Then Peter went down to the men which were sent unto him from Cornelius; and said, Behold, I am he whom ye seek: what is the cause wherefore ye are come?

And they said, Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God by an holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words of thee.

Then called he them in, and lodged them. And on the morrow Peter went away with them, and certain brethren from Joppa accompanied him.

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.

And Cornelius said, Four days from now I was in my house in prayer at the ninth hour; and I saw before me a man in shining clothing,

Immediately therefore I sent to thee; and thou hast well done that thou hast come. Now therefore we are all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee from God.

but that whoever respects Him and does what is right, whatever country he may be from, is acceptable to Him.

That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached;

Jesus who is from Nazareth -- how God did anoint him with the Holy Spirit and power; who went through, doing good, and healing all those oppressed by the devil, because God was with him;

Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead.

And those believers from the circumcision who had accompanied Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles,

“Can anyone withhold water and prevent these people from being baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”

But, when Peter went up to Jerusalem, those who were converts from Judaism began to attack him,

But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it by order unto them, saying,

I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, A certain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came even to me:

But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.

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

The Spirit told me to go with them without hesitating. These six brothers went with me, too, and we entered the house of the man from Caesarea.

he will bring a message to you by which you will be saved [and granted eternal life], you and all your household.’

So, when the apostles and the brothers from Judea heard these things, they stopped arguing [See verse 2] and gave honor to God, saying, "[This means] that God has permitted the Gentiles also [as well as the Jews] to repent [i.e., change their hearts and lives] so they, too, could have [the promise of never ending] life."

Those, indeed, therefore, having been scattered abroad, from the tribulation that came after Stephen, went through unto Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to none except to Jews only;

But some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, [when they] came to Antioch, began to speak to the Hellenists also, proclaiming the good news about the Lord Jesus.

And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch.

and one from among them, by name Agabus, rose up and signified by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine over all the inhabited earth, which also came to pass under Claudius.

So from the disciples, {according to their ability to give}, each one of them determined to send [financial aid] for support to the brothers who lived in Judea,

Now at that time, Herod the king laid hands on some of those from the church to harm [them].

And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands.

The chains dropped from his wrists, and then the angel said: "Put on your girdle and sandals." When Peter had done so, the angel added: "Throw your cloak round you and follow me."

When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him.

And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.

and having known the voice of Peter, from the joy she did not open the porch, but having run in, told of the standing of Peter before the porch,

And he, beckoning to them with his hand to keep silent, related how the Lord led him out from the prison: and said, Proclaim these things to James, and the brethren. And having gone out, he departed into another place.

And when Herod had sought for him, and found him not, he examined the keepers, and commanded that they should be put to death. And he went down from Judaea to Caesarea, and there abode.

He had been very angry with the Tyrians and Sidonians. Together they presented themselves before him. They won over Blastus, who was in charge of the king’s bedroom, and through him they asked for peace, because their country was supplied with food from the king’s country.

And then, on a particular day, Herod, dressed in his royal robes, delivered a speech [to the people] from his throne.

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.

And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, when they had fulfilled their ministry, and took with them John, whose surname was Mark.

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.

So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus.

But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith.

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?

The proconsul believed [the message of salvation] when he saw what had happened, being astonished at the teaching concerning the Lord.

Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem.

But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down.

So after the reading from the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent [word] to them, saying, "Men [and] brothers, if there is any message of exhortation by you for the people, say [it]."

the God of Israel made choice of our fathers, and exalted the people when they sojourn'd in Egypt, from whence he conducted them by the terror of his arm.

And then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man from the tribe of Benjamin, [for] forty years.

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.'

“From this man’s descendants, according to the promise, God brought the Savior, Jesus, to Israel.

They found no ground at all for putting him to death, and yet demanded his execution from Pilate;

And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre.

But God raised him from the dead:

And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people.

God hath fulfilled to us their children, in raising up Jesus [from the dead]; as it is also written in the first Psalm: "Thou art my Son; I have this day begotten thee."

And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David.

