When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter too, during the days of Unleavened Bread.

So he went out and followed, and he did not know that what took place through the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.

After they passed the first and second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened to them by itself. They went outside and passed one street, and immediately the angel left him.

Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel and rescued me from Herod’s grasp and from all that the Jewish people expected.”

She recognized Peter’s voice, and because of her joy, she did not open the gate but ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the gateway.

“You’re crazy!” they told her. But she kept insisting that it was true. Then they said, “It’s his angel!”

As they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work I have called them to.”

For the residents of Jerusalem and their rulers, since they did not recognize Him or the voices of the prophets that are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled their words by condemning Him.

When they had fulfilled all that had been written about Him, they took Him down from the tree and put Him in a tomb.

And we ourselves proclaim to you the good news of the promise that was made to our ancestors.

Therefore, let it be known to you, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is being proclaimed to you,

So beware that what is said in the prophets does not happen to you:

Look, you scoffers,
marvel and vanish away,
because I am doing a work in your days,
a work that you will never believe,
even if someone were to explain it to you.”

As they were leaving, the people begged that these matters be presented to them the following Sabbath.

Then Paul and Barnabas boldly said: “It was necessary that God’s message be spoken to you first. But since you reject it and consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles!

The same thing happened in Iconium; they entered the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed.

So they stayed there for some time and spoke boldly in reliance on the Lord, who testified to the message of His grace by granting that signs and wonders be performed through them.

and heard Paul speaking. After observing him closely and seeing that he had faith to be healed,

“Men! Why are you doing these things? We are men also, with the same nature as you, and we are proclaiming good news to you, that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything in them.

After they had evangelized that town and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, to Iconium, and to Antioch,

After they arrived and gathered the church together, they reported everything God had done with them and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.

When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church, the apostles, and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them.

After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them: “Brothers, you are aware that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the gospel message and believe.

Now then, why are you testing God by putting a yoke on the disciples’ necks that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear?

so the rest of humanity
may seek the Lord—
even all the Gentiles
who are called by My name,
declares the Lord who does these things,

but instead we should write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from eating anything that has been strangled, and from blood.

Because we have heard that some without our authorization went out from us and troubled you with their words and unsettled your hearts,

For it was the Holy Spirit’s decision—and ours—to put no greater burden on you than these necessary things:

that you abstain from food offered to idols, from blood, from eating anything that has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. You will do well if you keep yourselves from these things.

Farewell.

There was such a sharp disagreement that they parted company, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed off to Cyprus.

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

After he had seen the vision, we immediately made efforts to set out for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to evangelize them.

and from there to Philippi, a Roman colony, which is a leading city of that district of Macedonia. We stayed in that city for a number of days.

When her owners saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities.

and are promoting customs that are not legal for us as Romans to adopt or practice.”

Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the jail were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains came loose.

Then the police reported these words to the magistrates. They were afraid when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens.

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

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

The people here were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, since they welcomed the message with eagerness and examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

But when the Jews from Thessalonica found out that God’s message had been proclaimed by Paul at Berea, they came there too, agitating and disturbing the crowds.

While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was troubled within him when he saw that the city was full of idols.

Then Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus and said: “Men of Athens! I see that you are extremely religious in every respect.

He did this so they might seek God, and perhaps they might reach out and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.

Being God’s offspring then, we shouldn’t think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image fashioned by human art and imagination.

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.

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

and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”

“No,” they told him, “we haven’t even heard that there is 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.”

And this went on for two years, so that all the inhabitants of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the message about the Lord.

so that even facecloths or work aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, and the diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them.

Then the man who had the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them all, and prevailed against them, so that they ran out of that house naked and wounded.

During that time there was a major disturbance about the Way.

When he had assembled them, as well as the workers engaged in this type of business, he said: “Men, you know that our prosperity is derived from this business.

You both see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this man Paul has persuaded and misled a considerable number of people by saying that gods made by hand are not gods!

So not only do we run a risk that our business may be discredited, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be despised and her magnificence come to the verge of ruin—the very one all of Asia and the world adore.”

