The angel answered him, "Your prayers and your gifts to the poor have arisen as a reminder to God. Send men now to Joppa and summon Simon, who is called Peter.

And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance,

But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.

And as Peter was perplexed in himself what the vision that he saw might be, then, lo, the men who have been sent from Cornelius, having made inquiry for the house of Simon, stood at the gate,

Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing: for I have sent them.

and Peter having come down unto the men who have been sent from Cornelius unto him, said, 'Lo, I am he whom ye seek, what is the cause for which ye are present?'

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."

And he said to them, You yourselves have knowledge that it is against the law for a man who is a Jew to be in the company of one who is of another nation; but God has made it clear to me that no man may be named common or unclean:

Therefore came I unto you without gainsaying, as soon as I was sent for: I ask therefore for what intent ye have sent for me?

and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your acts of charity have been remembered in God’s sight.

Therefore I immediately sent for you, and you did the right thing in coming. So we are all present before God, to hear everything you have been commanded by the Lord.”

ye -- ye have known; -- the word that came throughout all Judea, having begun from Galilee, after the baptism that John preached;

not of all the people, but of witnesses who were chosen before of God, us who have eaten and drunk with him after he arose from among the dead.

And He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that He [i.e., Jesus] is the One whom God ordained to be the Judge of people who are [now] alive and those who have [already] died.

To him all the prophets give witness, that through his name everyone who has faith in him will have forgiveness of sins.

Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?

And he gave orders for them to have baptism in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they kept him with them for some days.

But I said, 'O no, Lord, for I have never even tasted anything ordinary or [ceremonially] unfit [for Jews to eat].'

The Spirit told me to have no hesitation in accompanying them; these six brothers went with me as well, and we entered the man's house.

And he reported to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and have Simon, who is also called Peter, brought here;

And the words of the Lord came into my mind, how he said, The baptism of John was with water, but you will have baptism with the Holy Spirit.

Forasmuch then as God gave them like gifts, as he did unto us, when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ: what was I that I should have withstood God?"

And hearing these things they said nothing more, but gave glory to God, saying, Then to the Gentiles as to us has God given a change of heart, so that they may have life.

When he realized that this act pleased the Jews, he proceeded to have Peter arrested also. [This happened] during the Festival of Unleavened Bread [See Exodus 12:15ff].

having apprehended Peter, he put him into prison, appointing a detachment of sixteen soldiers to guard him, intending to have him brought to publick execution, after Easter.

And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison.

And Peter having come to himself, said, 'Now I have known of a truth that the Lord did sent forth His messenger, and did deliver me out of the hand of Herod, and all the expectation of the people of the Jews;'

And they said to her, Thou are mad. But she insisted to have it so. But they said, It is his heavenly agent.

At daylight, there was a great commotion among the soldiers as to what could have become of Peter.

As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.

Who was with the ruler, Sergius Paulus, an able man. This man sent for Barnabas and Saul, desiring to have knowledge of the word of God.

And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.

And Paul, getting up and making a sign with his hand, said, Men of Israel, and you who have the fear of God, give ear.

And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.

My brothers, children of the family of Abraham, and those among you who have the fear of God, to us the word of this salvation is sent.

For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him.

Though they found no grounds for the death penalty, they asked Pilate to have Him killed.

We also have good news to tell you, about the promise made to our ancestors--

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.

I would, therefore, have you know, brothers, that through Jesus forgiveness of sins is being proclaimed to you,

and [it is] by Him that every believer is made right with God in every way that he could not have been made right by [observing the requirements of] the law of Moses.

See, you doubters, have wonder and come to your end; for I will do a thing in your days to which you will not give belief, even if it is made clear to you.

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

Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.

For this is what the Lord has commanded us:

I have made you
a light for the Gentiles
to bring salvation
to the ends of the earth.”

And when a violent attempt was made by the Gentiles and the Jews, with their rulers, to make an attack on them and have them stoned,

When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in the form of men!”

Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people.

"Gentlemen, why are you doing these things? [Do you not know that] we are also human beings with the same kind of feelings that you have? And we are just bringing you the good news that you should turn away from these useless things [i.e., idol worship] and [turn] to the living God, who created the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them.

who in the generations that have passed allowed all the nations to go in their own ways,

But there came Jews from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds and stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing him to have died.

