Then, after destroying seven heathen nations in Canaan, he allotted their land to this people--

And after this he gave judges four hundred and fifty years till Samuel the prophet.

Then He deposed him and raised up for them David to be king, to whom He bore this testimony, 'I have found in David, the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will do all that my will requires.'

Of this man's seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus:

Brothers, descendants of the race of Abraham, and all among you who reverence God, it is to us that the message of this salvation has been sent.

for those dwelling in Jerusalem, and their chiefs, this one not having known, also the voices of the prophets, which every sabbath are being read -- having judged him -- did fulfil,

And we proclaim good-news to you: the promise to the fathers, which happened because God has fulfilled this to us their children, having raised up Jesus,

God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.

And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David.

For this reason He also says in another Psalm, ‘You will not allow Your Holy One to see decay.’

Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:

and from all things from which ye were not able in the law of Moses to be declared righteous, in this one every one who is believing is declared righteous;

Take heed then, that this come not upon you, which is spoken by the prophets;

Look, you disdainful folk, wonder at this and perish for in your days I do a deed, a deed you will never believe, not though one were to explain it to you."

As they were leaving the synagogue, the people kept begging that all this be repeated to them the next sabbath,

And [at the same time] Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and confidently, saying, “It was necessary that God’s message [of salvation through faith in Christ] be spoken to you [Jews] first. Since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, now we turn to the Gentiles.

For this is what the Lord has commanded us: 'I have appointed you to be a light for the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.'"

And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.

And it came to pass in Iconium at this time, they came together into the synagogue of the Jews, and spoke in such a manner, that a great multitude both of the Jews and Greeks believed.

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.

upon this the Gentiles and the Jews, supported by their magistrates, made an insurrection in order to use violence against them, and even to stone them:

this one was hearing Paul speaking, who, having stedfastly beheld him, and having seen that he hath faith to be saved,

But when this came to the ears of the Apostles, Paul and Barnabas, they went running out among the people, parting their clothing, and crying out,

and shouted, "Men, why are you doing this? We are merely men with natures like your own, who are telling you the good news, so that you may turn from these foolish things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and all that they contain.

Even by saying this it was all that they could do to keep the crowds from offering sacrifices to them.

Certain men [i.e., believers, see verse 5] came down from Judea [to Antioch of Syria] and began teaching the brothers this: You cannot be saved unless you are circumcised according to the custom [required] by Moses.

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.

So, they were sent on their way with the backing of the [Antioch] church and traveled through both Phoenicia and Samaria, telling them about the conversion of the Gentiles. This brought great rejoicing to all the brothers [who heard about it].

And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter.

"And God, who knows the hearts of all, gave this testimony in their behalf, by bestowing upon them the Holy Spirit just as he did upon us;

and in this way He put no difference between us and them, because He cleansed their hearts by faith.

By this he quieted the whole congregation, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul tell of the signs and wonders which God had done through them among the heathen.

When they finished James made this response: "Brothers, listen to me.

And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written,

After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up:

who has been making this known from ages past.'

For this reason my decision is, that we do not put trouble in the way of those who from among the Gentiles are turned to God;

And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia:

We have heard that certain [men] who left here have been upsetting you people and [even] undermining [some people's] spiritual lives by what they have been teaching. This was done without our authorization [or approval].

we therefore send Judas and Silas to inform you in person of this affair.

For the holy Spirit and we have decided not to lay upon you any burden but this indispensable one,

abstain from food that has been offered to idols, from tasting blood, from the flesh of animals that have been strangled, and from sexual vice. Keep clear of all this and you will prosper. Goodbye."

So when these men were dismissed, they came to Antioch: and having assembled the multitude, they delivered this letter.

[This verse is not in the majority of the Greek manuscripts.]

Some days after this Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us go back and visit the brothers in every town where we preached the Lord's message, to see how they are."

but Paul held the opinion they should not take this one along, who departed from them in Pamphylia and did not accompany them in the work.

This caused such unpleasant feeling between them that they parted, Barnabas taking Mark and sailing for Cyprus,

This young man had a very good reputation among the brothers at Lystra and Iconium.

Paul wanted this man to join him in his journey; so on account of the Jews in that district he took him and had him circumcised, for everybody knew that his father was a Greek.

When they came to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to do this,

As soon as he had this vision, we laid our plans to get off to Macedonia, because we confidently concluded that God had called us to tell them the good news.

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

Among them was a woman, named Lydia, belonging to Thyatira, a dealer in purple cloth, who was accustomed to join in the worship of God. The Lord touched this woman's heart, so that she gave attention to the Message delivered by Paul,

so that having been baptized with her family, she made us this request, if you think me sincere in my profession, pray come and lodge at my house; and she prevail'd upon us.

At a later time, when we were going to that [same] place of prayer, we met a certain young woman who was dominated by an [evil] spirit, [claiming to be] able to tell people's fortunes. This [claimed] power was the source of considerable income for the girl's slave-owner.

This girl kept following Paul and the rest of us, shrieking, "These men are slaves of the Most High God, and they are proclaiming to you a way of salvation."

And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.

And when they brought them before the city officials, they made this charge [against them]: "These Jewish men are causing too much trouble in our city,

upon this the populace rose upon them, and the Officers order'd them to be stript and scourg'd.

who, a charge like this receiving, thrust them into the inner prison, and, their feet, made he fast in the stocks.

And they answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus [as your personal Savior and entrust yourself to Him] and you will be saved, you and your household [if they also believe].”

And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore depart, and go in peace.

The policemen reported this message to the chiefs of the police court, and they became alarmed when they heard that they were Roman citizens,

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.

Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.

But this enraged the Jews; so they got together some wicked loafers about the public square, formed a mob, and set the town in an uproar.

Thus they wrought up to great excitement the crowd and the town magistrates, on their hearing this,

But these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, who received the word with all willingness, examining the Scriptures daily, if it has these things this way.

Then immediately on this the brethren sent off Paul, to go as if by sea: but Silas and Timothy abode there still.

Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.

And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is?

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

'God, who did make the world, and all things in it, this One, of heaven and of earth being Lord, in temples made with hands doth not dwell,

And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

since He has set a day on which He will justly judge the world through a man whom He has appointed. He has made this credible to all by raising Him from the dead."

And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.

After this he left Athens and went to Corinth.

There he met a certain Jewish man named Aquila, a native of Pontus, [in northern Asia Minor] who, with his wife Priscilla, had recently come from Rome, because Claudius [the Roman Emperor] had ordered all Jews out of that city. Paul met this couple

By the time Silas and Timotheus came south from Macedonia, Paul was engrossed in this preaching of the word, arguing to the Jews that the messiah was Jesus.

But when they disputed and blasphemed, shaking his garments he said to them, Your blood be upon your heads; I, pure, from this time will go to the gentiles.

So, he left [this assembly of Jews] and went to the house of a certain man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was right next door to the synagogue.

And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house. And hearing this, many of the Corinthians believed and were baptized.

For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.

Saying, This fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law.

But when Paul was about to say something, Gallio said to the Jews, If this was anything to do with wrongdoing or crime, there would be a reason for me to give you a hearing:

If indeed this was now a matter of injustice, or wicked knavery, with reason I should hear you patiently; but if it be merely a controversy about the word, and names, and a law peculiar to yourselves, settle it yourselves: for I will be no judge of these matters.

Saying this, he drove them back from the Bench.

Then all of them took Sosthenes, the synagogue leader, and began beating him in front of the judge's seat. But Gallio paid no attention to any of this.

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.

But bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if God will. And he sailed from Ephesus.

And when he landed at Ceasarea, he went up [Note: This would mean either up to Ceasarea or up to Jerusalem] and greeted the church [there], then went down to Antioch [in Syria].

This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John.

this one also began to speak boldly in the synagogue, and Aquilas and Priscilla having heard of him, took him to them, and did more exactly expound to him the way of God,

upon which Paul said, John indeed administer'd the baptism of repentance, but with this admonition, that they should believe in him, who was to come after, that is, in Jesus the Messias.

When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

But some became stubborn and refused to obey [the message], saying false things about "the Way" [Note: This was a term used to designate the early church] in front of the large crowds. So, Paul left [the synagogue] and took the disciples and began holding discussions every day at Tyrannus' school [house].

And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

Upon this, certain vagabond Jews, who were exorcists, pretended to cure demoniacs by pronouncing the name of the Lord Jesus: their form being this, "I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches."

Sceva, a Jewish high priest, had seven sons who were doing this.

Then the man, in whom this wicked spirit was, sprang upon them, mastered both of them, and so completely overpowered them, that they fled out of the house, stripped of their clothes, and wounded.