So those who were scattered went on their way preaching the message of good news.

For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed, and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed.

When the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had welcomed God’s message, they sent Peter and John to them.

So he got up and went. There was an Ethiopian man, a eunuch and high official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to worship in Jerusalem

In His humiliation justice was denied Him.
Who will describe His generation?
For His life is taken from the earth.

The eunuch replied to Philip, “I ask you, who is the prophet saying this about—himself or another person?”

and requested letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women who belonged to the Way, he might bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

“Who are You, Lord?” he said.

“I am Jesus, the One you are persecuting,” He replied.

The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the sound but seeing no one.

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

So Ananias left and entered the house. Then he placed his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road you were traveling, has sent me so that you can regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

But all who heard him were astounded and said, “Isn’t this the man who, in Jerusalem, was destroying those who called on this name and then came here for the purpose of taking them as prisoners to the chief priests?”

But Saul grew more capable and kept confounding the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that this One is the Messiah.

As Peter was traveling from place to place, he also came down to the saints who lived in Lydda.

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

So all who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.

Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples heard that Peter was there and sent two men to him who begged him, “Don’t delay in coming with us.”

About three in the afternoon he distinctly saw in a vision an angel of God who came in and said to him, “Cornelius!”

Now send men to Joppa and call for Simon, who is also named Peter.

When the angel who spoke to him had gone, he called two of his household slaves and a devout soldier, who was one of those who attended him.

While Peter was deeply perplexed about what the vision he had seen might mean, the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions to Simon’s house, stood at the gate.

They called out, asking if Simon, who was also named Peter, was lodging there.

They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who has a good reputation with the whole Jewish nation, was divinely directed by a holy angel to call you to his house and to hear a message from you.”

Therefore send someone to Joppa and invite Simon here, who is also named Peter. He is lodging in Simon the tanner’s house by the sea.’

but in every nation the person who fears Him and does righteousness is acceptable to Him.

how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were under the tyranny of the Devil, because God was with Him.

not by all the people, but by us, witnesses appointed beforehand by God, who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead.

All the prophets testify about Him that through His name everyone who believes in Him will receive forgiveness of sins.”

While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came down on all those who heard the message.

The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.

“Can anyone withhold water and prevent these people from being baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”

The apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles had welcomed God’s message also.

When Peter went up to Jerusalem, those who stressed circumcision argued with him,

At that very moment, three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea arrived at the house where we were.

He reported to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa, and call for Simon, who is also named Peter.

Those who had been scattered as a result of the persecution that started because of Stephen made their way as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the message to no one except Jews.

But there were some of them, Cypriot and Cyrenian men, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Hellenists, proclaiming the good news about the Lord Jesus.

The Lord’s hand was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord.

So each of the disciples, according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brothers who lived in Judea.

About that time King Herod cruelly attacked some who belonged to the church,

He had been very angry with the Tyrians and Sidonians. Together they presented themselves before him. They won over Blastus, who was in charge of the king’s bedroom, and through him they asked for peace, because their country was supplied with food from the king’s country.

In the church that was at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen, a close friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

Then Paul stood up and motioned with his hand and said: “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen!

After removing him, He raised up David as their king and testified about him: ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man loyal to Me, who will carry out all My will.’

Then as John was completing his life’s work, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not the One. But look! Someone is coming after me, and I am not worthy to untie the sandals on His feet.’

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

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

But the One God raised up did not decay.

and everyone who believes in Him is justified from everything that you could not be justified from through the law of Moses.

After the synagogue had been dismissed, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking with them and persuading them to continue in the grace of God.

When the Gentiles heard this, they rejoiced and glorified the message of the Lord, and all who had been appointed to eternal life believed.

But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up and poisoned the minds of the Gentiles against the brothers.

So they stayed there for some time and spoke boldly in reliance on the Lord, who testified to the message of His grace by granting that signs and wonders be performed through them.

