There he found a man named Aeneas who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years.

and all the people who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.

He was a devout man who feared God, as did everyone in his home. He gave many gifts to the poor among the people and always prayed to God.

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.

When the angel who had spoken to him had gone, Cornelius summoned two of his household servants and a devout soldier, one of those who served him regularly.

They called out and asked if Simon who was called Peter was staying there.

The men replied, "Cornelius, a centurion and an upright and God-fearing man who is respected by the whole Jewish nation, was instructed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his home to hear what you have to say."

so send messengers to Joppa and summon Simon, who is called Peter, to come to you. He is a guest in the home of Simon, a leatherworker, by the sea.'

God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and because God was with him, he went around doing good and healing everyone who was oppressed by the devil.

not to all the people, but to us who were chosen by God to be witnesses and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

All the prophets testify to this: everyone who believes in Jesus receives forgiveness of sins through his name."

While Peter was still making this statement, the Holy Spirit fell on all the people who were listening to his message.

Then the circumcised believers who had come with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the gentiles, too,

"No one can stop us from using water to baptize these people who have received the Holy Spirit in the same way that we did, can they?"

Now the apostles and the brothers who were in Judea heard that the gentiles had also accepted the word of God.

But when Peter went up to Jerusalem, those who emphasized circumcision disagreed with him.

Then he told us how he had seen an angel standing in his home and saying, "Send messengers to Joppa and summon Simon, who is called Peter.

Now if God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, who was I to try to stop God?"

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.

But among them were some men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began proclaiming the Lord Jesus even to the Hellenistic Jews.

About that time, Herod arrested some people who belonged to the church and mistreated them.

When Peter realized what had happened, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where a large number of people had gathered and were praying.

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.

When Barnabas and Saul had fulfilled their mission, they returned from Jerusalem, bringing with them John who was also called Mark.

Now Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius from Cyrene, Manaen, who grew up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul were prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch.

He was associated with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, who was an intelligent man. He sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God.

"Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen! The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors and made them a great people during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with a public display of power he led them out of there.

Then God removed Saul and made David their king, about whom he testified, "I have found that David, the son of Jesse, is a man after my own heart, who will carry out all my wishes.'

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

When John was finishing his work, he said, "Who do you think I am? I'm not the Messiah. No, but he is coming after me, and I'm not worthy to untie the sandals on his feet.'

"My brothers, descendants of Abraham's family, and those among you who fear God, it is to us that the message of this salvation has been sent.

For the people who live in Jerusalem and their leaders, not knowing who Jesus was, condemned him and so fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath.

and for many days he appeared to those who had come with him to Jerusalem from Galilee. These are now his witnesses to the people.

However, the man whom God raised did not experience decay.

and that everyone who believes in him is justified and freed from everything that kept you from being justified by the Law of Moses.

When the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who kept talking to them and urging them to continue in the grace of God.

When the gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord. Meanwhile, all who had been destined to eternal life believed,

But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.

They stayed there a considerable time and continued to speak boldly for the Lord, who kept affirming his word of grace and granting signs and wonders to be done by them.

Now in Lystra there was a man sitting down who couldn't use his feet. He had been crippled from birth and had never walked.

"Men, why are you doing this? We are merely human beings with natures like yours. We are telling you the good news so you'll turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them.

Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church, and with prayer and fasting they entrusted them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

After a lengthy debate, Peter stood up and told them, "Brothers, you know that in the early days, God chose me to be the one among you through whom the gentiles would hear the message of the gospel and believe.

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

so that the rest of the people may search for the Lord, including all the gentiles who are called by my name,' declares the Lord. "He is the one who has been doing these things

"Therefore, I have decided that we should not trouble these gentiles who are turning to God.

Then the apostles, the elders, and the whole church decided to choose some of their men to send with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch. These were Judas, who was called Barsabbas, and Silas, who were leaders among the brothers.

who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah.

Then Judas and Silas, who were also prophets, said a lot to encourage and strengthen the brothers.

After staying there for some time, they were sent back with a greeting from the brothers to those who had sent them.

Barnabas wanted to take along John, who was called Mark,

but Paul did not think it was right to take along the man who had deserted them in Pamphylia and who had not gone with them into the work.

