not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

And he commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead.

"Can anyone refuse the water for these people to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?"

And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.

"I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, something descending like a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came down to me.

he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.'

And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'

One of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine all over the world. And this took place in the reign of Claudius.

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

So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.

So he went out and followed him; and he did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.

When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went out and passed on through one street; and immediately the angel left him.

But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, "Tell this to James and to the brethren." Then he left and went to another place.

When Herod had searched for him and could not find him, he examined the guards and ordered that they be put to death. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there a while.

Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died.

But the word of God continued to grow and to be multiplied.

So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time." And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

And after he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king; concerning whom he testified and said, 'I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.'

For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor the utterances of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled these by condemning him.

he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm: 'You are my Son; today I have begotten you.'

Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,

and through him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.

As Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people begged that these things might be spoken to them the next Sabbath.

But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and contradicted what was spoken by Paul, and blasphemed.

Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, "It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first. Since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.

So they spent a long time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.

When an attempt was made by both the Gentiles and the Jews with their rulers, to mistreat them and to stone them,

He listened to Paul speaking; and Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well,

But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brethren, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved."

So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, reporting the conversion of the Gentiles, and they gave great joy to all the brethren.

When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them.

After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, "Brethren, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe.

and he made no distinction between us and them, but cleansed their hearts by faith.

Now therefore why do you test God by putting upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?

Simeon has related how God first showed his concern by taking from the Gentiles a people for his name.

so that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name,'

We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth.

And after they had spent some time there, they were sent off in peace by the brethren to those who had sent them.

But Paul chose Silas and left, being commended by the brethren to the grace of the Lord.

and he was well spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium.

As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions which had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem.

And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.

so passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.

A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, who was a worshiper of God, was listening. The Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.

When she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay." And she prevailed upon us.

It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave-girl who had a spirit of divination. She brought her owners much profit by fortune-telling.

The crowd joined against them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and ordered them to be beaten with rods.

He brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household."

The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the Jewish synagogue.

But when the Jews of Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul in Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds.

So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be there.

And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. Some said, "What would this idle babbler wish to say?" Others, "He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign deities,"because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.

The God who made the world and everything in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by hands;

nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all men life and breath and everything.

Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.

because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given proof to all men by raising him from the dead."

and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them, and they worked, for by trade they were tentmakers.

But when they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles."

And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, "Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent;

But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, "If it were a matter of wrong or of vicious crime, O Jews, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you;

but since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves; I refuse to be a judge of these things."

for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, proving by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.

God did extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul,

But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, "I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches."

Not only is there danger that this trade of ours fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis be regarded as worthless and that she whom all of Asia and the world worship will even be dethroned from her magnificence."

Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash.

But if you want anything further, it shall be settled in the lawful assembly.

As it is, we are in danger of being charged with rioting because of today's events. In that case we would not be able to account for this commotion, since there is no reason for it."

There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia.

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

And there was a young man named Eutychus sitting in the window sill, sinking into a deep sleep. And as Paul talked on and on, he was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third story and was picked up dead.

But Paul went down and fell on him, and after embracing him, he said, "Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him."

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

But going ahead to the ship, we set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there; for so he had arranged, intending himself to go by land.

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

Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which he purchased with the blood of his Own.

Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night and day to admonish each one with tears.

In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"

When we had parted from them and set sail, we came by a straight course to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.

Then Paul answered, "What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus."

And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, "The will of the Lord be done."

After he had greeted them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come.

take these men and purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses, so that they may shave their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself live in observance of the law.

The next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. Then he went to the temple to give notice of the date when the days of purification would end and the offering would be made for each one of them.

Then the commander came up and arrested him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains. He inquired who he was and what he had done.

Some in the crowd shouted one thing, and some another; and as he could not learn the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into the barracks.

When he came to the steps, he was actually carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob;

As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the commander, "May I say something to you?" And he said, "Do you know Greek?

as also the high priest and all the Council of the elders can testify. From them I also received letters to the brethren, and started off for Damascus in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem as prisoners to be punished.

And I said, 'What shall I do, Lord?' And the Lord said to me, 'Get up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told of all that has been appointed for you to do.'

But since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me and came into Damascus.

"A certain Ananias, a devout man according to the Law, and well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there,

For you will be a witness for him to all men of what you have seen and heard.

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

When the blood of Stephen your witness was shed, I also was standing by and approving, and keeping the garments of those who were killing him.'

the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, and commanded him to be examined by scourging so that he might find out the reason why they were shouting against him that way.

But when they stretched him out with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?"