In Lystra a man without strength in his feet, lame from birth, and who had never walked, sat

“Men! Why are you doing these things? We are men also, with the same nature as you, and we are proclaiming good news to you, that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything in them.

When they had appointed elders in every church and prayed with fasting, they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

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

so the rest of humanity
may seek the Lord—
even all the Gentiles
who are called by My name,
declares the Lord who does these things,

Therefore, in my judgment, we should not cause difficulties for those among the Gentiles who turn to God,

For since ancient times, Moses has had those who proclaim him in every city, and every Sabbath day he is read aloud in the synagogues.”

Because we have heard that some without our authorization went out from us and troubled you with their words and unsettled your hearts,

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

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

Both Judas and Silas, who were also prophets themselves, encouraged the brothers and strengthened them with a long message.

After spending some time there, they were sent back in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them. But Paul and Barnabas, along with many others, remained in Antioch teaching and proclaiming the message of the Lord.

After some time had passed, Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s go back and visit the brothers in every town where we have preached the message of the Lord and see how they’re doing.” Barnabas wanted to take along John Mark. But Paul did not think it appropriate to take along this man who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone on with them to the work. There was such a sharp disagreement that they parted company, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed off to Cyprus. Then Paul chose Silas and departed, after being commended to the grace of the Lord by the brothers. He traveled through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

But Paul did not think it appropriate to take along this man who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone on with them to the work.

Paul wanted Timothy to go with him, so he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, since they all knew that his father was a Greek.

A woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God, was listening. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was spoken by Paul.

Once, as we were on our way to prayer, a slave girl met us who had a spirit of prediction. She made a large profit for her owners by fortune-telling.

As she followed Paul and us she cried out, “These men, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation, are the slaves of the Most High God.”

explaining and showing that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead: “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah.”

When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here too,

The Jews stirred up the crowd and the city officials who heard these things.

Those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving instructions for Silas and Timothy to come to him as quickly as possible, they departed.

So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with those who worshiped God and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.

The God who made the world and everything in it—He is Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in shrines made by hands.

However, some men joined him and believed, including Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

where he found a Jewish man named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul came to them,

A Jew named Apollos, a native Alexandrian, an eloquent man who was powerful in the use of the Scriptures, arrived in Ephesus.

When he wanted to cross over to Achaia, the brothers wrote to the disciples urging them to welcome him. After he arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace.

Paul said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people that they should believe in the One who would come after him, that is, in Jesus.”

Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists attempted to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I command you by the Jesus that Paul preaches!”

The evil spirit answered them, “I know Jesus, and I recognize Paul—but who are you?”

Then the man who had the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them all, and prevailed against them, so that they ran out of that house naked and wounded.

This became known to everyone who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. Then fear fell on all of them, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.

And many who had become believers came confessing and disclosing their practices,

while many of those who had practiced magic collected their books and burned them in front of everyone. So they calculated their value and found it to be 50,000 pieces of silver.

So after sending two of those who assisted him, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.

For a person named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, provided a great deal of business for the craftsmen.

So not only do we run a risk that our business may be discredited, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be despised and her magnificence come to the verge of ruin—the very one all of Asia and the world adore.”

So the city was filled with confusion, and they rushed all together into the amphitheater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s traveling companions.

Even some of the provincial officials of Asia, who were his friends, sent word to him, pleading with him not to take a chance by going into the amphitheater.

However, when the city clerk had calmed the crowd down, he said, “Men of Ephesus! What man is there who doesn’t know that the city of the Ephesians is the temple guardian of the great Artemis, and of the image that fell from heaven?

For you have brought these men here who are not temple robbers or blasphemers of our goddess.

So if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a case against anyone, the courts are in session, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another.

“And now I know that none of you will ever see my face again—everyone I went about preaching the kingdom to.

Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock that the Holy Spirit has appointed you to as overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood.

“And now I commit you to God and to the message of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified.

You yourselves know that these hands have provided for my needs and for those who were with me.

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