Paul in the Bible

Meaning: small; littlepar

Exact Match

Then Paul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus.

Verse ConceptsdisabilitiesEyes HarmedBlindnessdamascus

all the Jewish converts, who came with Paul, were astonished to see that the gift of the holy spirit was diffused likewise among the Gentiles.

Verse ConceptsCircumcision, physicalGenerosity, God'sBelieversPrejudiceAstonishmentThe Gentiles ConversionThe Holy Spirit Described As God's Gift

Then he went on to Tarsus to look for Saul [Note: Tarsus was the home town of Saul, who was later called Paul],

Verse ConceptsBarnabasThose Looking For People

Who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paul, an intelligent man; he having called Barnabas and Saul, sought anxiously to hear the word of God.

Verse Conceptsevangelism, kinds ofDerision

And after the reading of the law of Moses and [the writings of] the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent [word] to Paul and Barnabas, saying, "Brothers, if you [men] have any message that will exhort [or encourage] the people, you may speak."

Verse ConceptsReadingLiteracySynagogueReading The ScripturesExhort OthersStudying The LawUse Of The ScripturesWritten In The ProphetsEncouragementMotivationReading The Bibleencouraginguplifting

As Paul and Barnabas were leaving [the synagogue], the people kept begging that these things might be spoken to them on the next Sabbath.

Verse ConceptseagernessOn The Sabbath

So Paul and Barnabas shook the dust off their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.

Verse ConceptsGesturesWiping DustPeople Abandoning People

Now in Iconium Paul and Barnabas went into the Jewish synagogue together and spoke in such a way [with such power and boldness] that a large number of Jews as well as Greeks believed [and confidently accepted Jesus as Savior];

Verse ConceptsCongregationevangelists, ministry ofevangelism, kinds ofGrowthHabitsPaul, Life OfMany In The ChurchAntagonism From Jew And Gentile

So Paul and Barnabas stayed for a long time, speaking boldly and confidently for the Lord, who continued to testify to the word of His grace, granting that signs and wonders (attesting miracles) be done by them.

Verse ConceptsBoldness, Proclaiming GospelImportunity, Towards PeopleMiracles, Nature OfBoldness Examples OfThe Witness Of GodBeing StrongOther MiraclesSigns And Wonders Of The GospelStaying A Long Timeholy Boldness

Paul and Barnabas found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian towns of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding territory.

Paul said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet!” And he jumped up and started to walk around.

Verse ConceptsWalkingMiracles Of PaulThe Healed WalkingIndividuals ShoutingGet Up!jumping

Even by saying this, it was all Paul and Barnabas could do to keep the crowds from offering sacrifices to them.

Verse ConceptsHard TasksWorshipping Men

But as the disciples stood around [Paul's apparently lifeless body], he [surprisingly] stood up [fully restored to health] and entered the town. On the following day he went with Barnabas to Derbe.

Verse ConceptsThe Next DayEntering CitiesPeople Getting Up

Paul and Barnabas then went through Pisidia, and came into Pamphylia,

When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.

Verse Conceptselders, in the churchBelieversVisitingDissensionDisputesMan AppointingThe Apostles In ActionResolving Conflict

After Paul and Barnabas had finished speaking, James responded, "Brothers, listen to me:

Verse ConceptsPay Attention To People!

Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren:

Verse ConceptsVisitingChoosing PeoplePeople Sending PeopleThe Apostles In Action

with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, Men that have hazarded their lives, for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse ConceptsRiskingrisk

So, when Paul, Barnabas, Judas and Silas left [the meeting] they went down to Antioch and, after gathering a large group [of the church] together, they presented the letter to them.

Verse ConceptsChurch Gatherings

But it seemed good to Silas to continue there: Paul also and Barnabas stayed at Antioch,

A heated discussion developed [over this matter] so that Paul and Barnabas went their separate ways [over it], with Barnabas sailing for Cyprus and taking [John] Mark with him.

Verse ConceptsIslandsSeafaringSuffering, Causes OfAlienation, Examples OfSharpnessPeople PartingMissionariesMisunderstandings

Now Paul traveled to Derbe and also to Lystra. A disciple named Timothy was there, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer [in Christ], however, his father was a Greek.

Verse ConceptsBelieversGrandmothers

as the brethren of Lystra and Iconium gave him a good character, Paul had a mind he should accompany him.

Verse ConceptsChristians Being Called Brothers

Then Paul and his companions passed through Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Message in the province of Asia.

Verse Conceptsevangelists, ministry ofInspiration Of The Holy Spirit, Purpose OfProvincesThe Holy Spirit In The ChurchLed By The SpiritMissionaries

And passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul by night:

After Paul saw the vision, we attempted immediately to go over to Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.

Verse ConceptsEvangelismevangelizing

The crowd joined in the attack against them. Then the magistrates had Paul and Silas stripped of their clothes and ordered them beaten with rods.

Verse ConceptsCrowdsAttackingMarketsSuffering, Causes OfPersecution Of The Apostle PaulPeople Stripping People

The jailor immediately took Paul and Silas, and cleansed [and soothed] their wounded [backs] and then he and his [believing] household were immersed [into Christ].

Verse ConceptsHourLove, For One AnotherRelatives Also InvolvedChristian BaptismBaptism

Then the police reported these words to the magistrates. They were afraid when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens.

Then Paul and Silas, having come out of the prison, went to Lydia's house; and, after seeing the brethren and encouraging them, they left Philippi.

Verse Conceptsencouragement, examples ofevangelising

Now after Paul and Silas had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.

Verse Conceptsevangelism, kinds ofPaul, Life Of

explaining and declaring that it was necessary for Christ to suffer and [then] rise again from the dead. Paul was saying, "This Jesus, whom I am proclaiming to you, is the Christ."

Verse ConceptsHeraldPreaching ChristSaid To Be The ChristChrist Would Rise

But the [unbelieving] Jews became jealous, and taking along some thugs from [the lowlifes in] the market place, they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; and then attacking Jason’s house tried to bring Paul and Silas out to the people.

Verse ConceptsEnvyIntoleranceJealousyMarketsUnbelieversEnvy, Example OfUnbelief, Examples OfDisorder Among PeopleBringing People Out Of Other PlacesIsrael HardenedMaking Israel Jealous

but as they failed to find Paul and Silas they haled Jason and some of the brothers before the politarchs, yelling, "These upsetters of the whole world have come here too!

Verse ConceptsTurning Upside DownPulling PeopleNot FindingTroubling Groups Of PeopleCauses of failure in

Jason has welcomed them and [now] all of them [i.e., Paul, Silas, Jason and the others] are going against the [Roman] laws of Caesar by saying that someone else is [our] king; that Jesus is [king]!"

Verse ConceptsdefianceKingship, DivineTreasonFalse Accusations, Examples OfWelcoming BelieversDifferent Personacting

And then immediately the brethren sent away Paul to go as it were to the sea: but Silas and Timotheus abode there still.

And they that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens: and receiving a commandment unto Silas and Timotheus for to come to him with all speed, they departed.

Verse Conceptsevangelism, kinds ofPaul, Life Of

Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also debated with him. Some asked, "What is this blabbermouth trying to say?" while others said, "He seems to be preaching about foreign gods." This was because Paul was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.

Verse ConceptsBabblersevangelism, nature ofPhilosophyResurrection, Of The DeadFalse Teachers, Examples OfScoffersAmateursAmbiguityEncouraged To Serve Foreign gods

So they took Paul and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are proclaiming?

When they heard Paul speak of a resurrection of dead men, some began to scoff. But others said, "We will hear you again on that subject."

Verse ConceptsAbuse, To God's PeopleGospel, Responses ToInsultsMockeryNosesPreaching, Effects OfSaying RepeatedlyAre The Dead Raised?Mocking Christflexibility

Howbeit, certain men clave unto Paul and believed, among the which was Dionysius a senator, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

Verse ConceptsConverts To ChristianityThose Who Believed In Christ

There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife, Priscilla, because [the Roman Emperor] Claudius had issued an edict that all the Jews were to leave Rome. Paul went to see them,

Verse Conceptsevangelism, motivation forempiresCaesarCommands, in NTPunishment, Legal Aspects OfRefugeesGood Wives ExamplesAquilaRoman EmperorsGroups Sent Away

Paul came to them, and because he was of the same trade with them, he lodged with them, and worked with them??or by trade they were tentmakers.

Verse ConceptsArts And Crafts, Types ofTentsIndustry, Examples OfTentmakingLike Good PeopleStaying Temporarilypartnershipvocation

Every Sabbath day Paul held discussions in the synagogues, trying to convince [both] Jews and Greeks [i.e., Gentiles, that Jesus was the Messiah].

Verse ConceptsConvincingApologeticsevangelists, ministry ofevangelism, kinds ofGreeksLord's Day, ThePersuasionReasonSabbath, In NtDiscussionsOn The SabbathThe Gospel To Jew And Gentile

When the Jews resisted [Paul's efforts] and spoke against him and his message, he shook out his clothing [i.e., an expression of rejection and contempt] and said to them "Let your blood be on your own heads [i.e., you are responsible for whatever harm comes from your action]; I am not responsible. From now on I will go [and preach] to the Gentiles [only]."

Verse ConceptsGentiles, In NtConfrontationBlood, as symbol of guiltInsultsSpiritual Warfare, Causes OfAbuse, To God's PeopleRejection Of God's CallShakingName CallingThe Gentiles ConversionPreaching Gospel To ForeignersResponsibility For Blood ShedPeople Abandoning PeopleBlasphemy

Then Paul left the synagogue and went to the house of a person named Titius Justus, a Gentile who worshiped God, whose house was next door to the synagogue.

Verse ConceptsProselytes

Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord together with his entire household [joyfully acknowledging Him as Messiah and Savior]; and many of the Corinthians who heard [Paul’s message] were believing and being baptized.

Verse ConceptsBaptism, Administered ByBaptism, Features Ofevangelism, kinds ofFamilies, Examples OfBaptism, practice ofMission, Of The ChurchOrdinancesSynagogueReligious AwakeningsChristian BaptismThose Who Believed In ChristBaptism

And when Paul was now about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you:

And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow.

Verse ConceptsBaldness, UnnaturalBarbersBaldnessHairsSeafaringVowsAquilaCutting HairSea Travelsyriagoodbyes

They put in at Ephesus, and there Paul left his companions behind. As for himself, he went to the synagogue and had a discussion with the Jews.

Verse Conceptsevangelism, kinds ofAquilaDiscussions

After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out on a tour, visiting the whole of Galatia and Phrygia in order, and strengthening all the disciples.

Verse ConceptsMissionaries, Task OfPaul, Life OfTravelMissionary WorkSpecific Cases Of Strengthening

And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples,

Verse ConceptsFindingRoadsflexibility

So Paul said, "Into what then were you baptized?" "Into John's baptism," they replied.

Verse ConceptsBaptised By JohnBaptism

Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.

Verse ConceptsFaith, Necessity OfJohn's BaptismBelieve In Christ!Signs Of RepentanceBaptism

Thematic Bible



We went on board an Adramyttian ship bound for the ports of Asia, and put to sea. We had a Macedonian from Thessalonica, named Aristarchus, with us.

So the commotion spread all over the city, and by a common impulse the people rushed to the theater, dragging with them two Macedonians, Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's traveling companions.

He was accompanied by Sopater of Berea, the son of Pyrrhus, Aristarchus and Secundus, from Thessalonica, Gaius of Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus, from Asia.

Aristarchus, my fellow-prisoner, wishes to be remembered to you, and so does Barnabas' cousin Mark. (About him you have had instructions; if he comes to see you, make him welcome.)

and so do my fellow-workers, Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke.


When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to settle there for the winter.


For, as I see it, living means Christ and dying something even better.


At my first appearance in court no one came to help me; everybody deserted me. May no one lay it up against them!


I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a descendant of Israel. I belong to the tribe of Benjamin. I am a Hebrew, and the son of Hebrews. As to the Law, I was a Pharisee;


Paul, by God's will an apostle of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to the church of God that is at Corinth, and all God's people all over Greece;

Paul, by the will of God called as an apostle of Jesus Christ, and our brother Sosthenes,

Paul, an apostle not from men nor sent by any man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead??2 and all the brothers who are here with me, to the churches of Galatia;

and he fell to the ground. Then he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?" "Who are you, sir?" he asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," said the voice. "But get up and go into the city, and there you will be told what you ought to do."

The Lord said to him, "Go! This man is the means I have chosen for carrying my name among the heathen and their kings, and among the descendants of Israel. For I am going to show him what he will have to endure for my sake."

As they were engaged in worshiping the Lord and in fasting, the holy Spirit said, "Set Barnabas and Saul apart for me, for the work to which I have called them." So after fasting and prayer, they laid their hands upon them and let them go.

Paul, a slave of Jesus Christ, called as an apostle, set apart to declare God's good news,

Paul, by God's will an apostle of Christ Jesus, to God's people who are steadfast in Christ Jesus;

Paul, by God's will an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Timothy,

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by order of God our Savior and of Jesus Christ our hope,

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Paul, by God's will an apostle of Christ Jesus in fulfilment of the promise of that life which is found in union with Christ Jesus,


I am here now on my way to Jerusalem, for the Spirit compels me to go there, though I do not know what will happen to me there, except that in every town I visit, the holy Spirit warns me that imprisonment and persecution are awaiting me. But my life does not matter, if I can only finish my race and do the service intrusted to me by the Lord Jesus, of declaring the good news of God's favor.

Then Paul answered, "What do you mean by crying and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound at Jerusalem but to die there for the sake of the Lord Jesus." So as he would not yield, we gave up urging him, and said, "The Lord's will be done!"



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


The signs that mark a true apostle were most patiently shown when I was among you, in signs, wonders, and marvels.

for our preaching of the good news did not come to you as mere words but with power and the holy Spirit and full conviction??ou know the kind of life we lived among you for your good.

offering men the message of life. Then I will have reason to boast of you on the Day of Christ, because my exertion and labor have not been wasted.

