1

¹ ACTS OF THE APOSTLESa. Introduction Dear Theophilus:b I wrote my first book about all the things that Jesus did and taught,

² up to the day when he was taken up. On that day, through the Holy Spirit, he gave instructions to the apostles that he had chosen.

³ He had also presented himself to them after his suffering, and had given them lots of convincing proofsc that he was alive. Over a period of forty days, he’d appeared to them and told them things about the kingdom of God.

⁴ And he got them together and instructed themd not to leave Jerusalem. “No,” he told them, “wait for the Father’s promise, which you’ve heard about from me.

⁵ Because John baptized in water, but you’re going to be baptized in the Holy Spirit just a few dayse from now.”

⁶ Jesus Goes up to Heaven (Mk 16:19-20; Lk. 24:50-53) So when they’d gotten together, they asked him this question: “Lord,f is this the time when you’re going to give the kingdom back to Israel?”

⁷ And he said to them, “The Father has set times and moments in historyg by his own authority, and it’s not yours to know them.

⁸ But you’re going to receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. And you’re going to be my witnesses-in Jerusalem and all of Judeah and Samaria, and to the farthest reaches of the earth.”

⁹ And after he’d said those things, they watched as he was lifted up. And a cloud hid him from their sight.i

¹⁰ And as they were staring towards heaven where he’d gone, suddenly two men were standing there with them, in white clothes.

¹¹ And they said, “Why are you Galileansj standingk here lookingl towards heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, is going to come back just the same way as you watched him go into heaven.

¹² The Apostles Choose Matthias to Replace Judas Then they went back to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives. It’s near Jerusalem-about a Sabbath day’s walk.m

¹³ And when they went into the city, they went up to the room where they were staying. There was Peter, John and James, Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomewn and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus,o Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James.

¹⁴ They were all devoting themselves to prayer, with a single will. They were with the women, and Jesus’ mother Mary, and his brothers.

¹⁵ And one time during those days, Peter stood up in the middle of the brothers to speak. (There was a gatheringp there of about a hundred and twenty people.q.)

¹⁶ “Gentlemen, brothers!r Through the mouth of David, the Holy Spirit spoke ahead of time about Judas, who served as a guide to the people who arrested Jesus. That scripture had to be fulfilled.s

¹⁷ Because he was counted as one of us, and he was given his share in this ministry.” (

¹⁸ Now, this Judas bought a field with the pay he got for his crime. And he fell on his face there and split opent.-and all his insides spilled out.

¹⁹ And what happened to him became known to everyone living in Jerusalem. So that field got to be called Hakeldamau in their language-which means “Blood Field.”)

²⁰ “Because scripture saysv in the book of Psalms, His property is to be empty- Nobody is to live on it.w. And, Somebody else is to take on his responsibility.x

²¹ So somebody else has to become a witness with us of Jesus’ resurrection. He should be one of the men who have been with us all the time that Jesus walked around with usy.-

²² starting from the baptism of John, and right up to the day when Jesus was taken up from us.z

²³ And they put forward two people: Joseph Barsabbasaa (who was known as Justus), and Matthias.bb

²⁴ And they prayed: “Lord, you’re the one who knows everyone’s heart. Point out the one of these two that you’ve chosen

²⁵ to take this placecc of ministry and missiondd.-which Judas turned away from and went to his own place.”

²⁶ And they drew lotsee for them, and Matthias was chosen.ff So he was added to the eleven apostles.

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¹ The Coming of the Holy Spirit When the Day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.

² And suddenly a noise came from heaven, like the rushing of a strong wind. And it filled the whole house where they were sitting.

³ And something like tongues of fire appeared to them. The tongues of fire separated and rested on each one of them.

⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak other languages, as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak.

⁵ Now, there were devout Jews living in Jerusalem from every country in the world.a

⁶ And when they heard this sound, a crowd gathered. And they were confused, because each one of them was hearing them speak in their own language.

⁷ They were shocked and amazed. They were saying, “Look, aren’t all these people who are speaking Galileans?b

⁸ So how are we each hearing them in our own language-the one we grew up with?c

⁹ We’re Parthians, Medes, and Elamites.d We have homes in Mesopotamia,e Judea,f Cappadocia,g Pontus, Asia,

¹⁰ Phrygia,h Pamphylia,i Egypt-even visitors from Rome,

¹¹ both Jews and Gentile converts to Judaism.j We’re Cretans and Arabs. They’re telling the great deeds of God in our own languages.”

