The Lord said to him, "Get up and go to Straight Street and ask for a person named Saul, from Tarsus, at the home of Judas; you will find him [there] praying."

Peter said to him, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ is healing you, so get up and make your bed." And immediately he got up [out of his bed, completely healed].

While Peter was thinking about [the meaning of] the vision, the Holy Spirit said to him, "Look, there are three men [here] looking for you.

So, Peter went down to the men and said, "I am the one you are looking for. Why have you come here?"

They said, "Cornelius, a [military] man in charge of one hundred soldiers, [and] a man who does what is right, [and] who respects God and who has a good reputation among all the Jews [who know him], was urged by God through a holy angel to have you come to his house so he could hear you speak [about salvation, See 11:14]."

And he said to them, "You people know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with, or even go near a person from another [i.e., non-Jewish] country, and yet God showed me that I should not consider any person ordinary or [ceremonially] unacceptable.

Cornelius [then] said, "Four days ago, when I was at home, praying at the appointed hour (i.e., three o'clock in the afternoon) [See verse 3], suddenly a man in bright clothing appeared in front of me.

He said to me, 'Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and God has taken account of your giving money to poor people.

Then Peter began to speak. He said, "I perceive that God truly does not show favoritism toward anyone,

For [as evidence of it] they heard them speaking in [other] languages [supernaturally] and lifting up God [in praise]. Peter then said,

But I said, 'O no, Lord, for I have never even tasted anything ordinary or [ceremonially] unfit [for Jews to eat].'

Then I remembered what the Lord had said [See 1:4-5]: 'John immersed you [people] in water but you [apostles] will be immersed in the Holy Spirit.'

The angel [then] said to him, "Put on your belt and sandals," so he did. Then the angel said, "Throw your [outer] robe around you and follow me."

Then when Peter realized what had actually happened, he said, "Now I know for certain that [it was] the Lord who sent His angel to rescue me from Herod's custody and from all that the Jewish people had planned [to do to me]."

And they said to her, "You are crazy." But she insisted that [what she reported] was true. They replied, "It is [only] his angel."

[Upon entering the house] he held up his hand to quiet them, then went on to explain how the Lord had rescued him from jail. He said to them, "[Go] tell all this to James [the Lord's half-brother] and to [the rest of] the brothers." Then he left [them] and went elsewhere.

Suddenly, an angel from God struck him [with a terrible condition] because he refused to honor God [by what he said in his speech], so he was consumed by worms and died.

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."

and said, "You child of the devil; you enemy of all that is right; you are full of deceit and every kind of evil [thing]. When will you stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?

So, Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand [to get their attention], he said, "You Israelites and those who have great respect for God, listen [to me].

And when God removed him [from the throne of Israel] He raised up David to be their king. God said about him, 'I have found David, the son of Jesse, to be a man close to my heart [i.e., whom I loved very much] and he will do all that I want him to.'

As John was completing his ministry he said [to the great crowds], 'Who do you people think I am? [No], I am not the Messiah. But look, Someone is coming [to Israel] after [I complete] my mission whose sandal straps I am not even worthy to unfasten.'

[Now] in regard to God raising Him up from the dead, never to decay, He said this about it [Isa. 55:3], "I will give you the sacred and certain blessings promised to David."

God said in another Psalm [16:10], "You will not allow your Holy One to decay."

But when the Jews saw the large crowds [gathered to hear the Gospel] they became very jealous and took sharp issue with the things Paul said, and [even] spoke against them.

so he said loudly, "Stand straight up on your feet." And the man jumped up and began walking.

And [even though] they said these things, it was difficult to restrain the crowds from offering [animal] sacrifices to them.

Then, after they finished speaking, James [the Lord's half-brother, See 12:17] spoke up and said, "Brothers, listen to me.

This is what the Lord said when He predicted these things long ago.'

And she kept this up for a number of days. But Paul was very disturbed [over what she was doing] and [finally] turned [to her] and said to the spirit [in the girl], "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And the evil spirit did come out [of her] immediately.

After bringing them out [of the jail area] he said, "Sirs, what do I have to do to be saved?"

Paul and Silas said, "You and your family can be saved if you [all] believe in the Lord Jesus."

So, the officers reported what Paul had said and the city officials became fearful when they learned that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens.

Also certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers approached him for discussion. Some asked, "What will this know-it-all have to say?" Others said, "He seems to be advocating [a belief in] some different gods." [They said this] because he was proclaiming Jesus and the resurrection [of the dead].

Then Paul stood up in the Areopagus and said, "You men of Athens, I noticed that you are an extremely religious people in all your ways. [See verse 16]

For in [the strength of] God we [all] live, move around and have our [personal] identity, just as a certain one of your [Athenian] poets [once] said, 'For we too are His children.'

Now when the people heard about the resurrection from the dead, some of them made fun of it, but others said, "We would like to hear [more] from you about this again."