Then Paul got up, and motioning with his hand, said, "Men of Israel, and you who reverence God, listen! The God of this people of Israel chose our forefathers, and made the people great during their stay in Egypt, and then with uplifted hand led them out of Egypt. Then after he had taken care of them for forty years in the desert, read more.
he destroyed seven nations in Canaan, and settled them upon their land for about four hundred and fifty years. After that he gave them judges, down to the time of the prophet Samuel. Then they demanded a king and for forty years God gave them Saul, the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin. Then he removed him and raised David up to be their king, bearing this testimony to him: 'I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my own heart, who will do all that I desire.' It is from his descendants that God has brought to Israel as he promised to do, a savior in Jesus, in preparation for whose coming John had preached to all the people of Israel baptism in token of repentance. Toward the end of his career, John said, 'What do you suppose that I am? I am not he! No! Someone is coming after me, the shoes on whose feet I am not fit to untie!' Brothers! Descendants of the house of Abraham, and those others among you who reverence God! It is to us that this message of salvation has been sent. For the people of Jerusalem and their leaders refused to recognize him, and condemned him, thus fulfilling the very utterances of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, and though they could find no ground for putting him to death, they demanded of Pilate that he be executed. When they had carried out everything that had been said about him in the Scriptures, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead, and for many days he appeared to those who had come up to Jerusalem with him from Galilee, and they are now witnesses for him to the people. So we now bring you the good news that God has fulfilled to us, their children, the promise that he made to our forefathers, by raising Jesus to life, just as the Scripture says in the second psalm, You are my Son! Today I have become your Father!' Now as evidence that he has raised him from the dead, never again to return to decay, he said this: 'I will fulfil to you my sacred promises to David.' For in another psalm he says, 'You will not let your Holy One undergo decay.' Now David, after serving God's purposes in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid among his forefathers and did undergo decay, but he whom God raised to life did not undergo it. You must understand therefore, my brothers, that through him the forgiveness of your sins is announced to you, and that through union with him everyone who believes is cleared of every charge of which the Law of Moses could not clear you. Take care, therefore, that what is said in the prophets does not prove true of you: " 'Look, you scoffers! Then wonder and begone! For I am doing something in your times Which you will never believe even when it is related to you!' " As they were going out, the people begged to have all this said to them again on the following Sabbath, and after the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and the devout converts to Judaism went away with Paul and Barnabas, and they talked with them, and urged them to rely on the favor of God.

For no matter how many guides you may have in the Christian life, you will not have many fathers; for in this matter of union with Christ, I became your father, through preaching the good news to you.

If I am not an apostle to other people, I certainly am one to you, for you yourselves, in your relation to the Lord, are the certificate of my apostleship.

But whether it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

You are my recommendations, written on my heart, for everybody to read and understand. You show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by me, written not in ink, but in the Spirit of the living God, and not on tablets of stone, but on the human heart.

Even if he was crucified through weakness, by the power of God he is alive. For we are weak as he was, but you will find that by the power of God we will be alive as he is.


Therefore I declare to you today that I am not responsible for the blood of any of you, for I have not shrunk from letting you know God's purpose without reserve.

and really came to know it, in the form in which Epaphras, my dear fellow-slave, taught it to you. He is my faithful representative as a servant of Christ,


I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a descendant of Israel. I belong to the tribe of Benjamin. I am a Hebrew, and the son of Hebrews. As to the Law, I was a Pharisee;


With these words, he knelt down with them all and prayed. They all wept aloud, and throwing their arms about Paul's neck they kissed him affectionately, for they were especially saddened at his saying that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.


To the overscrupulous I have become overscrupulous, so as to win the overscrupulous; I have become everything to everybody, so as by all means to save some of them.


and spoke boldly for the Lord's cause, talking and debating with the Greek-speaking Jews. But they tried to kill him.


I am convinced of this, and so I know that I shall stay on and serve you all, to help you to develop and to be glad in your faith.

So I hope to send him to you just as soon as I can see how my case is going to turn out. I trust the Lord to enable me to come to you myself before long.


While Gallio was governor of Greece the Jews made a concerted attack upon Paul, and brought him before the governor.

In the morning, the Jews made a conspiracy and took an oath not to eat or drink till they had killed Paul. There were more than forty of them involved in this plot, and they went to the high priests and elders and said to them, "We have taken a solemn oath not to touch anything to eat till we have killed Paul. read more.
Now you and the council must suggest to the colonel that he should have Paul brought down to you, as you mean to look into his case more carefully, and we will be ready to kill him before he gets down."


Not that I have anything to complain of, for I have learned how to be contented with the condition I am in. I know how to live humbly and I know how to enjoy plenty. I have learned the secret, in any and all conditions, of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of going without.


To all who are unmarried and to widows, I would say this: It is an excellent thing if they can remain single as I am.


This makes me sigh with longing to put on my heavenly dwelling,


for I eagerly and confidently hope that I shall never disgrace myself but that this time as always hitherto, living or dying, I shall do Christ credit by my unfailing courage. For, as I see it, living means Christ and dying something even better. But if living on here means having my labor bear fruit, I cannot tell which to choose. read more.
I am undecided between the two, for I long to depart and be with Christ, for that is far, far better,


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


and so do my fellow-workers, Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke.

Our dear Luke, the doctor, and Demas wish to be remembered to you.


But Saul grew more and more powerful, and bewildered the Jews who lived in Damascus by his proofs that Jesus was the Christ.


You remember, brothers, how we toiled and labored. We worked night and day, when we preached the good news to you, in order not to be a burden to any of you.


You remember, brothers, how we toiled and labored. We worked night and day, when we preached the good news to you, in order not to be a burden to any of you.


And when God, who had set me apart from my birth and had called me in his mercy, saw fit


and really came to know it, in the form in which Epaphras, my dear fellow-slave, taught it to you. He is my faithful representative as a servant of Christ,

Epaphras, one of your own number, a slave of Christ Jesus, wishes to be remembered to you. He is always standing up for you in his prayers that you may stand fast, like men of mature convictions, whatever God's will for you may be.

Epaphras, my fellow-prisoner for Christ Jesus, wishes to be remembered to you,


Remember me to my dear Epaenetus, who was the first man in Asia to turn to Christ.


He sent two of his assistants, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed on for a while in Asia.

Erastus stayed in Corinth. I left Trophimus sick at Miletus.


Do your best to come before winter. Eubulus wishes to be remembered to you, and so do Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the brothers.


With these words he took some bread and after thanking God for it before them all, he broke it in pieces and began to eat it. This raised the spirits of all of them, and they took something to eat.


So keep up your courage, gentlemen! For I have faith in God that it will be just as I was told.

He did not incredulously question God's promise, but his faith gave him power and he praised God


I have had a part in the great contest, I have run my race, I have preserved my faith.


for I have not shrunk from letting you know God's purpose without reserve.

I never shrank from telling you anything that was for your good, nor from teaching you in public or at your houses,


and for three days he could not see, and neither ate nor drank.

Cornelius answered, "Three days ago, just at this time of day, I was praying in my house about three o'clock, when a man in dazzling clothing stood before me,


through toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, through hunger and thirst, often without food, and exposed to cold.


At my first appearance in court no one came to help me; everybody deserted me. May no one lay it up against them!


For from him everything comes; through him everything exists; and in him everything ends! Glory to him forever! Amen.


But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for the express purpose of appointing you to serve me and to testify to what you have seen and to the visions you will have of me.


But Saul grew more and more powerful, and bewildered the Jews who lived in Damascus by his proofs that Jesus was the Christ.


You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.


You will testify, and God will, how pure and upright and irreproachable our relations were with you who believed.


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


It is a trustworthy saying, entitled to the fullest acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And I am the foremost of them,


Remember me to Andronicus and Junias, my fellow-countrymen, who went to prison with me. They are noted men among the missionaries, and they became Christians before I did.

in other words, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by one another's faith.


and how I served the Lord most humbly and with tears, through all the trials that I encountered because of the plots of the Jews.


though I once used to abuse, persecute, and insult him. But he had mercy on me, because I had acted in ignorance and unbelief,


and Jason has taken them in. They all disobey the emperor's decrees, and claim that someone else called Jesus is king."

For we have found this man a pest and a disturber of the peace among Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the Nazarene sect,

"This fellow," they said, "is trying to induce people to worship God in ways that are against the law."

But when his accusers got up, they did not charge him with any such crimes as I had expected. Their differences with him were about their own religion and about a certain Jesus who had died but who Paul said was alive.

Yet I have nothing definite to write to our sovereign about him. So I have brought him before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa, in order to get from your examination of him something to put in writing. For it seems to me absurd to send a prisoner on, without stating the charges against him."


and as they practiced the same trade, he stayed with them, and they worked together, for they were tent-makers.

I have never coveted anyone's gold or silver or clothes. You know well enough that these hands of mine provided for my needs and my companions.

I did not eat anybody's bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor I worked night and day, in order not to be a burden to any of you.


With these words he took some bread and after thanking God for it before them all, he broke it in pieces and began to eat it. This raised the spirits of all of them, and they took something to eat.


Then the apostles and elders with the whole church resolved to select representatives and send them with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch. They were Judas who was called Barsabbas, and Silas, both leading men among the brothers. They were the bearers of this letter: "The apostles and the brothers who are elders send greeting to the brothers of heathen birth in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. As we have heard that some of our number, without any instructions from us, have disturbed you by their teaching and unsettled your minds, read more.
we have unanimously resolved to select representatives and send them to you with our dear brothers Barnabas and Paul, who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we send Judas and Silas to you, to give you this same message by word of mouth. For the holy Spirit and we have decided not to lay upon you any burden but this indispensable one, that you avoid whatever has been sacrificed to idols, the tasting of blood and of the meat of animals that have been strangled, and immorality. Keep yourselves free from these things and you will get on well. Goodbye." So the delegates went down to Antioch and gathered the congregation together and delivered the letter; and when they read it they were delighted with the encouragement it gave them. Judas and Silas were themselves prophets, and gave the brothers much encouragement and strength by their words.


Why, I count everything as loss compared with the supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have lost everything, and think it rubbish, in order to gain Christ and be known to be united to him, with any uprightness I may have not based on law but coming through faith in Christ??he uprightness that comes from God through faith.


You know well enough that these hands of mine provided for my needs and my companions.


but God had mercy on me in order that in my case as the foremost, Christ Jesus might display his perfect patience, as an example to those who would later believe in him and find eternal life.


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


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


I have kept nothing back from you, men of Corinth; I have opened my heart to you. It is not that I am cramping you, it is your own affections.


At my first appearance in court no one came to help me; everybody deserted me. May no one lay it up against them!

We were children when we were with you; we were like a mother nursing her children.

They praised God when they heard it, and they said to him, "You see, brother, how many thousand believers there are among the Jews, all of them zealous upholders of the Law. They have been told that you teach all Jews who live among the heathen to turn away from Moses, and that you tell them not to circumcise their children nor to observe the old customs. What then? They will be sure to hear that you have come. read more.
So do what we tell you. We have four men here who are under a vow. Join them, undergo the rites of purification with them, and pay their expenses so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everybody will understand that there is no truth in the stories about you, but that you yourself observe the Law. As for the heathen who have become believers, we have written them our decision that they must avoid anything that has been contaminated by idols, the tasting of blood, the meat of strangled animals, and immorality." Then Paul joined the men and went through the rites of purification with them and the next day went to the Temple to give notice of the time when, upon the offering of the sacrifice for each one of them, their days of purification would be over.


At my first appearance in court no one came to help me; everybody deserted me. May no one lay it up against them!


though I once used to abuse, persecute, and insult him. But he had mercy on me, because I had acted in ignorance and unbelief,


preaching the Kingdom of God to them and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ openly and unhindered.


She did this for a number of days, until Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit in her, "In the name of Jesus Christ I order you to come out of her!" And it came out instantly.

God did such extraordinary wonders by means of Paul, that people took to the sick handkerchiefs or aprons he had used, and they were cured of their diseases, and the evil spirits went out of them.

Publius' father happened to be sick in bed with fever and dysentery, and Paul went to see him and after praying laid his hands on him and cured him. After that, the other sick people on the island came and were cured.


and a young man named Eutychus, who was sitting at the window, became very drowsy as Paul's address grew longer and longer, and finally went fast asleep and fell from the third story to the ground, and was picked up for dead. But Paul went downstairs, and threw himself upon him, and put his arms around him. "Do not be alarmed," he said, "he is still alive." Then he went upstairs again, and broke the bread, and ate, and after a long talk with them that lasted until daylight, he went away. read more.
They took the boy home alive, and were greatly comforted.


The Lord's hand is right upon you, and you will be blind and unable even to see the sun for a time." Instantly a mist of darkness fell upon him, and he groped about for someone to lead him by the hand.


said to him loudly, "Stand on your feet!" And he sprang up and began to walk.


But he only shook the creature off into the fire and was unharmed.


God did such extraordinary wonders by means of Paul, that people took to the sick handkerchiefs or aprons he had used, and they were cured of their diseases, and the evil spirits went out of them.


But Paul went downstairs, and threw himself upon him, and put his arms around him. "Do not be alarmed," he said, "he is still alive." Then he went upstairs again, and broke the bread, and ate, and after a long talk with them that lasted until daylight, he went away. They took the boy home alive, and were greatly comforted.


The Lord's hand is right upon you, and you will be blind and unable even to see the sun for a time." Instantly a mist of darkness fell upon him, and he groped about for someone to lead him by the hand.


She did this for a number of days, until Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit in her, "In the name of Jesus Christ I order you to come out of her!" And it came out instantly.


said to him loudly, "Stand on your feet!" And he sprang up and began to walk.


But he only shook the creature off into the fire and was unharmed.


Publius' father happened to be sick in bed with fever and dysentery, and Paul went to see him and after praying laid his hands on him and cured him.


But Saul, who was also called Paul, was filled with the holy Spirit, and looked at him


Paul looked steadily at the council and said, "Brothers, I have done my duty to God with a perfectly clear conscience up to this very day."

I thank God, whom I, like my forefathers, worship with a clear conscience, when I remember you, as I constantly do, in my prayers.

