This man God raised up the third day and gave him to be openly seen,

And he charged us to preach unto the people, and to testify that this is he who is ordained of God to be the Judge of the living and the dead.

to this one do all the prophets testify, that through his name every one that is believing in him doth receive remission of sins.'

While Peter was still making this statement, the Holy Spirit fell on all the people who were listening to his message.

Now the Jewish believers who had accompanied Peter were amazed that the gift of the holy Spirit had actually been poured out on the Gentiles ??46 for they heard them speak with 'tongues' and magnify God. At this Peter asked,

For they heard them speaking with 'tongues' and extolling God. At this Peter asked:

And this was done three times: and all were drawn up again into heaven.

And, behold, from this three men stood at the house in which I was, sent from Cesarea to me.

When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified and praised God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance that leads to eternal life [that is, real life after earthly death].”

The news of this reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.

Now at this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.

One of them named Agabus stood up and prophesied through the [Holy] Spirit that a severe famine would come on the entire world. And this did happen during the reign of Claudius.

[In response to this prediction], the disciples decided to send as much relief as they could to help the brothers living in Judea.

They did this, sending it to the elders by means of Barnabas and Saul.

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 when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to have Peter arrested as well. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread [the Passover week].

Then the angel told him, "Tuck in your shirt and put on your sandals!" He did this. Then the angel told him, "Put on your coat and follow me!"

So, he followed the angel out [of the jail], not fully realizing what had happened, thinking [perhaps] he had seen [all this in] a vision.

And passing through the first ward and the second, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. This opened to them of itself; and, going out, they passed on through one of the streets, and then suddenly the angel left him.

When he realized what had happened, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, who was also called Mark, where many [believers] were gathered together and were praying continually [and had been praying all night].

But motioning to them with his hand to be quiet and listen, he described how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, “Report these things to James and the brothers and sisters.” Then he left and went to another place.

The people kept shouting, "This is the voice of a god, not of a man!"

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.

Barnabas and Saul, sent on this mission, as they were, by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia, and from there sailed to Cyprus.

who was with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man; this one having called for Barnabas and Saul, did desire to hear the word of God,

But Elymas the magician (for his name is translated in this way) opposed them, attempting to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

When the magistrate saw this miracle performed, he became a believer [in Christ] and was [continually] amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

After this, Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and went to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them and returned to Jerusalem.

After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the President of the Synagogue sent them this message--"Brothers, if you have any helpful words to address to the people, now is the time to speak."

The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an high arm brought he them out of it.

Then, after destroying seven heathen nations in Canaan, he allotted their land to this people--

[This took] about four hundred and fifty years. And after these [things], he gave [them] judges until Samuel the prophet.

And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king; to whom he gave this testimony: I have found David the son of Jesse a man after my own heart, who will do 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 those dwelling in Jerusalem, and their chiefs, this one not having known, also the voices of the prophets, which every sabbath are being read -- having judged him -- did fulfil,

And we proclaim good-news to you: the promise to the fathers, which happened because God has fulfilled this to us their children, having raised up Jesus,

God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I 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.

For this reason He also says in another Psalm, ‘You will not allow Your Holy One to see 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 were not able in the law of Moses to be declared righteous, in this one every one who is believing is declared righteous;

Take heed then, that this come not upon you, which is spoken by the prophets;

Look, you disdainful folk, wonder at this and perish for in your days I do a deed, a deed you will never believe, not though one were to explain it to you."

As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people earnestly begged to have all this repeated to them on the following Sabbath.

And [at the same time] Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and confidently, saying, “It was necessary that God’s message [of salvation through faith in Christ] be spoken to you [Jews] first. Since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, now we turn to the Gentiles.

For this is what the Lord has commanded us:

I have made you
a light for the Gentiles
to bring salvation
to the ends of the earth.”

And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.

And it came to pass in Iconium at this time, they came together into the synagogue of the Jews, and spoke in such a manner, that a great multitude both of the Jews and Greeks believed.

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.

upon this the Gentiles and the Jews, supported by their magistrates, made an insurrection in order to use violence against them, and even to stone them:

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

The apostles Barnabas and Paul tore their robes when they heard this and rushed into the crowd, shouting:

“Men, why are you doing these things? We too are only men of the same nature as you, bringing the good news to you, so that you turn from these useless and meaningless things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything that is in them.

