And he went away to Tarsus to seek out Saul.

And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.

Peter signed to them with his hand to be silent, and then told them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison, adding: "Tell James and the Brethren all this." Then he left the house, and went away to another place.

and Herod having sought for him, and not having found, having examined the guards, did command them to be led away to punishment, and having gone down from Judea to Caesarea, he was abiding there.

and in their ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, 'Separate ye to me both Barnabas and Saul to the work to which I have called them,'

They therefore, having been sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia, and thence sailed away to Cyprus.

Now look, the power of the Lord is coming on you to cause [such] blindness that you will not [even] be able to see the sun for awhile." And immediately a misty darkness fell on him and he kept trying to find people to lead him [around] by the hand.

And after reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, Men, brethren, if the word of encouragement is in you to the people, speak.

And when John was completing his work, he said, What do I seem to you to be? I am not he; but one is coming after me, whose shoes I am not good enough to undo.

And we to you do proclaim good news -- that the promise made unto the fathers,

God hath in full completed this to us their children, having raised up Jesus, as also in the second Psalm it hath been written, My Son thou art -- I to-day have begotten thee.

For that is what the Lord has commanded us, saying,

‘I have placed You as a light for the Gentiles,
So that You may bring [the message of eternal] salvation to the end of the earth.’”

and saying, Men, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, preaching to you to turn from these vanities to the living God, who made the heaven, and the earth, and the sea, and all things in them;

And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch,

and thence they sailed away to Antioch, whence they had been committed to the grace of God for the work which they had fulfilled.

When they arrived there, they called the church together, and reported how God had worked with them, and how he had opened the way to faith for the heathen.

But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.

and after the question had been much canvass'd, Peter rose up, and said, my brethren, you know that a considerable time since God chose me from among you to preach the gospel to the Gentiles, and bring them to the faith.

Now therefore why endeavour ye to put a yoke on the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?

So we send Judas and Silas to you, to give you this same message by word of mouth.

There arose therefore very warm feeling, so that they separated from one another; and Barnabas taking Mark sailed away to Cyprus;

And when he had seen the vision, we wanted at once to go away to Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.

Therefore loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course to Samothracia, and the next day to Neapolis;

From there we made our way to Philippi, which is the principal city of that part of Macedonia, and also a Roman Settlement. In that city we spent several days.

It happened that as we were on our way to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave-girl who had a spirit of divination [that is, a demonic spirit claiming to foretell the future and discover hidden knowledge], and she brought her owners a good profit by fortune-telling.

She followed Paul and us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Supreme God and they are proclaiming to you the way to be saved."

She had been doing this for several days, when Paul, much vexed, turned and said to the spirit within her: "In the Name of Jesus Christ I command you to leave her." That very moment the spirit left her.

And took them out and said, Sirs, what have I to do to get salvation?

The jailer reported these words to Paul: “The magistrates have sent orders for you to be released. So come out now and go in peace.”

And they came and besought them, and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the city.

Now when they [Note: A change from the use of "we" to "they" suggests that the writer Luke remained behind in Philippi at this point] had traveled through the [Macedonian] towns of Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to [the city of] Thessalonica where there was a Jewish synagogue.

But the Jews giving away to jealousy, and receiving to themselves certain wicked men of those around the forum, and raising a mob, continued to put the city in an uproar; and assaulting the house of Jason, they were seeking to lead them out to the people:

When they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials and shouted, "These men have turned the world upside down [i.e., disrupted society by their preaching] and have [now] come here also [i.e., to do the same thing in our community].

That night the brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the Jewish synagogue.

So at that time the brothers immediately sent Paul away to go as far as the sea; but Silas and Timothy remained there [at Berea].

The men who escorted Paul took him all the way to Athens and, after receiving instructions to have Silas and Timothy join him as soon as possible, they left.

For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I to you.

That they might search for God, if by any means they might feel their way to him and find him. And yet he is not really far from any one of us;

for I am with you, and no one will attack you in order to hurt you, because I have many people in this city.”

But if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such matters.

So Paul, [after] remaining many days longer, said farewell to the brothers [and] sailed away to Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila. He shaved [his] head at Cenchrea, because he had [taken] a vow.

When they desired him to tarry longer time with them, he consented not;

He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, and Priscilla and Aquila, after hearing him, took him home and explained God's way to him more accurately.

so that even handkerchiefs or work aprons {that had touched his skin} were carried away to those who were sick, and [their] diseases left them and the evil spirits came out [of them].

After these things happened Paul decided to travel through Macedonia and Achaia on his way to Jerusalem. He said, "Then, after I have been there I want to visit Rome also."

[It appears that] Alexander was appointed out of the crowd by the Jews [i.e., to be their spokesman in defending them from the charges being made against Paul]. He motioned with his hand [to get attention] and attempted to speak to the assembly in defense [of the Jewish viewpoint].

these things, then, not being to be gainsaid, it is necessary for you to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly.

But after the tumult had ceased, Paul having called the disciples to him and embraced them, went away to go to Macedonia.

“And now I am on my way to Jerusalem, bound in my spirit, not knowing what I will encounter there,

Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men.

"Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has placed you to take the oversight for Him and act as shepherds to the Church of God, which He has bought with His own blood.

And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.