The way I lived from my youth up, spending my early life among my own nation and at Jerusalem, is well known to all Jews, for they have known from the first, if they are willing to give evidence, that I was a Pharisee and my life was that of the strictest sect of our religion.


Everyone has heard of your obedience, and I am very happy about you, but I want you to be wise about what is good and guileless about what is bad.

Therefore, King Agrippa, I did not disobey that heavenly vision,


Therefore, King Agrippa, I did not disobey that heavenly vision,


And with him I send my dear, faithful brother Onesimus, who is one of your own number. They will tell you all about matters here.

I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whose father I have become here in prison.


But you have closely followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness,


But you have closely followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness,


Paul, by the will of God called as an apostle of Jesus Christ, and our brother Sosthenes,

Paul, an apostle not from men nor sent by any man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead??2 and all the brothers who are here with me, to the churches of Galatia;

And when God, who had set me apart from my birth and had called me in his mercy, saw fit to reveal his Son to me, so that I might preach the good news about him to the heathen, immediately, instead of consulting with any human being,

Paul, a slave of Jesus Christ, called as an apostle, set apart to declare God's good news,

Paul, by God's will an apostle of Christ Jesus, to God's people who are steadfast in Christ Jesus;

Paul, by God's will an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Timothy,

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by order of God our Savior and of Jesus Christ our hope,

Paul, by God's will an apostle of Christ Jesus in fulfilment of the promise of that life which is found in union with Christ Jesus,

and I was appointed a herald and apostle of it?? am telling the truth, I am not lying??o teach the heathen faith and truth.

Paul, a slave of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to arouse faith in those whom God has chosen, and the comprehension of religious truth,

Show 6 more verses
For I am the least important of the apostles, and am not fit to be called an apostle, because I once persecuted God's church.

and revealed at the proper time in his message, through the preaching with which I have been intrusted at the command of God our Savior,

of which I have been appointed a herald, apostle and teacher.

and he said, 'The God of our forefathers has appointed you to learn his will and to see his Righteous One and hear him speak, for you shall be his witness before all men of what you have seen and heard. And now, why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash out your sins, calling on his name.' read more.
After I had returned to Jerusalem, one day when I was praying in the Temple, I fell into a trance, and saw him saying to me, 'Make haste and leave Jerusalem at once, for they will not accept your evidence about me.' And I said, 'Lord, they know that I used to go through one synagogue after another, and to imprison and flog those who believed in you, and when the blood of your witness Stephen was being shed, I stood by and approved it, and took charge of the clothes of the men who killed him.' But he said to me, 'Go! I will send you far away to the heathen.' "

But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for the express purpose of appointing you to serve me and to testify to what you have seen and to the visions you will have of me. I will save you from your people and from the heathen, to whom I will send you to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light and from Satan's control to God, so that they may have their sins forgiven and have a place among those who are consecrated through faith in me.'

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not the product of my work in the Lord's service? If I am not an apostle to other people, I certainly am one to you, for you yourselves, in your relation to the Lord, are the certificate of my apostleship.


pained, when I am always glad, poor, when I make many others rich, penniless, when really I own everything.

But about midnight, as Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them,

I have the greatest confidence in you. I take the greatest pride in you. I am fully comforted. After all my trouble, I am overjoyed.

Goodbye, and the Lord be with you always. Again I say, goodbye.


Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not the product of my work in the Lord's service?

and finally he was seen by me also, as though I were born at the wrong time.

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has given me the strength for it, for thinking me trustworthy and putting me into his service, though I once used to abuse, persecute, and insult him. But he had mercy on me, because I had acted in ignorance and unbelief,

You have heard of my former conduct when I was attached to the Jewish religion??ow furiously I used to persecute the church of God and ravage it,

But on his journey, as he was approaching Damascus, a sudden light flashed around him from heaven, and he fell to the ground. Then he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?" "Who are you, sir?" he asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," said the voice. read more.
"But get up and go into the city, and there you will be told what you ought to do." Saul's fellow-travelers stood speechless, for they heard the voice but could not see anyone. When he got up from the ground and opened his eyes he could see nothing. They had to take him by the hand and lead him into Damascus, and for three days he could not see, and neither ate nor drank. There was at Damascus a disciple named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias!" And he answered, "Yes, Lord!" The Lord said to him, "Get up and go to the street called the Straight Street, and ask at the house of Judas for a man named Saul, from Tarsus, for he is there praying. He has had a vision and seen a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, to restore his sight." But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard many people tell of this man, and the harm he has done to your people in Jerusalem. He is here with authority to arrest everyone who calls upon your name." The Lord said to him, "Go! This man is the means I have chosen for carrying my name among the heathen and their kings, and among the descendants of Israel. For I am going to show him what he will have to endure for my sake." Ananias set out and went to the house, and there he laid his hands upon Saul, and said to him, "Saul, my brother, I have been sent by the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your journey, so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the holy Spirit." Something like scales immediately dropped from his eyes, and his sight was restored, and he got up and was baptized, and, after taking some food, regained his strength. Saul stayed for some time with the disciples at Damascus, and began at once to declare in the synagogues that Jesus was the Son of God. Everyone was astonished, and said, "Is not he the man who made such havoc of the people in Jerusalem who call upon that name, and who came here especially for the purpose of arresting such persons and taking them before the high priests?" But Saul grew more and more powerful, and bewildered the Jews who lived in Damascus by his proofs that Jesus was the Christ.

I persecuted this Way even to the death, and bound both men and women and put them in prison, as the high priest and the whole council will bear me witness. In fact, they gave me letters to the brothers in Damascus and I went there to bind those who were there and bring them back to Jerusalem to be punished. But on my way, as I was approaching Damascus, suddenly about noon, a blaze of light flashed around me from heaven, read more.
and I fell upon the ground and heard a voice say to me, 'Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?' I answered, 'Who are you, sir?' 'I am Jesus of Nazareth,' he said, 'whom you are persecuting.' The men who were with me saw the light, but they did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me. Then I said, 'What am I to do, sir?' The Lord said to me, 'Get up and go into Damascus. There you will be told of all you are destined to do.' As I could not see, because of the dazzling light, my companions had to lead me by the hand, and so I reached Damascus. There a man named Ananias, a devout observer of the Law, highly respected by all the Jews who lived there, came to see me, and standing by my side, said to me, 'Saul, my brother, regain your sight!' Then instantly I regained my sight and looked at him, and he said, 'The God of our forefathers has appointed you to learn his will and to see his Righteous One and hear him speak, for you shall be his witness before all men of what you have seen and heard. And now, why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash out your sins, calling on his name.' After I had returned to Jerusalem, one day when I was praying in the Temple, I fell into a trance, and saw him saying to me, 'Make haste and leave Jerusalem at once, for they will not accept your evidence about me.' And I said, 'Lord, they know that I used to go through one synagogue after another, and to imprison and flog those who believed in you,

I once thought it my duty vigorously to oppose the cause of Jesus of Nazareth. That was what I did at Jerusalem when on the authority of the high priests I put many of God's people in prison. When they were put to death, I cast my vote against them, and many a time in all the synagogues I had them punished, and tried to force them to say impious things. In my extreme rage against them I even pursued them to distant towns. read more.
I was once going to Damascus on this business, authorized and commissioned by the high priests, when on the road at noon, your Majesty, I saw a light from heaven brighter than the sun flash around me and my fellow-travelers. We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice say to me in Hebrew, 'Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me? You cannot kick against the goad!' 'Who are you, sir?' said I. The Lord said, 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.


As they were engaged in worshiping the Lord and in fasting, the holy Spirit said, "Set Barnabas and Saul apart for me, for the work to which I have called them." So after fasting and prayer, they laid their hands upon them and let them go.

in making me a minister of Christ Jesus among the heathen, to act as a priest of God's good news, to see that the heathen are an acceptable sacrifice, consecrated by the holy Spirit.

And when God, who had set me apart from my birth and had called me in his mercy, saw fit to reveal his Son to me, so that I might preach the good news about him to the heathen, immediately, instead of consulting with any human being, or going up to Jerusalem to see those who had been apostles before me, I went off to Arabia, and on my return came back to Damascus. read more.
Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem, to become acquainted with Cephas, and I spent two weeks with him; but I did not see any other apostle, except James, the Lord's brother. (In writing you this, I call God to witness that I am telling the truth!) After that, I went to the districts of Syria and Cilicia. I was still personally unknown to the Christian churches of Judea; they only heard people say, "The man who once persecuted us is now preaching the good news of the faith he tried to destroy," and they praised God for me.

But it is to you who are of the heathen that I am speaking. So far then as I am an apostle to the heathen, I make the most of my ministry,

For these are the orders the Lord has given us: " 'I have made you a light for the heathen, To be the means of salvation to the very ends of the earth!' " When the heathen heard this they were delighted, and praised God's message, and all who were destined for eternal life believed,

After I had returned to Jerusalem, one day when I was praying in the Temple, I fell into a trance, and saw him saying to me, 'Make haste and leave Jerusalem at once, for they will not accept your evidence about me.' And I said, 'Lord, they know that I used to go through one synagogue after another, and to imprison and flog those who believed in you, read more.
and when the blood of your witness Stephen was being shed, I stood by and approved it, and took charge of the clothes of the men who killed him.' But he said to me, 'Go! I will send you far away to the heathen.' "


I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a descendant of Israel. I belong to the tribe of Benjamin. I am a Hebrew, and the son of Hebrews. As to the Law, I was a Pharisee;

"I am a Jew, and I was born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but was brought up here in this city, and thoroughly educated under the teaching of Gamaliel in the Law of our forefathers. I was zealous for God, just as all of you are today.

Knowing that part of them were Sadducees and part of them Pharisees, Paul called out in the council, "Brothers, I am a Pharisee, and the son of Pharisees! It is for my hope for the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial!"

If they are Hebrews, so am I! If they are Israelites, so am I! If they are descended from Abraham, so am I!

for they have known from the first, if they are willing to give evidence, that I was a Pharisee and my life was that of the strictest sect of our religion.

and how I surpassed many of my own age among my people in my devotion to Judaism, I was so fanatically devoted to what my forefathers had handed down.


for I could wish myself accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my natural kindred.

So you must be on your guard and remember that for three years, night and day, I never stopped warning any of you, even with tears.

For there are many who live, as I have often told you, and tell you now with tears, like enemies of the cross of Christ.


My love be with you all through Christ Jesus.

For I was in great trouble and distress of mind when I wrote you, and I shed many tears as I did it, yet it was not to hurt your feelings, but to make you realize the extraordinary affection I have for you.


But as he talked of uprightness, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became alarmed, and said, "You may go for the present. I will find time later to send for you."

But when they had strapped him up, Paul said to the officer who was standing near, "Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen, and without giving him a trial?"

The jailer reported this message to Paul, saying, "The magistrates have sent orders that you are to be released. So you can take your leave and go unmolested." But Paul said to them, "They had us beaten in public without giving us a trial, and put us in jail, although we are Roman citizens! And now are they going to dismiss us secretly? By no means! Have them come here themselves and take us out!"


beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, and hunger,

We had just been through ill-treatment and insults at Philippi, as you remember, but, in the face of great opposition, we took courage by the help of our God, and told you God's good news.

In the morning the magistrates sent policemen with instructions to let the men go. The jailer reported this message to Paul, saying, "The magistrates have sent orders that you are to be released. So you can take your leave and go unmolested." But Paul said to them, "They had us beaten in public without giving us a trial, and put us in jail, although we are Roman citizens! And now are they going to dismiss us secretly? By no means! Have them come here themselves and take us out!" read more.
The policemen delivered this message to the magistrates, and they were alarmed when they heard that they were Roman citizens, and came and conciliated them, and took them out of the jail, and begged them to leave the town.

I have been beaten three times by the Romans, I have been stoned once, I have been shipwrecked three times, a night and a day I have been adrift at sea;


You remember, brothers, how we toiled and labored. We worked night and day, when we preached the good news to you, in order not to be a burden to any of you.

You know well enough that these hands of mine provided for my needs and my companions.


Alexander, the metal-worker, did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he did.

Just at that time a great commotion arose about the Way. A silversmith named Demetrius was making large profits for his workmen by the manufacture of silver shrines of Artemis. He got the workmen in that and similar trades together, and said to them, "Men, you know that this business is the source of our prosperity, read more.
and you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but almost all over Asia, this man Paul has persuaded and drawn away numbers of people, telling them that gods made by human hands are not gods at all. There is danger, therefore, not only that this business of ours will be discredited, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be neglected and the magnificence of her whom all Asia and the world worship will be a thing of the past!" When they heard this, they became very angry, and cried, "Great Artemis of Ephesus!" So the commotion spread all over the city, and by a common impulse the people rushed to the theater, dragging with them two Macedonians, Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's traveling companions. Paul wanted to go before the people himself, but the disciples would not allow it. Some of the religious authorities also, who were friends of his, sent to him and begged him not to venture into the theater. Meanwhile the people were shouting, some one thing and some another, for the meeting was in confusion, and most of them had no idea why they had come together. Some of the crowd called upon Alexander, as the Jews had pushed him to the front, and he made a gesture with his hand and was going to speak in defense of them to the people. But when they saw that he was a Jew, a great shout went up from them all, and they cried for two hours, "Great Artemis of Ephesus!" At last the recorder quieted the mob and said, "Men of Ephesus, who in the world does not know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis, and of the image that fell down from the sky? So as these facts are undeniable, you must be calm, and not do anything reckless. For you have brought these men here, though they have not been guilty of disloyalty nor uttered any blasphemy against our goddess. If Demetrius and his fellow-craftsmen have a charge to bring against anyone, there are the courts and the governors; let them take legal action. But if you require anything beyond that, it must be settled before the regular assembly. For we are in danger of being charged with rioting in connection with today's events, though there is really nothing about this commotion that we will not be able to explain." With these words he dismissed the assembly.

For I do not want you, brothers, to misunderstand the distress that I experienced in Asia, for I was so utterly and unendurably crushed, that I actually despaired of life itself.


