But Saul (also known as Paul), filled with the Holy Spirit, stared straight at him

Then Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia, but John left them and returned to Jerusalem.

So Paul stood up, gestured with his hand and said, "Men of Israel, and you Gentiles who fear God, listen:

As Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people were urging them to speak about these things on the next Sabbath.

When the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and God-fearing proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking with them and were persuading them to continue in the grace of God.

But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and they began to contradict what Paul was saying by reviling him.

Both Paul and Barnabas replied courageously, "It was necessary to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we are turning to the Gentiles.

But the Jews incited the God-fearing women of high social standing and the prominent men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and threw them out of their region.

The same thing happened in Iconium when Paul and Barnabas went into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a large group of both Jews and Greeks believed.

Paul and Barnabas learned about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and the surrounding region.

This man was listening to Paul as he was speaking. When Paul stared intently at him and saw he had faith to be healed,

So when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in human form!"

They began to call Barnabas Zeus and Paul Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.

But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard about it, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting,

But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and after winning the crowds over, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, presuming him to be dead.

When Paul and Barnabas had a major argument and debate with them, the church appointed Paul and Barnabas and some others from among them to go up to meet with the apostles and elders in Jerusalem about this point of disagreement.

The whole group kept quiet and listened to Barnabas and Paul while they explained all the miraculous signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them.

Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to send men chosen from among them, Judas called Barsabbas and Silas, leaders among the brothers, to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas.

we have unanimously decided to choose men to send to you along with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul,

But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and proclaiming (along with many others) the word of the Lord.

After some days Paul said to Barnabas, "Let's return and visit the brothers in every town where we proclaimed the word of the Lord to see how they are doing."

but Paul insisted that they should not take along this one who had left them in Pamphylia and had not accompanied them in the work.

but Paul chose Silas and set out, commended to the grace of the Lord by the brothers and sisters.

Paul wanted Timothy to accompany 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.

A vision appeared to Paul during the night: A Macedonian man was standing there urging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us!"

After Paul saw the vision, we attempted immediately to go over to Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.

A woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, a God-fearing woman, listened to us. The Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying.

She followed behind Paul and us and kept crying out, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation."

She continued to do this for many days. But Paul became greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!" And it came out of her at once.

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

The crowd joined the attack against them, and the magistrates tore the clothes off Paul and Silas and ordered them to be beaten with rods.

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the rest of the prisoners were listening to them.

But Paul called out loudly, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!"

Calling for lights, the jailer rushed in and fell down trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas.

The jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, "The magistrates have sent orders to release you. So come out now and go in peace."

But Paul said to the police officers, "They had us beaten in public without a proper trial -- even though we are Roman citizens -- and they threw us in prison. And now they want to send us away secretly? Absolutely not! They themselves must come and escort us out!"

The police officers reported these words to the magistrates. They were frightened when they heard Paul and Silas were Roman citizens

Paul went to the Jews in the synagogue, as he customarily did, and on three Sabbath days he addressed them from the scriptures,

Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large group of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women.

But the Jews became jealous, and gathering together some worthless men from the rabble in the marketplace, they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar. They attacked Jason's house, trying to find Paul and Silas to bring them out to the assembly.

The brothers sent Paul and Silas off to Berea at once, during the night. When they arrived, they went to the Jewish synagogue.

But when the Jews from Thessalonica heard that Paul had also proclaimed the word of God in Berea, they came there too, inciting and disturbing the crowds.

Then the brothers sent Paul away to the coast at once, but Silas and Timothy remained in Berea.

Those who accompanied Paul escorted him as far as Athens, and after receiving an order for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they left.

While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was greatly upset because he saw the city was full of idols.

So they took Paul and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are proclaiming?

So Paul stood before the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I see that you are very religious in all respects.

So Paul left the Areopagus.

After this Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth.

There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to depart from Rome. Paul approached them,

Now when Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul became wholly absorbed with proclaiming the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.

Then Paul left the synagogue and went to the house of a person named Titius Justus, a Gentile who worshiped God, whose house was next door to the synagogue.

The Lord said to Paul by a vision in the night, "Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent,

Now while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews attacked Paul together and brought him before the judgment seat,

But just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, "If it were a matter of some crime or serious piece of villainy, I would have been justified in accepting the complaint of you Jews,

Paul, after staying many more days in Corinth, said farewell to the brothers and sailed away to Syria accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. He had his hair cut off at Cenchrea because he had made a vow.

