⁵They said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was so. They said, “It is his angel.”

¹⁶But Peter continued knocking; and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were amazed.

¹⁷But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, “Report these things to James and the brothers.” Then he left and went to another place.

¹⁸Now when day came, there was no small disturbance among the soldiers as to what could have become of Peter.

¹⁹When Herod had searched for him and had not found him, he examined the guards and ordered that they be led away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and was spending time there.

²⁰Now he was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon; and with one mind they came to him, and having won over Blastus the king’s chamberlain, they were asking for peace, because their country was supported with grain from the king’s country.

²¹On an appointed day, after putting on his royal apparel, Herod took his seat on the rostrum and began delivering an address to them.

²²The people repeatedly cried out, “The voice of a god and not of a man!”

²³And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died.

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

²⁵And Barnabas and Saul returned when they had fulfilled their mission to Jerusalem, taking along with them John, who was also called Mark.

¹Now there were prophets and teachers at Antioch, in the church that was there: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

²While they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set Barnabas and Saul apart for Me for the work to which I have called them.”

³Then, when they had fasted, prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

⁴So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

⁵When they reached Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews; and they also had John as their helper.

⁶When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus,

⁷who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.

⁸But Elymas the magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

⁹But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, stared at him,

¹⁰and said, “You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not stop making crooked the straight ways of the Lord?

¹¹Now, behold, the hand of the Lord 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 proconsul believed when he saw what had happened, being amazed at the teaching of the Lord.

¹³Now Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia; but John left them and returned to Jerusalem.

¹⁴But going on from Perga, they arrived at Pisidian Antioch, and on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.

¹⁵After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the synagogue officials sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it.”

¹⁶Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said, “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen:

¹⁷The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He led them out from it.

¹⁸For a period of about forty years He put up with them in the wilderness.

¹⁹When He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land as an inheritance—all of which took about 450 years.

²⁰After these things He gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.

²¹Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.

²²After He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, ‘I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will.’

²³From the descendants of this man, according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus,

²⁴after John had proclaimed, before His coming, a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

²⁵And while John was completing his course, he kept saying, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not He. But behold, one is coming after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

²⁶“Brothers, sons of Abraham’s family, and those among you who fear God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent.

²⁷For those who live in Jerusalem, and their rulers, recognizing neither Him nor the declarations of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled these by condemning Him.

²⁸And though they found no grounds for putting Him to death, they asked Pilate that He be executed.

²⁹When they had carried out everything that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb.

³⁰But God raised Him from the dead;

³¹and for many days He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now His witnesses to the people.

³²And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers,

³³that God has fulfilled this promise to those of us who are the descendants by raising Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm: ‘YOU ARE MY SON; TODAY I HAVE FATHERED YOU.’

³⁴As for the fact that He raised Him from the dead, never again to return to decay, He has spoken in this way: ‘I WILL GIVE YOU THE HOLY and faithful mercies of DAVID.’

³⁵Therefore, He also says in another Psalm: ‘YOU WILL NOT ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY.’

³⁶For David, after he had served God’s purpose in his own generation, fell asleep, and was buried among his fathers and underwent decay;

³⁷but He whom God raised did not undergo decay.

³⁸Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,

³⁹and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses.

⁴⁰Therefore, see that the thing spoken of in the Prophets does not come upon you:

⁴¹‘LOOK, YOU SCOFFERS, AND BE ASTONISHED, AND PERISH; FOR I AM ACCOMPLISHING A WORK IN YOUR DAYS, A WORK WHICH YOU WILL NEVER BELIEVE, THOUGH SOMEONE SHOULD DESCRIBE IT TO YOU.’ ”

⁴²As Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people repeatedly begged to have these things spoken to them the next Sabbath.

⁴³Now when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and the God-fearing proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking to them and urging them to continue in the grace of God.

⁴⁴The next Sabbath nearly all the city assembled to hear the word of the Lord.

⁴⁵But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were blaspheming.

⁴⁶Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first. Since you repudiate it and consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.

⁴⁷For so the Lord has commanded us, ‘I HAVE APPOINTED YOU AS A LIGHT TO THE GENTILES, THAT YOU MAY BRING SALVATION TO THE END OF THE EARTH.’ ”

⁴⁸When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and all who had been appointed to eternal life believed.

⁴⁹And the word of the Lord was being spread through the whole region.

⁵⁰But the Jews incited the devout women of prominence and the leading men of the city, and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their region.

⁵¹But they shook off the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.

⁵²And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

¹In Iconium they entered the synagogue of the Jews together, and spoke in such a way that a large number of people believed, both of Jews and of Greeks.

²But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the minds of the Gentiles and embittered them against the brothers.

³Therefore they spent a long time there speaking boldly with reliance upon the Lord, who was testifying to the word of His grace, granting that signs and wonders be performed by their hands.

⁴But the people of the city were divided; and some sided with the Jews, while others, with the apostles.

⁵And when an attempt was made by both the Gentiles and the Jews with their rulers, to treat them abusively and to stone them,

⁶they became aware of it and fled to the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra and Derbe, and the surrounding region;

⁷and there they continued to preach the gospel.

⁸In Lystra a man was sitting whose feet were incapacitated. He had been disabled from his mother’s womb, and had never walked.

⁹This man was listening to Paul as he spoke. Paul looked at him intently and saw that he had faith to be made well,

¹⁰and he said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet!” And the man leaped up and began to walk.

¹¹When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voice, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have become like men and have come down to us!”

¹²And they began calling Barnabas, Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, since he was the chief speaker.

¹³Moreover, the priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds.

¹⁴But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard about it, they tore their robes and rushed out into the crowd, crying out

¹⁵and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men, of the same nature as you, preaching the gospel to you, to turn from these useless things to a living God, who MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA, AND EVERYTHING THAT IS IN THEM.

¹⁶In past generations He permitted all the nations to go their own ways;

¹⁷yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.”

¹⁸And even by saying these things, only with difficulty did they restrain the crowds from offering sacrifices to them.

¹⁹But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having won over the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, thinking that he was dead.

²⁰But while the disciples stood around him, he got up and entered the city. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.

²¹And after they had preached the gospel to that city and had made a good number of disciples, they returned to Lystra, to Iconium, and to Antioch,

²²strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, “It is through many tribulations that we must enter the kingdom of God.”

²³When they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they entrusted them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

²⁴They passed through Pisidia and came into Pamphylia.

²⁵When they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia.

²⁶From there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been entrusted to the grace of God for the work that they had accomplished.

²⁷When they had arrived and gathered the church together, they began to report all the things that God had done with them and how He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.

²⁸And they spent a long time with the disciples.

¹Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

²And after Paul and Barnabas had a heated argument and debate with them, the brothers determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders concerning this issue.

³Therefore, after being sent on their way by the church, they were passing through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and they were bringing great joy to all the brothers and sisters.

⁴When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were received by the church, the apostles, and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them.

⁵But some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to keep the Law of Moses.”

⁶The apostles and the elders came together to look into this matter.

⁷After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe.

⁸And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us;

⁹and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.

¹⁰Since this is the case, why are you putting God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our forefathers nor we have been able to bear?

¹¹But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.”

¹²All the people kept silent, and they were listening to Barnabas and Paul as they were relating all the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the Gentiles.

¹³After they stopped speaking, James responded, saying, “Brothers, listen to me.

¹⁴Simeon has described how God first concerned Himself about taking a people for His name from among the Gentiles.

¹⁵The words of the Prophets agree with this, just as it is written:

¹⁶‘AFTER THESE THINGS I will return, AND I WILL REBUILD THE FALLEN TABERNACLE OF DAVID, AND I WILL REBUILD ITS RUINS, AND I WILL RESTORE IT,

¹⁷SO THAT THE REST OF MANKIND MAY SEEK THE LORD, AND ALL THE GENTILES WHO ARE CALLED BY MY NAME,’

¹⁸SAYS THE LORD, WHO MAKES THESE THINGS known from long ago.

¹⁹Therefore, it is my judgment that we do not cause trouble for those from the Gentiles who are turning to God,

²⁰but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols, from acts of sexual immorality, from what has been strangled, and from blood.

²¹For from ancient generations Moses has those who preach him in every city, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

²²Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas: Judas who was called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers,

²³and they sent this letter with them: “The apostles and the brothers who are elders, to the brothers and sisters in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia who are from the Gentiles: Greetings.

²⁴Since we have heard that some of our number to whom we gave no instruction have confused you by their teaching, upsetting your souls,

²⁵it seemed good to us, having become of one mind, to select men to send to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,

²⁶men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

²⁷Therefore, we have sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will also report the same things by word of mouth.

²⁸For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials:

²⁹that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from acts of sexual immorality; if you keep yourselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell.”

³⁰So when they were sent away, they went down to Antioch; and after gathering the congregation together, they delivered the letter.

³¹When they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement.

³²Judas and Silas, also being prophets themselves, encouraged and strengthened the brothers and sisters with a lengthy message.

³³After they had spent time there, they were sent away from the brothers and sisters in peace to those who had sent them out.

³⁴

³⁵But Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.

³⁶After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s return and visit the brothers and sisters in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.”

³⁷Barnabas wanted to take John, called Mark, along with them also.

³⁸But Paul was of the opinion that they should not take along with them this man who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work.

³⁹Now it turned into such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus.

⁴⁰But Paul chose Silas, and left after being entrusted by the brothers to the grace of the Lord.

⁴¹And he was traveling through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.