Paul wanted this man to go with him, so he took him and had him circumcised because of the Jews who lived in that region, since everyone knew that Timothy's father was a Greek.

On the Sabbath day, we went out the city gate and walked along the river, where we thought there was a place of prayer. We sat down and began talking to the women who had gathered there.

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.

When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities who met together in the public square.

When day came, the magistrates sent guards, who commanded, "Release those men."

He explained and showed them that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead: "This very Jesus whom I proclaim to you is the Messiah."

But the Jewish leaders became jealous, and they took some contemptible characters who used to hang out in the public square, formed a mob, and started a riot in the city. They attacked Jason's home and searched it for Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the people.

When they didn't find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials and shouted, "These fellows who have turned the world upside down have come here, too,

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.

The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth. He doesn't live in shrines made by human hands,

because he has set a day when he is going to judge the world with justice through a man whom he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead."

Some men joined him and became believers. With them were Dionysius, who was a member of the Areopagus, a woman named Damaris, and some others along with them.

There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to visit them,

Then he left that place and went to the home of a man named Titius Justus, who worshipped God and whose house was next door to the synagogue.

Now Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, along with his whole family. Many Corinthians who heard Paul also believed and were baptized.

When Apollos wanted to cross over to Achaia, the brothers wrote to the disciples there, urging them to welcome him. On his arrival he greatly helped those who, through God's grace, had believed.

Then Paul said, "John baptized when they repented, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus."

He went into the synagogue and spoke there boldly for three months, holding discussions and persuading those who heard him about the kingdom of God.

This went on for two years, so that all who lived in Asia, Jews and Greeks alike, heard the word of the Lord.

Then some Jews who went around trying to drive out demons attempted to use the name of the Lord Jesus on those who had evil spirits, saying, "I command you by that Jesus whom Paul preaches!"

But the evil spirit told them, "Jesus I know, and I am getting acquainted with Paul, but who are you?"

Many who became believers kept coming to confess and talk about what they had been doing.

Moreover, many people who had practiced occult arts gathered their books and burned them in front of everybody. They estimated their value and found them to have been worth 50,000 silver coins.

He called a meeting of these men and others who were engaged in similar trades and said, "Men, you well know that we get a good income from this business.

Even some officials of the province of Asia who were his friends sent him a message urging him not to risk his life in the theater.

When the city recorder had quieted the crowd, he said, "Men of Ephesus, who in the world doesn't know that this city of Ephesus is the keeper of the temple of the great Artemis and of the statue that fell down from heaven?

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.

"Now I know that none of you among whom I traveled preaching about the kingdom will ever see my face again.

"I'm now entrusting you to God and to the message of his grace, which is able to build you up and secure for you an inheritance among all who are sanctified.

You yourselves know that I worked with my own hands to support myself and those who were with me.

He had four unmarried daughters who could prophesy.

He came to us, took Paul's belt, and tied his own feet and hands with it. Then he said, "The Holy Spirit says, "This is how the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will tie up the man who owns this belt. Then they will hand him over to the gentiles.'"

When we heard this, we and the people who lived there begged Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.

So do what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow.

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."

yelling, "Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere to turn against our people, the Law, and this place. More than that, he has even brought Greeks into the Temple and desecrated this Holy Place."

Then the tribune came up, grabbed Paul, and ordered him to be tied up with two chains. He then asked who Paul was and what he had done.

The tribune asked, "Oh, do you speak Greek? You're not the Egyptian who started a revolt some time ago and led 4,000 assassins into the desert, are you?"

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.

"I answered, "Who are you, Lord?'

"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.

"The Lord told me, "Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything you are destined to do.' Since I could not see because of the brightness of the light, the men who were with me took me by the hand and led me into Damascus.

"A certain Ananias, who was a devout man with respect to the Law and who was highly regarded by all the Jews living there,

"I said, "Lord, they themselves know that in every synagogue I kept imprisoning and beating those who believe in you.

Even when the blood of your witness Stephen was being shed, I was standing there, approving it and guarding the coats of those who were killing him.'

But when they had tied him up with the straps, Paul asked the centurion who was standing there, "Is it legal for you to whip a Roman citizen who hasn't been condemned?"

Paul said, "But I was born a citizen." Immediately those who were about to examine him stepped back, and the tribune was afraid when he found out that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had tied him up.