And as they went out from the synagogue of the Jews, the Gentiles urged that these sayings be spoken to them the next Sabbath.

And, when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and of the devout converts from heathenism continued with Paul and Barnabas, who talked to them and urged them to hold fast to the grace of God.

Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.

But the Jews incited the prominent women, who worshiped God, and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their district.

So [after] shaking off the dust from [their] feet against them, they went to Iconium.

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

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

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

although He did not leave Himself without a witness, since He did what is good by giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons and satisfying your hearts with food and happiness.”

Even though they said these things, they barely stopped the crowds from sacrificing to them.

Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and when they had won over the crowds and stoned Paul, they dragged him out of the city, thinking he was dead.

but the disciples being gather'd about him, he rose up and went into the city, from whence he departed the next day with Barnabas to go to Derbe.

And when they had made selection of some to be rulers in every church, and had given themselves to prayer and kept themselves from food, they put them into the care of the Lord in whom they had faith.

From there they sailed back to Antioch where they had been entrusted to the grace of God for the work they had now completed.

Some men came down from Judea and began to teach the brothers: “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom prescribed by Moses, you cannot be saved!”

And [after] there was no little strife and debate by Paul and Barnabas against them, they appointed Paul and Barnabas and some others from among them to go up to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem concerning this issue.

But some of the believers from the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses!”

and there having been much disputing, Peter having risen up said unto them, 'Men, brethren, ye know that from former days, God among us did make choice, through my mouth, for the nations to hear the word of the good news, and to believe;

Simeon has reported how God first intervened to take from the Gentiles a people for His name.

After these things [have transpired], I will return [to my people] and will rebuild the Tabernacle [i.e., the Temple] of David, which has been destroyed. I will rebuild it from its ruins and reestablish it,

known from long ago.

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

but instead we should write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from eating anything that has been strangled, and from blood.

for Moses from former generations in every city hath those preaching him -- in the synagogues every sabbath being read.'

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

They wrote this letter to be delivered by them:

From the apostles and the elders, your brothers,

To the brothers among the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia:

Greetings.

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

For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us, that no further burden be laid upon you than these necessary things, To abstain from meats offered to idols and blood,

that you abstain from food offered to idols, from blood, from eating anything that has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. You will do well if you keep yourselves from these things.

Farewell.

Being thus dispatch'd, they went to Antioch; where having assembled all the faithful, they deliver'd the letter: from the reading of which,

And after they had tarried there a space, they were let go in peace from the brethren unto the apostles.

But Paul thought not good to take him with them, who departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work.

And the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder one from the other: and so Barnabas took Mark, and sailed unto Cyprus;

As they journeyed on from town to town, they delivered to the brothers to keep the decisions reached by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem.

So the churches through faith continued to grow in strength and to increase in numbers from day to day.

They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia and were prevented by the Holy Spirit from speaking the message in Asia.

When they came near Mysia [i.e., a northwestern province of Asia Minor] they attempted to travel into Bythinia [i.e., a northern province of Asia Minor] but [an inspired message from] the Holy Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to,

so they went on through Mysia and came down to Troas, [i.e., a seaport on the Aegean Sea, from which they sailed over to Europe].

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

immediately after he had had this vision, we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, concluding from thence, that the Lord had called us to publish the gospel there. we embark'd therefore at Troas,

Then, setting sail from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, the next day to Neapolis,

and from there to Philippi, a Roman colony, which is a leading city of that district of Macedonia. We stayed in that city for a number of days.

And on the Sabbath day we went out from the gate by the river, where we were accustomed that prayer should be, and having sat down, we spoke to the women having assembled.

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

And when we were going to the place of prayer, we came across a girl with a spirit which gave knowledge of the future, whose masters made great profit from her power.

and this she was doing for many days, but Paul having been grieved, and having turned, said to the spirit, 'I command thee, in the name of Jesus Christ, to come forth from her;' and it came forth the same hour.

But when the girl's slave-owners saw that their prospects for income [from her activities] were [now] gone, they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them to the open shopping market, in front of the authorities.

And the multitude rose up together against them, and the magistrates having torn their garments from them, were commanding to beat them with rods,

when all of a sudden there was such a great earthquake, that the foundations of the prison were shaken: immediately all the doors opened, and the setters dropp'd from the prisoners.

the jayler waking, and seeing the prison-doors open, drew his sword, designing to dispatch himself from the apprehension that the prisoners had escaped.

and having taken them, in that hour of the night, he did bathe them from the blows, and was baptized, himself and all his presently,

and having come, they besought them, and having brought them forth, they were asking them to go forth from the city;

And having departed from the prison, they came in to Lydia. And after seeing the brothers, they encouraged them, and departed.

