"When I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as he was first given to us.

Now the people who were scattered by the persecution that started because of Stephen went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews.

So all of the disciples decided they would send a contribution to the brothers living in Judea, as they were able,

When morning came, there was a great commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter.

Now Herod had been in a violent quarrel with the people of Tyre and Sidon. So they came to him as a group. After they had won over Blastus, who oversaw security for the king's sleeping quarters, they asked for a peace agreement because their country depended on the king's country for food.

They went through the whole island as far as Paphos, where they found a Jewish occult practitioner and false prophet named Bar-jesus.

But Saul, also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked him straight in the eye

he destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan. Then God gave their land to the Israelis as an inheritance

It was from this man's descendants that God, as he promised, brought to Israel a Savior, who is Jesus.

he has fulfilled for us, their descendants, by raising Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm, "You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.'

God raised him from the dead, never to experience decay, as he said, "I'll give you the holy promises made to David.'

As Paul and Barnabas were leaving, the people kept urging them to tell them the same things the next Sabbath.

He was listening to Paul as he spoke. Paul watched him closely, and when he saw that he had faith to be healed,

As they were proclaiming the good news in that city, they discipled a large number of people. Then they went back to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch,

They were sent on their way by the church, and as they were going through Phoenicia and Samaria they told of the conversion of the gentiles and brought great joy to all the brothers.

God, who knows everyone's heart, showed them he approved by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us.

We certainly believe that it is through the grace of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, that we are saved, just as they are."

The whole crowd was silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul tell about all the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the gentiles.

This agrees with the words of the prophets. As it is written,

Both Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch to teach and proclaim the word of the Lord, as did many others.

As they went from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for them to obey.

They went as far as Mysia and tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them,

As soon as he had seen the vision, we immediately looked for a way to go to Macedonia, because we were convinced that God had called us to tell the people there the good news.

Once, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave girl who had a spirit of fortune-telling and who had brought her owners a great deal of money by predicting the future.

and are advocating customs that we're not allowed to accept or practice as Romans."

The jailer asked for torches and rushed inside. Trembling as he knelt in front of Paul and Silas,

He brought Paul and Silas upstairs into his house and set food before them. He was thrilled, as was his household, to believe in God.

As usual, Paul entered there and on three Sabbaths discussed the Scriptures with them.

and Jason has welcomed them as his guests. All of them oppose the emperor's decrees by saying that there is another king Jesus!"

The men who escorted Paul took him all the way to Athens and, after receiving instructions to have Silas and Timothy join him as soon as possible, they left.

So he began holding discussions in the synagogue with the Jews and other worshipers, as well as every day in the public square with anyone who happened to be there.

For as I was walking around and looking closely at the objects you worship, I even found an altar with this written on it: "To an unknown god.' So I am telling you about the unknown object you worship.

and he isn't served by people as if he needed anything. He himself gives everyone life, breath, and everything else.

For we live, move, and exist because of him, as some of your own poets have said: ""Since we are his children, too.'

But when Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself entirely to the word as he emphatically assured the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah.

As he told them goodbye, he said, "I will come back to you again if it is God's will." Then he set sail from Ephesus.

A young man named Eutychus, who was sitting in a window, began to sink off into a deep sleep as Paul kept speaking longer and longer. Overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third floor and was picked up dead.

Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in Asia, as he was in a hurry to get to Jerusalem for the day of Pentecost, if that was possible.

From Miletus he sent messengers to Ephesus to ask the elders of the church to meet with him.

All of them cried and cried as they put their arms around Paul and kissed him affectionately.

As for the gentiles who have become believers, we have sent a letter with our decision that they should keep away from food that has been sacrificed to idols, from blood, from anything strangled, and from sexual immorality."

Just as Paul was about to be taken into the barracks, he asked the tribune, "May I say something to you?"

"I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia but raised in this city and educated at the feet of Gamaliel in the strict ways of our ancestral Law. I am as zealous for God as all of you are today.

as the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. I also received letters from them to the brothers in Damascus, and I was going there to tie up those who were there and bring them back to Jerusalem to be punished.

So now, what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and have your sins washed away as you call on his name.'

because the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection and that there is no such thing as an angel or spirit, but the Pharisees believe in all those things.

That night the Lord stood near Paul and said, "Have courage! For just as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, you must testify in Rome, too."

He answered, "The Jewish leaders have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the Council tomorrow as though they were going to examine his case more carefully.

But so as not to detain you any further, I beg you to hear us briefly with your customary graciousness.

They found me in the Temple doing these things just as I had completed the purification ceremony. No crowd or noisy mob was present.

unless it is for the one thing I shouted as I stood among them: "It is for the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you today.'"