But when they recognized that he was a Jew, a united cry went up from all of them for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

However, when the city clerk had calmed the crowd down, he said, “Men of Ephesus! What man is there who doesn’t know that the city of the Ephesians is the temple guardian of the great Artemis, and of the image that fell from heaven?

In fact, we run a risk of being charged with rioting for what happened today, since there is no justification that we can give as a reason for this disorderly gathering.”

serving the Lord with all humility, with tears, and with the trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews—

and that I did not shrink back from proclaiming to you anything that was profitable or from teaching it to you in public and from house to house.

except that in town after town the Holy Spirit testifies to me that chains and afflictions are waiting for me.

But I count my life of no value to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of God’s grace.

“And now I know that none of you will ever see my face again—everyone I went about preaching the kingdom to.

Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of everyone’s blood,

I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for three years I did not stop warning each one of you with tears.

You yourselves know that these hands have provided for my needs and for those who were with me.

In every way I’ve shown you that by laboring like this, it is necessary to help the weak and to keep in mind the words of the Lord Jesus, for He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

grieving most of all over his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they escorted him to the ship.

But they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to abandon Moses, by telling them not to circumcise their children or to walk in our customs.

So what is to be done? They will certainly hear that you’ve come.

Take these men, purify yourself along with them, and pay for them to get their heads shaved. Then everyone will know that what they were told about you amounts to nothing, but that you yourself are also careful about observing the law.

With regard to the Gentiles who have believed, we have written a letter containing our decision that they should keep themselves from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from what is strangled, and from sexual immorality.”

For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple complex.

As they were trying to kill him, word went up to the commander of the regiment that all Jerusalem was in chaos.

When they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew language, they became even quieter.

“Then I said, ‘What should I do, Lord?’

“And the Lord told me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told about everything that is assigned for you to do.’

“Since I couldn’t see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus.

came and stood by me and said, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight.’ And in that very hour I looked up and saw him.

“But I said, ‘Lord, they know that in synagogue after synagogue I had those who believed in You imprisoned and beaten.

the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, directing that he be examined with the scourge, so he could discover the reason they were shouting against him like this.

“I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest,” replied Paul. “For it is written, You must not speak evil of a ruler of your people.”

When Paul realized that one part of them were Sadducees and the other part were Pharisees, he cried out in the Sanhedrin, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees! I am being judged because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead!”

When the dispute became violent, the commander feared that Paul might be torn apart by them and ordered the troops to go down, rescue him from them, and bring him into the barracks.

There were more than 40 who had formed this plot.

These men went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have bound ourselves under a solemn curse that we won’t eat anything until we have killed Paul.

So now you, along with the Sanhedrin, make a request to the commander that he bring him down to you as if you were going to investigate his case more thoroughly. However, before he gets near, we are ready to kill him.”

Don’t let them persuade you, because there are more than 40 of them arranging to ambush him, men who have bound themselves under a curse not to eat or drink until they kill him. Now they are ready, waiting for a commitment from you.”

So the commander dismissed the young man and instructed him, “Don’t tell anyone that you have informed me about this.”

When this man had been seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them, I arrived with my troops and rescued him because I learned that he is a Roman citizen.

I found out that the accusations were about disputed matters in their law, and that there was no charge that merited death or chains.

When I was informed that there was a plot against the man, I sent him to you right away. I also ordered his accusers to state their case against him in your presence.

he said, “I will give you a hearing whenever your accusers get here too.” And he ordered that he be kept under guard in Herod’s palace.

However, so that I will not burden you any further, I beg you in your graciousness to give us a brief hearing.

The Jews also joined in the attack, alleging that these things were so.

You are able to determine that it is no more than 12 days since I went up to worship in Jerusalem.

But I confess this to you: I worship my fathers’ God according to the Way, which they call a sect, believing all the things that are written in the Law and in the Prophets.

And I have a hope in God, which these men themselves also accept, that there is going to be a resurrection, both of the righteous and the unrighteous.

He ordered that the centurion keep Paul under guard, though he could have some freedom, and that he should not prevent any of his friends from serving him.