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

As usual, Paul went to the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures,

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

And, some from among them, were persuaded, and cast in their lot with Paul and Silas; also, of the devout Greeks, a great throng, and, of the chief women, not a few.

But the Jews became jealous, and they brought together some scoundrels from the marketplace, formed a mob, and started a riot in the city. Attacking Jason’s house, they searched for them to bring them out to the public assembly.

So taking a security bond from Jason and the others, they released them.

Therefore many from among them believed, and of Grecian women of the upper classes and men not a few.

But when the Jews from Thessalonica found out that God’s message had been proclaimed by Paul at Berea, they came there too, agitating and disturbing the crowds.

But those who went with Paul took him as far as Athens, and then went away, with orders from him to Silas and Timothy to come to him quickly.

And some of those who were supporters of the theories of the Epicureans and the Stoics, had a meeting with him. And some said, What is this talker of foolish words saying? And others, He seems to be a preacher of strange gods: because he was preaching of Jesus and his coming back from the dead.

(Now all the Athenians and the men from other lands who come there were giving all their time to talking or hearing of anything 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.

he receives no service from their officiousness: he is self-sufficient: it is he that gives to all their life and breath and every thing they have.

From one man He has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live.

He did this so they might seek God, and perhaps they might reach out and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.

For in him we live, and move, and exist, as also some of the performers from you have said, For of him we are also offspring.

since then we are the offspring of God, we should not imagine that the Deity bears any resemblance to the form which Gold, or Silver, or Stone has receiv'd from human art and industry.

because He has set a day when He is going to judge the world in righteousness by the Man He has appointed. He has provided proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”

When they heard of the resurrection from death, some mocked, and others said, "We will hear thee again of this matter."

Then Paul left their presence.

After this, he left Athens and went to Corinth,

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

When Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with preaching the message and solemnly testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah.

But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook his robe and told them, “Your blood is on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

And having departed from there, he went into the house of a certain man named Justus, who worships God, whose house was adjoining the synagogue.

But Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, became a believer in the Lord, and so did all his family, and from time to time many of the Corinthians heard, believed, and were baptized.

But if it is an issue about a word and names and the law from you, look ye yourselves, for I do not intend to be a judge of these things.

So he drove them from the judge’s bench.

And Paul, after waiting some days, went away from the brothers and went by ship to Syria, Priscilla and Aquila being with him; and he had had his hair cut off in Cenchrea, for he had taken an oath.

but he said good-bye and stated, “I’ll come back to you again, if God wills.” Then he set sail from Ephesus.

having sail'd from Ephesus, he went ashore at Cesarea, where he saluted the church, and then proceeded to Antioch.

having spent some time, he went from them, traveling consecutively through the Galatian country and Phrygia, confirming all the disciples.

for he strenuously disputed with the Jews in publick, proving from the scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah.

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

But when some became hardened and would not believe, slandering the Way in front of the crowd, he withdrew from them and met separately with the disciples, conducting discussions every day in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.

So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.

But some of the Jews who went from place to place driving out evil spirits, took it on themselves to make use of the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, I give you orders, by Jesus, whom Paul is preaching.

And the man {who had the evil spirit} leaped on them, subdued all of them, [and] prevailed against them, so that they ran away from that house naked and wounded.

When he had assembled them, as well as the workers engaged in this type of business, he said: “Men, you know that our prosperity is derived from this business.

And now you have seen and heard, not only here in Ephesus, but throughout almost all of [the province of] Asia, that this Paul has been convincing people, [even] to the point of turning many away [from idol worship]. [He is] saying that hand-made gods [like we make] are not real [gods at all].

and not only is there danger that this our trade come into disrepute; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana be made of no account, and that she should even be deposed from her magnificence whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.

The city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed with one accord into the theater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia.

at last Alexander was disengag'd from the croud, and accus'd by the Jews. then he waved his hand, desiring to make his defence before them all.

But when they recognized that he was a Jew, a united cry went up from all of them for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

Howbeit the town-clerk, having calmed the multitude, saith - Ephesians! why, who is there of mankind that doth not acknowledge the city of Ephesians to be temple-keeper of the Great Diana, and of the imagethat fell from Jupiter?

since this is incontestible, it behoves you to be easy, and free from any rash conduct:

And after the noise had come to an end, Paul, having sent for the disciples and given them comfort, went away from them to Macedonia.