Making strong the souls of the disciples, saying to them that they were to keep the faith, and that we have to go through troubles of all sorts to come into the kingdom of God.

And certain persons, having come down from Judaea, taught the brethren, If ye shall not have been circumcised according to the custom of Moses, ye cannot be saved.

But some of the Pharisees, who were of the faith, got up and said, It is necessary for these to have circumcision and to keep the law of Moses.

And when there had been much discussion, Peter got up and said to them, My brothers, you have knowledge that some time back it was God's pleasure that by my mouth the good news might be given to the Gentiles so that they might have faith.

Now then, why are you testing God by putting a yoke on the disciples’ necks that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear?

But we have faith that we will get salvation through the grace of the Lord Jesus in the same way as they.

After they had finished speaking, James addressed the Council. "Brothers," he began, "hear what I have to say.

After these things I will return, and I will rebuild the tabernacle of David that has fallen. And I will rebuild the things of it that have been demolished, and I will restore it,

so that the rest of humanity may seek the Lord, namely, all the Gentiles I have called to be my own,' says the Lord, who makes these things

known from long ago.

Therefore my judgment is that we do not trouble those who have turned to God from among the nations,

but write them injunctions to abstain from whatever is contaminated by idols, from sexual vice, from the flesh of animals that have been strangled, and from tasting blood;

For in every town, for generations past, there have been those who preach Moses, read as he is in the Synagogues every Sabbath."

Because we have heard that some without our authorization went out from us and troubled you with their words and unsettled your hearts,

we have unanimously decided to select men and send them to you along with our dearly loved Barnabas and Paul,

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

Therefore we have sent Judas and Silas, who will personally report the same things by word of mouth.

For the Holy Spirit and we have decided not to lay upon you any burden but these essential requirements,

that you abstain from everything that is offered to idols, from tasting blood, from the meat of animals that have been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves free from these things, you will prosper. Good-by."

After some time had passed, Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s go back and visit the brothers in every town where we have preached the message of the Lord and see how they’re doing.”

while Paul deemed it undesirable to have as their companion one who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone on with them to the work.

Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek.

And as they were going on through the cities, they were delivering to them the decrees to keep, that have been judged by the apostles and the elders who are in Jerusalem,

we went out of town on the sabbath towards the river, where the Jews were allowed to have an oratory.

And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.

Teaching rules of living which it is not right for us to have or to keep, being Romans.

After beating them severely, they threw them in jail and ordered the jailor to have them securely guarded.

And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.

And took them out and said, Sirs, what have I to do to get salvation?

And they said, Have faith in the Lord Jesus, and you and your family will have salvation.

The jailer reported these words to Paul: “The magistrates have sent orders for you to be released. So come out now and go in peace.”

But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust us out privily? nay verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out.

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.

When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here too,

And have been harbored by Jason! They say that some one else is king--a man called Jesus!"

But those who escorted Paul took him to Athens [i.e., in Greece] and, after being directed to have Silas and Timothy join him there as soon as possible, they left.

Also certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers approached him for discussion. Some asked, "What will this know-it-all have to say?" Others said, "He seems to be advocating [a belief in] some different gods." [They said this] because he was proclaiming Jesus and the resurrection [of the dead].

For you seem to us to say strange things, and we have a desire to get the sense of them.

For all the Athenians and resident strangers have leisure for nothing else than to tell or to hear some new thing.

And Paul having stood in the midst of Mars' hill, said, Men, Athenians, I see that in all things ye have a superstitious fear of divinity.

he receives no service from their officiousness: he is self-sufficient: it is he that gives to all their life and breath and every thing they have.

To seek the Lord, if perchance indeed they have felt for him, and found, although not being far from each one of us:

For in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’

If then we are the offspring of God, it is not right for us to have the idea that God is like gold or silver or stone, formed by the art or design of man.

And the Lord said to Paul in the night, in a vision, Have no fear and go on preaching:

For I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to hurt you, because I have many people in this city.”

But [when] Paul was about to open [his] mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, "If it was some crime or wicked villainy, O Jews, {I would have been justified in accepting} your complaint.

but if it be questions about words, and names, and the law that ye have, see to it yourselves; for I do not intend to be judge of these things.

and he being minded to go through into Achaia, the brethren wrote to the disciples, having exhorted them to receive him, who having come, did help them much who have believed through the grace,