More and more believers in the Lord, crowds of men and women, were constantly being added to their number,

"You men, go and stand in the Temple and speak to all the people words about this Life [i.e., about Jesus]." [See John 14:6].

And when the apostles heard this, they entered the Temple about dawn and began teaching [about Jesus]. [A little later] the head priest and the Sadducees [see verse 17] called the Council [i.e., the Sanhedrin] and all of the ruling body of Jewish leaders together and sent to the jail to have the apostles brought in to them [for further questioning].

"We strictly commanded you not to teach in this name [i.e., the name of Jesus] and look [what you have done]; you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you intend to hold us responsible for this man's [i.e., Jesus'] death."

The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had murdered by hanging Him on a tree.

It is this Jesus whom God has exalted to his right hand, to be a Guide and a Savior, to give Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins.

After they called in the apostles and had them flogged, they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus and released them.

full of joy, that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Jesus.

Every day in the temple complex, and in various homes, they continued teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.

The suggestion pleased the whole congregation; and they selected Stephen, a man full of faith [in Christ Jesus], and [filled with and led by] the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas (Nikolaos), a proselyte (Gentile convert) from Antioch.

And the message of God kept on growing and spreading, and the number of disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem; and a large number of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith [accepting Jesus as Messiah and acknowledging Him as the Source of eternal salvation].

For we heard him say that Jesus, this Nazarene, will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.”

Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David;

Which one of the prophets did your forefathers not persecute? They [even] killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One [i.e., Jesus], whom you people betrayed and murdered.

But Stephen, filled by the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven. He saw God’s glory, with Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and he said,

They were stoning Stephen as he called out: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”

But when they believed Philip, as he preached the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized.

For He had not yet come down on any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Jesus) the apostles therefore gave them imposition of hands, and they received the holy spirit.

When Peter and John had testified [regarding the truth] and had proclaimed the message of God [to the people] they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the good news [about Jesus] in many Samaritan villages [on their way back].

Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.

And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

But [later on] Philip appeared at Azotus and after leaving there he preached the good news [of Jesus] to all the towns along the way until he reached Caesarea. [Note: Caesarea was a town on the west coast of Palestine, named after the emperor Caesar].

and he asked for letters [of authority] from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any men or women there belonging to the Way [believers, followers of Jesus the Messiah], men and women alike, he could arrest them and bring them bound [with chains] to Jerusalem.

And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

The voice said, "I'm Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Now get up, go into the city, and you will be told what you are to do."

And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.

Immediately he began proclaiming Jesus in the synagogues: “He is the Son of God.”

And everyone who heard him was amazed and exclaimed, "Is this not the man who tried to destroy all the people who called on [Jesus'] name in Jerusalem and has now come here [to Damascus] for the purpose of arresting them and bringing them before the leading priests?"

however Saul still gain'd ground, and confounded the Jews of Damascus, proving that Jesus was the Messias.

But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.

And he was with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem, and speaking boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus.

And he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus, and disputed against the Grecians: but they went about to slay him.

And Peter said unto him, AEneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole: arise, and make thy bed. And he arose immediately.

And this [miracle] became known throughout all of Joppa and many people believed in [Jesus as] the Lord.

The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)

Ye yourselves, know what hath come to pass throughout the whole of Judaea, beginning from Galilee, after the immersion which John proclaimed, respecting Jesus who was of Nazareth: -

How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

We are witnesses of everything Jesus did in the land of the Jews, including Jerusalem.

This Jesus God raised on the third day, and enabled him to appear,

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.

All the prophets have testified [in their writings], that it is through the name of Jesus that every person who believes in Him will receive the forgiveness of sins."

And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay for a few days.

Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?

And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus.

For Barnabas was a good man [privately and publicly—his godly character benefited both himself and others] and he was full of the Holy Spirit and full of faith [in Jesus the Messiah, through whom believers have everlasting life]. And a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came across a sorcerer, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus.

Of this man's seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus:

Before Jesus' appearance, John had already preached a baptism of repentance to all the people in Israel.

“Brothers, sons of Abraham’s family, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation [obtained through faith in Jesus Christ].

For the people living in Jerusalem, together with their ruling officials, did not understand [that Jesus was the Messiah] or what the message of the prophets, which is read every Sabbath day, really meant. So, [because of this] they [actually] made these Scripture predictions come true by condemning Jesus.

And when they had done everything that was predicted about Him, they took Jesus down from the tree [i.e., the cross] and placed Him in a tomb.

to you therefore we declare, that the promise which God had made to the fathers, he has now perform'd to us, who are their children, by his having raised up Jesus again.

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.

But regarding the fact that he has raised Jesus from the dead, never again to be in a state of decay, God has spoken in this way: 'I will give you the holy and trustworthy promises made to David.'

But Jesus, whom God raised up [from the dead], never did decay.