When the Jews resisted [Paul's efforts] and spoke against him and his message, he shook out his clothing [i.e., an expression of rejection and contempt] and said to them "Let your blood be on your own heads [i.e., you are responsible for whatever harm comes from your action]; I am not responsible. From now on I will go [and preach] to the Gentiles [only]."

and said [about him], "This man is persuading people to worship God contrary to the law [of Moses]."

When Paul was about to respond [to this charge], Gallio said to the Jews, "[My] Jewish [constituents], if it were a simple case of wrongdoing or some serious crime, there would be good reason for me to consider your charge [against this man].

Paul [then] said, "John immersed people who [demonstrated their] repentance, telling them they must believe in Jesus, the One who would come after him."

After these things happened Paul decided to travel through Macedonia and Achaia on his way to Jerusalem. He said, "Then, after I have been there I want to visit Rome also."

He called a meeting of his men and others involved in the same work and said to them, "Fellows, you know that we have made a good living from this work [of making temple replicas].

When the town clerk had quieted down the crowd, he said, "You people of Ephesus, who among you does not know that the city of Ephesus is caretaker of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell down from the sky?

And after the town clerk had said all this, he dismissed the assembly.

And when they arrived, he said to them, "You [men] know the kind of life I lived when I was with you, from the [very] first day I set foot in [the province of] Asia.

I have demonstrated before you a [good] example in all [these] things, so that you [too] will work hard to help those who are [physically] weak. [Also] remember the words of the Lord Jesus who Himself said, 'It is a greater blessing [for you] to give [to people's needs] than to receive [help yourselves].' "

What saddened them most of all was when Paul said that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to his ship.

When we had completed preparations for the next day's voyage we left, and headed out [to sea] on our journey. All the disciples, together with their wives and children, escorted us out of the city and knelt down and prayed with us as we said goodbye to each other.

When he met with us, he took Paul's belt, tied his own hands and feet [with it], and said, "The Holy Spirit has revealed [to me] that the man who owns this belt will be tied up like this by the Jews in Jerusalem and will be turned over to the Gentiles."

And when they heard [all] this, they gave honor to God, then said to Paul, "Brother, you can see how many thousands of Jewish believers [in Christ] there are [everywhere] and all of them are eager to observe the [requirements of the] law of Moses.

From the crowd, some shouted one thing and some another. When the commander could not hear what was being said because of the noise, he ordered Paul to be taken into the battalion headquarters.

As Paul was being brought into the headquarters building, he said to the commander, "Can I speak with you?" The commander replied [with surprise], "You know the Greek language?

came and stood beside me and said, 'Brother Saul, regain your sight.' And at that very moment I looked at him [fully able to see again].

And he said [to me], 'The God of our forefathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One [i.e., Jesus], and to hear His voice [speaking to you].

Then the Lord said to me, 'Go, for I will send you far away from here to the Gentiles.' "

The people had listened to Paul speaking up to this point [i.e., until he said the word "Gentiles"], then they raised their voices and shouted, "Do away with such a person from the earth; it is not right for him to live."

Just as they were tying him up [in preparation] for the flogging, Paul said to the officer nearby, "Is it lawful for you to whip a Roman [citizen] before he has been [legally] condemned?"

Then the commander came and said to him, "Tell me, are you [really] a Roman citizen?" Paul said, "Yes."

Then Paul said to the head priest, "God will hit you, you white-washed wall [i.e., you hypocrite]. Are you sitting in judgment over me according to the law of Moses and [yet] do you order me to be hit contrary to that law?"

Paul said, "Brothers, I did not know that he was the head priest, for it is written [Ex. 22:28], 'You shall not speak evil about a leader of your people.' "

When Paul realized that part [of the Sanhedrin] were Sadducees and the other part were Pharisees, he lifted up his voice before the Council and said, "Brothers, I am a Pharisee and the son of a Pharisee. And it is concerning our hope that the dead will be raised that I have been brought to trial."

When he said this it stirred up a dispute between the Pharisees and Sadducees and the assembly became divided.

The next night the Lord stood beside Paul [in a supernatural dream] and said, "Take courage, for just as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also be my witness in Rome."

So, Paul called for one of the officers and said [to him], "Take this young man to the commander; he has something [important] to tell him."

So, the officer took Paul's nephew to the commander and said, "Paul, the prisoner, called for me and asked me to bring this young man to you. He has something to tell you."

And the lad said, "The Jews have plotted to ask you to take Paul down to the Council [meeting] tomorrow, as though you were going to question him further.

Then he called two of his officers and said, "Get two hundred soldiers ready to go to Caesarea, along with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen, by nine o'clock tonight." [Note: This was calculated according to Jewish time].

he said, "I will hear your case fully when your accusers also get here." Then he ordered that Paul be kept [under guard] in Herod's palace.

