At that time Peter got up among the brothers (there were about a hundred and twenty present) and said,

(This man bought a piece of land with the money which he took for his treachery, and he fell there face downward and his body broke in two, and all his intestines poured out.

when suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a terrific blast of wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting,

Now there were devout Jews from every part of the world living in Jerusalem.

There is no salvation by anyone else, for no one else in all the wide world has been appointed among men as our only medium by which to be saved."

Now there was but one heart and soul in the vast number of those who had become believers, and not one of them claimed that anything that he had was his own, but they shared everything that they had as common property.

But Jacob heard that there was food in Egypt and sent our forefathers on their first visit down there.

and Jacob came down to Egypt. There he and our forefathers died

It was he who brought them out of Egypt by performing wonders and signs there and at the Red Sea -- as he did also in the desert for forty years.

'"Heaven is my throne, and earth a footstool for my feet. What house can you build for me?" says the Lord; "Or what place is there in which I can rest?

So there was great rejoicing in that city.

There was a man named Simon in the city, who had kept the Samaritan people thrilled by practicing magic there and by claiming to be a great man.

When the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted God's message, they sent Peter and John there.

So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian official, a member of the court of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, her chief treasurer, who had come to Jerusalem to worship,

As they continued down the road, they came to some water, and the official said, "Look! here is some water! What is there to keep me from being baptized?"

But get up and go into the city, and there it will be told you what you ought to do."

Now there was in Damascus a disciple named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias!" And he answered, "Yes, Lord, I am here."

And the Lord said to him, "Get up and go to the street called 'The Straight Street,' and ask at the house of Judas for one named Saul, from Tarsus, for he is now praying there.

So Ananias left and went to that house, and there he laid his hands upon Saul, and said, "Saul, my. brother, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road on which you were coming here, has sent me that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."

Now when Saul arrived at Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples there, but they were all afraid of him, because they did not believe that he was really a disciple.

So when the brothers found this out, they took him down to Caesarea, and from there sent him back to Tarsus.

Now, as Peter was going here and there among them all, he finally went down to God's people who lived at Lydda.

There he found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden for eight years as a paralytic.

At Joppa there was a woman, a disciple, whose name was Tabitha, which in Greek means Dorcas, that is, Gazelle. She had filled her life with good deeds and works of charity, which she was always doing.

As Joppa was near Lydda, the disciples heard that Peter was there, and sent two men to him, begging him to come to them without delay.

So Peter at once got up and went with them. When he reached there, they took him to the room upstairs, and all the widows took their stand around him, crying and showing him the shirts and coats that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

Now at Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a colonel in what was known as the Italian regiment,

and they called and inquired if Simon who was called Peter was staying there.

While Peter was meditating on the vision, the Spirit said to him, "There are two men looking for you.

So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they begged him to stay on there a few days.

But there were some of them, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who on reaching Antioch began to speak to the Greeks too, and proceeded to tell them the good news about the Lord Jesus.

When he reached there and saw the spiritual blessing God had given them, he was delighted, and continuously encouraged them all with hearty purpose to continue to be devoted to the Lord;

and one of them named Agabus got up and, through the Holy Spirit, foretold that there was going to be a great famine all over the world, which occurred in the reign of Claudius.

When morning came, there was no little commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter.

Herod had search made for him, and when he could not find him, he examined the guards and ordered them to be put to death. Then he left Judea for Caesarea, and stayed there.

Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who is called Niger, Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen who was an intimate friend of the governor, and Saul.

Then they went through the whole island as far as Paphos, and there they found a Jewish magician and false prophet whose name was Barjesus.

In spite of this, however, they stayed there a considerable time and continued to speak with courage from the Lord, who continued to bear testimony to His gracious message and kept on granting signs and wonders to be done by them.

And so when there was a movement on the part of both the heathen and the Jews, along with their authorities, to insult and stone them,

and there they continued to tell the good news.

They told the good news in that town, and after winning many disciples there, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch,

and from there they sailed back to Antioch, where they had first been committed to God's favor for the work which they had finished.

On arriving there they called the church together, and in detail reported to them all that God had done through them as instruments, and how He had opened to the heathen the door of faith.

And there they stayed a long time with the disciples.

After spending some time there, they were sent back with a greeting to those who sent them.

Now he went to Derbe and Lystra too. At Lystra there was a disciple named Timothy, whose mother was a Christian Jewess, but his father was a Greek.

There Paul had a vision one night: a man from Macedonia kept standing and pleading with him in these words, "Come over to Macedonia and help us!"

From there we went on to Philippi, a Roman colony, the leading town in that part of Macedonia. In this town we stayed some days.

On the sabbath we went outside the gate, to the bank of the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and began to talk with the women who had met there.

suddenly there was an earthquake so great that it shook the very foundations of the jail, the doors all flew open, and every prisoner's chains were unfastened.

Now they traveled on through Amphipolis and Apollonia until they reached Thessalonica. Here there was a Jewish synagogue.

and Jason has welcomed them. They are all acting contrary to the Emperor's decrees, because they claim there is another king, Jesus."

