When he reached there and saw the favor God had shown them, he was delighted, and encouraged them all to be resolute and steadfast in their devotion to the Lord,

and found him and brought him to Antioch. The result was that for a whole year they met with the church, and taught large numbers of people, and it was at Antioch that the disciples first came to be known as Christians.

and one of them named Agabus got up and under the influence of the Spirit revealed the fact that there was going to be a great famine all over the world. This was the famine that occurred in the reign of Claudius.

and this they did, sending it to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.

He motioned to them to be quiet, and then related to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. "Tell all this to James and the brothers," he said. Then he left them and went somewhere else.

Herod had inquiries made for him, and when he could not find him, he examined the guards and ordered them to be put to death. Then he left Judea for Caesarea, and stayed there.

But the angel of the Lord struck him down immediately, because he did not give the honor to God; and he was eaten by worms and died.

Being sent out in this way by the holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus.

The Lord's hand is right upon you, and you will be blind and unable even to see the sun for a time." Instantly a mist of darkness fell upon him, and he groped about for someone to lead him by the hand.

Then he removed him and raised David up to be their king, bearing this testimony to him: 'I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my own heart, who will do all that I desire.'

and though they could find no ground for putting him to death, they demanded of Pilate that he be executed.

that God has fulfilled to us, their children, the promise that he made to our forefathers, by raising Jesus to life, just as the Scripture says in the second psalm, You are my Son! Today I have become your Father!'

Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out plainly, and said, "God's message had to be told to you first, but since you thrust it off and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we now turn to the heathen.

For these are the orders the Lord has given us: " 'I have made you a light for the heathen, To be the means of salvation to the very ends of the earth!' "

But the disciples continued to be full of joy and of the holy Spirit.

They spent some time there, speaking fearlessly and relying upon the Lord, who bore witness to his gracious message by letting signs and wonders be done by them.

He was listening to Paul as he talked, when Paul looked at him and, seeing that he had faith that he would be cured,

reassuring the disciples and encouraging them to stand by the faith and reminding them that we have to undergo many hardships to get into the Kingdom of God.

Some people came down from Judea and began to teach the brothers that unless they were circumcised as Moses prescribed, they could not be saved.

When they reached Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church, the apostles, and the elders, and they reported how God had worked with them.

But some members of the Pharisees' party who had become believers got up and said that such converts ought to be circumcised and told to obey the Law of Moses.

After a long discussion, Peter got up and said to them, "Brothers, you know that in the early days God chose that of you all I should be the one from whose lips the heathen should hear the message of the good news and believe it.

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

making no difference between us and them, but cleansing their hearts by faith.

Then why do you now try to test God, by putting on the necks of these disciples a yoke that neither our forefathers nor we have been able to bear?

Why, we believe that it is by the mercy of the Lord Jesus that we are saved just as they are."

So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, And all the heathen who are called by my name, Says the Lord,

but we should write to them to avoid anything that has been contaminated by idols, immorality, the meat of strangled animals, and the tasting of blood.

As we have heard that some of our number, without any instructions from us, have disturbed you by their teaching and unsettled your minds,

So we send Judas and Silas to you, to give you this same message by word of mouth.

Judas and Silas were themselves prophets, and gave the brothers much encouragement and strength by their words.

and who was highly thought of by the brothers in Lystra and Iconium.

As they traveled on from one town to another, they passed on to the brothers for their observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem.

Once as we were on our way to the praying place a slave-girl met us who had the gift of ventriloquism, and made her masters a great deal of money by her fortune-telling.

He led them out of the jail and said to them, "Gentlemen, what must I do to be saved?"

"Believe in the Lord Jesus," they said, "and you and your household will be saved!"

The jailer reported this message to Paul, saying, "The magistrates have sent orders that you are to be released. So you can take your leave and go unmolested."

But Paul said to them, "They had us beaten in public without giving us a trial, and put us in jail, although we are Roman citizens! And now are they going to dismiss us secretly? By no means! Have them come here themselves and take us out!"

But when the Jews at Thessalonica found out that God's message had been delivered at Berea by Paul, they came there too, to excite and stir up the populace.

Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers debated with him. Some of them said, "What is this rag-picker trying to make out?" Others said, "He seems to be preaching some foreign deities." This was because he was telling the good news of Jesus and the resurrection.

God who created the world and all that is in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples built by human hands,

nor is he waited on by human hands as though he were in need of anything, for he himself gives all men life and breath and everything.

So if we are God's children we ought not to imagine that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, wrought by human art and thought.

since he has fixed a day on which he will justly judge the world through a man whom he has appointed, and whom he has guaranteed to all men by raising him from the dead."

By the time Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was absorbed in preaching the message, emphatically assuring the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.

But as they contradicted and abused him, he shook his clothes in protest, and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am not to blame for it! After this I will go to the heathen."

One night the Lord said to Paul in a vision, "Do not be afraid! Go on speaking and do not give up,

God did such extraordinary wonders by means of Paul,

This came to be known to everyone who lived in Ephesus, Greeks as well as Jews, and great awe came over them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus came to be held in high honor.

A number of people who had practiced magic brought out their books and burned them publicly. The value of these was estimated and found to be ten thousand dollars.

