Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?

In the mean time, the apostles, and the brethren, who were in Judea, heard that the Gentiles had likewise receiv'd the word of God.

And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they of the circumcision debated with him, saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised,

Saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them.

Upon the which when I had fastened mine eyes, I considered, and saw fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.

And, behold, immediately there were three men already come unto the house where I was, sent from Caesarea unto me.

And the spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered into the man's house:

And he shewed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter;

They which were scattered abroad through the affliction that arose about Stephen, walked throughout till they came unto Phoenicia, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no man, but unto the Jews only.

And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus.

For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord.

One of them, a man named Agabus, stood up and indicated by [the direction of] the Holy Spirit that there was going to be a severe worldwide famine, which [actually] took place during the time that Claudius ruled.

Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judaea:

Now about that time King Herod began a persecution of certain people in the [Jerusalem] church. [Note: This man was the grandson of Herod the Great. See Matt. 2:1].

And having taken him, he put him in prison, with four bands of armed men to keep watch over him; his purpose being to take him out to the people after the Passover.

And when Herod was about to take him out, the same night Peter was sleeping in chains between two armed men, and the watchmen were keeping watch before the door of the prison.

Now when it was day, the armed men were greatly troubled about what had become of Peter.

And Herod was in bitter hostility with the men of Tyre and Sidon. But they came to him with one accord and, having made Blastus (who had charge of the king's bedroom) their friend, desired peace, because their country was fed by the king's country.

And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.

but at the instant an angel of the Lord smote him, because he did not glorify God: so that he became a prey to worms and died. In the mean time, the

Now there were some men from the congregation that was in Antioch, prophets and teachers, including Barnabas, and Simeon called Niger, and Lucius the Cyrenian, and Manaen reared with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

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.

Indeed therefore these men, having been sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed for Cyprus.

And having passed through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a certain man a magician, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar-jesus,

Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God.

But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is how his name is translated) opposed them, trying to turn the proconsul away from accepting the faith.

But Saul (the man is also Paul) having been filled with Holy Spirit, and having gazed on him,

and said, "thou heap of imposture and mischief, offspring of the devil, and enemy to all justice, wilt thou not cease to pervers men from the right ways of the Lord?

Then Paul and his men set sail from Paphos and arrived in Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them and went back to Jerusalem.

And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.

Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience.

"Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen! The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors and made them a great people during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with a public display of power he led them out of there.

And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years.

And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.

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

Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent.

For the men of Jerusalem and their rulers, having no knowledge of him, or of the sayings of the prophets which come to their ears every Sabbath day, gave effect to them by judging him.

so that He was seen for many days by those [apostles] who came with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem. These men are now His witnesses before the people.

Wherefore also, in a different place , he saith - Thou wilt not give thy man of lovingkindness to see corruption.

However, the man whom God raised did not experience 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 could not, by the law of Moses, be justified, by this man, everyone that believeth, is justified.

Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.

But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts.

And, when there was an attempt on the part of both Gentiles and Jews, with their leading men, to resort to violence and to stone them,

And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked:

This man heard Paul speaking, who, fixing his eyes on him, and seeing that he had faith to be healed,

he said in a loud voice, "Stand up straight on your feet!" Then the man jumped up and began to walk.

And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men.

And they started to call Barnabas, Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the main speaker.

And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein:

and yet by His beneficence He has not left His existence unattested--His beneficence, I mean, in sending you rain from Heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and joyfulness."

And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.

After Paul and Barnabas had a heated debate and argued with these men [over this issue], the brothers [of the Antioch church] decided that Paul and Barnabas, along with certain others, should go up to Jerusalem and discuss the question with the apostles and elders there.

But certain men who had belonged to the sect of the Pharisees but were now believers, stood up in the assembly, and said, "Yes, Gentile believers ought to be circumcised and be ordered to keep the Law of Moses."

And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.

And God who knows men's hearts testified for them by giving them the holy Spirit just as he had done to us,

But through the grace of the Lord Jesus, we believe to be saved, in the same way as those men also.

And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me:

That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.

Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren:

Greetings. We have heard that some men, coming from us without instructions from us, have said things to trouble you and have unsettled you.

It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,

Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So the men were sent on their way and arrived in Antioch. They gathered the congregation together and delivered the letter.

But Paul did not think it appropriate to take along this man who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone on with them to the work.

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

Paul wanted this man to go with him, so he took him and had him circumcised because of the Jews who lived in that region, since everyone knew that Timothy's father was a Greek.

And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.

After seeing [the man in] the vision, we immediately made every effort to go to Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to proclaim the good news [about Jesus] to the people there. [Note: This is first use of "we" and "us" in the book of Acts and indicates that Luke, the writer of Acts, joined the party at this point. See 1:1 with Luke 1:1-3].

And on the Sabbath days, we went out of the city besides a river where men were wont to pray, and we sat down and spake unto the women which thither resorted.

Once, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave girl who had a spirit of fortune-telling and who had brought her owners a great deal of money by predicting the future.

The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.

When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities who met together in the public square.

And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city,

On this the mob rose as one man against them, and the Magistrates stripped them of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods.

And suddenly, there was a great earthquake, so that the foundation of the prison was shaken, and by and by all the doors opened, and every man's bonds were loosed.

and after he brought them out [of the inner prison], he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

And when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go.

But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men that are Romans, and have cast us into prison; and do they now cast us out privily? Nay verily; but let them come themselves and bring us out.

The lictors reported this to the praetors, who, on hearing the men were Roman citizens, became alarmed;

He laid before them and explained that the Christ must undergo suffering and rise from the dead; and "It is this man," he declared, "who is the Christ--this Jesus about whom I am telling you."

Some of them were persuaded and began to be associated with Paul and Silas, especially a large crowd of devout Greeks and the wives of many prominent men.

But the Jews having been stirred up to jealousy, and taken to themselves certain wicked men of the lowest rabble, and having got a crowd together, set the city in confusion; and having beset the house of Jason sought to bring them out to the people;

and not having found them, dragged Jason and certain brethren before the politarchs, crying out, These men that have set the world in tumult, are come here also,

And have been harbored by Jason! They say that some one else is king--a man called Jesus!"

And [after] taking money as security from Jason and the rest, they released them.

Now these were more liberally minded men than those of Thessalonica, for they received the word with all readiness of mind, daily, examining the Scriptures if these things were really so.

Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few.

The men who escorted Paul took him all the way to Athens and, after receiving instructions to have Silas and Timothy join him as soon as possible, they left.

And some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers disputed with him, and some said, What does this trifler mean to say? And others, He seems to be a preacher of strange demons; because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection.

For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean.

(Now all the Athenians and the men from other lands who come there were giving all their time to talking or hearing of anything new.)

Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.

GOD who made the universe and everything in it--He, being Lord of Heaven and earth, does not dwell in sanctuaries built by men.

Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;

And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.

And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: