until the day when He ascended to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given instruction to the apostles (special messengers) whom He had chosen.

To these [men] He also showed Himself alive after His suffering [in Gethsemane and on the cross], by [a series of] many infallible proofs and unquestionable demonstrations, appearing to them over a period of forty days and talking to them about the things concerning the kingdom of God.

‘For You will not forsake me and abandon my soul to Hades (the realm of the dead),
Nor let Your Holy One undergo decay [after death].

Day after day they met in the temple [area] continuing with one mind, and breaking bread in various private homes. They were eating their meals together with joy and generous hearts,

After Peter and John were released, they returned to their own [people] and reported everything that the chief priests and elders had said to them.

As long as it remained [unsold], did it not remain your own [to do with as you pleased]? And after it was sold, was the money not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this act [of hypocrisy and deceit] in your heart? You have not [simply] lied to people, but to God.”

Now after an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

After this man, Judas the Galilean rose up, [and led an uprising] during the time of the census, and drew people after him; he was also killed, and all his followers were scattered.

Therefore, brothers, choose from among you seven men with good reputations [men of godly character and moral integrity], full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task.

They brought these men before the apostles; and after praying, they laid their hands on them [to dedicate and commission them for this service].

Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. And from there, after his father died, God sent him to this country in which you now live.

But He did not give him inheritable property, not even enough ground to take a step on, yet He promised that He would give it to Him as a possession, and to his descendants after him.

‘And I will judge any nation to whom they will be in bondage,’ said God, ‘and after that they will come out and serve Me [in worship] in this place.’

But Saul began ravaging the church [and assaulting believers]; entering house after house and dragging off men and women, putting them in prison.

Even Simon believed [Philip’s message of salvation]; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he watched the attesting signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed.

and he took some food and was strengthened.

For several days [afterward] Saul remained with the disciples who were at Damascus.

After considerable time had passed [about three years or so], the Jews plotted together to kill him,

you know the things that have taken place throughout Judea, starting in Galilee after the baptism preached by John—

not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen and designated beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank together with Him after He rose from the dead.

When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified and praised God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance that leads to eternal life [that is, real life after earthly death].”

When he had seized Peter, he put him in prison, turning him over to four squads of soldiers of four each to guard him [in rotation throughout the night], planning after the Passover to bring him out before the people [for execution].

Then after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them [in approval and dedication] and sent them away [on their first journey].

After the reading of the Law and the [writings of the] Prophets, the officials of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, “Brothers (kinsmen), if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.”

After this, He gave them judges until the prophet Samuel.

And when He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king: of him He testified and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart [conforming to My will and purposes], who will do all My will.’

And as John was finishing his course [of ministry], he kept saying, ‘What or who do you think that I am? I am not He [the Christ]; but be aware, One is coming after me whose sandals I am not worthy to untie [even as His slave]!’

For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was buried among his fathers and experienced decay [in the grave];

After a long debate, Peter got up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the message of the gospel and believe.

‘After these things I will return,
And I will rebuild the tent of David which has fallen;
I will rebuild its ruins,
And I will restore it,

After spending some time there, they were sent back by the brothers with [the greeting of] peace to those who had sent them.

After some time Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the brothers and sisters (believers) in every city where we preached the message of the Lord, and see how they are doing.”

So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they continually increased in number day after day.

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

So he had discussions in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place day after day with any who happened to be there.

This was so that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grasp for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.

After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.

After spending some time there, he left and traveled through the territory of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening and encouraging all the disciples.

Paul said, “John performed a baptism of repentance, continually telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, [to confidently accept and joyfully believe] in Jesus [the Messiah and Savior].”

And many of those who had practiced magical arts collected their books and [throwing book after book on the pile] began burning them in front of everyone. They calculated their value and found it to be 50,000 pieces of silver.

Now after these events, Paul determined in the Spirit that he would travel through Macedonia and Achaia (most of the Greek mainland), and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome [and preach the good news of salvation].”

After the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples, and when he had encouraged them he told them goodbye, and set off to go to Macedonia.

After he had gone through those districts and had encouraged the believers, he came to Greece.

We sailed from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread (Passover week), and within five days we reached them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days.

When Paul had gone back upstairs and had broken the bread and eaten, he talked [informally and confidentially] with them for a long time—until daybreak [in fact]—and then he left.

Sailing from there, we arrived the next day [at a point] opposite Chios; the following day we crossed over to Samos, and the next day we arrived at Miletus [about 30 miles south of Ephesus].

except that the Holy Spirit solemnly [and emphatically] affirms to me in city after city that imprisonment and suffering await me.

I know that after I am gone, [false teachers like] ferocious wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;

even from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse and distorted things, to draw away the disciples after themselves [as their followers].

After we came in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on our left (port side), we sailed on to Syria and put in at Tyre; for there the ship was to unload her cargo.

After this we got ready and started on our way up to Jerusalem.

After greeting them, Paul began to give a detailed account of the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

Now after several years I came [to Jerusalem] to bring to my people charitable contributions and offerings.

Now Festus arrived in the province, and three days later he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea [Maritima].

Now several days later, Agrippa [II] the king and Bernice [his sister] arrived at Caesarea and paid their respects to Festus [the new governor].

But I have nothing specific about him to write to my lord. So I have brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the investigation has taken place, I will have something to put in writing.

and after they had gone out, they began saying to one another, “This man is not doing anything worthy of death or [even] of imprisonment.”

From there we put out to sea and sailed to the leeward (sheltered) side of Cyprus [for protection from weather] because the winds were against us.

saying, “Men, I sense [after careful thought and observation] that this voyage will certainly be a disaster and with great loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.”

After hoisting the skiff [on board], they used support lines [for frapping] to undergird and brace the ship’s hull; and fearing that they might run aground on the shallows of Syrtis [off the north coast of Africa], they let down the sea anchor and lowered the sails and were driven along [backwards with the bow into the wind].

After they had eaten enough, they began to lighten the ship by throwing the wheat [from Egypt] overboard into the sea.

After we were safe [on land], we found out that the island was called Malta.

And it happened that the father of Publius was sick [in bed] with recurring attacks of fever and dysentery; and Paul went to him, and after he had prayed, he laid his hands on him and healed him.

After this occurred, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases were coming to him and being healed.

At the end of three months we set sail on a ship which had wintered at the island, an Alexandrian ship with the Twin Brothers [Castor and Pollux] as its figurehead.

Three days later he called together the leaders of the Jews; and when they had gathered, he said to them, “Kinsmen, though I have done nothing against our people or against the customs of our fathers, yet I was turned over as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.

After they had interrogated me, they were ready to release me because I was not guilty of any offense deserving death.

And Paul lived there for two full years [at his own expense] in his own rented lodging and welcomed all who came to him,