'This one God did raise up the third day, and gave him to become manifest,

He also ordered us to proclaim to the people and solemnly to testify that this is the One whom God has appointed to be the Judge of the living and the dead.

To this very One all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in Him is to receive the 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.

Now the Jewish believers who had accompanied Peter were amazed that the gift of the holy Spirit had actually been poured out on the Gentiles ??46 for they heard them speak with 'tongues' and magnify God. At this Peter asked,

For they heard them speaking with 'tongues' and extolling God. At this Peter asked:

This took place three times; then all at once the whole thing was drawn back into the sky.

And, behold, from this three men stood at the house in which I was, sent from Cesarea to me.

When they heard this, they had no answer to make, but gave God the glory, saying, "So God has given even the heathen the repentance that leads to life."

When the church in Jerusalem heard this news, they sent Barnabas all the way to Antioch.

Now at this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.

One of them named Agabus got up and predicted by the Spirit that there would be a severe famine all over the world. This happened during the reign of Claudius.

[In response to this prediction], the disciples decided to send as much relief as they could to help the brothers living in Judea.

And this they did and sent it to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.

But at this time king Herod reached forth his hands to persecute some of those from the church.

and when he saw that this was agreeable to the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter too -- it was at the time of the feast of Unleavened Bread.

Then the angel told him, "Tuck in your shirt and put on your sandals!" He did this. Then the angel told him, "Put on your coat and follow me!"

And he went out and followed him. And he did not know that this happening through the angel was true, but thought he saw a vision.

And when they had passed the first guard and the second, they came to the iron gate that led to the city. This opened to them of its own accord; and they went out passed on through one street; and suddenly the angel left him.

And when he became clear about this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John named Mark, where a number of them had come together for prayer.

He motioned to them with his hand to be quiet, and then he told them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. He added, "Tell this to James and the brothers." Then he left and went somewhere else.

The people kept shouting, "This is the voice of a god, not of a man!"

As these men were ministering to the Lord [i.e., this probably means worshiping] and fasting, the Holy Spirit said [to one of them by way of inspiration]: "Set Barnabas and Saul apart for Me, [commissioning them] to do the work for which I have called them."

Then, as these prophets and teachers fasted and prayed [for the two men], they placed their hands on them [signifying their appointment for this ministry] and sent them away.

Barnabas and Saul, sent on this mission, as they were, by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia, and from there sailed to Cyprus.

He was an intimate friend of the governor, Sergius Paulus, who was an intelligent man. The governor sent for Barnabas and Saul and in this way tried to hear God's message.

But Elymas the magician -- for this is the meaning of his name -- continued to oppose them by trying to keep the governor from accepting the faith.

When the magistrate saw this miracle performed, he became a believer [in Christ] and was [continually] amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

After this, Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and went to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them and returned to Jerusalem.

and after the lesson out of the law and the prophets was finish'd, the heads of the synagogue sent this message to them; Men and brethren, if you have any instruction to offer to the people, deliver it.

The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an high arm brought he them out of it.

Then, after destroying seven heathen nations in Canaan, he allotted their land to this people--

And after this he gave judges four hundred and fifty years till Samuel the prophet.

Then He deposed him and raised up for them David to be king, to whom He bore this testimony, 'I have found in David, the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will do all that my will requires.'

Of this man's seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus:

Brothers, descendants of the race of Abraham, and all among you who reverence God, it is to us that the message of this salvation has been sent.

for those dwelling in Jerusalem, and their chiefs, this one not having known, also the voices of the prophets, which every sabbath are being read -- having judged him -- did fulfil,

And we proclaim good-news to you: the promise to the fathers, which happened because God has fulfilled this to us their children, having raised up Jesus,

God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.

And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David.

For this reason He also says in another Psalm, ‘You will not allow Your Holy One to see decay.’

Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:

and from all things from which ye were not able in the law of Moses to be declared righteous, in this one every one who is believing is declared righteous;

Take heed then, that this come not upon you, which is spoken by the prophets;

Look, you disdainful folk, wonder at this and perish for in your days I do a deed, a deed you will never believe, not though one were to explain it to you."

As they were leaving the synagogue, the people kept begging that all this be repeated to them the next sabbath,

And [at the same time] Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and confidently, saying, “It was necessary that God’s message [of salvation through faith in Christ] be spoken to you [Jews] first. Since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, now we turn to the Gentiles.

For this is what the Lord has commanded us: 'I have appointed you to be a light for the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.'"

And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.

And it came to pass in Iconium at this time, they came together into the synagogue of the Jews, and spoke in such a manner, that a great multitude both of the Jews and Greeks believed.