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

But for the sake of Christ I have come to count my former gains as loss. Why, I count everything as loss compared with the supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have lost everything, and think it rubbish, in order to gain Christ and be known to be united to him, with any uprightness I may have not based on law but coming through faith in Christ??he uprightness that comes from God through faith. read more.
I want to know him in the power of resurrection, and to share his sufferings and even his death, in the hope of attaining resurrection from the dead. Not that I have secured it yet, or already reached perfection, but I am pressing on to see if I can capture it, because I have been captured by Jesus Christ. Brothers, I do not consider that I have captured it yet, only, forgetting what is behind me, and straining toward what lies ahead, I am pressing toward the goal, for the prize to which God through Christ Jesus calls us upward.


my persecutions, my sufferings??he things that happened to me at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, the persecutions I endured; yet the Lord brought me safely out of them all.

But some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and won the people over, and they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the town, thinking that he was dead.

I have been beaten three times by the Romans, I have been stoned once, I have been shipwrecked three times, a night and a day I have been adrift at sea;


But on his journey, as he was approaching Damascus, a sudden light flashed around him from heaven, and he fell to the ground. Then he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?" "Who are you, sir?" he asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," said the voice. read more.
"But get up and go into the city, and there you will be told what you ought to do."

when on the road at noon, your Majesty, I saw a light from heaven brighter than the sun flash around me and my fellow-travelers. We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice say to me in Hebrew, 'Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me? You cannot kick against the goad!' 'Who are you, sir?' said I. The Lord said, 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.


But Saul harassed the church. He went into one house after another, and dragging out men and women, put them in prison.

Now Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the Lord's disciples, went to the high priest,

And Saul entirely approved of his being put to death. A great persecution of the church in Jerusalem broke out that day, and they were all scattered over Judea and Samaria except the apostles.

and dragged him out of the city and stoned him, the witnesses throwing down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.

I persecuted this Way even to the death, and bound both men and women and put them in prison,


So we looked up the disciples there and stayed a week with them. Instructed by the Spirit, they warned Paul not to set foot in Jerusalem.

We spent a number of days there, and in the course of them a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. He came to see us and took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands with it, and said, "This is what the holy Spirit says: 'The Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt like this, and will hand him over to the heathen!' " When we heard this, we and the people there all begged him not to go up to Jerusalem. read more.
Then Paul answered, "What do you mean by crying and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound at Jerusalem but to die there for the sake of the Lord Jesus." So as he would not yield, we gave up urging him, and said, "The Lord's will be done!"

I am here now on my way to Jerusalem, for the Spirit compels me to go there, though I do not know what will happen to me there, except that in every town I visit, the holy Spirit warns me that imprisonment and persecution are awaiting me.


Some Jews who went from place to place casting out demons tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus in the cases of people who had evil spirits in them, saying, "I command you in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches!" A Jewish high priest named Sceva had seven sons who were doing this. But the evil spirit answered, "I know Jesus, and I know of Paul, but who are you?" read more.
And the man in whom the evil spirit was sprang at them, and overpowered them all, with such violence that they ran out of the house tattered and bruised. This came to be known to everyone who lived in Ephesus, Greeks as well as Jews, and great awe came over them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus came to be held in high honor. Many who became believers would come and openly confess their former practices. A number of people who had practiced magic brought out their books and burned them publicly. The value of these was estimated and found to be ten thousand dollars. So the Lord's message went on growing wonderfully in influence and power.

But I shall stay in Ephesus until the Harvest Festival, for I have a great and promising opportunity here, as well as many opponents.


She did this for a number of days, until Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit in her, "In the name of Jesus Christ I order you to come out of her!" And it came out instantly.

God did such extraordinary wonders by means of Paul,


Five times I have been given one less than forty lashes, by the Jews. I have been beaten three times by the Romans, I have been stoned once, I have been shipwrecked three times, a night and a day I have been adrift at sea; with my frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from the heathen, danger in the city, danger in the desert, danger at sea, danger from false brothers, read more.
through toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, through hunger and thirst, often without food, and exposed to cold. And besides everything else, the thing that burdens me every day is my anxiety about all the churches. Who is weak without my being weak? Whose conscience is hurt without my being fired with indignation? If there must be boasting, I will boast of the things that show my weakness! The God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, he who is forever blessed, knows that I am telling the truth. When I was at Damascus, the governor under King Aretas had the city gates watched in order to catch me, but I was lowered in a basket from an opening in the wall, and got out of his clutches.


but his disciples took him one night and let him down over the wall, lowering him in a basket. When he reached Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, and they were all afraid of him, for they could not believe that he was really a disciple.

Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem, to become acquainted with Cephas, and I spent two weeks with him; but I did not see any other apostle, except James, the Lord's brother.


So to keep me from being too much elated a bitter physical affliction was sent to me, a very messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too much elated. Three times I have prayed to the Lord about this, begging that it might leave me, and he said to me, "My favor is enough for you, for only where there is weakness is perfect strength developed." So I am perfectly willing to boast of all my weakness, so that the strength of Christ may shelter me.

though you know that it was because of an illness that I preached the good news to you that first time; and yet what must have tried you in my physical condition, you did not scorn and despise, but you welcomed me like an angel of God, like Christ Jesus himself.


They spent some time there, speaking fearlessly and relying upon the Lord, who bore witness to his gracious message by letting signs and wonders be done by them.

God did such extraordinary wonders by means of Paul,


Though I am free from anyone's control, I have made myself everyone's slave, so as to win over all the more. To the Jews I have become like a Jew, to win Jews over; to men under the Law I have become like a man under the Law, though I am not myself under the Law, so as to win over those who are under the Law. To those who have no law I have become like a man without any law??hough I am not without the law of God, but under the law of Christ??o as to win over those who are without any law. read more.
To the overscrupulous I have become overscrupulous, so as to win the overscrupulous; I have become everything to everybody, so as by all means to save some of them.


I have to boast. There is nothing to be gained by it, but I will go on to visions and revelations given me by the Lord. I know of a man fourteen years ago??hether in the body or out of it, I do not know, God knows??eing actually caught up to the third heaven. And I know that this man?? do not know whether it was in the body or out of it, God knows??4 was caught up into Paradise, and heard things that must not be told, which no human being can repeat.


"I am a Jew, and I was born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but was brought up here in this city, and thoroughly educated under the teaching of Gamaliel in the Law of our forefathers. I was zealous for God, just as all of you are today.

"I am a Jew," Paul answered, "from Tarsus, in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city. I beg you to let me speak to the people."

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


This offended the Jews and they gathered some unprincipled loafers, formed a mob and started a riot in the town. They attacked Jason's house, to find them and bring them out among the people. As they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the town magistrates, shouting, "The men who have made trouble all over the world have come here too, and Jason has taken them in. They all disobey the emperor's decrees, and claim that someone else called Jesus is king." read more.
The crowd and the magistrates were very much excited at hearing this, and they put Jason and the others under bonds before they let them go.

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the Thessalonian church in union with God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ; God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ bless you and give you peace. We always have to thank God for you, brothers, as it is right that we should, because your faith is growing so wonderfully and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. read more.
As a result, we ourselves speak of you with pride in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in the face of all the persecutions and troubles you are having to endure.


Then the colonel came up and seized him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains, and then inquired who he was and what he had been doing. Some of the crowd shouted one thing and some another, and as he could not find out the facts on account of the confusion, he ordered him to be taken into the barracks. When Paul got to the steps, he was actually carried by the soldiers, on account of the violence of the mob, read more.
for the mass of people followed them shouting, "Kill him!" Just as they were going to take him into the barracks, Paul said to the colonel, "May I say something to you?" "Do you know Greek?" the colonel asked. "Are you not the Egyptian who some time ago raised the four thousand cut-throats and led them out into the desert?" "I am a Jew," Paul answered, "from Tarsus, in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city. I beg you to let me speak to the people." He gave him permission, and Paul standing on the steps made a gesture to the people, and when they had become quiet he spoke to them in Hebrew.

"Brothers and fathers," he said, "listen to what I have to say in my defense." When they heard him speak to them in Hebrew, they became even more quiet, and he said, "I am a Jew, and I was born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but was brought up here in this city, and thoroughly educated under the teaching of Gamaliel in the Law of our forefathers. I was zealous for God, just as all of you are today. read more.
I persecuted this Way even to the death, and bound both men and women and put them in prison, as the high priest and the whole council will bear me witness. In fact, they gave me letters to the brothers in Damascus and I went there to bind those who were there and bring them back to Jerusalem to be punished. But on my way, as I was approaching Damascus, suddenly about noon, a blaze of light flashed around me from heaven, and I fell upon the ground and heard a voice say to me, 'Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?' I answered, 'Who are you, sir?' 'I am Jesus of Nazareth,' he said, 'whom you are persecuting.' The men who were with me saw the light, but they did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me. Then I said, 'What am I to do, sir?' The Lord said to me, 'Get up and go into Damascus. There you will be told of all you are destined to do.' As I could not see, because of the dazzling light, my companions had to lead me by the hand, and so I reached Damascus. There a man named Ananias, a devout observer of the Law, highly respected by all the Jews who lived there, came to see me, and standing by my side, said to me, 'Saul, my brother, regain your sight!' Then instantly I regained my sight and looked at him, and he said, 'The God of our forefathers has appointed you to learn his will and to see his Righteous One and hear him speak, for you shall be his witness before all men of what you have seen and heard. And now, why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash out your sins, calling on his name.' After I had returned to Jerusalem, one day when I was praying in the Temple, I fell into a trance, and saw him saying to me, 'Make haste and leave Jerusalem at once, for they will not accept your evidence about me.' And I said, 'Lord, they know that I used to go through one synagogue after another, and to imprison and flog those who believed in you, and when the blood of your witness Stephen was being shed, I stood by and approved it, and took charge of the clothes of the men who killed him.' But he said to me, 'Go! I will send you far away to the heathen.' "


The signs that mark a true apostle were most patiently shown when I was among you, in signs, wonders, and marvels.


But Paul said to them, "They had us beaten in public without giving us a trial, and put us in jail, although we are Roman citizens! And now are they going to dismiss us secretly? By no means! Have them come here themselves and take us out!"

But when they had strapped him up, Paul said to the officer who was standing near, "Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen, and without giving him a trial?" Upon hearing this, the officer went to the colonel and reported it. "What do you propose to do?" he said. "This man is a Roman citizen." Then the colonel came to Paul and said, "Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?" "Yes," he said. read more.
"I had to pay a large sum for my citizenship," said the colonel. "But I am a citizen by birth," said Paul.


For you showed sympathy with those who were in prison, and you put up with it cheerfully when your property was taken from you, for you knew that you had in yourselves a greater possession that was lasting.

We had just been through ill-treatment and insults at Philippi, as you remember, but, in the face of great opposition, we took courage by the help of our God, and told you God's good news.


But Saul, who was also called Paul, was filled with the holy Spirit, and looked at him

Now Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the Lord's disciples, went to the high priest,

And Saul entirely approved of his being put to death. A great persecution of the church in Jerusalem broke out that day, and they were all scattered over Judea and Samaria except the apostles.


and as they practiced the same trade, he stayed with them, and they worked together, for they were tent-makers.

I have never coveted anyone's gold or silver or clothes. You know well enough that these hands of mine provided for my needs and my companions. I showed you in every way that by hard work like that we must help those who are weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, for he said, 'It makes one happier to give than to be given to.' "


I appeal to you personally, by the gentleness and forbearance of Christ??he Paul who is so humble when face to face with you, but so bold in dealing with you when he is far away!

For they say, "His letters are impressive and telling, but his personal appearance is insignificant and as a speaker he amounts to nothing."

Even if I have no particular gifts in speaking, I am not wanting in knowledge. Why, I have always made that perfectly clear in my dealings with you.


The next day, as he wished to find out the real reason why the Jews denounced him, he had him unbound and ordered the high priests and the whole council to assemble, and took Paul down and brought him before them.

Paul looked steadily at the council and said, "Brothers, I have done my duty to God with a perfectly clear conscience up to this very day." At this the high priest Ananias ordered the people who were standing nearest to him to strike him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, "God will strike you, you white-washed wall! Do you sit there to try me by the Law, and order them to strike me in violation of the Law?" read more.
But the people who stood near him said, "Do you mean to insult God's high priest?" "I did not know, brothers," said Paul, "that he was high priest, for the Scripture says, 'You shall not say anything against any ruler of your people.' "


You remember, brothers, how we toiled and labored. We worked night and day, when we preached the good news to you, in order not to be a burden to any of you.

I did not eat anybody's bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor I worked night and day, in order not to be a burden to any of you.


I ask then, has God repudiated his people? By no means. Why, I am an Israelite myself, I am descended from Abraham, and I belong to the tribe of Benjamin.

I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a descendant of Israel. I belong to the tribe of Benjamin. I am a Hebrew, and the son of Hebrews. As to the Law, I was a Pharisee;


I have had a part in the great contest, I have run my race, I have preserved my faith. Now the crown of uprightness awaits me, which the Lord, the upright judge, will award me on that Day, and not only me but also all who have loved and hoped for his appearing.


Some time after, King Agrippa and Bernice came to Caesarea on a state visit to Festus, and as they stayed there several days, Festus laid Paul's case before the king. "There is a man here," he said, "who was left in prison by Felix, and when I was at Jerusalem the Jewish high priests and elders presented their case against him, and asked for his conviction. read more.
I told them that it was not the Roman custom to give anybody up until the accused met his accusers face to face and had a chance to defend himself against their accusations. So they came back here with me and the next day without losing any time I took my place in the judge's chair and ordered the man brought in. But when his accusers got up, they did not charge him with any such crimes as I had expected. Their differences with him were about their own religion and about a certain Jesus who had died but who Paul said was alive. I was at a loss as to how to investigate such matters, and I asked him if he would like to go to Jerusalem and be tried on these charges there. But Paul appealed to have his case reserved for his Majesty's decision, and I have ordered him kept in custody until I can send him to the emperor." "I should like to hear the man myself," Agrippa said to Festus. "You shall hear him tomorrow," Festus answered. So the next day, Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp and went into the audience-room attended by officers and the leading citizens of the town, and at the command of Festus Paul was brought in. Then Festus said, "King Agrippa and all who are present, you see here the man about whom the whole Jewish people have applied to me both at Jerusalem and here, clamoring that he ought not to live any longer. I could not find that he had done anything for which he deserved death, but as he appealed to his Majesty I decided to send him to him. Yet I have nothing definite to write to our sovereign about him. So I have brought him before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa, in order to get from your examination of him something to put in writing. For it seems to me absurd to send a prisoner on, without stating the charges against him."