In all things, I gave you to understand, that, thus toiling, it behoves to be helping the weak, also to be keeping in mind the words of the Lord Jesus, that, he himself, said - Happy is it, rather to give than to receive!

Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.

What then ought you to do? They are sure to hear that you have come to Jerusalem;

So, here is what we would like you to do: We have four men who have made a vow [i.e., a special promise to God].

Take these men and observe the ceremony of purification with them, pay their expenses so they can shave their heads [i.e., to signify that they are making a vow] and [then] everyone will know that there is no truth in what people have been told about you, but that you, too, are living properly and observing the law of Moses.

[So], the entire city was stirred up, and the mob rushed together and attacked Paul, dragging him out of the Temple. Immediately the [Temple] doors were closed [i.e., to secure it from further intrusion].

Then the chief captain came near, and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and demanded who he was, and what he had done.

"I am a Jew," replied Paul, "belonging to Tarsus in Cilicia, and am a citizen of no unimportant city. Give me leave, I pray you, to speak to the people."

"I am a Jew, born at Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I was carefully trained at the feet of Gamaliel in the Law of our forefathers, and, like all of you to-day, was zealous for God.

{I} persecuted this Way to the death, tying up and delivering to prison both men and women,

as the high priest and all the Council of the elders (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court) can testify; because from them I received letters to the brothers, and I was on my way to Damascus in order to bring those [believers] who were there to Jerusalem in chains to be punished.

And I asked, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord answered me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that is appointed and destined for you to do.’

And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will, [and to progressively understand His plan with clarity and power] and to see the Righteous One [Jesus Christ, the Messiah] and to hear a message from His [own] mouth.

So now, what are you waiting for? Get up and be immersed [into Christ], and have your sins washed away as you appeal to His name [i.e., to Christ's authority].'

And he said to me, 'Go, because I will send you far away to the Gentiles!'"

And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned?

But Paul, getting to know that, the one part, were Sadducees and, the other, Pharisees, began to cry aloud in the council - Brethren! I, am, a Pharisee, son of Pharisees: - Concerning a hope, even of a rising again of the dead, am I to be judged.

Now therefore ye with the council signify to the chief captain that he bring him down unto you to morrow, as though ye would inquire something more perfectly concerning him: and we, or ever he come near, are ready to kill him.

So he took him, and brought him to the chief captain, and said, Paul the prisoner called me unto him, and prayed me to bring this young man unto thee, who hath something to say unto thee.

Then the Tribune, taking him by the arm, withdrew out of the hearing of others and asked him, "What have you to tell me?"

And he said, “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court) tomorrow, as if they were going to interrogate him more thoroughly.

You therefore do not be persuaded by them, because more [than] forty men of {their number} are lying in wait [for] him, who have bound themselves under a curse neither to eat nor to drink until they have done away with him. And now they are ready, waiting for {you to agree}."

And when news was given to me that a secret design was being made against the man, I sent him straight away to you, giving orders to those who are against him to make their statements before you.

But so that I may not impose on you for longer, I implore you to hear us briefly with your [customary] graciousness.

And Paul responded, the governor beckoning to him to speak; Knowing you to be a judge to this nation from many years, I cheerfully apologize as to the things concerning myself:

And therefore study I to have a clear conscience toward God, and toward man also.

It is they who ought to be here before you to bring charges, if they have anything against me.

unless it was in that one expression which I made use of when I shouted out as I stood among them, "'The resurrection of the dead is the thing about which I am on my trial before you to-day.'"

[He] ordered the centurion [for] him to be guarded and to have some freedom, and in no way to prevent any of his own [people] [from] serving him.

offer'd him mony in order to obtain his discharge. but two years after he was succeeded by Porcius Festus, who to oblige the Jews left Paul under confinement.

And desired favour against him, that he would send for him to Jerusalem, laying wait in the way to kill him.

About whom, when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me, desiring to have judgment against him.

To whom I gave answer that it is not the Roman way to give a man up, till he has been face to face with those who are attacking him, and has had a chance to give an answer to the statements made against him.

So Agrippa said to Paul, "It is permitted for you to speak for yourself." Then Paul extended [his] hand [and] began to defend himself:

I think myself happy, King Agrippa, in being allowed to make my defense before you to-day in respect to all things of which I am accused by the Jews,

especially because you are an expert [fully knowledgeable, experienced and unusually conversant] in all the Jewish customs and controversial issues; therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.

And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.

While in this business I once was on my way to Damascus with authority based on a commission from the high priests,

And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice in the Hebrew dialect (Jewish Aramaic) saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick [repeatedly] against the goads [offering pointless resistance].’

Get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you [to serve] as a minister and as a witness [to testify, with authority,] not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you,

I will save you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you to open their eyes,

To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.

And he defending himself with these things, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, you rave! Your many letters turn you to insanity.

And when it was decided [that] we would sail away to Italy, they handed over Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion {named} Julius of the Augustan Cohort.

And the next day came we to Sidon, and Julius courteously entreated Paul, and gave him liberty to go unto his friends, and to refresh himself.

There the Roman Officer found an Alexandrian ship on her way to Italy, and put us on board of her.

And because the haven was not commodious to winter in, the more part advised to depart thence also, if by any means they might attain to Phenice, and there to winter; which is an haven of Crete, and lieth toward the south west and north west.