¹² And they were all shocked, and stood there bewildered. They were saying to one another, “What can this mean?”

¹³ But other people were scoffing at them. They were saying, “They’re drunk on cheap wine.”k

¹⁴ Peter Preaches to the Crowd But Peter stood together with the eleven and raised his voice. He shouted to them: “Fellowl Jews!m All of you who live in Jerusalem! Let me explain this to you-listen to what I have to say!n

¹⁵ These people aren’t drunk like you think. After all, it’s nine o’clock in the morning.

¹⁶ No, this is what the prophet Joel talked about:o

¹⁷ And in the last days, God says, I’m going to pour out my Spirit on all people.p. And your sons and daughters are going to prophesy,q. And your young ones are going to see visions, And your elders are going to dream dreams.

¹⁸ And in those days I’m going to pour out my Spirit on my servants, both men and women, and they’re going to prophesy.r

¹⁹ And I’m going to show wonders in heaven above, And miracless on the earth below: Blood and fire and clouds of smoke.

²⁰ The sun is going to be turned dark,t. And the moon is going to be turned the color of blood, Before the great and gloriousu Day of the Sovereign One comes,

²¹ And everyone that calls on the name of the Sovereign One is going to be saved.

²² Fellow Israelites, listen to this.v Jesus of Nazareth is a man whose genuineness was proven to you by God-by the miracles,w wonders, and displays of power that God did in front of youx through him. And you all know it.y

²³ This man, in the specific will and foreknowledge of God, was given over to you by the hand of lawless people. And you killed him by hanging him on a cross.

²⁴ But God has resurrected him! God freed him from the agonyz of death, because it wasn’t possible for him remain in its power.aa

²⁵ After all, David says, referring to Jesus, I’ve always had the Sovereign One right in front of me: God is at my right side, so I’m not going to lose my confidence.bb

²⁶ That’s why my heart is glad and my tongue celebrates, And my bodycc itself is still going to live in hope.

²⁷ Because you’re not going to leave my soul in Hades,dd. And you’re not going to give your holy one over to face decay:

²⁸ You’ve shown meee the paths of life, and You’re going to fill me full of joy with your presence.ff

²⁹ Gentlemen, brothers!gg I can tell you with confidence about our ancestor, David: he not only died and was buried, but his tomb is with us to this day.

³⁰ But he was a prophet. And he knew that God had sworn an oath to him: that his descendant, who would come from his own body, was going to sit on his throne.hh

³¹ And because he knew ahead of time about the resurrection of Messiah,ii he said, He wasn’t abandoned to Hades, And his flesh didn’t experience decay.jj

³² This is Jesus: God has raised him. We’re all witnesses of it:

³³ he’s been raised up to God’s right side. And he has received the promised Holy Spirit from the Father, and has poured out what you’re seeing and hearing.

³⁴ After all, David didn’t go up into heaven.kk Becausell he says himself: The Sovereign One said to my Lord, Sit on my right,

³⁵ Until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.mm

³⁶ So every family in Israel should know this for a fact:nn that God has made Jesus both Lord and Messiah-the very Jesusoo that you hung on a cross.”

³⁷ Many Become Believers and are Baptized; A Community is Born And when they heard that, they were devastated.pp And they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”

³⁸ And Peter said to them, “Change your hearts,qq and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus the Messiah, for the forgiveness of your sins. And you’ll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

³⁹ Because the promise of the Spirit is for you, and for your children, and for everyone far away-whoever our Sovereign God invites.”

⁴⁰ And Peter said lots of other things as he testified; and he was appealing to them, saying, “Get savedrr from this perverse generation!”ss

⁴¹ So those who accepted his message got baptized-and about three thousand peoplett were added to Jesus’ followers that day.

⁴² And they were faithfully committed to the teaching of the apostles, to getting together, to eating together, and to prayer.uu

⁴³ Everyone was in a state of awe.vv And God was doing lots of wonders and miraclesww through the apostles.xx

⁴⁴ And all the believersyy were together, and were sharing everything they had.

⁴⁵ And they were selling their property and possessions, and were handing out the proceedszz to everyone, as people had need.

⁴⁶ And every day they all faithfully attended the Temple together,aaa and they would eat together in people’s homes.bbb They’d share meals with joyful and sincere hearts.

⁴⁷ They were praising God, and were in good favor with everyone.ccc And day by day, the Lord was adding more people to their number who were being saved.ddd

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¹ Peter Heals a Paralyzed Man in the Temple One day, Peter and John went up to the Temple for the three o’clock prayers.

