When he got up from the ground and opened his eyes he could see nothing. They had to take him by the hand and lead him into Damascus,

but Saul found out about the plot. They watched the city gates day and night, in order to kill him,

When he reached Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, and they were all afraid of him, for they could not believe that he was really a disciple.

and spoke boldly for the Lord's cause, talking and debating with the Greek-speaking Jews. But they tried to kill him.

When the brothers found this out, they took him down to Caesarea, and sent him away to Tarsus.

And everybody who lived in Lydda or in Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.

Just at that time it happened that she had been taken ill and had died, and they had washed her body and laid her out in a room upstairs.

As Joppa was near Lydda, the disciples heard that Peter was there, and they sent two men to him, urging him to come over without delay.

Peter went with them at once. When he arrived, they took him up to the room and all the widows stood around him crying and showing him the shirts and coats that Dorcas had made when she was still with them.

The next day, while they were still on their way, and were just getting near the town, Peter went up on the housetop about noon to pray.

He got very hungry, and wanted something to eat. While they were getting it ready, he fell into a trance,

and they called out to ask if Simon who was called Peter was staying there.

They answered, "Cornelius, who is a captain, and an upright and God-fearing man, and who has a good reputation with the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house, and to listen to what you have to say."

So they went in talking together, and Peter found that many people had gathered,

We are witnesses of everything that he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. Yet they put him upon a cross and killed him.

for they heard them speaking in foreign languages and declaring the greatness of God. Then Peter said,

"Can anyone refuse the use of water to baptize these people when they have received the holy Spirit just as we did?"

And he directed that they should be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on there a few days.

When they heard this, they made no further objection, but they gave honor to God, and said, "Then God has given even the heathen repentance and the hope of life!"

The fugitives from the persecution that had broken out over Stephen went all the way to Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, but they told the message to none but Jews.

There were some men from Cyprus and Cyrene among them, however, who when they reached Antioch spoke to the Greeks also, and told them the good news about the Lord Jesus.

The news about them came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas all the way to Antioch.

and found him and brought him to Antioch. The result was that for a whole year they met with the church, and taught large numbers of people, and it was at Antioch that the disciples first came to be known as Christians.

and this they did, sending it to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.

They passed the first guard and then the second, and came to the iron gate that led into the city. It opened to them of itself, and they passed out and went along one street, when suddenly the angel left him.

But they said to her, "You are crazy!" But she insisted that it was so. Then they said, "Then it is his guardian angel!"

But Peter kept on knocking. And when they opened the door and saw him they were amazed.

Herod was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. So they came before him in a body, and after winning over Blastus, the king's chamberlain, they asked for a reconciliation, because their country depended upon the king's dominions for its food supply.

When Barnabas and Saul had performed their mission to Jerusalem, they went back, taking John who was called Mark with them.

As they were engaged in worshiping the Lord and in fasting, the holy Spirit said, "Set Barnabas and Saul apart for me, for the work to which I have called them."

So after fasting and prayer, they laid their hands upon them and let them go.

Being sent out in this way by the holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus.

When they reached Salamis, they proclaimed God's message in the Jewish synagogues. They had John with them as their assistant.

They went through the whole island as far as Paphos, and there they came across a Jewish magician and false prophet named Barjesus.

but they went on from Perga and reached Antioch in Pisidia. On the Sabbath they went to the synagogue there and took seats.

Then they demanded a king and for forty years God gave them Saul, the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin.

and though they could find no ground for putting him to death, they demanded of Pilate that he be executed.

When they had carried out everything that had been said about him in the Scriptures, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb.

and for many days he appeared to those who had come up to Jerusalem with him from Galilee, and they are now witnesses for him to the people.

As they were going out, the people begged to have all this said to them again on the following Sabbath,

and after the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and the devout converts to Judaism went away with Paul and Barnabas, and they talked with them, and urged them to rely on the favor of God.

But when the Jews saw the crowd, they were very jealous, and they contradicted what Paul said and abused him.

When the heathen heard this they were delighted, and praised God's message, and all who were destined for eternal life believed,

But the Jews stirred up the well-to-do religious women and the leading men of the town, and they started a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district.

They shook off the dust from their feet in protest, and went to Iconium.

At Iconium in the same way, they went to the Jewish synagogue and spoke with such power that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed.

