Now in the local church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Symeon (called Niger) and Lucius the Cyrenian, besides Manaen (a foster-brother of Herod the tetrarch) and Saul.

As they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the holy Spirit said, "Come! set me apart Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."

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."

But when the Jews saw the crowds they were filled with jealousy; they began to contradict what Paul said and to abuse him.

As for the disciples, they were filled with joy and the holy Spirit.

The church sped them on their journey, and they passed through both Phoenicia and Syria informing the brothers, to the great joy of all, that the Gentiles were turning to God.

On arriving at Jerusalem they were received by the church, the apostles and the presbyters, and they reported how God had been with them and what he had done.

and a keen controversy sprang up; but Peter rose and said to them, "Brothers, you are well aware that from the earliest days God chose that of you all I should be the one by whom the Gentiles were to hear the word of the gospel and believe it.

Then the apostles and the presbyters, together with the whole church, decided to select some of their number and send them with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch. The men selected were Judas (called Bar-Sabbas) and Silas, prominent members of the brotherhood.

When the messengers were despatched, they went down to Antioch and after gathering the whole body they handed them the letter.

and as Judas and Silas were themselves prophets, they encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many a counsel.

As they travelled on from town to town, they handed over to the people the resolutions which the apostles and the presbyters in Jerusalem had decided were to be obeyed;

and the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in numbers day by day.

But about midnight, as Paul and Silas were praying and singing to God, while the prisoners listened,

all of a sudden there was a great earthquake which shook the very foundations of the prison; the doors all flew open in an instant and the fetters of all the prisoners were unfastened.

The lictors reported this to the praetors, who, on hearing the men were Roman citizens, became alarmed;

Some were persuaded and threw in their lot with Paul and Silas, including a host of devout Greeks and a large number of the leading women.

But the Jews were aroused to jealousy; they got hold of some idle rascals to form a mob and set the town in an uproar; they attacked Jason's house in the endeavour to bring them out before the populace,

Both the crowd and the politarchs were disturbed when they heard this;

where the people were more amenable than at Thessalonica; they were perfectly ready to receive the Word and made a daily study of the scriptures to see if it was really as Paul said.

The brothers then sent off Paul at once on his way to the sea, while Silas and Timotheus remained where they were.

Paul's escort brought him as far as Athens and left with instructions that Silas and Timotheus were to join him as soon as possible.

and as he belonged to the same trade he stayed with them and they all worked together. (They were workers in leather by trade.)

But Crispus the president of the synagogue believed in the Lord, as did all his household, and many of the Corinthians listened, believed, and were baptized.

"Then," said he, "what were you baptized in?" "In John's baptism," they replied.

people even carried away towels or aprons he had used, and at their touch sick folk were freed from their diseases and evil spirits came out of them.

and numbers who had practised magic arts collected their books and burned them in the presence of all. On adding up the value of them, it was found that they were worth two thousand pounds.

When they heard this they were filled with rage and raised the cry, "Great is Artemis of Ephesus!"

So the city was filled with confusion. They rushed like one man into the amphitheatre, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were travelling with Paul.

Some of the Asiarchs, who were friends of his, also sent to beg him not to venture into the amphitheatre.)

Some were shouting one thing, some another; for the assembly was in confusion, and the majority had no idea why they had met.

(there were plenty of lamps in the upper room where we met).

accompanied by some of the disciples from Caesarea, who conducted us to the house of Mnason, a Cypriote, with whom we were to lodge. He was a disciple of old standing.

Next day we accompanied Paul to James; all the presbyters were present,

The seven days were almost over when the Asiatic Jews, catching sight of him in the temple, stirred up all the crowd and laid hands on him,

The whole city was thrown into turmoil. The people rushed together, seized Paul and dragged him outside the temple; whereupon the doors were immediately shut.

They were attempting to kill him, when word reached the commander of the garrison that the whole of Jerusalem was in confusion.

When they heard him addressing them in Hebrew they were all the more quiet. So he went on.

Then those who were to have examined him left him at once alone; even the commander was alarmed to find that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him.

Then the high priest Ananias ordered those who were standing next Paul to strike him on the mouth.

Then, finding half the Sanhedrin were Sadducees and the other half Pharisees, Paul shouted to them, "I am a Pharisee, brothers, the son of Pharisees! It is for the hope of the resurrection from the dead that I am on trial!"

There were more than forty of them in this plot.

Horses were also to be provided, on which they were to mount Paul and carry him safe to Felix the governor.

The Jews joined in the attack, declaring that such were the facts of the case.

When he arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem surrounded him and brought a number of serious charges against him, none of which they were able to prove.

As they were spending several days there, Festus laid Paul's case before the king. "There is a man," he said, "who was left in prison by Felix.

I told them Romans were not in the habit of giving up any man until the accused met the accusers face to face and had a chance of defending himself against the impeachment.

I did so in Jerusalem. I shut up many of the saints in prison, armed with authority from the high priests; when they were put to death, I voted against them;

I announced to those at Damascus and at Jerusalem in the first instance, then all over the land of Judaea, and also to the Gentiles, that they were to repent and turn to God by acting up to their repentance.