For that reason I am ready to submit to anything for the sake of those whom God has chosen, so that they too may gain the salvation that comes through Christ Jesus and brings eternal glory.


When he reached Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and paid his respects to the church, and then went on to Antioch.

When the brothers found this out, they took him down to Caesarea, and sent him away to Tarsus.


And now, why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash out your sins, calling on his name.'

Something like scales immediately dropped from his eyes, and his sight was restored, and he got up and was baptized,


"I am a Jew, and I was born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but was brought up here in this city, and thoroughly educated under the teaching of Gamaliel in the Law of our forefathers. I was zealous for God, just as all of you are today.

The way I lived from my youth up, spending my early life among my own nation and at Jerusalem, is well known to all Jews,


But some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and won the people over, and they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the town, thinking that he was dead. But the brothers gathered about him, and he got up and re-entered the town. The next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. They proclaimed the good news in that town and made a number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, read more.
reassuring the disciples and encouraging them to stand by the faith and reminding them that we have to undergo many hardships to get into the Kingdom of God. They appointed elders for them in each church, and with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.


But some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and won the people over, and they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the town, thinking that he was dead. But the brothers gathered about him, and he got up and re-entered the town. The next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. They proclaimed the good news in that town and made a number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, read more.
reassuring the disciples and encouraging them to stand by the faith and reminding them that we have to undergo many hardships to get into the Kingdom of God. They appointed elders for them in each church, and with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.


I am here now on my way to Jerusalem, for the Spirit compels me to go there, though I do not know what will happen to me there, except that in every town I visit, the holy Spirit warns me that imprisonment and persecution are awaiting me. But my life does not matter, if I can only finish my race and do the service intrusted to me by the Lord Jesus, of declaring the good news of God's favor. read more.
Now I know perfectly well that none of you among whom I went about preaching the Kingdom of God will ever see my face again. Therefore I declare to you today that I am not responsible for the blood of any of you, for I have not shrunk from letting you know God's purpose without reserve. Take care of yourselves and of the whole flock, of which the holy Spirit has made you guardians, and be shepherds of the church of God, which he got at the cost of his own life. I know that after I am gone savage wolves will get in among you and will not spare the flock, and from your own number men will appear and teach perversions of the truth in order to draw the disciples away after them. So you must be on your guard and remember that for three years, night and day, I never stopped warning any of you, even with tears. Now I commit you to the Lord, and to the message of his favor, which will build you up and give you a place among those whom God has consecrated. I have never coveted anyone's gold or silver or clothes. You know well enough that these hands of mine provided for my needs and my companions. I showed you in every way that by hard work like that we must help those who are weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, for he said, 'It makes one happier to give than to be given to.' " With these words, he knelt down with them all and prayed. They all wept aloud, and throwing their arms about Paul's neck they kissed him affectionately, for they were especially saddened at his saying that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.


While Gallio was governor of Greece the Jews made a concerted attack upon Paul, and brought him before the governor. "This fellow," they said, "is trying to induce people to worship God in ways that are against the law." Before Paul could open his lips, Gallio said to the Jews, "If some misdemeanor or rascality were involved, Jews, you might reasonably expect me to listen to you. read more.
But as it is only a question of words and titles and your own law, you must look after it yourselves. I refuse to decide such matters." And he drove them away from the court. Then they all seized Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the court. But Gallio paid no attention to it. Paul stayed some time longer, and then bade the brothers goodbye and sailed for Syria, with Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had his hair cut, because of a vow he had been under.


While Gallio was governor of Greece the Jews made a concerted attack upon Paul, and brought him before the governor. "This fellow," they said, "is trying to induce people to worship God in ways that are against the law." Before Paul could open his lips, Gallio said to the Jews, "If some misdemeanor or rascality were involved, Jews, you might reasonably expect me to listen to you. read more.
But as it is only a question of words and titles and your own law, you must look after it yourselves. I refuse to decide such matters." And he drove them away from the court. Then they all seized Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the court. But Gallio paid no attention to it. Paul stayed some time longer, and then bade the brothers goodbye and sailed for Syria, with Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had his hair cut, because of a vow he had been under.


There we found some of the brothers, and they urged us to spend a week with them. Then we went on to Rome. The brothers there had had news of our coming, and came as far as Appius' Forum and Three Taverns to meet us, and when Paul saw them he thanked God and was greatly encouraged. When we reached Rome, Paul was given permission to live by himself, with a soldier to guard him.


From Miletus he sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church. When they came, he said to them, "You know well enough how I lived among you all the time from the first day I set foot in Asia, and how I served the Lord most humbly and with tears, through all the trials that I encountered because of the plots of the Jews. read more.
I never shrank from telling you anything that was for your good, nor from teaching you in public or at your houses, but earnestly urged Greeks as well as Jews to turn to God in repentance and to believe in our Lord Jesus.


Three days later, he invited the leading Jews to come to see him, and when they came he said to them, "Brothers, I have done nothing against our people, or the customs of our forefathers, yet I was turned over to the Romans as a prisoner at Jerusalem. They examined me and were ready to let me go, as I was innocent of any crime that deserved death. But the Jews objected, and I was obliged to appeal to the emperor??ot that I had any charge to make against my own nation. read more.
That is why I asked to see you and speak with you, for it is on account of Israel's hope that I have to wear this chain." "We have had no letters about you from Judea," they answered, "and none of the brothers who have come here has reported or said anything against you. But we want to hear you state your views, for as far as this sect is concerned, we understand that everywhere it is denounced." So they fixed a day, and came in even larger numbers to the place where he was staying, and from morning till night he explained to them the Kingdom of God and gave his testimony, trying to convince them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and the Prophets. Some of them were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe. As they could not agree among themselves, they started to leave, when Paul added one last word. "The holy Spirit put it finely," he said, "when it said to your forefathers through the prophet Isaiah, " 'Go to this Nation and say to them, "You will listen, and listen, and never understand, And you will look, and look, and never see! For this nation's mind has grown dull, And they hear faintly with their ears, And they have shut their eyes, So as never to see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their minds, and turn back, And let me cure them!" ' "Understand then that this message of God's salvation has been sent to the heathen. They will listen to it!" OMITTED TEXT


Three months later, we sailed on an Alexandrian ship named the Dioscuri, which had wintered at the island. We put in at Syracuse and stayed there three days, then we weighed anchor and reached Rhegium. A day later, a south wind sprang up and the following day we arrived at Puteoli.


When we reached Jerusalem, the brothers there gave us a hearty welcome. On the next day we went with Paul to see James, and all the elders came in. Paul greeted them warmly and gave a detailed account of what God had done among the heathen through his efforts. read more.
They praised God when they heard it, and they said to him, "You see, brother, how many thousand believers there are among the Jews, all of them zealous upholders of the Law. They have been told that you teach all Jews who live among the heathen to turn away from Moses, and that you tell them not to circumcise their children nor to observe the old customs. What then? They will be sure to hear that you have come. So do what we tell you. We have four men here who are under a vow. Join them, undergo the rites of purification with them, and pay their expenses so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everybody will understand that there is no truth in the stories about you, but that you yourself observe the Law. As for the heathen who have become believers, we have written them our decision that they must avoid anything that has been contaminated by idols, the tasting of blood, the meat of strangled animals, and immorality."


We had already gone on board the ship and sailed for Assos, intending to take Paul on board there, for that was the arrangement he had made, as he intended to travel there by land. So when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and went on to Mitylene. Sailing from there, we arrived off Chios on the following day. On the next we crossed to Samos, and on the next we reached Miletus. read more.
For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he would not have to lose any time in Asia, for he was hurrying to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of the Harvest Festival.


Some time after, Paul said to Barnabas, "Come, let us go back and revisit the brothers in each of the towns where we made the Lord's message known, to see how they are doing." Now Barnabas wanted to take John who was called Mark with them. But Paul did not approve of taking with them a man who had deserted them in Pamphylia instead of going on with them to their work. read more.
They differed so sharply about it that they separated, and Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus. But Paul selected Silas and set out, the brothers commending him to the Lord's favor. He traveled through Syria and Cilicia and strengthened the churches.


The brothers sent Paul and Silas away immediately, in the course of the following night, to Berea. On arriving there they went to the Jewish synagogue. The Jews there were more high-minded than those at Thessalonica, and received the message with great eagerness and studied the Scriptures every day, to find out whether it was true. Many of them became believers and so did no small number of Greek women of position, and men too.


Once as we were on our way to the praying place a slave-girl met us who had the gift of ventriloquism, and made her masters a great deal of money by her fortune-telling. This girl would follow Paul and the rest of us, crying out, "These men are slaves of the Most High God, and they are making known to you a way of salvation." She did this for a number of days, until Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit in her, "In the name of Jesus Christ I order you to come out of her!" And it came out instantly.


Then Paul joined the men and went through the rites of purification with them and the next day went to the Temple to give notice of the time when, upon the offering of the sacrifice for each one of them, their days of purification would be over. The seven days were almost over when the Jews from Asia caught sight of him in the Temple, and stirred up all the crowd and seized him, shouting, "Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches everybody everywhere against our people and the Law and this place, and besides he has actually brought Greeks into the Temple and desecrated this sacred place." read more.
For they had previously seen Trophimus of Ephesus with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the Temple. The whole city was thrown into confusion, and the people hurried together, and seized Paul and dragged him outside of the Temple, the gates of which were immediately shut. They were trying to kill him when the news reached the colonel of the regiment that all Jerusalem was in a tumult. He immediately got some officers and men and hurried down among them, and when they saw the colonel and the soldiers they stopped beating Paul. Then the colonel came up and seized him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains, and then inquired who he was and what he had been doing.


But when her masters saw that their hopes of profits were gone, they seized Paul and Silas, dragged them to the public square, to the authorities, and brought them before the chief magistrates. "These men," they said, "are Jews, and they are making a great disturbance in our town. They are advocating practices which it is against the law for us as Romans to adopt or observe." read more.
The crowd also joined in the attack on them, and the magistrates had them stripped and beaten. After beating them severely, they put them in jail, and gave the jailer orders to keep close watch of them. He, having had such strict orders, put them into the inner cell, and fastened their feet in the stocks. But about midnight, as Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, suddenly there was such an earthquake that the jail shook to its foundations; all the doors flew open, and everybody's chains were unfastened. It woke up the jailer, and when he saw that the doors of the jail were open, he drew his sword and was just going to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted out, "Do not do yourself any harm! We are all here!" Then he called for lights and rushed in, and fell trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas. He led them out of the jail and said to them, "Gentlemen, what must I do to be saved?" "Believe in the Lord Jesus," they said, "and you and your household will be saved!" Then they told God's message to him and to all the members of his household. And right then in the night, he took them and washed their wounds, and he and all his household were baptized immediately. Then he took them up to his house and offered them food, and he and all his household were very happy over their new faith in God.


While Paul waited for them at Athens, he was exasperated to see how idolatrous the city was. He had discussions at the synagogue with the Jews and those who worshiped with them, and every day in the public square with any whom he happened to find. Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers debated with him. Some of them said, "What is this rag-picker trying to make out?" Others said, "He seems to be preaching some foreign deities." This was because he was telling the good news of Jesus and the resurrection. read more.
So they took him and brought him to the council of the Areopagus and said, "May we know just what this new teaching of yours is? Some of the things you tell us sound strange to us, and we want to know just what they mean." For all Athenians and all visitors there from abroad used to spend all their time telling or listening to something new. Then Paul stood up in the middle of the council and said, "Men of Athens, from every point of view I see that you are extremely religious. For as I was going about and looking at the things you worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: 'To an Unknown God.' So it is what you already worship in ignorance that I am now telling you of. God who created the world and all that is in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples built by human hands, nor is he waited on by human hands as though he were in need of anything, for he himself gives all men life and breath and everything. From one forefather he has created every nation of mankind, and made them live all over the face of the earth, fixing their appointed times and the limits of their lands, so that they might search for God, and perhaps grope for him and find him, though he is never far from any of us. For it is through union with him that we live and move and exist, as some of your poets have said, " 'For we are also his offspring.' So if we are God's children we ought not to imagine that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, wrought by human art and thought. While God overlooked those times of ignorance, he now calls upon all men everywhere to repent, since he has fixed a day on which he will justly judge the world through a man whom he has appointed, and whom he has guaranteed to all men by raising him from the dead." When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, "We should like to hear you again on this subject." So Paul left the council. Some persons joined him, however, and became believers, among them Dionysius, a member of the council, and a woman named Damaris, and some others.


So we sailed from Troas, and ran a straight course to Samothrace, and next day to Neapolis. From there we went to Philippi, a Roman garrison town, and the principal place in that part of Macedonia. In this town we stayed for some days. On the Sabbath we went outside the gates, to the bank of the river where we supposed there was a praying place, and we sat down and talked with the women who gathered there. read more.
One of our hearers was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple goods, from the town of Thyatira. She was a believer in God, and the Lord touched her heart, and led her to accept Paul's teaching. When she and her household were baptized, she appealed to us, and said, "If you are really convinced that I am a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house." And she insisted upon our coming.


