He became hungry and wanted to eat, but while they were preparing the meal, a trance came over him.

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

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."

We are witnesses of all the things he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree,

for they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said,

So he gave orders to have them baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay for several days.

When they heard this, they ceased their objections and praised God, saying, "So then, God has granted the repentance that leads to life even to the Gentiles."

A report about them came to the attention of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.

They did so, sending their financial aid to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.

After they had passed the first and second guards, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went outside and walked down one narrow street, when at once the angel left him.

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!"

Now Peter continued knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were greatly astonished.

When Herod had searched for him and did not find him, he questioned the guards and commanded that they be led away to execution. Then Herod went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.

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.

So Barnabas and Saul returned to Jerusalem when they had completed their mission, bringing along with them John Mark.

While they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."

Then, after they had fasted and prayed and placed their hands on them, they sent them off.

So Barnabas and Saul, sent out by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

When they arrived in Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. (Now they also had John as their assistant.)

When they had crossed over the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus,

Moving on from Perga, they arrived at Pisidian Antioch, and on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.

Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man from the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years.

For the people who live in Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize him, and they fulfilled the sayings of the prophets that are read every Sabbath by condemning him.

Though they found no basis for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed.

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

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

When the Gentiles heard this, they began to rejoice and praise the word of the Lord, and all who had been appointed for eternal life believed.

So after they shook the dust off their feet in protest against them, they went to Iconium.

So they stayed there for a considerable time, speaking out courageously for the Lord, who testified to the message of his grace, granting miraculous signs and wonders to be performed through their hands.

There they continued to proclaim the good news.

So when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in human form!"

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

But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard about it, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting,

Even by saying these things, they scarcely persuaded the crowds not to offer sacrifice to them.

But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and after winning the crowds over, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, presuming him to be dead.

After they had proclaimed the good news in that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, to Iconium, and to Antioch.

They strengthened the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue in the faith, saying, "We must enter the kingdom of God through many persecutions."

When they had appointed elders for them in the various churches, with prayer and fasting they entrusted them to the protection of the Lord in whom they had believed.

Then they passed through Pisidia and came into Pamphylia,

and when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia.

From there they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had now completed.

When they arrived and gathered the church together, they reported all the things God had done with them, and that he had opened a door of faith for the Gentiles.

So they spent considerable time with the disciples.

So they were sent on their way by the church, and as they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, they were relating at length the conversion of the Gentiles and bringing great joy to all the brothers.

When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all the things God had done with them.

After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, "Brothers, you know that some time ago God chose me to preach to the Gentiles so they would hear the message of the gospel and believe.

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

The whole group kept quiet and listened to Barnabas and Paul while they explained all the miraculous signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them.

After they stopped speaking, James replied, "Brothers, listen to me.

They sent this letter with them: From the apostles and elders, your brothers, to the Gentile brothers and sisters in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia, greetings!

Since we have heard that some have gone out from among us with no orders from us and have confused you, upsetting your minds by what they said,

So when they were dismissed, they went down to Antioch, and after gathering the entire group together, they delivered the letter.

When they read it aloud, the people rejoiced at its encouragement.

After they had spent some time there, they were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them.

After some days Paul said to Barnabas, "Let's return and visit the brothers in every town where we proclaimed the word of the Lord to see how they are doing."

but Paul insisted that they should not take along this one who had left them in Pamphylia and had not accompanied them in the work.

They had a sharp disagreement, so that they parted company. Barnabas took along Mark and sailed away to Cyprus,

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.

As they went through the towns, they passed on the decrees that had been decided on by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the Gentile believers to obey.

They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been prevented by the Holy Spirit from speaking the message in the province of Asia.

When they came to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to do this,

so they passed through Mysia and went down to Troas.

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 they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, "These men are throwing our city into confusion. They are Jews

After they had beaten them severely, they threw them into prison and commanded the jailer to guard them securely.

They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household."

Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him, along with all those who were in his house.

But Paul said to the police officers, "They had us beaten in public without a proper trial -- even though we are Roman citizens -- and they threw us in prison. And now they want to send us away secretly? Absolutely not! They themselves must come and escort us out!"

The police officers reported these words to the magistrates. They were frightened when they heard Paul and Silas were Roman citizens

and came and apologized to them. After they brought them out, they asked them repeatedly to leave the city.

When they came out of the prison, they entered Lydia's house, and when they saw the brothers, they encouraged them and then departed.

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

But the Jews became jealous, and gathering together some worthless men from the rabble in the marketplace, they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar. They attacked Jason's house, trying to find Paul and Silas to bring them out to the assembly.

When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, screaming, "These people who have stirred up trouble throughout the world have come here too,

and Jason has welcomed them as guests! They are all acting against Caesar's decrees, saying there is another king named Jesus!"

They caused confusion among the crowd and the city officials who heard these things.

After the city officials had received bail from Jason and the others, they released them.

The brothers sent Paul and Silas off to Berea at once, during the night. When they arrived, they went to the Jewish synagogue.

These Jews were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they eagerly received the message, examining the scriptures carefully every day to see if these things were so.

But when the Jews from Thessalonica heard that Paul had also proclaimed the word of God in Berea, they came there too, inciting and disturbing the crowds.

Those who accompanied Paul escorted him as far as Athens, and after receiving an order for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they left.

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.)

So they took Paul and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are proclaiming?

For you are bringing some surprising things to our ears, so we want to know what they mean."

From one man he made every nation of the human race to inhabit the entire earth, determining their set times and the fixed limits of the places where they would live,

so that they would search for God and perhaps grope around for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.

Now when they heard about the resurrection from the dead, some began to scoff, but others said, "We will hear you again about this."

and because he worked at the same trade, he stayed with them and worked with them (for they were tentmakers by trade).

When they opposed him and reviled him, he protested by shaking out his clothes and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am guiltless! From now on I will go to the Gentiles!"

So they all seized Sosthenes, the president of the synagogue, and began to beat him in front of the judgment seat. Yet none of these things were of any concern to Gallio.

When they reached Ephesus, Paul left Priscilla and Aquila behind there, but he himself went into the synagogue and addressed the Jews.

When they asked him to stay longer, he would not consent,

He began to speak out fearlessly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained the way of God to him more accurately.

and said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" They replied, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit."

So Paul said, "Into what then were you baptized?" "Into John's baptism," they replied.

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

and when Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they began to speak in tongues and to prophesy.

Then the man who was possessed by the evil spirit jumped on them and beat them all into submission. He prevailed against them so that they fled from that house naked and wounded.

When they heard this they became enraged and began to shout, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!"

So then some were shouting one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had met together.