The Apostles and the Brethren throughout Judea heard that even the Gentiles had welcomed God's Message.

On the ground that he had visited people who were not circumcised, and had taken meals with them.

So Peter began to relate the facts to them as they had occurred.

At that moment three men, who had been sent from Caesarea to see me, came up to the house in which we were.

He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, and how the angel had said to him--'Send to Jaffa and fetch the Simon, who is also known as Peter;

I had but just begun to speak," continued Peter, "when the Holy Spirit fell on them, exactly as on us at the first;

Since then, God had given them the very same gift as he gave us when we became believers in Jesus Christ the Master--who was I that I could thwart God?"

Now those who had been scattered in different directions, in consequence of the persecution that followed upon the death of Stephen, went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, telling the Message--but only to Jews.

The power of the Lord was with them, so that a great number who had learned to believe came over to the Lord's side.

And, when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And so it came about that, for a whole year, they attended the meetings of the Church there, and taught a large number of people; and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called 'Christians.'

He had James, the brother of John, beheaded;

The chains dropped from his wrists, and then the angel said: "Put on your girdle and sandals." When Peter had done so, the angel added: "Throw your cloak round you and follow me."

Passing the first Guard, and then the second, they came to the iron gate leading into the city, which opened to them of itself; and, when they had passed through that, and had walked along one street, all at once the angel left him.

As soon as he realized what had happened, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also known as Mark, where a number of people were gathered together, praying.

Peter signed to them with his hand to be silent, and then told them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison, adding: "Tell James and the Brethren all this." Then he left the house, and went away to another place.

And, when Herod had made further search for him and failed to find him, he closely questioned the Guard, and ordered them away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to stay at Caesarea.

When Barnabas and Saul had carried out their mission, they returned to Jerusalem, and took with them John, who was also known as Mark.

On reaching Salamis, they began to tell the Message of God in the Jewish Synagogues; and they had John with them as an assistant.

When the Governor saw what had happened, he became a believer in Christ, being greatly impressed by the teaching about the Lord.

And he appeared for many days to those who had gone up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, and who are now witnesses for him to the people.

That our children have had this promise completely fulfilled to them by God, by his raising Jesus. That is just what is said in the second Psalm--'Thou art my Son; this day I have become thy Father.'

After the congregation had dispersed, many of the Jews, and of the converts who joined in their worship, followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue to rely upon the loving-kindness of God.

On hearing this, the Gentiles were glad and extolled God's Message; and all those who had been enrolled for Immortal Life became believers in Christ;

In the streets of Lystra there used to sit a man who had no power in his feet; he had been lame from his birth, and had never walked.

This man was listening to Paul speaking, when Paul, fixing his eyes on him, and seeing that he had the faith to be healed,

And the crowd, seeing what Paul had done, called out in the Lycaonian language: "The Gods have made themselves like men and have come down to us."

Presently, however, there came some Jews from Antioch, and Iconium who, after they had won over the people, stoned Paul, and dragged him out of the town, thinking him to be dead.

But, when the disciples had gathered round him, he got up and went back into the town; the next day he went with Barnabas to Derbe.

They also appointed Officers for them in every Church, and, after prayer and fasting, commended them to the Lord in whom they had learned to believe.

From there they sailed to Antioch--the place where they had been committed to the gracious care of God for the work which they had now finished.

After their arrival, they gathered the Church together, and gave an account of all that God had helped them to do, and especially how he had opened to the Gentiles the door of faith;

On their arrival at Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the Church, as well as by the Apostles and the Officers, and gave an account of all that God had helped them to do.

Some of the Pharisees' party, however, who had become believers in Christ, came forward and declared that they were bound to circumcise converts and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.

Every voice in the assembly was hushed, as they listened to Barnabas and Paul, while they gave an account of all the signs and wonders which God had shown among the Gentiles through them.

After they had finished speaking, James addressed the Council. "Brothers," he began, "hear what I have to say.

As we had heard that some of our number had upset you by their assertions, and unsettled your minds--without instructions from us--

After some stay, they were dismissed with kind farewells from the Brethren, and returned to those who had sent them.