That night at once the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea, and on arriving there they went to the Jewish synagogue.

The Jews there were better disposed than those in Thessalonica, for they welcomed the message with all eagerness and carried on a daily study of the Scriptures to see if Paul's message was true.

But when the Jews at Thessalonica learned that God's message had been proclaimed at Berea by Paul, they came there too to excite the masses and stir up a riot.

Then the brothers at once sent Paul off to the coast, while Silas and Timothy stayed on there.

So he kept up his discussions in the synagogue with the Jews and the pagans who were worshiping there, and also day by day in the public square with any who chanced to be there.

For as I was going here and there and looking at the things you worship, I even found an altar with this inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.' So it is about the Being whom you are in ignorance already worshiping that I am telling you.

There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had issued an edict for all Jews to leave Rome. So Paul paid them a visit,

Then they came to Ephesus, and Paul left them there. He went into the synagogue and had a discussion with the Jews.

When he reached Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church there; then he went down to Antioch.

After spending some time there, he started out again, and by a definite schedule traveled all over Galatia and Phrygia, imparting new strength to all the disciples.

Because he wished to cross to Greece, the brothers wrote and urged the disciples there to welcome him. On his arrival he rendered great service to those who through God's favor had believed,

It was while Apollos was in Corinth that Paul, by passing through the inland districts, came to Ephesus. He found a few disciples there

and asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" They answered him, "So far from that, we never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit."

In all there were about twelve men.

He went to the synagogue there and for three months courageously spoke, keeping up his discussions and continuing to persuade them about the kingdom of God.

After these events had been brought to a close, Paul under the guidance of the Spirit decided to pass through Macedonia and Greece on his way to Jerusalem, saying, "After I have gone there I must see Rome too."

So then, if Demetrius and his fellow-workmen have a charge against anybody, there are the courts and the judges; let them go to law.

For we are in danger of being charged with rioting for today's assembly, as there is not a single reason we can give for it."

They went on to Troas and waited there for us,

There were many lamps in the room upstairs where we met,

We had already gone on board the ship and set sail for Assos, where we were to take Paul on board; for it had been so arranged by him, as he intended to travel there on foot.

On the next day we sailed from there and arrived off Chios. On the next day we crossed to Samos, and the next we reached Miletus.

And I am here now on my way to Jerusalem, because I am impelled by the Spirit to do so, though I am not aware what will befall me there,

There was loud weeping by them all, as they threw their arms around Paul's neck and kept on kissing him with affection,

When we had torn ourselves away from them, we struck a bee line for Cos, and the next day on to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.

There we found a ship bound for Phoenicia, and so we went aboard and sailed away.

After sighting Cyprus and leaving it on our left, we sailed on for Syria, and put in at Tyre, for the ship was to unload her cargo there.

So we looked up the disciples there and stayed a week with them. Because of impressions made by the Spirit they kept on warning Paul not to set foot in Jerusalem.

But when our time was up, we left there and went on, and all of them with their wives and children accompanied us out of town. There we knelt down on the beach and prayed;

there we bade one another goodbye, and we went aboard the ship, while they went back.

The next day we left there and went on to Caesarea, where we went to the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the Seven, and stayed with him.

When we heard this, we and all the people there begged him not to go up to Jerusalem.

Then Paul answered, "What do you mean by crying and breaking my heart? Why, I am ready not only to be bound at Jerusalem but to die there for the sake of the Lord Jesus."

When we reached Jerusalem, the brothers there gave us a hearty welcome.

They gave the glory to God, when they heard it, and said to him, "You see, brother, how many thousand believers there are among the Jews, all of them zealous champions of the law.

as the high priest and the whole council will bear me witness. Indeed, I had received letters from them to the brothers in Damascus, and I was on the way there to bind those who were there and bring them back to Jerusalem to be punished.

Then I asked, 'What am I to do, Lord?' And the Lord answered, 'Get up and go into Damascus, and there it will be told you what you are destined to do.'

There a man named Ananias, a man devout in strict accordance with the law, of good reputation among all the Jews who lived there,

For the Sadducees hold that there is no resurrection, and no such thing as an angel or spirit, but the Pharisees believe in all of them.

So there was a vociferous yelling until some of the scribes, belonging to the party of the Pharisees, got up and fiercely contended, "We find nothing wrong with this man. Suppose a spirit or angel has really spoken to him!"

There were more than forty of them who formed this conspiracy.

and I have the same hope in God that they cherish for themselves, that there is to be a resurrection of the upright and the wicked.

While I was performing these duties they found me just as I had completed the rites of my purification in the temple; however, there was no crowd with me and no disturbance at all.

But there were some Jews from Asia who ought to be here before you and to present their charges, if they have any, against me.

Festus answered that Paul was being kept in custody in Caesarea, and that he himself was going there soon.

"So have your influential men go down with me," said he, "and present charges against the man, if there is anything wrong with him."

After staying there not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea, and the next day, after taking his seat on the judge's bench, he ordered Paul brought in.

Then Festus, as he wanted to ingratiate himself with the Jews, said to Paul, "Will you go up to Jerusalem and be tried on these charges before me there?"