In spite of this, however, they stayed there a considerable time and continued to speak with courage from the Lord, who continued to bear testimony to His gracious message and kept on granting signs and wonders to be done by them.

upon this the Gentiles and the Jews, supported by their magistrates, made an insurrection in order to use violence against them, and even to stone them:

this one was hearing Paul speaking, who, having stedfastly beheld him, and having seen that he hath faith to be saved,

But when this came to the ears of the Apostles, Paul and Barnabas, they went running out among the people, parting their clothing, and crying out,

and shouted, "Men, why are you doing this? We are merely men with natures like your own, who are telling you the good news, so that you may turn from these foolish things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and all that they contain.

Even by saying this it was all that they could do to keep the crowds from offering sacrifices to them.

Certain men [i.e., believers, see verse 5] came down from Judea [to Antioch of Syria] and began teaching the brothers this: You cannot be saved unless you are circumcised according to the custom [required] by Moses.

When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.

So, they were sent on their way with the backing of the [Antioch] church and traveled through both Phoenicia and Samaria, telling them about the conversion of the Gentiles. This brought great rejoicing to all the brothers [who heard about it].

And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter.

"And God, who knows the hearts of all, gave this testimony in their behalf, by bestowing upon them the Holy Spirit just as he did upon us;

and in this way He put no difference between us and them, because He cleansed their hearts by faith.

By this he quieted the whole congregation, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul tell of the signs and wonders which God had done through them among the heathen.

When they finished James made this response: "Brothers, listen to me.

And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written,

After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up:

who has been making this known from ages past.'

For this reason my decision is, that we do not put trouble in the way of those who from among the Gentiles are turned to God;

And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia:

We have heard that certain [men] who left here have been upsetting you people and [even] undermining [some people's] spiritual lives by what they have been teaching. This was done without our authorization [or approval].

we therefore send Judas and Silas to inform you in person of this affair.

For the holy Spirit and we have decided not to lay upon you any burden but this indispensable one,

abstain from food that has been offered to idols, from tasting blood, from the flesh of animals that have been strangled, and from sexual vice. Keep clear of all this and you will prosper. Goodbye."

So when these men were dismissed, they came to Antioch: and having assembled the multitude, they delivered this letter.

[This verse is not in the majority of the Greek manuscripts.]

Some days after this Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us go back and visit the brothers in every town where we preached the Lord's message, to see how they are."

but Paul held the opinion they should not take this one along, who departed from them in Pamphylia and did not accompany them in the work.

This caused such unpleasant feeling between them that they parted, Barnabas taking Mark and sailing for Cyprus,

This young man had a very good reputation among the brothers at Lystra and Iconium.

Paul wanted this man to join him in his journey; so on account of the Jews in that district he took him and had him circumcised, for everybody knew that his father was a Greek.

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

As soon as he had this vision, we laid our plans to get off to Macedonia, because we confidently concluded that God had called us to tell them the good news.

From there we went on to Philippi, a Roman colony, the leading town in that part of Macedonia. In this town we stayed some days.

Among them was a woman, named Lydia, belonging to Thyatira, a dealer in purple cloth, who was accustomed to join in the worship of God. The Lord touched this woman's heart, so that she gave attention to the Message delivered by Paul,

so that having been baptized with her family, she made us this request, if you think me sincere in my profession, pray come and lodge at my house; and she prevail'd upon us.

At a later time, when we were going to that [same] place of prayer, we met a certain young woman who was dominated by an [evil] spirit, [claiming to be] able to tell people's fortunes. This [claimed] power was the source of considerable income for the girl's slave-owner.

This girl kept following Paul and the rest of us, shrieking, "These men are slaves of the Most High God, and they are proclaiming to you a way of salvation."

And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.

And when they brought them before the city officials, they made this charge [against them]: "These Jewish men are causing too much trouble in our city,

upon this the populace rose upon them, and the Officers order'd them to be stript and scourg'd.

who, a charge like this receiving, thrust them into the inner prison, and, their feet, made he fast in the stocks.

And they answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus [as your personal Savior and entrust yourself to Him] and you will be saved, you and your household [if they also believe].”

And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore depart, and go in peace.

The policemen reported this message to the chiefs of the police court, and they became alarmed when they heard that they were Roman citizens,

Now when they [Note: A change from the use of "we" to "they" suggests that the writer Luke remained behind in Philippi at this point] had traveled through the [Macedonian] towns of Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to [the city of] Thessalonica where there was a Jewish synagogue.

Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.

But this enraged the Jews; so they got together some wicked loafers about the public square, formed a mob, and set the town in an uproar.

Thus they wrought up to great excitement the crowd and the town magistrates, on their hearing this,

But these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, who received the word with all willingness, examining the Scriptures daily, if it has these things this way.

Then immediately on this the brethren sent off Paul, to go as if by sea: but Silas and Timothy abode there still.