When they reached Ephesus, Paul left Priscilla and Aquila behind there, but he himself went into the synagogue and addressed the Jews.

After he spent some time there, Paul left and went through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul went through the inland regions and came to Ephesus. He found some disciples there

So Paul said, "Into what then were you baptized?" "Into John's baptism," they replied.

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

and when Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they began to speak in tongues and to prophesy.

So Paul entered the synagogue and spoke out fearlessly for three months, addressing and convincing them about the kingdom of God.

God was performing extraordinary miracles by Paul's hands,

But some itinerant Jewish exorcists tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were possessed by evil spirits, saying, "I sternly warn you by Jesus whom Paul preaches."

But the evil spirit replied to them, "I know about Jesus and I am acquainted with Paul, but who are you?"

Now after all these things had taken place, Paul resolved to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. He said, "After I have been there, I must also see Rome."

And you see and hear that this Paul has persuaded and turned away a large crowd, not only in Ephesus but in practically all of the province of Asia, by saying that gods made by hands are not gods at all.

The city was filled with the uproar, and the crowd rushed to the theater together, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, the Macedonians who were Paul's traveling companions.

But when Paul wanted to enter the public assembly, the disciples would not let him.

After the disturbance had ended, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them and saying farewell, he left to go to Macedonia.

Paul was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, and Timothy, as well as Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia.

On the first day of the week, when we met to break bread, Paul began to speak to the people, and because he intended to leave the next day, he extended his message until midnight.

A young man named Eutychus, who was sitting in the window, was sinking into a deep sleep while Paul continued to speak for a long time. Fast asleep, he fell down from the third story and was picked up dead.

But Paul went down, threw himself on the young man, put his arms around him, and said, "Do not be distressed, for he is still alive!"

Then Paul went back upstairs, and after he had broken bread and eaten, he talked with them a long time, until dawn. Then he left.

We went on ahead to the ship and put out to sea for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there, for he had arranged it this way. He himself was intending to go there by land.

For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so as not to spend time in the province of Asia, for he was hurrying to arrive in Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost.

They all began to weep loudly, and hugged Paul and kissed him,

After we located the disciples, we stayed there seven days. They repeatedly told Paul through the Spirit not to set foot in Jerusalem.

He came to us, took Paul's belt, tied his own hands and feet with it, and said, "The Holy Spirit says this: 'This is the way the Jews in Jerusalem will tie up the man whose belt this is, and will hand him over to the Gentiles.'"

Then Paul replied, "What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be tied up, but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus."

The next day Paul went in with us to see James, and all the elders were there.

When Paul had greeted them, he began to explain in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

Then Paul took the men the next day, and after he had purified himself along with them, he went to the temple and gave notice of the completion of the days of purification, when the sacrifice would be offered for each of them.

(For they had seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him previously, and they assumed Paul had brought him into the inner temple courts.)

The whole city was stirred up, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple courts, and immediately the doors were shut.

He immediately took soldiers and centurions and ran down to the crowd. When they saw the commanding officer and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

But some in the crowd shouted one thing, and others something else, and when the commanding officer was unable to find out the truth because of the disturbance, he ordered Paul to be brought into the barracks.

When he came to the steps, Paul had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob,

As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the commanding officer, "May I say something to you?" The officer replied, "Do you know Greek?

Paul answered, "I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of an important city. Please allow me to speak to the people."

When the commanding officer had given him permission, Paul stood on the steps and gestured to the people with his hand. When they had become silent, he addressed them in Aramaic,

(When they heard that he was addressing them in Aramaic, they became even quieter.) Then Paul said,

the commanding officer ordered Paul to be brought back into the barracks. He told them to interrogate Paul by beating him with a lash so that he could find out the reason the crowd was shouting at Paul in this way.

When they had stretched him out for the lash, Paul said to the centurion standing nearby, "Is it legal for you to lash a man who is a Roman citizen without a proper trial?"

So the commanding officer came and asked Paul, "Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?" He replied, "Yes."

The commanding officer answered, "I acquired this citizenship with a large sum of money." "But I was even born a citizen," Paul replied.

Then those who were about to interrogate him stayed away from him, and the commanding officer was frightened when he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had had him tied up.

The next day, because the commanding officer wanted to know the true reason Paul was being accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and the whole council to assemble. He then brought Paul down and had him stand before them.