But very soon a violent wind which they call a Northeaster rushed down from it. The ship was caught by it and could not face the wind, so we gave way and let her run before it. As we passed under the lee of a small island called Cauda, we managed with great difficulty to secure the ship's boat. read more.
After hoisting it on board, they used ropes to brace the ship, and as they were afraid of being cast on the Syrtis banks, they lowered the sail, and let the ship drift. The next day, as the storm continued to be violent, they began to throw the cargo overboard, and on the next, they threw the ship's tackle overboard with their own hands. For a number of days neither the sun nor the stars were visible, and the storm continued to rage, until at last we gave up all hope of being saved. Then, when they had gone a long time without food, Paul got up among them, and said, "Gentlemen, you ought to have listened to me and not to have sailed from Crete and incurred this disaster and loss. Even now, I beg you to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For last night an angel of the God I belong to and serve stood before me, and said, 'Do not be afraid, Paul! You must stand before the emperor, and see! God has given you the lives of all the people who are on the ship with you.' So keep up your courage, gentlemen! For I have faith in God that it will be just as I was told. But we are to be stranded on some island." It was the fourteenth night of the storm, and we were drifting through the Adriatic when about midnight the sailors began to suspect that there was land ahead. On taking soundings, they found a depth of twenty fathoms, and a little later, taking soundings again, they found a depth of fifteen. Then as they were afraid we might go on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and waited anxiously for daylight. The sailors wanted to escape from the ship, and actually lowered the boat into the sea, pretending that they were going to run out anchors from the bow, but Paul said to the officers and the soldiers, "You cannot be saved unless these men stay on board." Then the soldiers cut the ropes that held the boat and let it drift away. Until daybreak Paul kept urging them all to take something to eat. "For fourteen days," he said, "you have been constantly on the watch, without taking anything to eat. I beg you to eat something; it is necessary for your safety. For not one of you will lose even a hair of his head." With these words he took some bread and after thanking God for it before them all, he broke it in pieces and began to eat it. This raised the spirits of all of them, and they took something to eat. There were about seventy-six of us on board. When they had had enough to eat, they threw the wheat into the sea, in order to lighten the ship. When daylight came they could not recognize the coast, but they saw a bay with a beach and determined to run the ship ashore there if possible. So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea, at the same time they undid the lashings of the steering oars, and hoisting the foresail to the wind, they made for the beach. But they struck a shoal and ran the ship aground. The bow struck and could not be moved, while the stern began to break up under the strain. The soldiers proposed to kill the prisoners, for fear some of them might swim ashore and escape, but the officer wanted to save Paul, and so he prevented them from doing this, and ordered all who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land, and the rest to follow on planks or other pieces of wreckage. So they all got safely to land.


Paul stayed some time longer, and then bade the brothers goodbye and sailed for Syria, with Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had his hair cut, because of a vow he had been under. When they reached Ephesus he left them there. He went to the synagogue there and had a discussion with the Jews. They asked him to stay longer, but he would not consent. read more.
He bade them goodbye, saying, "I will come back to you again if it is God's will." Then he sailed from Ephesus. When he reached Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and paid his respects to the church, and then went on to Antioch. After spending some time there, he started out again, and traveled systematically through Galatia and Phrygia, reassuring all the disciples.


Three months later, we sailed on an Alexandrian ship named the Dioscuri, which had wintered at the island. We put in at Syracuse and stayed there three days, then we weighed anchor and reached Rhegium. A day later, a south wind sprang up and the following day we arrived at Puteoli.


But when the Jews at Thessalonica found out that God's message had been delivered at Berea by Paul, they came there too, to excite and stir up the populace. Then the brothers immediately sent Paul off to the coast, while Silas and Timothy stayed behind. The men who went with Paul took him all the way to Athens, and came back with instructions for Silas and Timothy to rejoin him as soon as possible.


After these events, Paul, under the Spirit's guidance, resolved to go to Jerusalem, and to revisit Macedonia and Greece on the way. "After I have gone there," he said, "I must see Rome also." He sent two of his assistants, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed on for a while in Asia.


Then the apostles and elders with the whole church resolved to select representatives and send them with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch. They were Judas who was called Barsabbas, and Silas, both leading men among the brothers.

we have unanimously resolved to select representatives and send them to you with our dear brothers Barnabas and Paul,


About that time some prophets from Jerusalem came down to Antioch, and one of them named Agabus got up and under the influence of the Spirit revealed the fact that there was going to be a great famine all over the world. This was the famine that occurred in the reign of Claudius. The disciples determined to make up a contribution, each according to his ability, and send it to the brothers who lived in Judea, read more.
and this they did, sending it to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.


Then they crossed Pisidia and entered Pamphylia. They told their message in Perga, then went on to Attalia, and from there they sailed back to Antioch, where they had first been commended to God's favor for the work which they had now finished. read more.
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. There they stayed for a long time with the disciples.


But very soon a violent wind which they call a Northeaster rushed down from it. The ship was caught by it and could not face the wind, so we gave way and let her run before it. As we passed under the lee of a small island called Cauda, we managed with great difficulty to secure the ship's boat. read more.
After hoisting it on board, they used ropes to brace the ship, and as they were afraid of being cast on the Syrtis banks, they lowered the sail, and let the ship drift. The next day, as the storm continued to be violent, they began to throw the cargo overboard, and on the next, they threw the ship's tackle overboard with their own hands. For a number of days neither the sun nor the stars were visible, and the storm continued to rage, until at last we gave up all hope of being saved. Then, when they had gone a long time without food, Paul got up among them, and said, "Gentlemen, you ought to have listened to me and not to have sailed from Crete and incurred this disaster and loss. Even now, I beg you to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For last night an angel of the God I belong to and serve stood before me, and said, 'Do not be afraid, Paul! You must stand before the emperor, and see! God has given you the lives of all the people who are on the ship with you.' So keep up your courage, gentlemen! For I have faith in God that it will be just as I was told. But we are to be stranded on some island." It was the fourteenth night of the storm, and we were drifting through the Adriatic when about midnight the sailors began to suspect that there was land ahead. On taking soundings, they found a depth of twenty fathoms, and a little later, taking soundings again, they found a depth of fifteen. Then as they were afraid we might go on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and waited anxiously for daylight. The sailors wanted to escape from the ship, and actually lowered the boat into the sea, pretending that they were going to run out anchors from the bow, but Paul said to the officers and the soldiers, "You cannot be saved unless these men stay on board." Then the soldiers cut the ropes that held the boat and let it drift away. Until daybreak Paul kept urging them all to take something to eat. "For fourteen days," he said, "you have been constantly on the watch, without taking anything to eat. I beg you to eat something; it is necessary for your safety. For not one of you will lose even a hair of his head." With these words he took some bread and after thanking God for it before them all, he broke it in pieces and began to eat it. This raised the spirits of all of them, and they took something to eat. There were about seventy-six of us on board. When they had had enough to eat, they threw the wheat into the sea, in order to lighten the ship. When daylight came they could not recognize the coast, but they saw a bay with a beach and determined to run the ship ashore there if possible. So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea, at the same time they undid the lashings of the steering oars, and hoisting the foresail to the wind, they made for the beach. But they struck a shoal and ran the ship aground. The bow struck and could not be moved, while the stern began to break up under the strain. The soldiers proposed to kill the prisoners, for fear some of them might swim ashore and escape, but the officer wanted to save Paul, and so he prevented them from doing this, and ordered all who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land, and the rest to follow on planks or other pieces of wreckage. So they all got safely to land.


So he stayed for two full years in rented lodgings of his own, and welcomed everybody who came to see him, preaching the Kingdom of God to them and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ openly and unhindered.


but they went on from Perga and reached Antioch in Pisidia. On the Sabbath they went to the synagogue there and took seats. After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the synagogue authorities sent to them, saying, "Brothers, if you have any appeal to make to the people, proceed." Then Paul got up, and motioning with his hand, said, "Men of Israel, and you who reverence God, listen! read more.
The God of this people of Israel chose our forefathers, and made the people great during their stay in Egypt, and then with uplifted hand led them out of Egypt. Then after he had taken care of them for forty years in the desert, he destroyed seven nations in Canaan, and settled them upon their land for about four hundred and fifty years. After that he gave them judges, down to the time of the prophet Samuel. Then they demanded a king and for forty years God gave them Saul, the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin. Then he removed him and raised David up to be their king, bearing this testimony to him: 'I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my own heart, who will do all that I desire.' It is from his descendants that God has brought to Israel as he promised to do, a savior in Jesus, in preparation for whose coming John had preached to all the people of Israel baptism in token of repentance. Toward the end of his career, John said, 'What do you suppose that I am? I am not he! No! Someone is coming after me, the shoes on whose feet I am not fit to untie!' Brothers! Descendants of the house of Abraham, and those others among you who reverence God! It is to us that this message of salvation has been sent. For the people of Jerusalem and their leaders refused to recognize him, and condemned him, thus fulfilling the very utterances of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, and though they could find no ground for putting him to death, they demanded of Pilate that he be executed. When they had carried out everything that had been said about him in the Scriptures, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead, and for many days he appeared to those who had come up to Jerusalem with him from Galilee, and they are now witnesses for him to the people. So we now bring you the good news that God has fulfilled to us, their children, the promise that he made to our forefathers, by raising Jesus to life, just as the Scripture says in the second psalm, You are my Son! Today I have become your Father!' Now as evidence that he has raised him from the dead, never again to return to decay, he said this: 'I will fulfil to you my sacred promises to David.' For in another psalm he says, 'You will not let your Holy One undergo decay.' Now David, after serving God's purposes in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid among his forefathers and did undergo decay, but he whom God raised to life did not undergo it. You must understand therefore, my brothers, that through him the forgiveness of your sins is announced to you, and that through union with him everyone who believes is cleared of every charge of which the Law of Moses could not clear you. Take care, therefore, that what is said in the prophets does not prove true of you: " 'Look, you scoffers! Then wonder and begone! For I am doing something in your times Which you will never believe even when it is related to you!' "


As they were going out, the people begged to have all this said to them again on the following Sabbath,

and the Lord's message spread all over the country.


Then he called in two of his officers and said to them, "Get two hundred men ready to march to Caesarea, with seventy mounted men and two hundred spear-men, by nine o'clock tonight." They were also to provide horses for Paul to ride, so that they might take him in safety to Felix, the governor, to whom he wrote a letter to this effect: read more.
"Claudius Lysias sends greetings to his Excellency Felix, the governor. This man had been seized by the Jews and they were just going to kill him when I came upon them with my men and rescued him, as I had learned that he was a Roman citizen. As I wanted to learn what charge they made against him, I had him brought before their council, and found that their accusations had to do with questions about their Law, but that he was not charged with anything that would call for his death or imprisonment. As I have been informed that a plot against him is brewing, I am sending him on to you at once, and directing his accusers to present their charges against him before you." Then the soldiers took Paul, as they had been ordered to do, and escorted him as far as Antipatris that night. The next day, they returned to the barracks, leaving the mounted men to go on with him, and they on reaching Caesarea delivered the letter to the governor and handed Paul over to him.


In the morning, the Jews made a conspiracy and took an oath not to eat or drink till they had killed Paul. There were more than forty of them involved in this plot, and they went to the high priests and elders and said to them, "We have taken a solemn oath not to touch anything to eat till we have killed Paul. read more.
Now you and the council must suggest to the colonel that he should have Paul brought down to you, as you mean to look into his case more carefully, and we will be ready to kill him before he gets down."


But Paul's nephew heard of the plot, and he came and got into the barracks, and told Paul. Paul called one of the officers and said to him, "Take this young man to the colonel, for he has something to tell him." So he took him to the colonel, and said, "The prisoner Paul called me to him and asked me to bring this young man to you, as he has something to say to you." read more.
So the colonel took him by the arm and stepping aside where they could be alone, asked, "What is it that you have to tell me?" "The Jews," he answered, "have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, on the ground that you mean to have a fuller inquiry made into his case. But do not let them persuade you, for more than forty of them are lying in wait for him, and they have taken an oath not to eat or drink till they have killed him. They are all ready now, and are only waiting to get your promise." So the colonel sent the youth away, directing him not to tell anyone that he had given him this information.


The crowds, seeing what Paul had done, shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in human form!" They called Barnabas Zeus, and Paul, because he was the principal speaker, Hermes. The priest of the temple of Zeus that stood at the entrance to the town came with crowds of people to the gates, bringing bulls and garlands, meaning to offer sacrifice to them. read more.
But when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of it, they rushed into the crowd, tearing their clothes and shouting, "Friends, why are you doing this? We are only human beings like you, and we bring you the good news that you should turn from these follies to a living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and all that they contain. In ages past he let all the heathen follow their own ways; though he did not fail to give some evidence about himself, through his kindnesses to you, in sending you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, giving you food and happiness to your heart's content." Even with these words they could hardly restrain the people from offering sacrifice to them.


But Paul said, "I am standing before the emperor's court, where I ought to be tried. I have done the Jews no wrong, as you can easily see. If I am guilty and have done anything that deserves death, I do not refuse to die; but if there is no truth in the charges that these men make against me, no one can give me up to them; I appeal to the emperor." Then Festus after conferring with the council answered, "You have appealed to the emperor, and to the emperor you shall go!"


Then Barnabas went over to Tarsus to seek out Saul, and found him and brought him to Antioch. The result was that for a whole year they met with the church, and taught large numbers of people, and it was at Antioch that the disciples first came to be known as Christians.


the colonel ordered Paul brought into the barracks, and gave directions that he should be examined under the lash, so that he might find out why they made such an outcry against him. But when they had strapped him up, Paul said to the officer who was standing near, "Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen, and without giving him a trial?" Upon hearing this, the officer went to the colonel and reported it. "What do you propose to do?" he said. "This man is a Roman citizen." read more.
Then the colonel came to Paul and said, "Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?" "Yes," he said. "I had to pay a large sum for my citizenship," said the colonel. "But I am a citizen by birth," said Paul. Then the men who had been going to examine him immediately left him, and the colonel himself was alarmed to find that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had had him bound. The next day, as he wished to find out the real reason why the Jews denounced him, he had him unbound and ordered the high priests and the whole council to assemble, and took Paul down and brought him before them.


But the Jews stirred up the well-to-do religious women and the leading men of the town, and they started a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. They shook off the dust from their feet in protest, and went to Iconium.


Every Sabbath he would preach in the synagogue, and try to convince both Jews and Greeks. By the time Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was absorbed in preaching the message, emphatically assuring the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. But as they contradicted and abused him, he shook his clothes in protest, and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am not to blame for it! After this I will go to the heathen." read more.
So he moved to the house of a devout proselyte named Titius Justus, which was next door to the synagogue. But Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, and so did all his household, and many of the people of Corinth heard Paul and believed and were baptized. One night the Lord said to Paul in a vision, "Do not be afraid! Go on speaking and do not give up, for I am with you, and no one shall attack you or injure you, for I have many people in this city." So he settled there for a year and a half, and taught them God's message.