Even by saying this, it was all Paul and Barnabas could do to keep the crowds from offering sacrifices to them.

Certain men [i.e., believers, see verse 5] came down from Judea [to Antioch of Syria] and began teaching the brothers this: You cannot be saved unless you are circumcised according to the custom [required] by Moses.

When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.

So, they were sent on their way with the backing of the [Antioch] church and traveled through both Phoenicia and Samaria, telling them about the conversion of the Gentiles. This brought great rejoicing to all the brothers [who heard about it].

And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter.

The God who reads the hearts of all attested this by giving them the holy Spirit just as he gave it to us;

and in this way He put no difference between us and them, because He cleansed their hearts by faith.

This quieted the whole meeting, and they listened while Barnabas and Paul told of the signs and wonders which God had done among the heathen through them.

When they finished James made this response: "Brothers, listen to me.

And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written,

After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up:

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

For this reason my decision is, that we do not put trouble in the way of those who from among the Gentiles are turned to God;

And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia:

We have heard that certain [men] who left here have been upsetting you people and [even] undermining [some people's] spiritual lives by what they have been teaching. This was done without our authorization [or approval].

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

For the holy Spirit and we have decided not to lay upon you any burden but this indispensable one,

abstain from food that has been offered to idols, from tasting blood, from the flesh of animals that have been strangled, and from sexual vice. Keep clear of all this and you will prosper. Goodbye."

So when these men were dismissed, they came to Antioch: and having assembled the multitude, they delivered this letter.

[This verse is not in the majority of the Greek manuscripts.]

Some time after this, Paul said to Barnabas: "Let us go back and visit the Brethren in every town in which we have told the Lord's Message, and see how they are prospering."

but Paul held the opinion they should not take this one along, who departed from them in Pamphylia and did not accompany them in the work.

A heated discussion developed [over this matter] so that Paul and Barnabas went their separate ways [over it], with Barnabas sailing for Cyprus and taking [John] Mark with him.

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

this one did Paul wish to go forth with him, and having taken him, he circumcised him, because of the Jews who are in those places, for they all knew his father -- that he was a Greek.

When they reached the frontier of Mysia, they were about to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not permit this.

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 from thence to Philippi, which is a city of Macedonia, the first of the district, a Roman colony: and we were in this city tarrying certain days.

Among them was a woman, named Lydia, belonging to Thyatira, a dealer in purple cloth, who was accustomed to join in the worship of God. The Lord touched this woman's heart, so that she gave attention to the Message delivered by Paul,

so that having been baptized with her family, she made us this request, if you think me sincere in my profession, pray come and lodge at my house; and she prevail'd upon us.

At a later time, when we were going to that [same] place of prayer, we met a certain young woman who was dominated by an [evil] spirit, [claiming to be] able to tell people's fortunes. This [claimed] power was the source of considerable income for the girl's slave-owner.

This woman followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, who announce to you the way of salvation.

And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.

And when they brought them before the city officials, they made this charge [against them]: "These Jewish men are causing too much trouble in 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.

who, a charge like this receiving, thrust them into the inner prison, and, their feet, made he fast in the stocks.

And they answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus [as your personal Savior and entrust yourself to Him] and you will be saved, you and your household [if they also believe].”

And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore depart, and go in peace.

The officers reported this message to the chief magistrates, and when they heard that the prisoners were Romans, they were frightened;

Now when they [Note: A change from the use of "we" to "they" suggests that the writer Luke remained behind in Philippi at this point] had traveled through the [Macedonian] towns of Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to [the city of] Thessalonica where there was a Jewish synagogue.

Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.

This offended the Jews and they gathered some unprincipled loafers, formed a mob and started a riot in the town. They attacked Jason's house, to find them and bring them out among the people.

They stirred up the crowd and the city authorities who heard these things.

But these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, who received the word with all willingness, examining the Scriptures daily, if it has these things this way.

Upon this the brethren immediately sent Paul away to the sea-coast, but Silas and Timothy staid there.