Now while Peter was greatly perplexed within himself [as to] what the vision that he had seen might be, behold, the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having found the house of Simon by asking around, stood at the gate.

And they called out [and] asked if Simon who was also called Peter was staying there as a guest.

And [while] Peter was reflecting about the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Behold, men are looking for you.

And they said, "Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and God-fearing man--and well spoken of by the whole nation of the Jews--was directed by a holy angel to summon you to his house and to hear words from you."

Therefore--and without raising any objection--I came [when I] was sent for. So I ask for what reason you sent for me."

And Cornelius said, "{Four days ago at this hour}, [the] ninth, I was praying in my house. And behold, a man in shining clothing stood before me

Jesus of Nazareth--how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with him.

[While] Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all those who were listening to the message.

"I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision--an object something like a large sheet coming down, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came to me.

[As I] looked intently into it, I was considering [it], and I saw the four-footed animals of the earth and the wild animals and the reptiles and the birds of the sky.

And this happened three times, and everything was pulled up into heaven again.

And [as] I was beginning to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as also on us at the beginning.

Therefore if God gave them the same gift as also to us [when we] believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I [to be] able to hinder God?"

And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord.

{And the report came to the attention} of the church that was in Jerusalem about them, and they sent out Barnabas as far as Antioch,

because he was a good man and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a large number were added to the Lord.

And one of them {named} Agabus stood up [and] indicated by the Spirit [that] a great famine was about to come over the whole inhabited earth (which took place in the time of Claudius).

And [when he] saw that it was pleasing to the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. ({Now this was during the feast} of Unleavened Bread.)

Thus Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer was fervently being made to God by the church for him.

Now when Herod was about to bring him [out], on that [very] night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and guards before the door were watching the prison.

And he went out [and] was following [him]. And he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but was thinking [he] was seeing a vision.

And recognizing Peter's voice, because of [her] joy she did not open the gate, but ran in [and] announced [that] Peter was standing at the gate.

But they said to her, "You are out of your mind!" But she kept insisting it was so. And they kept saying, "It is his angel!"

But Peter was continuing to knock, and [when they] opened [the door] they saw him and were astonished.

Now [when] day came, there was not a little commotion among the soldiers [as to] what then had become of Peter.

Now he was very angry with the Tyrians and Sidonians. So they came to him with one purpose, and [after] persuading Blastus, {the king's chamberlain}, they asked for peace, because their country was supported with food from the king's country.

And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down {because} he did not give the glory to God. And he was eaten by worms [and] died.

Now there were prophets and teachers in Antioch in the church that was there: Barnabas, and Simeon (who was called Niger), and Lucius the Cyrenian, and Manaen (a close friend of Herod the tetrarch), and Saul.

And [when they] had crossed over the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a certain man, a magician, a Jewish false prophet whose name [was] Bar-Jesus,

who was with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul [and] wished to hear the word of God.

And now behold, the hand of the Lord [is] against you, and you will be blind, not seeing the sun {for a while}. And immediately mist and darkness fell over him, and he was going around looking for [people] to lead [him] by the hand.

Then [when] the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, [because he] was astounded at the teaching about the Lord.

But while John was completing [his] mission, he said, 'What do you suppose me to be? I am not [he]! But behold, one is coming after me of whom I am not worthy to untie the sandals of [his] feet!'

And we proclaim the good news to you: that the promise that was made to the fathers,

For David, [after] serving the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and {was buried with} his fathers, and experienced decay.

But [when] the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and began contradicting what was being said by Paul [by] reviling [him].

Both Paul and Barnabas spoke boldly [and] said, "It was necessary [that] the word of God be spoken first to you, since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life! Behold, we are turning to the Gentiles!

So the word of the Lord was carried through the whole region.

But the population of the city was divided, and {some} were with the Jews {and some} with the apostles.

And in Lystra a certain man was sitting powerless in his feet, lame from {birth}, who had never walked.

This man listened [while] Paul was speaking. {Paul}, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be healed,

And they began calling Barnabas Zeus and Paul Hermes, because he was the {principal speaker}.

And the priest of the [temple] of Zeus that was just outside the city brought bulls and garlands to the gates [and] was wanting to offer sacrifice, along with the crowds.

But Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium, and [when they] had won over the crowds and stoned Paul, they dragged [him] outside the city, thinking he was dead.

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.

And [after] there was much debate, Peter stood up [and] said to them, "Men [and] brothers, you know that in the early days God chose among you through my mouth [that] the Gentiles should hear the message of the gospel and believe.

Then it seemed best to the apostles and the elders, together with the whole church, to send men chosen from among them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas--Judas who was called Barsabbas and Silas, men [who were] leaders among the brothers--

Now Barnabas wanted to take John who was called Mark along also,

And he came also to Derbe and to Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there {named} Timothy, the son of a believing Jewish woman but of a Greek father,

who was well spoken of by the brothers in Lystra and Iconium.

Paul wanted this one to go with him, and he took [him] [and] circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for [they] all knew that his father was Greek.

And a vision appeared to Paul during the night: a certain Macedonian man was standing there and imploring him and saying, "Come over to Macedonia [and] help us!"

