So there was great rejoicing in that town.

and all sorts and conditions of people attached themselves to him, declaring he was that Power of God which is known as 'the Great Power.'

Now Simon noticed that the holy Spirit was conferred by the laying on of the apostles' hands; so he brought them money,

So he got up and went on his way. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a high official of Candace the queen of the Ethiopians (he was her chief treasurer), who had come to Jerusalem for worship

and was on his way home. He was sitting in his chariot, reading the prophet Isaiah.

Now the passage of scripture which he was reading was as follows: ??he was led like a sheep to be slaughtered, and as a lamb is dumb before the shearer, so he opens not his lips.

Now there was a disciple called Ananias in Damascus. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." He said, "I am here, Lord."

In a moment something like scales fell from his eyes, he regained his sight, got up and was baptized.

He lost no time in preaching throughout the synagogues that Jesus was the Son of God ??21 to the amazement of all his hearers, who said, "Is this not the man who in Jerusalem harried those who invoke this Name, the man who came here for the express purpose of carrying them all in chains to the high priests?"

Saul became more and more vigorous. He put the Jewish residents in Damascus to confusion by his proof that Jesus was the Christ;

He got to Jerusalem and tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, unable to believe he was really a disciple.

Now, all over Judaea, Galilee, and Samaria, the church enjoyed peace; it was consolidated, inspired by reverence for the Lord and by its invocation of the holy Spirit, and so increased in numbers.

At Joppa there was a disciple called Tabitha (which may be translated Dorcas, or 'Gazelle'), a woman whose life was full of good actions and of charitable practices.

When the disciples heard that Peter was at Lydda (for Joppa is not far from Lydda), they sent two men to beg him to "Come on to us without delay."

So Peter got up and went with them. When he arrived, they took him up to the room, where all the widows stood beside him crying as they showed him the garments and dresses that Dorcas used to make when she was with them.

Now in Caesarea there was a man called Cornelius, a captain in the Italian regiment,

a religious man, who reverenced God with all his household, who was liberal in his alms to the People, and who constantly prayed to God.

This happened three times; then the vessel was at once raised to heaven.

Peter was quite at a loss to know the meaning of the vision he had seen; but just then, the messengers of Cornelius, who had made inquiries for the house of Simon, stood at the door

and called out to ask if Simon, surnamed Peter, was staying there.

So the Spirit said to Peter, who was pondering over the vision, "There are three men looking for you!

They said, "Cornelius, a captain, a good man who reverences God and enjoys a good reputation among the whole Jewish nation, was instructed by a holy angel to send for you to his house and to listen to what you had to say."

So he invited them in and entertained them. Next day he was up and off with them, accompanied by some of the brothers from Joppa;

Peter was just going into the house when Cornelius met him, fell at his feet, and worshipped him;

and so I have come without any demur when I was sent for. Now I want to know why you sent for me?"

"Three days ago," said Cornelius, "at this very hour I was praying in my house at three o'clock in the afternoon, when a man stood before me in shining dress,

you know how it spread over the whole of Judaea, starting from Galilee after the baptism preached by John ??38 how God consecrated Jesus of Nazaret with the holy Spirit and power, and how he went about doing good and curing all who were harassed by the devil; for God was with him.

when he enjoined us to preach to the People, testifying that this was he whom God has appointed to be judge of the living and of the dead.

While Peter was still speaking, the holy Spirit fell upon all who listened to what he said.

"I was in the town of Joppa at prayer," he said, "and in a trance I saw a vision ??a vessel coming down like a huge sheet lowered from heaven by the four corners. It came down to me,

This happened three times, and then the whole thing was drawn back into heaven.

At that very moment three men reached the house where I was living, sent to me from Caesarea.

Well then, if God has given them exactly the same gift as he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I ??how could I try to thwart God?"

the strong hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number believed and turned to the Lord.

(for he was a good man, full of the holy Spirit and faith). Considerable numbers of people were brought in for the Lord.

and on finding him he brought him to Antioch, where for a whole year they were guests of the church and taught considerable numbers. It was at Antioch too that the disciples were originally called "Christians."

one of whom, named Agabus, showed by the Spirit that a severe famine was about to visit the whole world (the famine which occurred in the reign of Claudius).

So the disciples put aside money, as each of them was able to afford it, for a contribution to be sent to the brothers in Judaea.

It was about that time that king Herod laid hands of violence on some members of the church.

and when he saw this pleased the Jews, he went on to seize Peter. (This was during the days of unleavened bread.)

So Peter was closely guarded in prison, while earnest prayer for him was offered to God by the church.

The very night before Herod meant to have him produced, Peter lay asleep between two soldiers; he was fastened by two chains, and sentries in front of the door guarded the prison.

And he followed him out, not realizing that what the angel did was real, but imagining that he saw a vision.

When he grasped the situation, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was surnamed Mark, where a number had met for prayer.

but as soon as she recognized Peter's voice, instead of opening the door she ran inside from sheer joy and announced that Peter was standing in front of the porch.

"You are mad," they said. But she insisted it was true. "It is his angel," they said.

Now when day broke there was a great commotion among the soldiers over what could have become of Peter.

As there was a bitter feud between him and the inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon, they waited on him unanimously, and after conciliating the royal chamberlain Blastus they made overtures for peace, as their country depended for its food-supply upon the royal territory.

and in a moment an angel of the Lord struck him, because he had not given due glory to God; he was eaten up by worms and so expired.

Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had happened; he was astounded at the doctrine of the Lord.

Then it was that they begged for a king, and God gave them forty years of Saul, the son of Kish, who belonged to the tribe of Benjamin.

