But Saul, also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked him straight in the eye

Then Paul and his men set sail from Paphos and arrived in Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them and went back to Jerusalem.

Then Paul stood up, motioned with his hand, and said:

As Paul and Barnabas were leaving, the people kept urging them to tell them the same things the next Sabbath.

When the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who kept talking to them and urging them to continue in the grace of God.

But when the Jewish leaders saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to object to the statements made by Paul and even to abuse him.

Then Paul and Barnabas boldly declared, "We had to speak God's word to you first, but since you reject it and consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we are now going to turn to the gentiles.

But the Jewish leaders stirred up devout women of high social standing and the officials in the city, started a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their territory.

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

In Iconium, Paul and Barnabas went into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed.

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

He was listening to Paul as he spoke. Paul watched him closely, and when he saw that he had faith to be healed,

When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have become like men and have come down to us!"

They began to call Barnabas Zeus, and Paul Hermes, because he was the main speaker.

But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting,

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

But some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds by persuasion. They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the town, thinking he was dead.

Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church, and with prayer and fasting they entrusted them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

Paul and Barnabas had quite a dispute and argument with them. So Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to confer with the apostles and elders about this question.

The whole crowd was silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul tell about all the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the gentiles.

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

Then the apostles, the elders, and the whole church decided to choose some of their men to send with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch. These were Judas, who was called Barsabbas, and Silas, who were leaders among the brothers.

So we have unanimously decided to choose men and send them to you with our dear Barnabas and Paul,

Both Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch to teach and proclaim the word of the Lord, as did many others.

A few days later, Paul told Barnabas, "Let's go back and visit the brothers in every town where we proclaimed the word of the Lord and see how they're doing."

but Paul did not think it was right to take along the man who had deserted them in Pamphylia and who had not gone with them into the work.

while Paul chose Silas and left after the brothers had entrusted him to the grace of the Lord.

Paul also went to Derbe and Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a believing Jewish wife whose husband was a Greek.

Paul wanted this man to go with him, so he took him and had him circumcised because of the Jews who lived in that region, since everyone knew that Timothy's father was a Greek.

Because they had been prevented by the Holy Spirit from speaking the word in Asia, Paul and Timothy went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia.

During the night Paul had a vision. A man from Macedonia was standing there and pleading with him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us!"

A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a dealer in purple goods, was listening to us. She was a worshiper of God, and the Lord opened her heart to listen carefully to what was being said by Paul.

She would follow Paul and us and shout, "These men are servants of the Most High God and are proclaiming to you a way of salvation!"

She kept doing this for many days until Paul became annoyed, turned to her and told the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus the Messiah to come out of her!" And it came out that very moment.

When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities who met together in the public square.

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.

Around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

But Paul shouted in a loud voice, "Don't hurt yourself, because we are all here!"

The jailer asked for torches and rushed inside. Trembling as he knelt in front of Paul and Silas,

He brought Paul and Silas upstairs into his house and set food before them. He was thrilled, as was his household, to believe in God.

The jailer reported these words to Paul, and added, "The magistrates have sent word to release you. So come out now and go in peace."

But Paul told the guards, "The magistrates have had us beaten publicly without a trial and have thrown us into jail, even though we are Roman citizens. Now are they going to throw us out secretly? Certainly not! Have them come and escort us out."

The guards reported these words to the magistrates, and they became afraid when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens.

Leaving the jail, Paul and Silas went to Lydia's house. They saw the brothers, encouraged them, and then left.

Paul and Silas traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.

As usual, Paul entered there and on three Sabbaths discussed the Scriptures with them.

Some of them were persuaded and began to be associated with Paul and Silas, especially a large crowd of devout Greeks and the wives of many prominent men.

But the Jewish leaders became jealous, and they took some contemptible characters who used to hang out in the public square, formed a mob, and started a riot in the city. They attacked Jason's home and searched it for Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the people.

That night the brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the Jewish synagogue.

But when the Jewish leaders in Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul also in Berea, they went there to upset and incite the crowds.

Then the brothers immediately sent Paul away to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed there.

The men who escorted Paul took him all the way to Athens and, after receiving instructions to have Silas and Timothy join him as soon as possible, they left.

While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was deeply disturbed to see the city full of idols.

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.

So Paul stood up in front of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I see that you are very religious in every way.

And so Paul left the meeting.

After this, Paul 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 the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to visit them,

But when Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself entirely to the word as he emphatically assured the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah.

Now Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, along with his whole family. Many Corinthians who heard Paul also believed and were baptized.

One night, the Lord told Paul in a vision, "Stop being afraid to speak out! Don't remain silent!

So Paul lived there for a year and a half and continued to teach the word of God among the people there.

While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jewish leaders gathered together, attacked Paul, and brought him before the judge's seat.

Paul was about to speak when Gallio admonished the Jewish leaders, "If there were some misdemeanor or crime involved, it would be reasonable to put up with you Jews.

After staying there for quite a while longer, Paul said goodbye to the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. He had his hair cut in Cenchrea, since he was under a vow.

It was while Apollos was in Corinth that Paul passed through the inland districts and came to Ephesus. He found a few disciples there

Then Paul said, "John baptized when they repented, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus."

When Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began to speak in foreign languages and to prophesy.

But when some people became stubborn, refused to believe, and slandered the Way in front of the people, Paul left them, taking his disciples away with him, and held daily discussions in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.

God continued to do extraordinary miracles through Paul.

Then some Jews who went around trying to drive out demons attempted to use the name of the Lord Jesus on those who had evil spirits, saying, "I command you by that Jesus whom Paul preaches!"

But the evil spirit told them, "Jesus I know, and I am getting acquainted with Paul, but who are you?"

After these things had happened, Paul decided to go through Macedonia and Achaia and then to go on to Jerusalem. "After I have gone there," he told them, "I must also see Rome."

You also see and hear that, not only in Ephesus, but almost all over Asia, this man Paul has won over and taken away a large crowd by telling them that gods made by human hands are not gods at all.

The city was filled with confusion, and the people rushed into the theater together, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's fellow travelers from Macedonia.

Paul wanted to go into the crowd, but the disciples wouldn't let him.

When the uproar was over, Paul sent for the disciples and encouraged them. Then he said goodbye to them and left to go to Macedonia.

On the first day of the week, when we had met to break bread, Paul began to address the people. Since he intended to leave the next day, he went on speaking until midnight.

A young man named Eutychus, who was sitting in a window, began to sink off into a deep sleep as Paul kept speaking longer and longer. Overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third floor and was picked up dead.

But Paul went down, bent over him, took him into his arms, and said, "Stop being alarmed, because he's still alive."

We proceeded to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we intended to pick up Paul. He had arranged it this way, since he had planned to travel there on foot.

Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in Asia, as he was in a hurry to get to Jerusalem for the day of Pentecost, if that was possible.

When Paul had said this, he knelt down and prayed with all of them.

All of them cried and cried as they put their arms around Paul and kissed him affectionately.

So we located some disciples and stayed there for seven days. Through the Spirit, they kept telling Paul not to go to Jerusalem,

He came to us, took Paul's belt, and tied his own feet and hands with it. Then he said, "The Holy Spirit says, "This is how the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will tie up the man who owns this belt. Then they will hand him over to the gentiles.'"

When we heard this, we and the people who lived there begged Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.

At this Paul replied, "What do you mean by crying and breaking my heart? I'm ready not only to be tied up in Jerusalem but even to die for the name of the Lord Jesus!"

The next day, Paul went with us to visit James, and all the elders were present.

After greeting them, Paul related one by one the things that God had done among the gentiles through his ministry.

Then Paul took those men and the next day purified himself with them. Then he went into the Temple to announce the time when their days of purification would end and when the sacrifice would be offered for each of them.

When the seven days were almost over, the Jews from Asia, seeing Paul in the Temple, stirred up a large crowd. They grabbed Paul,

For they had earlier seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him and assumed that Paul had taken him into the Temple.

The whole city was in chaos. The people rushed together, grabbed Paul, dragged him out of the Temple, and at once the doors were sealed shut.

The crowd was trying to kill Paul when a report reached the tribune of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.

Immediately the tribune took some soldiers and officers and ran down to the crowd. When the people saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

Then the tribune came up, grabbed Paul, and ordered him to be tied up with two chains. He then asked who Paul was and what he had done.

Some of the crowd shouted this and some that. Since the tribune couldn't learn the facts due to the confusion, he ordered Paul to be taken into the barracks.

When Paul got to the steps, he had to be carried by the soldiers because the mob had become so violent.

Just as Paul was about to be taken into the barracks, he asked the tribune, "May I say something to you?"