² And a man was being carried along. He had been unable to walk from birth, and every day they used to put him in front of the Temple gate called “Beautiful.” That way, he could ask for donations from people going into the Temple.

³ When he saw Peter and John about to go into the Temple, he asked them for a donation.

⁴ And Peter looked straight at him, and so did John. Peter said, “Look at us.”

⁵ And he started paying attention to them. (He was expecting to get a donation from them).

⁶ But Peter said, “I don’t have any money.a But I’ll give you what I do have. In the name of Jesus the Messiah of Nazareth, walk!”b

⁷ And grabbing him by the right hand, Peter raised him up. And all at once his feet and ankles were strengthened,

⁸ and he leaped to his feet and began walking. And he went into the Temple with them-walking and leaping, and praising God.

⁹ And all the people saw him walking and praising God,

¹⁰ and people were recognizing him as the same person who had been sitting at the Temple’s Beautiful Gate asking for donations. And they were completely amazedc and in awe over what had happened to him.

¹¹ Peter Preaches in the Temple And while he was holding onto Peter and John, all the people ran up to them in total amazement.d They were at the place called Solomon’s Colonnade.

¹² And when Peter saw what was happening, he spoke out to the people: “Fellow Israelites, why are you amazed at this? Why are you staring at us as though we’ve made this man walk by our own power or religiousness?e

¹³ The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of all our ancestors,f has glorified Jesus, God’s Son-the man you betrayed and denouncedg in front of Pilate. Pilate’s verdict was to release him!

¹⁴ But you denouncedh the Holy and Just One, and you demanded for a murderer to be given to you.

¹⁵ And you killed the Founderi of Life. But God has raised him from among the dead, and we’re witnesses to that fact.j

¹⁶ And do you see this man? You know him. The name of Jesus has made him strong-he was healed by faith in Jesus’ name.k And the faith that comes through Jesus has given him this complete health right in front of you all.

¹⁷ Now brothers, I also know that you acted in ignorance, just like your leaders did, too.

¹⁸ But that’s how God fulfilled the things about the Messiah’sl sufferings that had been announced ahead of time through allm of the prophets.

¹⁹ So change your hearts,n and turn to God to have your sins wiped away.

²⁰ That way, times of refreshmento can come from the presence of the Sovereign One. And God will send Jesus, the Messiah chosen for you.

²¹ He has to remain in heaven until the time when everything will be restored.p God has spoken about that time from the beginning of the world, through the mouths of God’s holy prophets.

²² For example, Moses said: The Sovereign One, your God, is going to raise up a prophet like me from among your brothers. Listen to him, to everything that he says to you.

²³ And whoever doesn’tq listen to that prophet is going to be completely cut off from the people.r

²⁴ And all the prophets, from Samuel onwards-all those who have said anything-have predicted these days.

²⁵ And you are their heirs! And you’re heirs of the covenants that God made with yourt ancestors. God said to Abraham, …and all the families of the earth are going to be blessed by your offspring.u

²⁶ The blessing is for you first! God has raised upv God’s Servant,w and has sent him to bless you by turning each of you from the evil things that you do.”x

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¹ Peter and John are Arrested and Brought in Front of the High Council Now, as they were speaking to the people, the priestsa and the Temple Guard and the Sadduceesb came up to them.

² They were all upset-because Peter and John were teaching the people, and because they were proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from among the dead.

³ They grabbed Peter and John and threw them in prison until the next day-because it was already evening.

⁴ But lots of people who heard their message became believers.c And the number of the men who believed got to be about five thousand.

⁵ The next morning, the leaders, elders and scripture experts got together in Jerusalem.

⁶ Annas the high priest was there; so were Caiaphasd and John and Alexander-everyone in the high priest’s family.e

⁷ And they stood Peter and John in front of them allf and started asking them, “By what power, or by what name, have you done this?”

⁸ Then Peter got filled with the Holy Spirit. He said to them, “Priests and elders of the people,g

⁹ are we being questioned today about a good deed done for a sick man-about how he was healed?

¹⁰ If so, you-and all the people of Israel-should knowh that it was in the name of Jesus the Messiah, from Nazareth. He’s the one you hung on a cross, but God raised him from among the dead. It is in his name that this man is standingi in front of you as a healthy person.

¹¹ Jesus is The stone that was rejected by you, the builders, Which has become the cornerstone.j

¹² There’s no salvation in anyone else-in all the world, God has given no other name to humanity for the salvation we need.”k

¹³ The leaders saw Peter and John’s boldness, and they realized that they were uneducated, ordinary men. They were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.