They spent some time there, speaking fearlessly and relying upon the Lord, who bore witness to his gracious message by letting signs and wonders be done by them.

and they became aware of it, they made their escape to the Lycaonian towns of Lystra and Derbe and the country around,

and there they went on preaching the good news.

They called Barnabas Zeus, and Paul, because he was the principal speaker, Hermes.

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

and shouting, "Friends, why are you doing this? We are only human beings like you, and we bring you the good news that you should turn from these follies to a living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and all that they contain.

Even with these words they could hardly restrain the people from offering sacrifice to them.

But some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and won the people over, and they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the town, thinking that he was dead.

They proclaimed the good news in that town and made a number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch,

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

Then they crossed Pisidia and entered Pamphylia.

They told their message in Perga, then went on to Attalia,

and from there they sailed back to Antioch, where they had first been commended to God's favor for the work which they had now finished.

When they arrived there, they called the church together, and reported how God had worked with them, and how he had opened the way to faith for the heathen.

There they stayed for a long time with the disciples.

Some people came down from Judea and began to teach the brothers that unless they were circumcised as Moses prescribed, they could not be saved.

The church saw them off upon their journey, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria they told of the conversion of the heathen, and caused great rejoicing among all the brothers.

When they reached Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church, the apostles, and the elders, and they reported how God had worked with them.

Why, we believe that it is by the mercy of the Lord Jesus that we are saved just as they are."

This quieted the whole meeting, and they listened while Barnabas and Paul told of the signs and wonders which God had done among the heathen through them.

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

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

They were the bearers of this letter: "The apostles and the brothers who are elders send greeting to the brothers of heathen birth in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia.

and when they read it they were delighted with the encouragement it gave them.

After they had stayed some time, the brothers let them go, with a greeting to those who had sent them.

Some time after, Paul said to Barnabas, "Come, let us go back and revisit the brothers in each of the towns where we made the Lord's message known, to see how they are doing."

They differed so sharply about it that they separated, and Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus.

Paul wished to take this man on with him, and so on account of the Jews in that district he had him circumcised, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

As they traveled on from one town to another, they passed on to the brothers for their observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem.

Thus they crossed Phrygia and Galatia. The holy Spirit prevented them from delivering the message in Asia,

and when they reached Mysia they tried to get into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not permit it,

and they passed Mysia and came down to Troas.

This girl would follow Paul and the rest of us, crying out, "These men are slaves of the Most High God, and they are making known to you a way of salvation."

But when her masters saw that their hopes of profits were gone, they seized Paul and Silas, dragged them to the public square, to the authorities,

and brought them before the chief magistrates. "These men," they said, "are Jews, and they are making a great disturbance in our town.

They are advocating practices which it is against the law for us as Romans to adopt or observe."

After beating them severely, they put them in jail, and gave the jailer orders to keep close watch of them.

"Believe in the Lord Jesus," they said, "and you and your household will be saved!"

Then they told God's message to him and to all the members of his household.

But Paul said to them, "They had us beaten in public without giving us a trial, and put us in jail, although we are Roman citizens! And now are they going to dismiss us secretly? By no means! Have them come here themselves and take us out!"

The policemen delivered this message to the magistrates, and they were alarmed when they heard that they were Roman citizens,

After leaving the jail they went to Lydia's house, and saw the brothers and encouraged them. Then they left the town.

After passing through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they reached Thessalonica, where the Jews had a synagogue.

He convinced some of them, and they joined Paul and Silas, along with a great many devout Greeks and a number of the principal women.

This offended the Jews and they gathered some unprincipled loafers, formed a mob and started a riot in the town. They attacked Jason's house, to find them and bring them out among the people.

As they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the town magistrates, shouting, "The men who have made trouble all over the world have come here too,

and Jason has taken them in. They all disobey the emperor's decrees, and claim that someone else called Jesus is king."

and they put Jason and the others under bonds before they let them go.

The brothers sent Paul and Silas away immediately, in the course of the following night, to Berea. On arriving there they went to the Jewish synagogue.

But when the Jews at Thessalonica found out that God's message had been delivered at Berea by Paul, they came there too, to excite and stir up the populace.

So they took him and brought him to the council of the Areopagus and said, "May we know just what this new teaching of yours is?

Some of the things you tell us sound strange to us, and we want to know just what they mean."

so that they might search for God, and perhaps grope for him and find him, though he is never far from any of us.

When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, "We should like to hear you again on this subject."