But Paul felt that they ought not to take with them the man who had deserted them in Pamphylia, and had not gone on with them to their work.

While Paul chose Silas for his companion and, after he had been committed by the Brethren to the gracious care of the Lord,

Among other places Paul went to Derbe and Lystra. At the latter place they found a disciple, named Timothy, whose mother was a Jewess who had become a believer in Christ, while his father was a Greek,

Wishing to take this man with him on his journey, Paul caused him to be circumcised on account of the Jews in that neighborhood, for they all knew that his father had been a Greek.

As they traveled from town to town, they gave the Brethren the decisions which had been reached by the Apostles and Officers of the Church at Jerusalem, for them to observe.

So, immediately after Paul had seen the vision, we looked for an opportunity to cross over to Macedonia, concluding that God had summoned us to tell the Good News to the people there.

And, when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us to become her guests. "Since you have shown your conviction," she said, "that I really am a believer in the Lord, come and stay in my house." And she insisted on our doing so.

She had been doing this for several days, when Paul, much vexed, turned and said to the spirit within her: "In the Name of Jesus Christ I command you to leave her." That very moment the spirit left her.

Roused from his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, the Governor drew his sword intending to kill himself, in the belief that the prisoners had escaped.

Afterwards he took them up to his house and set before them something to eat, rejoicing that he, with all his household, had come to believe in God.

The Governor of the Jail told Paul of his instructions. "The Magistrates have sent an order for your discharge," he said, "so you had better leave the place at once and go quietly away."

When Paul and Silas left the prison, they went to Lydia's house, and, after they had seen the Brethren, and encouraged them, they left the place.

After passing through Amphipolis and Apollonia, Paul and Silas came to Thessalonica. Here the Jews had a Synagogue;

But, when the Jews of Thessalonica found out that God's Message had been delivered by Paul at Beroea, they came there too, exciting and disturbing the minds of the people.

On hearing of a resurrection of the dead, some began jeering, but others said that they would hear what he had to say about that another time.

There he met a Jew of the name of Aquila, a native of Pontus, who, with his wife Priscilla, had lately come from Italy, in consequence of the order which had been issued by the Emperor Claudius for all Jews to leave Rome. Paul paid them a visit,

But, when Silas and Timothy had come down from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself entirely to delivering the Message, earnestly maintaining before the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.

So he left, and went to the house of a certain Titius Justus, who had been accustomed to join in the worship of God, and whose house was next door to the Synagogue.

Paul remained there some time after this, and then took leave of the Brethren, and sailed to Syria with Priscilla and Aquila, but not before his head had been shaved at Cenchreae, because he was under a vow.

Meanwhile there had come to Ephesus an Alexandrian Jew, named Apollos, an eloquent man, who was well-versed in the Scriptures.

He had been well-instructed in the Cause of the Lord, and with burning zeal he spoke of, and taught carefully, the facts about Jesus, though he knew of no baptism but John's.

When he wanted to cross to Greece, the Brethren furthered his plans, and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. On his arrival he proved of great assistance to those who had, through the loving-kindness of God, become believers in Christ,

And, after Paul had placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit descended upon them, and they began to speak with 'tongues' and to preach.

So that people would carry home to the sick handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his body, and their diseases would leave them and the wicked spirits go out of them.

An attempt was made by some itinerant Jews, who were exorcists, to use the Name of the Lord Jesus over those who had wicked spirits in them. "I adjure you," they would say, "by the Jesus, whom Paul preaches."

Many, too, of those who had become believers in Christ came with a full confession of their practices;

While a number of people, who had practiced magic, collected their books and burnt them publicly; and on reckoning up the price of these, they found it amounted to five thousand pounds.

Meanwhile some were shouting one thing and some another, for the Assembly was all in confusion, most of those present not even knowing why they had met.

But some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had pushed to the front, and he waved his hand to show that he wanted to speak in their defense to the people.