"Brothers, you should know, therefore, that forgiveness of sins is being proclaimed [to people] through this man [Jesus],

and through Him everyone who believes [who acknowledges Jesus as Lord and Savior and follows Him] is justified and declared free of guilt from all things, from which you could not be justified and freed of guilt through the Law of Moses.

When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying [praising and giving thanks for] the word of the Lord; and all those who had been appointed (designated, ordained) to eternal life [by God] believed [in Jesus as the Christ and their Savior].

There they continued preaching the good news [about Jesus].

Arriving there, they gathered the church together and began to report [in great detail] everything that God had done with them and how He had opened to the Gentiles a door of faith [in Jesus as the Messiah and Savior].

But some from the sect of the Pharisees who had believed [in Jesus as the Messiah] stood up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise the Gentile converts and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.”

And He did not discriminate between us [i.e., Jews] and them [i.e., Gentiles], cleansing their hearts [also] by faith [in Jesus].

On the contrary, we believe we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus in the same way they are.”

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

Now Paul traveled to Derbe and also to Lystra. A disciple named Timothy was there, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer [in Christ], however, his father was a Greek.

When they came to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.

After seeing [the man in] the vision, we immediately made every effort to go to Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to proclaim the good news [about Jesus] to the people there. [Note: This is first use of "we" and "us" in the book of Acts and indicates that Luke, the writer of Acts, joined the party at this point. See 1:1 with Luke 1:1-3].

And when she was baptized, along with her household, she pleaded with us, saying, “If you have judged me and decided that I am faithful to the Lord [a true believer], come to my house and stay.” And she persuaded us.

And she did this for many days.

But Paul was greatly aggravated and turning to the spirit, said, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out right away.

So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”

explaining and showing that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead: “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah.”

Some of the Jews were convinced [that Jesus was the Messiah] and so joined with Paul and Silas. Also, a large number of devoted Greeks [i.e., Gentiles] and leading women [joined their group].

and Jason has received them as guests! They are all acting contrary to Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king—Jesus!”

Then also, some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers argued with him. Some said, “What is this pseudo-intellectual trying to say?”

Others replied, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign deities”—because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the Resurrection.

For He has appointed a [certain] day when He will judge the people of the world according to [a standard of] true justice by the man [i.e., Jesus] whom He has appointed [as Judge, See II Tim. 4:8]. [And] He has given assurance to all people [that He will do this] by raising Jesus from the dead."

But certain men continued to listen to him and became believers [in Jesus]. Among them was Dionysius, [an official] of the Areopagus, a woman named Damaris and others with them.

Every Sabbath day Paul held discussions in the synagogues, trying to convince [both] Jews and Greeks [i.e., Gentiles, that Jesus was the Messiah].

When Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with preaching the message and solemnly testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah.

Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord together with his entire household [joyfully acknowledging Him as Messiah and Savior]; and many of the Corinthians who heard [Paul’s message] were believing and being baptized.

This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught the things about Jesus accurately, although he knew only John’s baptism.

For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating through the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah.

He asked them, "Did [any of] you receive the [indwelling] Holy Spirit when you became believers [in Jesus]?" They answered him, "No, we have never [even] heard that there was a Holy Spirit."

Paul said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people that they should believe in the One who would come after him, that is, in Jesus.”

When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists attempted to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I command you by the Jesus that Paul preaches!”

The evil spirit answered them, “I know Jesus, and I recognize Paul—but who are you?”

This became known to everyone who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. Then fear fell on all of them, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.

bearing full witness, both to Jews and to Greeks, as to the repentance due unto God, and as to belief on our Lord Jesus.

in our Lord Jesus Christ. but now I am fix'd in my resolution to go to Jerusalem, without any apprehension of what may befal me there:

But, for no cause whatever, am I making my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I have received from the Lord Jesus, to bear full witness as to the good news of the favour of God.

In all things, I gave you to understand, that, thus toiling, it behoves to be helping the weak, also to be keeping in mind the words of the Lord Jesus, that, he himself, said - Happy is it, rather to give than to receive!

Then, answered Paul - What are ye doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For, I, not only to be bound, but to die in Jerusalem, am ready, in behalf of the name of the Lord Jesus.

And, I, answered - Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me - I, am Jesus the Nazarene, whom, thou, art persecuting!

"He told me, "I'm Jesus from Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.' The men who were with me saw the light but didn't understand the voice of the one who was speaking to me.

And he said [to me], 'The God of our forefathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One [i.e., Jesus], and to hear His voice [speaking to you].

then I saw JESUS, who said to me, "make haste, and go out of Jerusalem immediately: for they will not receive the attestations you would give of me." Lord,

But Jesus said to me 'Go; for I will send you to the Gentiles far away'."

And, after certain days, Felix having arrived, with Drusilla his own wife, who was, a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith, respecting Christ Jesus.