When it was decided we were to sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to an officer of the Imperial regiment called Julius.

As we were being terribly battered by the storm, they had to jettison the cargo next day,

When the fourteenth night arrived, we were drifting about in the sea of Adria, when the sailors about midnight suspected land was near.

The sailors tried to escape from the ship. They had even lowered the boat into the sea, pretending they were going to layout anchors from the bow,

(there were about seventy-six souls of us on board, all told);

So the anchors were cut away and left in the sea, while the crew unlashed the ropes that tied the rudders, hoisted the foresail to the breeze, and headed for the beach.

while the rest were to manage with planks or pieces of wreckage. In this way it turned out that the whole company got safe to land.

Some were convinced by what he said, but the others would not believe.

As they could not agree among themselves, they were turning to go away, when Paul added this one word: "It was an apt word that the holy Spirit spoke by the prophet Isaiah to your fathers,

Much in every way. This to begin with ??Jews were entrusted with the scriptures of God.

For when we were still in weakness, Christ died in due time for the ungodly. For the ungodly!

But God proves his love for us by this, that Christ died for us when we were still sinners.

If we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son when we were enemies, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

Nevertheless, from Adam to Moses death reigned even over those whose sins were not like Adam's transgression. Adam prefigured Him who was to come,

Thank God, though you did serve sin, you have rendered whole-hearted obedience to what you were taught under the rule of faith;

When you served sin, you were free of righteousness.

For when we were unspiritual, the sinful cravings excited by the Law were active in our members and made us fruitful to Death;

We were saved with this hope in view. Now when an object of hope is seen, there is no further need to hope. Who ever hopes for what he sees already?

and though the children were still unborn and had done nothing either good or bad (to confirm the divine purpose in election which depends upon the call of God, not on anything man does),

As indeed he says in Hosea, Those who were no people of mine, I will call 'my People,' and her 'beloved' who was not beloved;

on the very spot where they were told, 'You are no people of mine,' there shall they be called 'sons of the living God.'

They would not surrender to the righteousness of God, because they were ignorant of his righteousness and therefore essayed to set up a righteousness of their own.

You will say, "But branches were broken off to let me be grafted in!"

Granted. They were broken off ??for their lack of faith. And you owe your position to your faith. You should feel awed instead of being uplifted.

Christ certainly did not please himself, but, as it is written, The reproaches of those who denounced Thee have fallen upon me. ??4 All such words were written of old for our instruction, that by remaining stedfast and drawing encouragement from the scriptures we may cherish hope.

all of which verifies the testimony we bore to Christ when we were with you.

Has Christ been parcelled out? Was it Paul who was crucified for you? Was it in Paul's name that you were baptized?

so that no one can say you were baptized in my name.

I fed you with milk, not with solid food. You were not able for solid food, and you are not able even now;

Certain individuals have got puffed up, have they, as if I were not coming myself?

In my letter I wrote that you were not to associate with the immoral.

I did not mean you were literally to avoid contact with the immoral in this world, with the lustful and the thievish, or with idolaters; in that case you would have to leave the world altogether.

Some of you were once like that; but you washed yourselves clean, you were consecrated, you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

you were bought for a price; then glorify God with your body.

You were a slave when you were called? Never mind. Of course, if you do find it possible to get free, you had better avail yourself of the opportunity.

(for you were bought for a price; you must not turn slaves to any man).

let mourners live as if they were not mourning, let the joyful live as if they had no joy, let buyers live as if they had no hold on their goods,

let those who mix in the world live as if they were not engrossed in it, for the present phase of things is passing away.

so the Lord's instructions were that those who proclaim the gospel are to get their living by the gospel?

all were baptized into Moses by the cloud and by the sea,

still with most of them God was not satisfied; they were laid low in the desert.

You know when you were pagans, how your impulses led you to dumb idols;

If the foot were to say, 'Because I am not the hand, I do not belong to the body,' that does not make it no part of the body.

If the ear were to say, 'Because I am not the eye, I do not belong to the body,' that does not make it no part of the body.

If the body were all eye, where would hearing be? If the body were all ear, where would smell be?

Suppose now I were to come to you speaking with 'tongues,' my brothers; what good could I do you, unless I had some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching to lay before you?

For my aim in writing was simply to test you, to see if you were absolutely obedient.

Besides, their minds were dulled, for to this very day, when the Old Testament is read aloud, the same veil hangs. Veiled from them the fact that the glory fades in Christ!

So I am an envoy for Christ, God appealing by me, as it were ??be reconciled to God, I entreat you on behalf of Christ.

Yes, and by more than his arrival, by the comfort which you had been to him; for he gave me such a report of how you longed for me, how sorry you were, and how eagerly you took my part, that it added to my delight.

but I am glad now ??not glad that you were pained but glad that your pain induced you to repent. For you were pained as God meant you to be pained, and so you got no harm from what I did;