and that through union with him everyone who believes is cleared of every charge of which the Law of Moses could not clear you.

Take care, therefore, that what is said in the prophets does not prove true of you:

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.

He was listening to Paul as he talked, when Paul looked at him and, seeing that he had faith that he would be cured,

The priest of the temple of Zeus that stood at the entrance to the town came with crowds of people to the gates, bringing bulls and garlands, meaning to offer sacrifice to them.

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.

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,

reassuring the disciples and encouraging them to stand by the faith and reminding them that we have to undergo many hardships to get into the Kingdom of God.

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.

This created a disturbance and a serious discussion between Paul and Barnabas and them, and it was agreed that Paul and Barnabas and some others of their number should go up to Jerusalem to confer with the apostles and elders about this question.

But some members of the Pharisees' party who had become believers got up and said that such converts ought to be circumcised and told to obey the Law of Moses.

After a long discussion, Peter got up and said to them, "Brothers, you know that in the early days God chose that of you all I should be the one from whose lips the heathen should hear the message of the good news and believe it.

Then why do you now try to test God, by putting on the necks of these disciples a yoke that neither our forefathers nor we have been able to bear?

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

So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, And all the heathen who are called by my name, Says the Lord,

but we should write to them to avoid anything that has been contaminated by idols, immorality, the meat of strangled animals, and the tasting of blood.

As we have heard that some of our number, without any instructions from us, have disturbed you by their teaching and unsettled your minds,

that you avoid whatever has been sacrificed to idols, the tasting of blood and of the meat of animals that have been strangled, and immorality. Keep yourselves free from these things and you will get on well. Goodbye."

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.

As soon as he had this vision, we made efforts to get on to Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to tell them the good news.

From there we went to Philippi, a Roman garrison town, and the principal place in that part of Macedonia. In this town we stayed for some days.

When she and her household were baptized, she appealed to us, and said, "If you are really convinced that I am a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house." And she insisted upon our coming.

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,

suddenly there was such an earthquake that the jail shook to its foundations; all the doors flew open, and everybody's chains were unfastened.

It woke up the jailer, and when he saw that the doors of the jail were open, he drew his sword and was just going to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.

The jailer reported this message to Paul, saying, "The magistrates have sent orders that you are to be released. So you can take your leave and go unmolested."

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

explaining them and showing that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. "Jesus," he said, "of whom I am telling you, is the Christ!"

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

The Jews there were more high-minded than those at Thessalonica, and received the message with great eagerness and studied the Scriptures every day, to find out whether it was true.

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.

Then Paul stood up in the middle of the council and said, "Men of Athens, from every point of view I see that you are extremely religious.

For as I was going about and looking at the things you worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: 'To an Unknown God.' So it is what you already worship in ignorance that I am now telling you of.

God who created the world and all that is in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples built by human hands,

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

For it is through union with him that we live and move and exist, as some of your poets have said, " 'For we are also his offspring.'

So if we are God's children we ought not to imagine that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, wrought by human art and thought.

By the time Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was absorbed in preaching the message, emphatically assuring the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.

"This fellow," they said, "is trying to induce people to worship God in ways that are against the law."

for he vigorously refuted the Jews in public, and showed from the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.

It was while Apollos was in Corinth that Paul, after passing through the interior, reached Ephesus. Finding some disciples there,

he said to them, "Did you receive the holy Spirit when you became believers?" "No," they said to him, "we never even heard that there was a holy Spirit."

"John's baptism was a baptism in token of repentance," said Paul, "and he told the people to believe in him who was to follow him, that is, in Jesus."

This went on for two years, so that everyone who lived in Asia, Greeks as well as Jews, heard the Lord's message.

that people took to the sick handkerchiefs or aprons he had used, and they were cured of their diseases, and the evil spirits went out of them.

And the man in whom the evil spirit was sprang at them, and overpowered them all, with such violence that they ran out of the house tattered and bruised.

Just at that time a great commotion arose about the Way.

He got the workmen in that and similar trades together, and said to them, "Men, you know that this business is the source of our prosperity,

and you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but almost all over Asia, this man Paul has persuaded and drawn away numbers of people, telling them that gods made by human hands are not gods at all.

There is danger, therefore, not only that this business of ours will be discredited, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be neglected and the magnificence of her whom all Asia and the world worship will be a thing of the past!"

But when they saw that he was a Jew, a great shout went up from them all, and they cried for two hours, "Great Artemis of Ephesus!"

At last the recorder quieted the mob and said, "Men of Ephesus, who in the world does not know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis, and of the image that fell down from the sky?

But if you require anything beyond that, it must be settled before the regular assembly.