Every Sabbath he would preach in the synagogue, and try to convince both Jews and Greeks. By the time Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was absorbed in preaching the message, emphatically assuring the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. But as they contradicted and abused him, he shook his clothes in protest, and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am not to blame for it! After this I will go to the heathen." read more.
So he moved to the house of a devout proselyte named Titius Justus, which was next door to the synagogue. But Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, and so did all his household, and many of the people of Corinth heard Paul and believed and were baptized. One night the Lord said to Paul in a vision, "Do not be afraid! Go on speaking and do not give up, for I am with you, and no one shall attack you or injure you, for I have many people in this city." So he settled there for a year and a half, and taught them God's message.


The next day we left there and went on to Caesarea, where we went to the house of Philip the missionary, who was one of the Seven, and stayed with him. He had four unmarried daughters who had the gift of prophecy. We spent a number of days there, and in the course of them a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. read more.
He came to see us and took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands with it, and said, "This is what the holy Spirit says: 'The Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt like this, and will hand him over to the heathen!' " When we heard this, we and the people there all begged him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, "What do you mean by crying and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound at Jerusalem but to die there for the sake of the Lord Jesus." So as he would not yield, we gave up urging him, and said, "The Lord's will be done!" After this we made our preparations and started for Jerusalem.


and they passed Mysia and came down to Troas. There Paul had a vision one night; a Macedonian was standing appealing to him and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." As soon as he had this vision, we made efforts to get on to Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to tell them the good news.


But Paul went downstairs, and threw himself upon him, and put his arms around him. "Do not be alarmed," he said, "he is still alive."


said to him loudly, "Stand on your feet!" And he sprang up and began to walk.


The Lord's hand is right upon you, and you will be blind and unable even to see the sun for a time." Instantly a mist of darkness fell upon him, and he groped about for someone to lead him by the hand.


But my life does not matter, if I can only finish my race and do the service intrusted to me by the Lord Jesus, of declaring the good news of God's favor.


Therefore, King Agrippa, I did not disobey that heavenly vision,


On the following night the Lord stood beside him and said, "Courage! For just as you have testified for me in Jerusalem, you must testify in Rome also."


For last night an angel of the God I belong to and serve stood before me,


and saw him saying to me, 'Make haste and leave Jerusalem at once, for they will not accept your evidence about me.'


As a great deal of time had now passed, and navigation had become dangerous, for the autumn fast was already over, Paul began to warn them. "Gentlemen," he said, "I see that this voyage is likely to end in disaster and heavy loss, not only to ship and cargo but to our own lives also." But the officer was more influenced by the pilot and the captain than by what Paul had to say, read more.
and as the harbor was not fit to winter in, the majority favored putting to sea again, in the hope of being able to reach and winter in Phoenix, a harbor in Crete facing west-south-west and west-north-west. When a moderate south wind sprang up, thinking their object was within reach, they weighed anchor, and ran close along the coast of Crete.


He was attached to the governor, Sergius Paulus, who was an intelligent man. He sent for Barnabas and Saul and asked them to let him hear God's message. But Elymas the magician??or that is the meaning of his name??pposed them, and tried to keep the governor from accepting the faith. But Saul, who was also called Paul, was filled with the holy Spirit, and looked at him read more.
and said, "You monster of underhandedness and cunning! You son of the devil! You enemy of all that is right! Will you never stop trying to make the Lord's straight paths crooked? The Lord's hand is right upon you, and you will be blind and unable even to see the sun for a time." Instantly a mist of darkness fell upon him, and he groped about for someone to lead him by the hand. Then the governor, seeing what had happened, believed, and was thunderstruck at the Lord's teaching.


They went through the whole island as far as Paphos, and there they came across a Jewish magician and false prophet named Barjesus. He was attached to the governor, Sergius Paulus, who was an intelligent man. He sent for Barnabas and Saul and asked them to let him hear God's message. But Elymas the magician??or that is the meaning of his name??pposed them, and tried to keep the governor from accepting the faith. read more.
But Saul, who was also called Paul, was filled with the holy Spirit, and looked at him and said, "You monster of underhandedness and cunning! You son of the devil! You enemy of all that is right! Will you never stop trying to make the Lord's straight paths crooked? The Lord's hand is right upon you, and you will be blind and unable even to see the sun for a time." Instantly a mist of darkness fell upon him, and he groped about for someone to lead him by the hand. Then the governor, seeing what had happened, believed, and was thunderstruck at the Lord's teaching.


and began at once to declare in the synagogues that Jesus was the Son of God.

But Saul grew more and more powerful, and bewildered the Jews who lived in Damascus by his proofs that Jesus was the Christ.


When he reached Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, and they were all afraid of him, for they could not believe that he was really a disciple. But Barnabas got hold of him and introduced him to the apostles, and he told them how on his journey he had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken to him, and how boldly he had spoken for the cause of Jesus at Damascus. After that, he associated with them freely in Jerusalem, read more.
and spoke boldly for the Lord's cause, talking and debating with the Greek-speaking Jews. But they tried to kill him.


The governor of the island, whose name was Publius, had estates in that part of the island, and he welcomed us and entertained us hospitably for three days. Publius' father happened to be sick in bed with fever and dysentery, and Paul went to see him and after praying laid his hands on him and cured him. After that, the other sick people on the island came and were cured. read more.
They made us many presents, and when we sailed, they provided us with everything that we needed.


Three days after his arrival in the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem, and the high priests and Jewish leaders presented their charges against Paul, and begged him as a favor to order Paul to come to Jerusalem, plotting to kill him on the way. read more.
Festus answered that Paul was being kept in custody at Caesarea, and that he himself was going there soon. "So have your principal men go down with me," he said, "and present charges against the man, if there is anything wrong with him." After staying only eight or ten days there, he went down to Caesarea, and the next day took his place in the judge's chair, and ordered Paul brought in. When he came, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem surrounded him, and made a number of serious charges against him, which they could not substantiate. Paul said in his own defense, "I have committed no offense against the Jewish Law or the Temple or the emperor." Then Festus, wishing to gratify the Jews, said to Paul, "Will you go up to Jerusalem and be tried there before me on these charges?" But Paul said, "I am standing before the emperor's court, where I ought to be tried. I have done the Jews no wrong, as you can easily see. If I am guilty and have done anything that deserves death, I do not refuse to die; but if there is no truth in the charges that these men make against me, no one can give me up to them; I appeal to the emperor." Then Festus after conferring with the council answered, "You have appealed to the emperor, and to the emperor you shall go!"


I have to boast. There is nothing to be gained by it, but I will go on to visions and revelations given me by the Lord. I know of a man fourteen years ago??hether in the body or out of it, I do not know, God knows??eing actually caught up to the third heaven. And I know that this man?? do not know whether it was in the body or out of it, God knows??4 was caught up into Paradise, and heard things that must not be told, which no human being can repeat.


After some time had passed, the Jews made a plot to kill him, but Saul found out about the plot. They watched the city gates day and night, in order to kill him,


In the streets of Lystra a man used to sit who had not the use of his feet. He had been lame from his birth, and had never been able to walk. He was listening to Paul as he talked, when Paul looked at him and, seeing that he had faith that he would be cured, said to him loudly, "Stand on your feet!" And he sprang up and began to walk.


For I do not want you, brothers, to misunderstand the distress that I experienced in Asia, for I was so utterly and unendurably crushed, that I actually despaired of life itself. Why, I felt in my heart that the end must be death. That was to keep me from relying on myself instead of on God, who can even raise the dead. So deadly was the peril from which he saved me, as he will save me again! It is on him that I have set my hope that he will save me again. read more.
You must help me by your prayers, so that many will give thanks to God on my behalf for the blessing granted me in answer to many prayers.


So we looked up the disciples there and stayed a week with them. Instructed by the Spirit, they warned 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 escorted us out of the town. There we knelt down on the beach and prayed; then we bade one another goodbye, and we went on board the ship, and they went home. read more.
After making the run from Tyre, we landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and spent a day with them.


When it was decided that we were to sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were turned over to an officer of the Imperial regiment, named Julius. We went on board an Adramyttian ship bound for the ports of Asia, and put to sea. We had a Macedonian from Thessalonica, named Aristarchus, with us. The next day we put in at Sidon, and Julius kindly allowed Paul to go and see his friends and be taken care of. read more.
Putting to sea from there, we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, as the wind was against us, and after traversing the Cilician and Pamphylian waters, we reached Myra in Lycia.


Thus they crossed Phrygia and Galatia. The holy Spirit prevented them from delivering the message in Asia, and when they reached Mysia they tried to get into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not permit it,


After this he left Athens and went to Corinth. There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and as they practiced the same trade, he stayed with them, and they worked together, for they were tent-makers.


At Iconium in the same way, they went to the Jewish synagogue and spoke with such power that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed. But the Jews who refused their message stirred up the heathen and poisoned their minds against the brothers. They spent some time there, speaking fearlessly and relying upon the Lord, who bore witness to his gracious message by letting signs and wonders be done by them. read more.
But the people of the town were divided, some siding with the Jews and some with the apostles. And when there was a movement on the part of both the heathen and the Jews with the authorities to insult and stone them, and they became aware of it, they made their escape to the Lycaonian towns of Lystra and Derbe and the country around,


There the officer found an Alexandrian ship bound for Italy, and put us on board her. For a number of days we made slow progress and had some difficulty in arriving off Cnidus. Then as the wind kept us from going on, we sailed under the lee of Crete, off Cape Salmone, and with difficulty coasted along it and reached a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea.


When the confusion was over, Paul sent for the disciples and encouraged them. Then he bade them goodbye and started for Macedonia. After traveling through those districts and giving the people a great deal of encouragement, he went on to Greece where he stayed for three months. Just as he was going to sail for Syria, the Jews made a plot against him, and he made up his mind to return by way of Macedonia. read more.
He was accompanied by Sopater of Berea, the son of Pyrrhus, Aristarchus and Secundus, from Thessalonica, Gaius of Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus, from Asia. They went on to Troas and waited for us there, while we sailed from Philippi after the festival of Unleavened Bread, and joined them at Troas five days later. There we stayed a week.


Thus they crossed Phrygia and Galatia. The holy Spirit prevented them from delivering the message in Asia, and when they reached Mysia they tried to get into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not permit it,


Publius' father happened to be sick in bed with fever and dysentery, and Paul went to see him and after praying laid his hands on him and cured him.


But he only shook the creature off into the fire and was unharmed.


One night the Lord said to Paul in a vision, "Do not be afraid! Go on speaking and do not give up,


There Paul had a vision one night; a Macedonian was standing appealing to him and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us."


So we looked up the disciples there and stayed a week with them. Instructed by the Spirit, they warned 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 escorted us out of the town. There we knelt down on the beach and prayed; then we bade one another goodbye, and we went on board the ship, and they went home. read more.
After making the run from Tyre, we landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and spent a day with them.


This created a disturbance and a serious discussion between Paul and Barnabas and them, and it was agreed that Paul and Barnabas and some others of their number should go up to Jerusalem to confer with the apostles and elders about this question.

When they reached Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church, the apostles, and the elders, and they reported how God had worked with them.


After passing through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they reached Thessalonica, where the Jews had a synagogue. Paul went to it as he was accustomed to do, and for three Sabbaths he discussed the Scriptures with them, explaining them and showing that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. "Jesus," he said, "of whom I am telling you, is the Christ!" read more.
He convinced some of them, and they joined Paul and Silas, along with a great many devout Greeks and a number of the principal women.


Some people came down from Judea and began to teach the brothers that unless they were circumcised as Moses prescribed, they could not be saved. This created a disturbance and a serious discussion between Paul and Barnabas and them, and it was agreed that Paul and Barnabas and some others of their number should go up to Jerusalem to confer with the apostles and elders about this question.


When the parting was over and we had sailed, we made a straight run to Cos and the next day to Rhodes and from there to Patara. There we found a ship bound for Phoenicia, and we went on board and sailed on it. After sighting Cyprus and leaving it on our left, we sailed for Syria, and put in at Tyre, for the ship was to unload her cargo there.


After our escape we learned that the island was called Malta. The natives showed us remarkable kindness, for they made a fire and welcomed us, because of the rain that had come on and the cold.


Paul gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, when a viper crawled out of them because of the heat and fastened on his hand. When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, "This man is undoubtedly a murderer, for though he has been saved from the sea, justice will not let him live." But he only shook the creature off into the fire and was unharmed. read more.
They expected to see him swell up or suddenly fall dead, but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.


He went to Derbe and Lystra also. At Lystra there was a disciple named Timothy whose mother was a Jewish Christian while his father was a Greek, and who was highly thought of by the brothers in Lystra and Iconium. Paul wished to take this man on with him, and so on account of the Jews in that district he had him circumcised, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. read more.
As they traveled on from one town to another, they passed on to the brothers for their observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. So the churches became stronger and stronger in the faith, and their numbers increased from day to day.


This quieted the whole meeting, and they listened while Barnabas and Paul told of the signs and wonders which God had done among the heathen through them.


that people took to the sick handkerchiefs or aprons he had used, and they were cured of their diseases, and the evil spirits went out of them.


On the following night the Lord stood beside him and said, "Courage! For just as you have testified for me in Jerusalem, you must testify in Rome also."


Now Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the Lord's disciples, went to the high priest, and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women there who belonged to the Way, he might bring them in chains to Jerusalem.


When Barnabas and Saul had performed their mission to Jerusalem, they went back, taking John who was called Mark with them.


Paul and his companions sailed from Paphos and went to Perga in Pamphylia. There John left them and returned to Jerusalem,


he said, "I will hear your case as soon as your accusers arrive." And he gave orders that he should be kept in Herod's palace.


Some time after, Paul said to Barnabas, "Come, let us go back and revisit the brothers in each of the towns where we made the Lord's message known, to see how they are doing."


and found him and brought him to Antioch. The result was that for a whole year they met with the church, and taught large numbers of people, and it was at Antioch that the disciples first came to be known as Christians.


