Then as John was completing his life’s work, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not the One. But look! Someone is coming after me, and I am not worthy to untie the sandals on His feet.’

“Brothers, sons of Abraham’s race, and those among you who fear God, the message of this salvation has been sent to us.

God has fulfilled this for us, their children, by raising up Jesus, as it is written in the second Psalm:

You are My Son;
today I have become Your Father.

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

and everyone who believes in Him is justified from everything that you could not be justified from through the law of Moses.

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

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

For this is what the Lord has commanded us:

I have made you
a light for the Gentiles
to bring salvation
to the ends of the earth.”

When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in the form of men!”

Then the priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the town, brought oxen and garlands to the gates. He, with the crowds, intended to offer sacrifice.

“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.

strengthening the disciples by encouraging them to continue in the faith and by telling them, “It is necessary to pass through many troubles on our way into the kingdom of God.”

But some of the believers from the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses!”

And God, who knows the heart, testified to them by giving the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us.

He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.

And the words of the prophets agree with this, as it is written:

For since ancient times, Moses has had those who proclaim him in every city, and every Sabbath day he is read aloud in the synagogues.”

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

As they traveled through the towns, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem for them to observe.

They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia and were prevented by the Holy Spirit from speaking the message in Asia.

During the night a vision appeared to Paul: A Macedonian man was standing and pleading with him, “Cross over to Macedonia and help us!”

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.

After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

Once, as we were on our way to prayer, a slave girl met us who had a spirit of prediction. She made a large profit for her owners by fortune-telling.

As she followed Paul and us she cried out, “These men, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation, are the slaves of the Most High God.”

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

But Paul called out in a loud voice, “Don’t harm yourself, because all of us are here!”

But Paul said to them, “They beat us in public without a trial, although we are Roman citizens, and threw us in jail. And now are they going to smuggle us out secretly? Certainly not! On the contrary, let them come themselves and escort us out!”

As usual, Paul went to the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures,

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

Then some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, including a great number of God-fearing Greeks, as well as a number of the leading women.

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

As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas off to Berea. On arrival, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.

Consequently, many of them believed, including a number of the prominent Greek women as well as men.

Those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving instructions for Silas and Timothy to come to him as quickly as possible, they departed.

Then also, some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers argued with him. Some said, “What is this pseudo-intellectual trying to say?”

Others replied, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign deities”—because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the Resurrection.

For what you say sounds strange to us, and we want to know what these ideas mean.”

For as I was passing through and observing the objects of your worship, I even found an altar on which was inscribed:

TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.

Therefore, what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.

The God who made the world and everything in it—He is Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in shrines made by hands.

Neither is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives everyone life and breath and all things.

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.

For in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’

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.

because He has set a day when He is going to judge the world in righteousness by the Man He has appointed. He has provided proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”

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.

But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook his robe and told them, “Your blood is on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

So he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next door to the synagogue.

As Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of a crime or of moral evil, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you Jews.

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.

When these events were over, Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem. “After I’ve been there,” he said, “I must see Rome as well!”

So after sending two of those who assisted him, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.

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.”

When they had heard this, they were filled with rage and began to cry out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

Even some of the provincial officials of Asia, who were his friends, sent word to him, pleading with him not to take a chance by going into the amphitheater.

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.”

He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus from Asia.

These men went on ahead and waited for us in Troas,

and a young man named Eutychus was sitting on a window sill and sank into a deep sleep as Paul kept on speaking. When he was overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was picked up dead.

But Paul went down, fell on him, embraced him, and said, “Don’t be alarmed, for his life is in him!”

When he met us at Assos, we took him on board and came to Mitylene.

For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so he would not have to spend time in Asia, because he was hurrying to be in Jerusalem, if possible, for the day of Pentecost.

And when they came to him, he said to them: “You know, from the first day I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time—

Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock that the Holy Spirit has appointed you to as overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood.

“And now I commit you to God and to the message of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified.

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.’”

When our days there were over, we left to continue our journey, while all of them, with their wives and children, escorted us out of the city. After kneeling down on the beach to pray,

He came to us, took Paul’s belt, tied his own feet and hands, and said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into Gentile hands.’”

Some of the disciples from Caesarea also went with us and brought us to Mnason, a Cypriot and an early disciple, with whom we were to stay.

When we reached Jerusalem, the brothers welcomed us gladly.

The following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.

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

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.”

As the seven days were about to end, the Jews from Asia saw him in the temple complex, stirred up the whole crowd, and seized him,

shouting, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, our law, and this place. What’s more, he also brought Greeks into the temple and has profaned this holy place.”

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

As he was about to be brought into the barracks, Paul said to the commander, “Am I allowed to say something to you?”

He replied, “Do you know Greek?

He continued, “I am a Jewish man, born in Tarsus of Cilicia but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel and educated according to the strict view of our patriarchal law. Being zealous for God, just as all of you are today,

as both the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. After I received letters from them to the brothers, I traveled to Damascus to bring those who were prisoners there to be punished in Jerusalem.

“As I was traveling and near Damascus, about noon an intense light from heaven suddenly flashed around me.

“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.’

As they were yelling and flinging aside their robes and throwing dust into the air,

As they stretched him out for the lash, Paul said to the centurion standing by, “Is it legal for you to scourge a man who is a Roman citizen and is uncondemned?”

When the centurion heard this, he went and reported to the commander, saying, “What are you going to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.”

Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! You are sitting there judging me according to the law, and in violation of the law are you ordering me to be struck?”

“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.”

For the Sadducees say there is no resurrection, and no angel or spirit, but the Pharisees affirm them all.

The following night, the Lord stood by him and said, “Have courage! For as you have testified about Me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”

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.”

Then the commander took him by the hand, led him aside, and inquired privately, “What is it you have to report to me?”

“The Jews,” he said, “have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the Sanhedrin tomorrow, as though they are going to hold a somewhat more careful inquiry about him.

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.

Therefore, the soldiers took Paul during the night and brought him to Antipatris as they were ordered.