And on the day of the Sabbath, we went outside the [city] gate beside the river, where we thought there was a place of prayer, and we sat down [and] spoke to the women assembled [there].

And a certain woman {named} Lydia from the city of Thyatira, a merchant dealing in purple cloth who showed reverence for God, was listening. The Lord opened {her} heart to pay attention to what was being said by Paul.

And after she was baptized, and her household, she urged [us], saying, "If you consider me to be a believer in the Lord, come to my house [and] stay." And she prevailed upon us.

And it happened that [as] we were going to the place of prayer, a certain female slave who had a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing a large profit to her owners [by] fortune-telling.

She followed Paul and us [and] was crying out, saying, "These men are slaves of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation!"

And she was doing this for many days. But Paul, becoming greatly annoyed and turning around, said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!" And it came out {immediately}.

But [when] her owners saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas [and] dragged [them] into the marketplace before the rulers.

And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened and all the bonds were unfastened.

And [after] the jailer was awake and saw the doors of the prison open, he drew [his] sword [and] was about to kill himself, [because he] thought the prisoners had escaped.

And he took them at that [very] hour of the night [and] washed [their] wounds, and he himself was baptized at once, and all those of his [household].

And [when it] was day, the chief magistrates sent the police officers, saying, "Release those men."

Now [after they] traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.

{And as was his custom}, Paul went in to them and on three Sabbath [days] he discussed with them from the scriptures,

explaining and demonstrating that it was necessary [for] the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and [saying], "This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ."

Now while Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was provoked within him [when he] observed the city was full of idols.

So he was discussing in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing [Gentiles], and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.

And even some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him, and some were saying, "What does this babbler want to say?" But [others said], "He appears to be a proclaimer of foreign deities," because he was proclaiming the good news [about] Jesus and the resurrection.

For [as I] was passing through and observing carefully your objects of worship, I even found an altar on which was inscribed, 'To an unknown God.' Therefore what you worship without knowing [it], this I proclaim to you--

And because [he] was practicing the same trade, he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade.

Now when both Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began to be occupied with the message, solemnly testifying to the Jews [that] the Christ was Jesus.

And leaving there, he entered into the house of someone {named} Titius Justus, a worshiper of God whose house was next door to the synagogue.

Now [when] Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews rose up with one purpose against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat,

But [when] Paul was about to open [his] mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, "If it was some crime or wicked villainy, O Jews, {I would have been justified in accepting} your complaint.

So they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, [and] began beating [him] in front of the judgment seat. And none of these [things] was a concern to Gallio.

Now a certain Jew {named} Apollos, {a native} Alexandrian, arrived in Ephesus--an eloquent man who was well-versed in the scriptures.

This man had been instructed [in] the way of the Lord, and being enthusiastic in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the [things] about Jesus, [although he] knew only the baptism of John.

For he was vigorously refuting the Jews in public, demonstrating through the scriptures [that] the Christ was Jesus.

And it happened that [while] Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the inland regions [and] came to Ephesus and found some disciples.

And Paul said, "John baptized [with] a baptism of repentance, telling the people that they should believe in the one who was to come after him--that is, in Jesus."

(Now the total [number] [of] men was about twelve.)

So he entered into the synagogue [and] was speaking boldly for three months, discussing and attempting to convince [them] concerning the kingdom of God.

And God was performing {extraordinary} miracles by the hands of Paul,

And this became known to all who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, and fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was exalted.

and many of those who practiced magic brought together [their] books [and] burned [them] up in the sight of everyone. And they counted up their value and found [it was] {fifty thousand silver coins}.

In this way the word of the Lord was growing in power and was prevailing.

For someone {named} Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver replicas of the temple of Artemis, was bringing no little business to the craftsmen.

And the city was filled with the tumult, and with one purpose they rushed into the theater, seizing Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians [who were] traveling companions of Paul.

So some were shouting [one thing] [and] some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and the majority did not know {why} they had assembled.

And [some] of the crowd advised Alexander, [when] the Jews put him forward. But Alexander, motioning [with his] hand, was wanting to defend himself to the popular assembly.

But [when they] recognized that he was a Jew, they were shouting with one voice from all [of them] for about two hours, "Great [is] Artemis of the Ephesians!"

and stayed three months. [Because] a plot was made against him by the Jews [as he] was about to set sail for Syria, he came to a decision to return through Macedonia.

And on the first [day] of the week, [when] we had assembled to break bread, Paul began conversing with them, [because he] was going to leave on the next day, and he extended [his] message until midnight.

And a certain young man {named} Eutychus who was sitting in the window was sinking into a deep sleep [while] Paul was conversing at length. Being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was picked up dead.

But we went on ahead to the ship [and] put out to sea for Assos, intending to take Paul on board there. For having made arrangements in this way, he himself was intending to travel by land.

For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so that he would not be [having] to spend time in Asia. For he was hurrying if it could be possible for him to be in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost.

And when they came to him, he said to them, "You know from the first day on which I set foot in Asia how I was the whole time with you--

And there was considerable weeping by all, and {hugging} Paul, they kissed him,

And finding a ship that was crossing over to Phoenicia, we went aboard [and] put out to sea.