A silversmith named Demetrius was making large profits for his workmen by the manufacture of silver shrines of Artemis.

and you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but almost all over Asia, this man Paul has persuaded and drawn away numbers of people, telling them that gods made by human hands are not gods at all.

There is danger, therefore, not only that this business of ours will be discredited, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be neglected and the magnificence of her whom all Asia and the world worship will be a thing of the past!"

So the commotion spread all over the city, and by a common impulse the people rushed to the theater, dragging with them two Macedonians, Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's traveling companions.

So as these facts are undeniable, you must be calm, and not do anything reckless.

But if you require anything beyond that, it must be settled before the regular assembly.

For we are in danger of being charged with rioting in connection with today's events, though there is really nothing about this commotion that we will not be able to explain."

where he stayed for three months. Just as he was going to sail for Syria, the Jews made a plot against him, and he made up his mind to return by way of Macedonia.

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

But Paul went downstairs, and threw himself upon him, and put his arms around him. "Do not be alarmed," he said, "he is still alive."

They took the boy home alive, and were greatly comforted.

We had already gone on board the ship and sailed for Assos, intending to take Paul on board there, for that was the arrangement he had made, as he intended to travel there by land.

For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he would not have to lose any time in Asia, for he was hurrying to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of the Harvest Festival.

But my life does not matter, if I can only finish my race and do the service intrusted to me by the Lord Jesus, of declaring the good news of God's favor.

Take care of yourselves and of the whole flock, of which the holy Spirit has made you guardians, and be shepherds of the church of God, which he got at the cost of his own life.

So you must be on your guard and remember that for three years, night and day, I never stopped warning any of you, even with tears.

I showed you in every way that by hard work like that we must help those who are weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, for he said, 'It makes one happier to give than to be given to.' "

So we looked up the disciples there and stayed a week with them. Instructed by the Spirit, they warned Paul not to set foot in Jerusalem.

Then Paul answered, "What do you mean by crying and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound at Jerusalem but to die there for the sake of the Lord Jesus."

So as he would not yield, we gave up urging him, and said, "The Lord's will be done!"

What then? They will be sure to hear that you have come.

Join them, undergo the rites of purification with them, and pay their expenses so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everybody will understand that there is no truth in the stories about you, but that you yourself observe the Law.

As for the heathen who have become believers, we have written them our decision that they must avoid anything that has been contaminated by idols, the tasting of blood, the meat of strangled animals, and immorality."

Then Paul joined the men and went through the rites of purification with them and the next day went to the Temple to give notice of the time when, upon the offering of the sacrifice for each one of them, their days of purification would be over.

Then the colonel came up and seized him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains, and then inquired who he was and what he had been doing.

Some of the crowd shouted one thing and some another, and as he could not find out the facts on account of the confusion, he ordered him to be taken into the barracks.

When Paul got to the steps, he was actually carried by the soldiers, on account of the violence of the mob,

as the high priest and the whole council will bear me witness. In fact, they gave me letters to the brothers in Damascus and I went there to bind those who were there and bring them back to Jerusalem to be punished.

Then I said, 'What am I to do, sir?' The Lord said to me, 'Get up and go into Damascus. There you will be told of all you are destined to do.'

As I could not see, because of the dazzling light, my companions had to lead me by the hand, and so I reached Damascus.

There a man named Ananias, a devout observer of the Law, highly respected by all the Jews who lived there,

came to see me, and standing by my side, said to me, 'Saul, my brother, regain your sight!' Then instantly I regained my sight and looked at him,

for you shall be his witness before all men of what you have seen and heard.

And now, why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash out your sins, calling on his name.'

and when the blood of your witness Stephen was being shed, I stood by and approved it, and took charge of the clothes of the men who killed him.'

They had listened to him until he said that, but then they shouted, "Kill him and get him out of the world! A creature like that ought not to be allowed to live!"

the colonel ordered Paul brought into the barracks, and gave directions that he should be examined under the lash, so that he might find out why they made such an outcry against him.

"I had to pay a large sum for my citizenship," said the colonel. "But I am a citizen by birth," said Paul.

Then Paul said to him, "God will strike you, you white-washed wall! Do you sit there to try me by the Law, and order them to strike me in violation of the Law?"

As the dispute was becoming violent, the colonel began to be afraid that they would tear Paul in pieces, and ordered the soldiers to go down and get him away from them and bring him into the barracks.

Now you and the council must suggest to the colonel that he should have Paul brought down to you, as you mean to look into his case more carefully, and we will be ready to kill him before he gets down."

So the colonel took him by the arm and stepping aside where they could be alone, asked, "What is it that you have to tell me?"

Then he called in two of his officers and said to them, "Get two hundred men ready to march to Caesarea, with seventy mounted men and two hundred spear-men, by nine o'clock tonight."

This man had been seized by the Jews and they were just going to kill him when I came upon them with my men and rescued him, as I had learned that he was a Roman citizen.

he said, "I will hear your case as soon as your accusers arrive." And he gave orders that he should be kept in Herod's palace.

But??ot to detain you too long?? beg you to be kind enough to give us a brief hearing.

If you will examine him yourself you will be able to find out from him all about the things we charge him with."

and I have the same hope in God that they themselves hold, that there is to be a resurrection of the upright and the wicked.

who ought to be here before you and to present their charges if they have any to make against me.

But when two whole years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, and as he wanted to gratify the Jews, Felix left Paul in prison.