As for what he did in the land of the Jews and of Jerusalem, we can testify to that. They slew him by hanging him on a gibbet,

Now the Jewish believers who had accompanied Peter were amazed that the gift of the holy Spirit had actually been poured out on the Gentiles ??46 for they heard them speak with 'tongues' and magnify God. At this Peter asked,

"Can anyone refuse water for the baptism of these people ??people who have received the holy Spirit just as we ourselves have?"

And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they begged him to remain for some days.

"I was in the town of Joppa at prayer," he said, "and in a trance I saw a vision ??a vessel coming down like a huge sheet lowered from heaven by the four corners. It came down to me,

But a voice answered me for the second time out of heaven, 'What God has cleansed, you must not regard as common.'

He related to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, 'Send to Joppa for Simon who is surnamed Peter;

Now those who had been scattered by the trouble which arose over Stephen made their way as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, but they preached the word to none except Jews.

(for he was a good man, full of the holy Spirit and faith). Considerable numbers of people were brought in for the Lord.

So Barnabas went off to Tarsus to look for Saul,

and on finding him he brought him to Antioch, where for a whole year they were guests of the church and taught considerable numbers. It was at Antioch too that the disciples were originally called "Christians."

So the disciples put aside money, as each of them was able to afford it, for a contribution to be sent to the brothers in Judaea.

So Peter was closely guarded in prison, while earnest prayer for him was offered to God by the church.

Then Peter came to his senses and said, "Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were anticipating."

When he grasped the situation, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was surnamed Mark, where a number had met for prayer.

Herod made inquiries for him but could not find him; so, after cross-examining the guards, he ordered them off to death. He then went down from Judaea to Caesarea, where he spent some time.

As there was a bitter feud between him and the inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon, they waited on him unanimously, and after conciliating the royal chamberlain Blastus they made overtures for peace, as their country depended for its food-supply upon the royal territory.

As they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the holy Spirit said, "Come! set me apart Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."

They covered the whole island as far as Paphos, where they fell in with a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet called Bar-Jesus;

he belonged to the suite of the proconsul Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man who called for Barnabas and Saul and demanded to hear the word of God.

But the sorcerer Elymas (for that is the translation of his name) tried to divert the proconsul from the faith.

See here, the Lord's hand will fall on you, and you will be blind, unable for a time to see the sun." In a moment a dark mist fell upon him, and he groped about for someone to take him by the hand.

and, after the reading of the Law and the prophets, the presidents of the synagogue sent to tell them, "Brothers, if you have any word of counsel for the people, say it."

For about forty years he bore with them in the desert,

and after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan he gave them their land as an inheritance for about four hundred and fifty years.

Then it was that they begged for a king, and God gave them forty years of Saul, the son of Kish, who belonged to the tribe of Benjamin.

before whose coming John had already preached a baptism of repentance for all the people of Israel.

And as John was closing his career he said, 'What do you take me for? I am not He; no, he is coming after me, and I am not fit to untie the sandals on his feet!'

For many days he was seen by those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem; they are now his witnesses to the People.

has been fulfilled by God for us their children, when he raised Jesus. As it is written in the second psalm, thou art my son, to-day have I become thy father.

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."

For these are the Lord's orders to us: I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the end of the earth."

and the word of the Lord went far and wide over the whole country.

As for the disciples, they were filled with joy and the holy Spirit.

They chose presbyters for them in every church, and with prayer and fasting entrusted them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

thence they sailed for Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had now completed.

On their arrival they gathered the church together and reported how God had been with them, what he had done, and how he had opened a door into faith for the Gentiles.

that the rest of men may seek for the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by my name, saith the Lord,

for Moses has had his preachers from the earliest ages in every town, where he is read aloud in the synagogues every sabbath."

who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So in irritation they parted company, Barnabas taking Mark with him and sailing for Cyprus,

when they got as far as Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them,

As soon as he saw the vision, we made efforts to start for Macedonia, inferring that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

She did this for a number of days. Then Paul turned in annoyance and told the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I order you out of her!" And it left her that very moment.

So calling for lights he rushed in, fell in terror before Paul and Silas,

and Paul as usual went in; for three sabbaths he argued with them on the scriptures,

Paul's escort brought him as far as Athens and left with instructions that Silas and Timotheus were to join him as soon as possible.

While Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his soul was irritated at the sight of the idols that filled the city.

(For all the Athenians and the foreign visitors to Athens occupied themselves with nothing else than repeating or listening to the latest novelty.)

he is not served by human hands as if he needed anything, for it is he who gives life and breath and all things to all men.

meaning them to seek for God on the chance of finding him in their groping for him. Though indeed he is close to each one of us,

for it is in him that we live and move and exist ??as some of your own poets have said, 'We too belong to His race.'

inasmuch as he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world justly by a man whom he has destined for this. And he has given proof of this to all by raising him from the dead."

And the Lord said to Paul in a vision by night, "Have no fear, speak on and never stop,

for I am with you, and no one shall attack and injure you; I have many people in this city."

So he settled there for a year and six months, teaching them the word of God.

But as these are merely questions of words and persons and your own Law, you can attend to them for yourselves. I decline to adjudicate upon matters like that."

After waiting on for a number of days Paul said goodbye to the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. (As the latter was under a vow, he had his head shaved at Cenchreae.)

who asked him to stay for a while. But he would not consent;

for he publicly refuted the Jews with might and main, showing from the scriptures that the messiah was Jesus.

Then Paul entered the synagogue and for three months spoke out fearlessly, arguing and persuading people about the Reign of God.

But as some grew stubborn and disobedient, decrying the Way in presence of the multitude, he left them, withdrew the disciples, and continued his argument every day from eleven to four in the lecture-room of Tyrannus.

This went on for two years, so that all the inhabitants of Asia, Jews as well as Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.

Some were shouting one thing, some another; for the assembly was in confusion, and the majority had no idea why they had met.

but when they discovered he was a Jew, a roar broke from them all, and for about two hours they shouted, "Great is Artemis of Ephesus! Great is Artemis of Ephesus!"

Indeed there is a danger of our being charged with riot over to-day's meeting; there is not a single reason we can give for this disorderly gathering."

When the tumult had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples and encouraged them; he then took leave of them and went his way to Macedonia.

where he spent three months. Just as he was on the point of sailing for Syria, the Jews laid a plot against him. He therefore resolved to return through Macedonia.

His company as far as Asia consisted of Sopater of Beroea (the son of Pyrrhus), Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius of Derbe, Timotheus, and Tychicus and Trophimus from Asia.

They went on to wait for us at Troas,

On the first day of the week we met for the breaking of bread; Paul addressed them, as he was to leave next day, and he prolonged his address till midnight

As for the lad, they took him away alive, much to their relief.

Now we had gone on beforehand to the ship and set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul on board there. This was his own arrangement, for he intended to travel by land.

From Miletus he sent to Ephesus for the presbyters of the church.

how I never shrank from letting you know anything for your good, or from teaching you alike in public and from house to house,

Therefore do I protest before you this day that I am not responsible for the blood of any of you;

So be on the alert, remember how for three whole years I never ceased night and day to watch over each one of you with tears.

you know yourselves how these hands of mine provided everything for my own needs and for my companions.

as we found a ship there bound for Phoenicia, we went on board and set sail.

After sighting Cyprus and leaving it on our left, we sailed for Syria, landing at Tyre, where the ship was to unload her cargo.

We found out the local disciples and stayed there for seven days. These disciples told Paul by the Spirit not to set foot in Jerusalem;

and started next morning for Caesarea, where we entered the house of Philip the evangelist (he belonged to the Seven,

and had four unmarried daughters who prophesied). We stayed with him.

While we remained there for a number of days, a prophet called Agabus came down from Judaea.

Then Paul replied, "What do you mean by weeping and disheartening me? I am ready not only to be bound but also to die at Jerusalem for the sake of the Lord Jesus."

After these days we packed up and started for Jerusalem,

So do as we tell you. We have four men here under a vow;

associate yourself with them, purify yourself with them, pay their expenses so that they may be free to have their heads shaved, and then everybody will understand there is nothing in these stories about you, but that, on the contrary, you are guided by obedience to the Law.

As for Gentile believers, we have issued our decision that they must avoid food that has been offered to idols, the taste of blood, flesh of animals that have been strangled, and sexual vice."

Then Paul associated himself with the men next day; he had himself purified along with them and went into the temple to give notice of the time when the days of purification would be completed ??the time, that is to say, when the sacrifice could be offered for each one of them.

for the whole mass of the people followed shouting, "Away with him!"

"Then you are not the Egyptian who in days gone by raised the four thousand assassins and led them out into the desert?"

"I am a Jew, born at Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel in all the strictness of our ancestral Law, ardent for God as you all are to-day.

as the high priest and all the council of elders can testify. It was from them that I got letters to the brotherhood at Damascus, and then journeyed thither to bind those who had gathered there and bring them back to Jerusalem for punishment.

For you are to be a witness for him before all men, a witness of what you have seen and heard.

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

The commander replied, "I had to pay a large sum for this citizenship." "But I was born a citizen," said Paul.

"Brothers," said Paul, "I did not know he was high priest" (for it is written, You must not speak evil of any ruler of your people).

Then, finding half the Sanhedrin were Sadducees and the other half Pharisees, Paul shouted to them, "I am a Pharisee, brothers, the son of Pharisees! It is for the hope of the resurrection from the dead that I am on trial!"

For while the Sadducees declare there is no such thing as resurrection, angels, or spirits, the Pharisees affirm them all.