So, he said, "Let your leaders go down with me and if there is anything [found] wrong with the man, let them bring their charges against him [at that time]."

Agrippa said to Festus, "I had been wanting to hear this man's testimony myself." [Festus replied], "Tomorrow you will [have the opportunity to] hear him."

Then Agrippa said to Paul, "You have permission to speak for yourself." So, Paul motioned [to the assembly] with his hand [for attention] and began speaking in his defense:

When we all fell to the ground I heard a voice speaking in the Hebrew [i.e., Aramaic] language. [It said], 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? You are only hurting yourself by kicking against the spurs [i.e., opposing the work of God].'

I answered, 'Who are you, sir?' And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus, the One you are persecuting.

But I obtained help from God and so [I am able to] stand here to this day, testifying to both the common people and to those in prominence. [I am] saying only what the prophets and Moses said would happen,

As Paul made his defense in this way, Festus said to him loudly, "Paul, you are crazy. All your education is driving you insane."

Agrippa said to Paul, "You expect to persuade me to be a Christian with such little effort [or, in such a short time]?"

Then Agrippa said to Festus, "This man could have been released if he had not appealed [his case] to Caesar."

Paul said to the military officer [Julius] and to his soldiers, "Unless these men stay aboard the ship, none of you will be saved."

And when he had said this he took bread, gave thanks to God for it in front of everyone, then broke it and began to eat.

And when the natives saw the poisonous creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, "This man must be a murderer because, even though he escaped from the sea, [divine] justice is not going to allow him to live."

But the natives expected him to swell up [from snake bite] or fall dead suddenly, but after expecting this for a long time and not seeing any harm come to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.

And it happened after three days that Paul called together those who were the leading Jews, and when they assembled he said to them, "Brothers, although I had done nothing against the [Jewish] people or the customs of our forefathers, yet I was made a prisoner at Jerusalem, being placed in the custody of the Romans [while there].

Then they said to him, "We did not receive any letters from Judea about you, nor did any of the brothers come here to report anything bad about you.

And some people believed what Paul said and some refused to believe.

And when he had said these words, the Jews left, disputing about the matter among themselves.}}

He said [Psa. 32:1ff], "Those people whose ungodly deeds are forgiven [by God] and whose sins are covered over, are [truly] blessed.

What shall we say then? Is the law of Moses sinful? Certainly not! For I would not have known what sin was if it had not been for the law. For [example]; I would not have known [what it meant] to covet [i.e., have a strong desire for what belongs to someone else] except that the law said [Ex. 20:17], "You must not covet."

For He said to Moses [Ex. 33:19], "I will show pity to whomever I want, and I will show mercy to whomever I want."

For the Scripture said to Pharaoh [Ex. 9:16], "I raised you up [to be a ruler] for the very purpose of demonstrating my power in your life and that my name might be made known throughout the entire world."

God said this also, in Hosea [2:23], "I [i.e., God] will call those people mine who were not [previously] my people. And [I will call] her 'dearly loved' who was not [previously] loved."

And, as Isaiah had said in a previous passage [1:9], "If the Lord of the [heavenly] armies [i.e., Almighty God] had not left us some descendants [i.e., a small minority], we would have become like Sodom; He would have made us like Gomorrah [i.e., destroyed]."

But not everyone [of the Israelites] obeyed [that] good news. For Isaiah said [Isa. 53:1], "Lord, who has believed our message?"

But I ask [again], "Did not the Israelites understand [the message]?" In the first place, Moses said [Deut. 32:21], "I [i.e., God] will stir up you [Jews] to become jealous, by [favoring] a nation [i.e., the Gentiles] that is unworthy [of your approval]. [I will do it] by using a nation of fools to make you people angry."

Then Isaiah boldly said [Isa. 45:1], "I [i.e., God] was found by a people [i.e., the Gentiles] who were not looking for me. I became known to people who were not asking for me."

But Isaiah said about the Israelites [Isa. 40:2], "I reached out all day long to [help] people who disobeyed and spoke against [me]."

And King David said [Psa. 69:22-23], "Let their table ensnare and trap them [i.e., let the Jews' devotion to such things as lavish feasts become the occasion for leading them astray], and become an occasion for their falling [away from God]. And let them be repaid [for such conduct with punishment].

and after giving thanks [for it], He broke it [in pieces] and said, "This represents my [physical] body, which is [to be given] for you. [Continue to] do this in memory of me."

In the same way [He took] the cup also, after supper, and said, "This cup [i.e., its contents] represents the New Agreement [ratified] by my blood. [Continue to] do this, whenever you people drink from it, in memory of me."

For He [i.e., God] placed everything in subjection under His [i.e., Christ's] feet. But when God said, "Everything is in subjection [to Him]," it is clear that this did not include God [Himself], who placed everything in subjection to Him [i.e., Christ].