But Jesus, whom God raised up [from the dead], never did decay.

"Therefore let it be known to you, men [and] brothers, that through this one forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and from all [the things] from which you were not able to be justified by the law of Moses,

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

And as they went out from the synagogue of the Jews, the Gentiles urged that these sayings be spoken to them the next Sabbath.

And, when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and of the devout converts from heathenism continued with Paul and Barnabas, who talked to them and urged them to hold fast to the grace of God.

Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.

But the Jews incited the prominent women, who worshiped God, and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their district.

So [after] shaking off the dust from [their] feet against them, they went to Iconium.

In spite of this, however, they stayed there a considerable time and continued to speak with courage from the Lord, who continued to bear testimony to His gracious message and kept on granting signs and wonders to be done by them.

In Lystra a man without strength in his feet, lame from birth, and who had never walked, sat

“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.

although He did not leave Himself without a witness, since He did what is good by giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons and satisfying your hearts with food and happiness.”

Even though they said these things, they barely stopped the crowds from sacrificing to them.

Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and when they had won over the crowds and stoned Paul, they dragged him out of the city, thinking he was dead.

but the disciples being gather'd about him, he rose up and went into the city, from whence he departed the next day with Barnabas to go to Derbe.

And when they had made selection of some to be rulers in every church, and had given themselves to prayer and kept themselves from food, they put them into the care of the Lord in whom they had faith.

From there they sailed back to Antioch where they had been entrusted to the grace of God for the work they had now completed.

Some men came down from Judea and began to teach the brothers: “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom prescribed by Moses, you cannot be saved!”

And [after] there was no little strife and debate by Paul and Barnabas against them, they appointed Paul and Barnabas and some others from among them to go up to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem concerning this issue.

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 there having been much disputing, Peter having risen up said unto them, 'Men, brethren, ye know that from former days, God among us did make choice, through my mouth, for the nations to hear the word of the good news, and to believe;

Simeon has reported how God first intervened to take from the Gentiles a people for His name.

After these things [have transpired], I will return [to my people] and will rebuild the Tabernacle [i.e., the Temple] of David, which has been destroyed. I will rebuild it from its ruins and reestablish it,

known from long ago.

Therefore, in my judgment, we should not cause difficulties for those among the Gentiles who turn to God,

but instead we should write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from eating anything that has been strangled, and from blood.

for Moses from former generations in every city hath those preaching him -- in the synagogues every sabbath being read.'

Then the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, decided to select men who were among them and to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas: Judas, called Barsabbas, and Silas, both leading men among the brothers.

They wrote this letter to be delivered by them:

From the apostles and the elders, your brothers,

To the brothers among the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia:

Greetings.

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

For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us, that no further burden be laid upon you than these necessary things, To abstain from meats offered to idols and blood,

that you abstain from food offered to idols, from blood, from eating anything that has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. You will do well if you keep yourselves from these things.

Farewell.

Being thus dispatch'd, they went to Antioch; where having assembled all the faithful, they deliver'd the letter: from the reading of which,

And after they had tarried there a space, they were let go in peace from the brethren unto the apostles.

But Paul thought not good to take him with them, who departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work.

And the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder one from the other: and so Barnabas took Mark, and sailed unto Cyprus;

As they journeyed on from town to town, they delivered to the brothers to keep the decisions reached by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem.

So the churches through faith continued to grow in strength and to increase in numbers from day to day.

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

When they came near Mysia [i.e., a northwestern province of Asia Minor] they attempted to travel into Bythinia [i.e., a northern province of Asia Minor] but [an inspired message from] the Holy Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to,

so they went on through Mysia and came down to Troas, [i.e., a seaport on the Aegean Sea, from which they sailed over to Europe].

There Paul had a vision one night: a man from Macedonia kept standing and pleading with him in these words, "Come over to Macedonia and help us!"

immediately after he had had this vision, we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, concluding from thence, that the Lord had called us to publish the gospel there. we embark'd therefore at Troas,

Then, setting sail from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, the next day to Neapolis,

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.