As Paul talked about righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became afraid and said, "For the present you may go. When I get a chance, I will send for you again."

and asking Festus to have Paul brought to Jerusalem as a favor. They were laying an ambush to kill him on the road.

But Paul said, "I am standing before the emperor's judgment seat where I ought to be tried. I haven't done anything wrong to the Jewish leaders, as you know very well.

If I'm guilty and have done something that deserves death, I'm willing to die. But if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can hand me over to them as a favor. I appeal to the emperor!"

They have known for a long time, if they would but testify to it, that I lived as a Pharisee, adhering to the standards of our strictest religious party.

As he continued his defense, Festus shouted, "You're out of your mind, Paul! Too much education is driving you crazy!"

As they were leaving, they began to say to each other, "This man hasn't been doing anything to deserve death or imprisonment."

As we drifted to the sheltered side of a small island called Cauda, we barely managed to secure the ship's lifeboat.

So take courage, men, because I trust God that it will turn out just as he told me.

So I urge you to eat something, for it will help you survive, since none of you will lose so much as a hair from his head."

Three months later, we continued our sailing onboard an Alexandrian ship that had spent the winter at the island. It had the Twin Brothers as its figurehead.

The brothers there heard about us and came as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet us. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and felt encouraged.

They disagreed with one another as they were leaving, so Paul added this statement: "The Holy Spirit was so right when he spoke to your ancestors through the prophet Isaiah!

Through him we received grace and a commission as an apostle to bring about faithful obedience among all the gentiles for the sake of his name.

I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I often planned to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now), so that I might reap a harvest among you, just as I have among the rest of the gentiles.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God's power for the salvation of everyone who believes, of the Jew first and of the Greek as well.

For in the gospel God's righteousness is being revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, "The righteous will live by faith."

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him. Instead, their thoughts turned to worthless things, and their senseless hearts were darkened.

For this reason, God delivered them to sexual impurity as they followed the lusts of their hearts and dishonored their bodies with one another.

For this reason, God delivered them to degrading passions as their females exchanged their natural sexual function for one that is unnatural.

There will be suffering and anguish for every human being who practices doing evil, for Jews first and for Greeks as well.

But there will be glory, honor, and peace for everyone who practices doing good, initially for Jews but also for Greeks as well,

as you teach others, do you fail to teach yourself? As you preach against stealing, do you steal?

As you forbid adultery, do you commit adultery? As you abhor idols, do you rob temples?

As you boast about the Law, do you dishonor God by breaking the Law?

As it is written, "God's name is being blasphemed among the gentiles because of you."

So if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the requirements of the Law, his uncircumcision will be regarded as circumcision, won't it?

Of course not! God is true, even if everyone else is a liar. As it is written, "You are right when you speak, and win your case when you go into court."

For if through my falsehood God's truthfulness glorifies him even more, why am I still being condemned as a sinner?

Or can we say as some people slander us by claiming that we say "Let's do evil that good may result"? They deserve to be condemned!

As it is written, "Not even one person is righteous.

whom God offered as a place where atonement by the Messiah's blood would occur through faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because he had waited patiently to deal with sins committed in the past.

For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."

However, to someone who does not work, but simply believes in the one who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.

Likewise, David also speaks of the blessedness of the person whom God regards as righteous apart from actions:

Now does this blessedness come to the circumcised alone, or also to the uncircumcised? For we say, "Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness."

Afterward he received the mark of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. Therefore, he is the ancestor of all who believe while uncircumcised, in order that righteousness may be credited to them.

As it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations." Abraham acted in faith when he stood in the presence of God, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence things that don't yet exist.

Hoping in spite of hopeless circumstances, he believed that he would become "the father of many nations," just as he had been told: "This is how many descendants you will have."

His faith did not weaken when he thought about his own body (which was already as good as dead now that he was about a hundred years old) or about Sarah's inability to have children,

This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness."

Just as sin entered the world through one man, and death resulted from sin, therefore everyone dies, because everyone has sinned.

But God's free gift is not like Adam's offense. For if many people died as the result of one man's offense, how much more have God's grace and the free gift given through the kindness of one man, Jesus the Messiah, been showered on many people!

Consequently, just as one offense resulted in condemnation for everyone, so one act of righteousness results in justification and life for everyone.

For just as through one man's disobedience many people were made sinners, so also through one man's obedience many people will be made righteous.

so that, just as sin ruled by bringing death, so also grace might rule by bringing justification that results in eternal life through Jesus the Messiah, our Lord.

Of course not! How can we who died as far as sin is concerned go on living in it?

Therefore, through baptism we were buried with him into his death so that, just as the Messiah was raised from the dead by the Father's glory, we too may live an entirely new life.

For when he died, he died once and for all as far as sin is concerned. But now that he is alive, he lives for God.