For we are in danger of being charged with rioting in connection with today's events, though there is really nothing about this commotion that we will not be able to explain."

Then he went upstairs again, and broke the bread, and ate, and after a long talk with them that lasted until daylight, he went away.

We had already gone on board the ship and sailed for Assos, intending to take Paul on board there, for that was the arrangement he had made, as he intended to travel there by land.

For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he would not have to lose any time in Asia, for he was hurrying to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of the Harvest Festival.

and how I served the Lord most humbly and with tears, through all the trials that I encountered because of the plots of the Jews.

I never shrank from telling you anything that was for your good, nor from teaching you in public or at your houses,

except that in every town I visit, the holy Spirit warns me that imprisonment and persecution are awaiting me.

Now I know perfectly well that none of you among whom I went about preaching the Kingdom of God will ever see my face again.

Therefore I declare to you today that I am not responsible for the blood of any of you,

I know that after I am gone savage wolves will get in among you and will not spare the flock,

So you must be on your guard and remember that for three years, night and day, I never stopped warning any of you, even with tears.

You know well enough that these hands of mine provided for my needs and my companions.

I showed you in every way that by hard work like that we must help those who are weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, for he said, 'It makes one happier to give than to be given to.' "

for they were especially saddened at his saying that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.

They have been told that you teach all Jews who live among the heathen to turn away from Moses, and that you tell them not to circumcise their children nor to observe the old customs.

What then? They will be sure to hear that you have come.

Join them, undergo the rites of purification with them, and pay their expenses so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everybody will understand that there is no truth in the stories about you, but that you yourself observe the Law.

As for the heathen who have become believers, we have written them our decision that they must avoid anything that has been contaminated by idols, the tasting of blood, the meat of strangled animals, and immorality."

For they had previously seen Trophimus of Ephesus with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the Temple.

They were trying to kill him when the news reached the colonel of the regiment that all Jerusalem was in a tumult.

And I said, 'Lord, they know that I used to go through one synagogue after another, and to imprison and flog those who believed in you,

They had listened to him until he said that, but then they shouted, "Kill him and get him out of the world! A creature like that ought not to be allowed to live!"

the colonel ordered Paul brought into the barracks, and gave directions that he should be examined under the lash, so that he might find out why they made such an outcry against him.

Then the men who had been going to examine him immediately left him, and the colonel himself was alarmed to find that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had had him bound.

"I did not know, brothers," said Paul, "that he was high priest, for the Scripture says, 'You shall not say anything against any ruler of your people.' "

Knowing that part of them were Sadducees and part of them Pharisees, Paul called out in the council, "Brothers, I am a Pharisee, and the son of Pharisees! It is for my hope for the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial!"

When he said that, a dispute arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the meeting was divided.

For the Sadducees hold that there is no resurrection and that there are no angels or spirits, while the Pharisees believe in all three.

As the dispute was becoming violent, the colonel began to be afraid that they would tear Paul in pieces, and ordered the soldiers to go down and get him away from them and bring him into the barracks.

There were more than forty of them involved in this plot,

Now you and the council must suggest to the colonel that he should have Paul brought down to you, as you mean to look into his case more carefully, and we will be ready to kill him before he gets down."

So the colonel took him by the arm and stepping aside where they could be alone, asked, "What is it that you have to tell me?"

"The Jews," he answered, "have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, on the ground that you mean to have a fuller inquiry made into his case.

But do not let them persuade you, for more than forty of them are lying in wait for him, and they have taken an oath not to eat or drink till they have killed him. They are all ready now, and are only waiting to get your promise."

So the colonel sent the youth away, directing him not to tell anyone that he had given him this information.

They were also to provide horses for Paul to ride, so that they might take him in safety to Felix, the governor,

This man had been seized by the Jews and they were just going to kill him when I came upon them with my men and rescued him, as I had learned that he was a Roman citizen.

and found that their accusations had to do with questions about their Law, but that he was not charged with anything that would call for his death or imprisonment.

As I have been informed that a plot against him is brewing, I am sending him on to you at once, and directing his accusers to present their charges against him before you."

Then the soldiers took Paul, as they had been ordered to do, and escorted him as far as Antipatris that night.

After reading the letter, he asked Paul what province he belonged to, and when he learned that he was from Cilicia,

he said, "I will hear your case as soon as your accusers arrive." And he gave orders that he should be kept in Herod's palace.

The Jews also joined in these charges, and said that the statement was true.

The governor made a sign to Paul to speak, and he answered, "As I know that for many years you have acted as judge for this nation, I cheerfully undertake my defense,