¹⁴ Butl since they saw the man who had been healed standing there with them, they had nothing to say back to them.

¹⁵ They ordered them to leave the Council, and they started discussing it together.

¹⁶ They were saying, “What shall we do with these people? After all, it’s obvious to everybody who lives in Jerusalem that a famous miracle has happened through them. We can’t deny it.

¹⁷ But let’s make sure that it isn’t spread even further in the populationm.-let’s warn them that from now on they’re not to say anything to anybody in this name.”

¹⁸ Son they called Peter and John, and they ordered them that they were not evero to speak or teach in Jesus’ name.

¹⁹ But Peter and John said back to them, “You can decide whether it’s right in God’s eyes to listen to you instead of God.

²⁰ Because we can’t keep from talkingp about the things that we’ve seen and heard.”

²¹ And when they’d threatened them further, they let them go. They couldn’t find any way to punish them, because of the people. They were all glorifyingq God over what happened-

²² after all, the man who received this miraculous healingr was over forty years old.

²³ The Believers Praise God and Pray for Boldness When Peter and John were released, they went to their own people and told them about all the things the chief priests and elders had said.

²⁴ When they heard the story, they all started praising God at once.s They said, “Sovereign One! You’re the One who made the sky and the earth and the sea, and everything in them!t

²⁵ You spoke through the mouth of your servant, our ancestor David. Through the Holy Spirit, you said,u Why were the nations enraged? Why did the peoples plan foolish things?

²⁶ Earth’s rulers took their stand, And the leaders gathered all together, Against the Sovereign God, and against God’s Messiah.v

²⁷ Andw it’s true: in this city, Herodx and Pontius Pilatey got together with the other nations and with the peoples of Israel. They came against your holy servantz Jesus, the One you anointed-

²⁸ and they did what your hand and your will had foreordained would happen.

²⁹ Soaa now, Sovereign One, notice their threats. Give your servants the gift of speaking your message with total boldness.

³⁰ Help us by reaching out your hand to heal. And let miracles and wonders happen through the name of your holy servantbb Jesus.”

³¹ And when they’d prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began boldly speaking God’s message.

³² The Believers Share their Possessions The whole group of those who had become believerscc was of one heart and one soul.dd And no one was claimingee that any of their things was private property-just the opposite. They were holding everything in common.

³³ And the apostles were testifying with great power to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Powerful grace was on them all.

³⁴ And there wasn’t anyone needy among them. Because those who owned pieces of property or houses would sell them, and they would bring the proceeds of the sales

³⁵ and lay them at the feet of the apostles. The proceeds would then be distributed to individuals according to their needs.ff

³⁶ For example, there was Joseph, who was named Barnabas by the apostles. (That name means Son of Encouragement). He was a Levitegg from Cyprus,

³⁷ and owned a piece of property. He sold it, and he brought the money and laid it at the feet of the apostles.

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¹ A Couple Lies about a Gift of Land-And Both Die Suddenly Now a certain man named Ananias,a together with his wife Sapphira,b also sold some property.

² And he secretly held back the money for himself-and his wife was in on it.c And he brought part of the money and laid it at the feet of the apostles.

³ But Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has made you dared to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to hold back some of the value of the property for yourself?

⁴ When it was still there, wasn’t it still yours?e And when it had been sold, wasn’t it still up to youf what to do with the proceeds? Why have you set your heart on doing this? You haven’t lied to human beings, but to God!”

⁵ When Ananias heard those words, he collapsed and died. And everyone who heard about it was deeply frightened.g

⁶ But the younger men got up and covered him up, carried him out, and buried him.

⁷ Now about three hours went by, and his wife came in. She didn’t know what had happened.

⁸ Peter said to her, “Tell me, is this how much the property was sold for?” And she said, “Yes, that’s the amount.”

⁹ Peter said to her, “How could you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Sovereign One? Look-the peopleh who buried your husband are at the door, and they’re going to carry you out too.”

¹⁰ And she immediately collapsed at his feet and died. When the young men came in, they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her with her husband.

¹¹ And the whole community was deeply frightened, and so was everybody who heard about it.i

¹² The Apostles Heal Lots of People The apostles were doing lots of miracles and wonders in public.j They’d all get together at Solomon’s Colonnade,k

¹³ and none of the other people dared to join them. All the same, the public thought very highly of them.