When the Recorder had succeeded in quieting the crowd, he said: "Men of Ephesus, who is there, I ask you, who needs to be told that this city of Ephesus is the Warden of the Temple of the great Artemis, and of the statue which fell down from Zeus?

When the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and, with encouraging words, bade them goodbye, and started on his journey to Macedonia.

He was about to sail to Syria, when he learned that a plot had been laid against him by the Jews; so he decided to return by way of Macedonia.

On the first day of the week, when we had met for the Breaking of Bread, Paul, who was intending to leave the next day, began to address those who were present, and prolonged his address till midnight.

There were a good many lamps in the upstairs room, where we had met;

Meanwhile they had taken the lad away alive, and were greatly comforted.

The day after we had sailed from there, we arrived off Chios, touched at Samos the following day, and the next day reached Miletus;

For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so as to avoid spending much time in Roman Asia. He was making haste to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the Festival at the close of the Harvest.

When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down and prayed with them all.

Grieving most of all over what he had said--that they would never see his face again. Then they escorted him to the ship.

When we had torn ourselves away and had set sail, we ran before the wind to Cos; the next day we came to Rhodes, and from there to Patara,

However, when we had come to the end of our visit, we went on our way, all the disciples with their wives and children escorting us out of the city. We knelt down on the beach, and prayed,

After we had made the run from Tyre, we landed at Ptolemais, and exchanged greetings with the Brethren there, and spent a day with them.

He had four unmarried daughters, who had the gift of prophecy.

After greeting them, Paul related in detail all that God had done among the Gentiles through his efforts;

And, when they had heard it, they began praising God, and said to Paul: "You see, Brother, that the Jews who have become believers in Christ may be numbered by tens of thousands, and they are all naturally earnest in upholding the Jewish Law.

(For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in Paul's company in the city, and were under the belief that Paul had taken him into the Temple.)

Then he went up to Paul, arrested him, ordered him to be doubly chained, and proceeded to inquire who he was, and what he had been doing.

The Commanding Officer gave his permission, and Paul, standing on the steps, made signs with his hand to the people, and, when comparative silence had been obtained, he spoke to them in Hebrew, as follows:

And to that the High Priest himself and all the Council can testify. For I had letters of introduction from them to our fellow Jews at Damascus, and I was on my way to that place, to bring those whom I might find there prisoners to Jerusalem for punishment.

Up to this point the people had been listening to Paul, but at these words they called out: "Kill him! A fellow like this ought not to have been allowed to live!"

But just as they had tied him up to be scourged, Paul said to the Captain standing near: "Is it legal for you to scourge a Roman citizen, unconvicted?"

"I had to pay a heavy price for my position as citizen," said the Officer. "I am one by birth," rejoined Paul.

On the next day the Commanding Officer, wishing to find out the real reason why Paul was denounced by the Jews, had his chains taken off, and directed the Chief Priests and the whole of the High Council to assemble, and then took Paul down and brought him before them.

In the morning the Jews combined together, and took an oath that they would not eat or drink till they had killed Paul.

Paul called one of the Captains of the garrison and asked him to take the lad to the Commanding Officer, as he had something to tell him.

The Commanding Officer took the lad by the hand, and, stepping aside, asked what it was he had to tell him.

The Commanding Officer then dismissed the lad, cautioning him not to mention to anybody that he had given him that information.

The man whom I send with this had been seized by the Jews, and was on the point of being killed by them, when I came upon them with the force under my command, and rescued him, as I learned that he was a Roman citizen.

As soon as Felix had read the letter, he enquired to what province Paul belonged, and, learning that he came from Cilicia, he said:

After some years' absence I had come to bring charitable gifts to my nation, and to make offerings;

Felix, however, adjourned the case--though he had a fairly accurate knowledge of all that concerned the Cause--with the promise: "When Lysias, the commanding Officer, comes down, I will give my decision in your case."

Some days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was herself a Jewess, and, sending for Paul, listened to what he had to say about faith in Christ Jesus.

Three days after Festus had entered upon his province, he left Caesarea and went up to Jerusalem.