After leaving the jail they went to Lydia's house, and saw the brothers and encouraged them. Then they left the town.


But when two whole years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, and as he wanted to gratify the Jews, Felix left Paul in prison.


As the dispute was becoming violent, the colonel began to be afraid that they would tear Paul in pieces, and ordered the soldiers to go down and get him away from them and bring him into the barracks.


Paul and his companions sailed from Paphos and went to Perga in Pamphylia. There John left them and returned to Jerusalem,


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


When they reached Salamis, they proclaimed God's message in the Jewish synagogues. They had John with them as their assistant.


They went through the whole island as far as Paphos, and there they came across a Jewish magician and false prophet named Barjesus.


Being sent out in this way by the holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus.


Being sent out in this way by the holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus.



Just now I am starting for Jerusalem, to take help to God's people.


Just now I am starting for Jerusalem, to take help to God's people.


pained, when I am always glad, poor, when I make many others rich, penniless, when really I own everything.

You know how gracious the Lord Jesus Christ was. Though he was rich, he became poor for your sake, in order that by his poverty you might become rich.


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


Publius' father happened to be sick in bed with fever and dysentery, and Paul went to see him and after praying laid his hands on him and cured him.


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


And when God, who had set me apart from my birth and had called me in his mercy, saw fit


But when her masters saw that their hopes of profits were gone, they seized Paul and Silas, dragged them to the public square, to the authorities, and brought them before the chief magistrates. "These men," they said, "are Jews, and they are making a great disturbance in our town. They are advocating practices which it is against the law for us as Romans to adopt or observe." read more.
The crowd also joined in the attack on them, and the magistrates had them stripped and beaten. After beating them severely, they put them in jail, and gave the jailer orders to keep close watch of them. He, having had such strict orders, put them into the inner cell, and fastened their feet in the stocks. But about midnight, as Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, suddenly there was such an earthquake that the jail shook to its foundations; all the doors flew open, and everybody's chains were unfastened. It woke up the jailer, and when he saw that the doors of the jail were open, he drew his sword and was just going to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted out, "Do not do yourself any harm! We are all here!" Then he called for lights and rushed in, and fell trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas. He led them out of the jail and said to them, "Gentlemen, what must I do to be saved?" "Believe in the Lord Jesus," they said, "and you and your household will be saved!" Then they told God's message to him and to all the members of his household. And right then in the night, he took them and washed their wounds, and he and all his household were baptized immediately. Then he took them up to his house and offered them food, and he and all his household were very happy over their new faith in God. In the morning the magistrates sent policemen with instructions to let the men go. The jailer reported this message to Paul, saying, "The magistrates have sent orders that you are to be released. So you can take your leave and go unmolested." But Paul said to them, "They had us beaten in public without giving us a trial, and put us in jail, although we are Roman citizens! And now are they going to dismiss us secretly? By no means! Have them come here themselves and take us out!" The policemen delivered this message to the magistrates, and they were alarmed when they heard that they were Roman citizens, and came and conciliated them, and took them out of the jail, and begged them to leave the town. After leaving the jail they went to Lydia's house, and saw the brothers and encouraged them. Then they left the town.

The seven days were almost over when the Jews from Asia caught sight of him in the Temple, and stirred up all the crowd and seized him, shouting, "Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches everybody everywhere against our people and the Law and this place, and besides he has actually brought Greeks into the Temple and desecrated this sacred place." For they had previously seen Trophimus of Ephesus with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the Temple. read more.
The whole city was thrown into confusion, and the people hurried together, and seized Paul and dragged him outside of the Temple, the gates of which were immediately shut. They were trying to kill him when the news reached the colonel of the regiment that all Jerusalem was in a tumult. He immediately got some officers and men and hurried down among them, and when they saw the colonel and the soldiers they stopped beating Paul. Then the colonel came up and seized him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains, and then inquired who he was and what he had been doing. Some of the crowd shouted one thing and some another, and as he could not find out the facts on account of the confusion, he ordered him to be taken into the barracks. When Paul got to the steps, he was actually carried by the soldiers, on account of the violence of the mob, for the mass of people followed them shouting, "Kill him!" Just as they were going to take him into the barracks, Paul said to the colonel, "May I say something to you?" "Do you know Greek?" the colonel asked. "Are you not the Egyptian who some time ago raised the four thousand cut-throats and led them out into the desert?" "I am a Jew," Paul answered, "from Tarsus, in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city. I beg you to let me speak to the people." He gave him permission, and Paul standing on the steps made a gesture to the people, and when they had become quiet he spoke to them in Hebrew.


The Spirit distinctly says that in later times some will turn away from the faith, and devote their attention to deceitful spirits and the things that demons teach


They all wept aloud, and throwing their arms about Paul's neck they kissed him affectionately, for they were especially saddened at his saying that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.

We spent a number of days there, and in the course of them a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. He came to see us and took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands with it, and said, "This is what the holy Spirit says: 'The Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt like this, and will hand him over to the heathen!' " When we heard this, we and the people there all begged him not to go up to Jerusalem. read more.
Then Paul answered, "What do you mean by crying and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound at Jerusalem but to die there for the sake of the Lord Jesus." So as he would not yield, we gave up urging him, and said, "The Lord's will be done!"

I am here now on my way to Jerusalem, for the Spirit compels me to go there, though I do not know what will happen to me there, except that in every town I visit, the holy Spirit warns me that imprisonment and persecution are awaiting me. But my life does not matter, if I can only finish my race and do the service intrusted to me by the Lord Jesus, of declaring the good news of God's favor. read more.
Now I know perfectly well that none of you among whom I went about preaching the Kingdom of God will ever see my face again.


The brothers sent Paul and Silas away immediately, in the course of the following night, to Berea. On arriving there they went to the Jewish synagogue. The Jews there were more high-minded than those at Thessalonica, and received the message with great eagerness and studied the Scriptures every day, to find out whether it was true. Many of them became believers and so did no small number of Greek women of position, and men too. read more.
But when the Jews at Thessalonica found out that God's message had been delivered at Berea by Paul, they came there too, to excite and stir up the populace. Then the brothers immediately sent Paul off to the coast, while Silas and Timothy stayed behind. The men who went with Paul took him all the way to Athens, and came back with instructions for Silas and Timothy to rejoin him as soon as possible.


They praised God when they heard it, and they said to him, "You see, brother, how many thousand believers there are among the Jews, all of them zealous upholders of the Law. They have been told that you teach all Jews who live among the heathen to turn away from Moses, and that you tell them not to circumcise their children nor to observe the old customs. What then? They will be sure to hear that you have come. read more.
So do what we tell you. We have four men here who are under a vow. Join them, undergo the rites of purification with them, and pay their expenses so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everybody will understand that there is no truth in the stories about you, but that you yourself observe the Law. As for the heathen who have become believers, we have written them our decision that they must avoid anything that has been contaminated by idols, the tasting of blood, the meat of strangled animals, and immorality." Then Paul joined the men and went through the rites of purification with them and the next day went to the Temple to give notice of the time when, upon the offering of the sacrifice for each one of them, their days of purification would be over.


Knowing that part of them were Sadducees and part of them Pharisees, Paul called out in the council, "Brothers, I am a Pharisee, and the son of Pharisees! It is for my hope for the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial!"


I mean to have no one able to find any fault with the way I handle this munificence.


and they became aware of it, they made their escape to the Lycaonian towns of Lystra and Derbe and the country around,


Paul wished to take this man on with him, and so on account of the Jews in that district he had him circumcised, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.


Knowing that part of them were Sadducees and part of them Pharisees, Paul called out in the council, "Brothers, I am a Pharisee, and the son of Pharisees! It is for my hope for the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial!"


they only heard people say, "The man who once persecuted us is now preaching the good news of the faith he tried to destroy,"


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


and finally he was seen by me also, as though I were born at the wrong time.


But for the sake of Christ I have come to count my former gains as loss. Why, I count everything as loss compared with the supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have lost everything, and think it rubbish, in order to gain Christ and be known to be united to him, with any uprightness I may have not based on law but coming through faith in Christ??he uprightness that comes from God through faith.


But let worldly fictions and old wives' tales alone. Train yourself for the religious life.


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


For my boast is what my conscience tells me, that my relations to the world and still more to you have been marked by pure motives and godly sincerity, not by worldly shrewdness but by the favor of God.


For my boast is what my conscience tells me, that my relations to the world and still more to you have been marked by pure motives and godly sincerity, not by worldly shrewdness but by the favor of God.


My fellow-worker, Timothy, wishes to be remembered to you, and so do Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my fellow-countrymen.


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


But Saul grew more and more powerful, and bewildered the Jews who lived in Damascus by his proofs that Jesus was the Christ.


But some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and won the people over, and they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the town, thinking that he was dead.

I have been beaten three times by the Romans, I have been stoned once, I have been shipwrecked three times, a night and a day I have been adrift at sea;


I must tell you, brothers, how the favor of God has been shown in the churches of Macedonia, for in spite of a severe ordeal of trouble, their extraordinary gladness, combined with their extreme poverty, has overflowed in a wealth of generosity. For they have given to the utmost of their ability, as I can bear them witness, and beyond it, read more.
and begged me most earnestly, of their own accord, to let them share in the support of their fellow-Christians. They did far more than I hoped, for first in obedience to God's will, they gave themselves to the Lord, and to me. This has led me to urge Titus to complete the arrangements he had formerly begun among you for this gracious undertaking. Just as you excel in everything else??aith, expression, knowledge, perfect devotion, and the love we have awakened in you??ou must excel in this generous undertaking too. I do not mean this as a command. I only want to test the genuineness of your love by the devotion of others.

It is really unnecessary for me to write to you about this fund for your fellow-Christians, for I know how willing you are to help in it; I boast of you for it to the people in Macedonia, telling them that Greece has been ready since last year, and your enthusiasm has been a stimulus to most of them. But I send the brothers so that our pride in you may not have a fall in this matter, but you may be all ready as I have told them you will; read more.
for if some people from Macedonia come with me, and find that you are not ready, it will humiliate me??o say nothing of you??or having expressed such confidence. So I have thought it necessary to ask these brothers to go on to you ahead of me, to arrange in advance for this gift you have promised, so as to have it ready, like an expression of your good will, not of your avarice.


so that you may have a sense of what is vital, and may be men of transparent character and blameless life, in preparation for the Day of Christ, with your lives filled with the fruits which uprightness produces through Jesus Christ, to the honor and praise of God. Now I want to assure you, brothers, that what has happened to me has actually resulted in furthering the preaching of the good news. read more.
Thus it is generally known throughout the Imperial Guard and elsewhere that it is for the sake of Christ that I am in prison, and so most of the Christian brothers have been exceedingly encouraged by my example to declare God's message without any fear of the consequences. Some of them, it is true, are actually preaching the Christ from jealousy and partisanship, but there are others who are doing it out of good-will. These latter do it from love for me, for they know that God has put me where I am to defend our right to preach the good news. But the others are preaching the Christ not sincerely but for their own ends, imagining that they are making my imprisonment harder to bear. But what difference does it make? All that matters is that, in one way or another, from false motives or honest ones, Christ is being made known; I am glad of that. Yes, and I expect to be glad, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, all this will turn out for my highest welfare, for I eagerly and confidently hope that I shall never disgrace myself but that this time as always hitherto, living or dying, I shall do Christ credit by my unfailing courage. For, as I see it, living means Christ and dying something even better. But if living on here means having my labor bear fruit, I cannot tell which to choose.


Knowing that part of them were Sadducees and part of them Pharisees, Paul called out in the council, "Brothers, I am a Pharisee, and the son of Pharisees! It is for my hope for the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial!" When he said that, a dispute arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the meeting was divided. For the Sadducees hold that there is no resurrection and that there are no angels or spirits, while the Pharisees believe in all three. read more.
So there was a great uproar, and some scribes of the Pharisees' party got up and insisted, "We find nothing wrong with this man. Suppose some spirit or angel really spoke to him!" As the dispute was becoming violent, the colonel began to be afraid that they would tear Paul in pieces, and ordered the soldiers to go down and get him away from them and bring him into the barracks.


Paul wished to take this man on with him, and so on account of the Jews in that district he had him circumcised, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.


May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often cheered me and was not ashamed of my being in prison. Why, when he arrived in Rome, he took pains to inquire for me and found me. The Lord grant that he may be shown mercy by the Lord on that Day! And you know well enough how he helped me at Ephesus.


I want to introduce to you our sister Phoebe, who is a helper in the church at Cenchreae. Welcome her as a Christian, as God's people should welcome one another, and give her whatever help she may need from you. For she has herself been a protection to many, including myself. Remember me to Prisca and Aquila, my fellow-workers in the cause of Christ Jesus, read more.
who risked their necks to save my life. Not only I but also all the churches among the heathen thank them. Remember me also to the church that meets at their house.


With these words he took some bread and after thanking God for it before them all, he broke it in pieces and began to eat it.


With these words he took some bread and after thanking God for it before them all, he broke it in pieces and began to eat it.


The brothers there had had news of our coming, and came as far as Appius' Forum and Three Taverns to meet us, and when Paul saw them he thanked God and was greatly encouraged.


The brothers there had had news of our coming, and came as far as Appius' Forum and Three Taverns to meet us, and when Paul saw them he thanked God and was greatly encouraged.


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


This is why I am suffering as I am, but I am not ashamed of it, for I know whom I have trusted and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have intrusted to him for that Day.


just as I for my part try to please everyone in all I do, not aiming at my own advantage, but at that of people generally, in order that they may be saved.

Not that I want your gifts, but I want you to have the profits that will accumulate to your credit.

I did not eat anybody's bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor I worked night and day, in order not to be a burden to any of you.

But what difference does it make? All that matters is that, in one way or another, from false motives or honest ones, Christ is being made known; I am glad of that. Yes, and I expect to be glad,


just as I for my part try to please everyone in all I do, not aiming at my own advantage, but at that of people generally, in order that they may be saved.


through toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, through hunger and thirst, often without food, and exposed to cold.


References

Hastings

Easton

American

Fausets

Morish

Smith

Watsons