Now Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and miraculous signs among the people.

But some men from the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, as well as some from Cilicia and the province of Asia, stood up and argued with Stephen.

All who were sitting in the council looked intently at Stephen and saw his face was like the face of an angel.

So he replied, "Brothers and fathers, listen to me. The God of glory appeared to our forefather Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran,

Then God gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision, and so he became the father of Isaac and circumcised him when he was eight days old, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.

The patriarchs, because they were jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt. But God was with him,

So when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there the first time.

This was the one who exploited our people and was cruel to our ancestors, forcing them to abandon their infants so they would die.

At that time Moses was born, and he was beautiful to God. For three months he was brought up in his father's house,

So Moses was trained in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in his words and deeds.

But when he was about forty years old, it entered his mind to visit his fellow countrymen the Israelites.

When he saw one of them being hurt unfairly, Moses came to his defense and avenged the person who was mistreated by striking down the Egyptian.

He thought his own people would understand that God was delivering them through him, but they did not understand.

But the man who was unfairly hurting his neighbor pushed Moses aside, saying, 'Who made you a ruler and judge over us?

When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and when he approached to investigate, there came the voice of the Lord,

This is the man who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors, and he received living oracles to give to you.

But God turned away from them and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: 'It was not to me that you offered slain animals and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, was it, house of Israel?

But Saul was trying to destroy the church; entering one house after another, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.

The crowds were paying attention with one mind to what Philip said, as they heard and saw the miraculous signs he was performing.

So there was great joy in that city.

Now in that city was a man named Simon, who had been practicing magic and amazing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great.

But when they believed Philip as he was proclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they began to be baptized, both men and women.

Even Simon himself believed, and after he was baptized, he stayed close to Philip constantly, and when he saw the signs and great miracles that were occurring, he was amazed.

Now Simon, when he saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, offered them money,

So he got up and went. There he met an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship,

and was returning home, sitting in his chariot, reading the prophet Isaiah.

Now the passage of scripture the man was reading was this: "He was led like a sheep to slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

In humiliation justice was taken from him. Who can describe his posterity? For his life was taken away from the earth."

As he was going along, approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.

Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias," and he replied, "Here I am, Lord."

Immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized,

and after taking some food, his strength returned. For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus,

All who heard him were amazed and were saying, "Is this not the man who in Jerusalem was ravaging those who call on this name, and who had come here to bring them as prisoners to the chief priests?"

But Saul became more and more capable, and was causing consternation among the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.

When he arrived in Jerusalem, he attempted to associate with the disciples, and they were all afraid of him, because they did not believe that he was a disciple.

So he was staying with them, associating openly with them in Jerusalem, speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord.

He was speaking and debating with the Greek-speaking Jews, but they were trying to kill him.

Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria experienced peace and thus was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, the church increased in numbers.

Now as Peter was traveling around from place to place, he also came down to the saints who lived in Lydda.

He found there a man named Aeneas who had been confined to a mattress for eight years because he was paralyzed.

Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which in translation means Dorcas). She was continually doing good deeds and acts of charity.

Because Lydda was near Joppa, when the disciples heard that Peter was there, they sent two men to him and urged him, "Come to us without delay."

So Peter got up and went with them, and when he arrived they brought him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him, crying and showing him the tunics and other clothing Dorcas used to make while she was with them.

Now there was a man in Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort.

He was a devout, God-fearing man, as was all his household; he did many acts of charity for the people and prayed to God regularly.

This happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into heaven.

Now while Peter was puzzling over what the vision he had seen could signify, the men sent by Cornelius had learned where Simon's house was and approached the gate.

They called out to ask if Simon, known as Peter, was staying there as a guest.

While Peter was still thinking seriously about the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Look! Three men are looking for you.

They said, "Cornelius the centurion, a righteous and God-fearing man, well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to summon you to his house and to hear a message from you."

The following day he entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting anxiously for them and had called together his relatives and close friends.

Cornelius replied, "Four days ago at this very hour, at three o'clock in the afternoon, I was praying in my house, and suddenly a man in shining clothing stood before me

with respect to Jesus from Nazareth, that God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with him.

While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all those who heard the message.

"I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, an object something like a large sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came to me.

This happened three times, and then everything was pulled up to heaven again.

Therefore if God gave them the same gift as he also gave us after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to hinder God?"

The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.

because he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith, and a significant number of people were brought to the Lord.

and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught a significant number of people. Now it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.

One of them, named Agabus, got up and predicted by the Spirit that a severe famine was about to come over the whole inhabited world. (This took place during the reign of Claudius.)

So Peter was kept in prison, but those in the church were earnestly praying to God for him.

On that very night before Herod was going to bring him out for trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, while guards in front of the door were keeping watch over the prison.

Peter went out and followed him; he did not realize that what was happening through the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.

When she recognized Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed she did not open the gate, but ran back in and told them that Peter was standing at the gate.

But they said to her, "You've lost your mind!" But she kept insisting that it was Peter, and they kept saying, "It is his angel!"

At daybreak there was great consternation among the soldiers over what had become of Peter.

Now Herod was having an angry quarrel with the people of Tyre and Sidon. So they joined together and presented themselves before him. And after convincing Blastus, the king's personal assistant, to help them, they asked for peace, because their country's food supply was provided by the king's country.

Immediately an angel of the Lord struck Herod down because he did not give the glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died.

who was with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. The proconsul summoned Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear the word of God.

Then when the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, because he was greatly astounded at the teaching about the Lord.

But while John was completing his mission, he said repeatedly, 'What do you think I am? I am not he. But look, one is coming after me. I am not worthy to untie the sandals on his feet!'

When they had accomplished everything that was written about him, they took him down from the cross and placed him in a tomb.

For David, after he had served God's purpose in his own generation, died, was buried with his ancestors, and experienced decay,

But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and they began to contradict what Paul was saying by reviling him.

Both Paul and Barnabas replied courageously, "It was necessary to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we are turning to the Gentiles.

So the word of the Lord was spreading through the entire region.

But the population of the city was divided; some sided with the Jews, and some with the apostles.

This man was listening to Paul as he was speaking. When Paul stared intently at him and saw he had faith to be healed,

They began to call Barnabas Zeus and Paul Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.

He also came to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple named Timothy was there, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but whose father was a Greek.

Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was Greek.

A vision appeared to Paul during the night: A Macedonian man was standing there urging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us!"

A woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, a God-fearing woman, listened to us. The Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying.

But when her owners saw their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities.

When the jailer woke up and saw the doors of the prison standing open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, because he assumed the prisoners had escaped.

After they traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.

While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was greatly upset because he saw the city was full of idols.

So he was addressing the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles in the synagogue, and in the marketplace every day those who happened to be there.

Also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him, and some were asking, "What does this foolish babbler want to say?" Others said, "He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods." (They said this because he was proclaiming the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.)

But some people joined him and believed. Among them were Dionysius, who was a member of the Areopagus, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

Now when Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul became wholly absorbed with proclaiming the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.

Then Paul left the synagogue and went to the house of a person named Titius Justus, a Gentile who worshiped God, whose house was next door to the synagogue.

Now while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews attacked Paul together and brought him before the judgment seat,

But just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, "If it were a matter of some crime or serious piece of villainy, I would have been justified in accepting the complaint of you Jews,

Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, arrived in Ephesus. He was an eloquent speaker, well-versed in the scriptures.

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

While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul went through the inland regions and came to Ephesus. He found some disciples there

Paul said, "John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus."

God was performing extraordinary miracles by Paul's hands,