And as John was closing his career he said, 'What do you take me for? I am not He; no, he is coming after me, and I am not fit to untie the sandals on his feet!'

For many days he was seen by those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem; they are now his witnesses to the People.

Of course David, after serving God's purpose in his own generation, died and was laid beside his fathers; he suffered decay,

The populace of the town was divided; some sided with the Jews, some with the apostles.

At Lystra there was a man sitting, who was powerless in his feet, a lame man unable to walk ever since he was born.

Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul Hermes, since he was the chief spokesman.

Even by saying this, it was all they could do to keep the crowds from sacrificing to them.

But Jews from Antioch and Iconium arrived, who won over the crowds, and after pelting Paul with stones they dragged him outside the town, thinking he was dead.

As a sharp dispute and controversy sprang up between them and Paul and Barnabas, it was arranged that Paul and Barnabas, along with some others of their number, should go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and presbyters at Jerusalem about this question.

So the whole meeting was quieted and listened to Barnabas and Paul recounting the signs and wonders God had performed by them among the Gentiles.

Symeon has explained how it was God's original concern to secure a People from among the Gentiles to bear his Name.

But while Barnabas wanted to take John (who was called Mark) along with them,

He also came down to Derbe and Lystra, where there was a disciple called Timotheus, the son of a believing Jewess and a Greek father.

On the sabbath we went outside the gate to the bank of the river, where as usual there was a place of prayer; we sat down and talked to the women who had gathered.

Among the listeners there was a woman called Lydia, a dealer in purple who belonged to the town of Thyatira. She reverenced God, and the Lord opened her heart to attend to what Paul said.

When she was baptized, along with her household, she begged us, saying, "If you are convinced I am a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house." She compelled us to come.

But when her owners saw their chance of profit was gone, they caught hold of Paul and Silas and dragged them before the magistrates in the forum.

all of a sudden there was a great earthquake which shook the very foundations of the prison; the doors all flew open in an instant and the fetters of all the prisoners were unfastened.

When the jailer started from his sleep and saw the prison-doors open, he drew his sword and was on the point of killing himself, supposing the prisoners had made their escape;

Travelling on through Amphipolis and Apollonia they reached Thessalonica. Here there was a Jewish synagogue,

where the people were more amenable than at Thessalonica; they were perfectly ready to receive the Word and made a daily study of the scriptures to see if it was really as Paul said.

But when the Jews of Thessalonica heard that Paul was proclaiming the word of God at Beroea as well, they came to create a disturbance and a riot among the crowds at Beroea too.

While Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his soul was irritated at the sight of the idols that filled the city.

Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also came across him. Some said, "Whatever does the fellow mean with his scraps of learning'?" Others said, "He looks like a herald of foreign deities" (this was because he preached 'Jesus' and 'the Resurrection').

By the time Silas and Timotheus came south from Macedonia, Paul was engrossed in this preaching of the word, arguing to the Jews that the messiah was Jesus.

But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia the Jews without exception rose against Paul and brought him up before the tribunal,

Paul was just on the point of opening his lips to reply, when Gallio said to the Jews, "If it had been a misdemeanour or wicked crime, there would be some reason in me listening to you,O Jews.

After waiting on for a number of days Paul said goodbye to the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. (As the latter was under a vow, he had his head shaved at Cenchreae.)

There came to Ephesus a Jew called Apollos, who was a native of Alexandria, a man of culture, strong in his knowledge of the scriptures.

He had been instructed in the Way of the Lord and he preached and taught about Jesus with ardour and accuracy, though all the baptism he knew was that of John.

In the synagogue he was very outspoken at first; but when Aquila and Priscilla listened to him, they took him home and explained more accurately to him what the Way of God really meant.

for he publicly refuted the Jews with might and main, showing from the scriptures that the messiah was Jesus.

It was when Apollos was in Corinth that Paul, after passing through the inland districts, came down to Ephesus. There he found some disciples,

"John," said Paul, "baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus."

This came to the ears of all the inhabitants of Ephesus, Jews as well as Greeks; awe fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.

and numbers who had practised magic arts collected their books and burned them in the presence of all. On adding up the value of them, it was found that they were worth two thousand pounds.

It was about that time that a great commotion arose over the Way. This was how it happened.

By making silver shrines of Artemis a silversmith called Demetrius was the means of bringing rich profit to his workmen.

So the city was filled with confusion. They rushed like one man into the amphitheatre, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were travelling with Paul.

Some were shouting one thing, some another; for the assembly was in confusion, and the majority had no idea why they had met.

but when they discovered he was a Jew, a roar broke from them all, and for about two hours they shouted, "Great is Artemis of Ephesus! Great is Artemis of Ephesus!"

where he spent three months. Just as he was on the point of sailing for Syria, the Jews laid a plot against him. He therefore resolved to return through Macedonia.

On the first day of the week we met for the breaking of bread; Paul addressed them, as he was to leave next day, and he prolonged his address till midnight

In the window sat a young man called Eutychus, and as Paul's address went on and on, he got overcome with drowsiness, went fast asleep, and fell from the third storey. He was picked up a corpse,

Now we had gone on beforehand to the ship and set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul on board there. This was his own arrangement, for he intended to travel by land.

This was because Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, to avoid any loss of time in Asia; he wanted to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost.

I showed you how this was the way to work hard and succour the needy, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, who said, 'To give is happier than to get.'"

After sighting Cyprus and leaving it on our left, we sailed for Syria, landing at Tyre, where the ship was to unload her cargo.

but, when our time was up, we started on our journey, escorted by them, women and children and all, till we got outside the town. Then, kneeling on the beach, we prayed