¹⁴ And even larger numbers of men-and women-were believing and coming over to the Lord.l

¹⁵ It even got to the point that people carried their sick folks out into the streets and laid them on cots and sleeping mats. That way, when Peter came, at least his shadow might fall on some of them.

¹⁶ And a crowd also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem. They were bringing sick people, and people disturbed by uncleanm spirits, and all of them were getting healed.

¹⁷ The Jewish Leaders Persecute the Apostles But the high priest, and all the people with him-that is, the Sadduceen party-got full of jealousy.

¹⁸ They arrestedo the apostles and put them in the public jail.

¹⁹ But an angel of the Sovereign One opened the doors of the jail at night and led them out. The angel said,

²⁰ “Go stand in the Temple, and tell the people everything about this Life.”

²¹ When they heard that, they went into the Temple at dawn and began to teach. Then the high priest arrived, together with his people. They called together the High Council and all the elders of Israel, and they sent people to the jail to get the apostles.

²² But when the officers arrived, they didn’t find them in the jail, so they went back.

²³ They reported: “We found the jail locked and all secure, and the guards were standing in front of the doors. But when we opened them, we didn’t find anyone.”

²⁴ When the captain of the Temple Guard and the chief priests heard that, they didn’t know what to think. What could this be?

²⁵ But then someone arrived and reported to them, “Look, the men you put in jail are standing there in the Temple and teaching the people!”

²⁶ Then the captain went off with his officers and brought them. They didn’t use force, because they were afraid of the public. They were worried about getting stoned.p

²⁷ So they brought them and stood them in the Council. And the high priest asked them,

²⁸ “We’ve given you a formal order not to teach in this name, and look!q You’ve filled Jerusalem with your teaching. You even want to make us responsible for this man’s death!”r

²⁹ Peter and the other apostles said back to him, “We have to obeys God, rather than human beings.

³⁰ The God of our ancestors has raised Jesus, whom you murdered by hanging him on a stake.t

³¹ God has lifted him up to God’s right side as Leader and Savior, to give Israel a change of heartu and forgiveness of sins.

³² And we’re witnessesv of these things. And so is the Holy Spirit, whomw God has given to those who obey God.”

³³ When they heard that, they were totally furious, and wantedx to kill them.

³⁴ But a certain Phariseey in the Council, named Gamaliel,z stood up. He was a teacher of the Law respected by all the people. He ordered the men to be put outside for a moment.

³⁵ He said to the Council, “Fellow Israelites,aa be cautious about what you’re wanting to do to these people.

³⁶ After all, some time ago Theudasbb got up and was claiming he was something or other, and about four hundred men joined him-but he was killed, and all the people that believed in him were scattered and died out.cc

³⁷ After that, Judas the Galileandd got up, at the time of the census. He led a group of people off after him in a rebellion, and he died too. And all the people that believed in him were scattered.

³⁸ So in this case I’m saying to you, have nothing to do with these people. Let them go. Because if this plan or intention of theirs is from human beings, it’ll fizzle out.

³⁹ But if it’s from God, you won’t be able to destroy them-and you’ll even find yourself fighting against God.”ee And they were persuaded by Gamaliel.

⁴⁰ They called in the apostles, and when they’d given them a beating, they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.

⁴¹ So the apostles were celebrating as they went out from the High Council. Because they’d been considered worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus.

⁴² And every day in the Temple, and from house to house, they kept on teaching and proclaiming the good news of the Messiah, Jesus.

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¹ The Believers Choose Seven Managers for the Food Distribution Work Around that time,a as the number of followers was growing, a grievance arose. The Greek-speaking Jews complained to the Hebrew speakers that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution.

² So the Twelveb called together the whole group of the followers and said, “It’s not good for us to neglect preaching God’s word to handle the food distribution.c

³ So brothers and sisters, choose from among you seven men known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We’ll put them in charge of this responsibility.

⁴ Then we’ll devote ourselves to prayer and the ministry of preaching.”d

⁵ And that idea pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus,e Nicanor,f Timon,g Parmenas,h and Nicolaus,i a proselytej from Antioch.k

⁶ They presented these men to the apostles, and the apostles prayed and laid their hands on them.l

⁷ Now, the word of God was spreading, and the number of followers of Jesus in Jerusalem was growing quickly. A large number of the priests had also accepted the faith.m

⁸ Stephen is Arrested and Brought in Front of the High Council Stephen was full of grace and power, and used to do great wonders and miraclesn in public.o

⁹ But some people from the “Synagoguep of Freedmen” stood against him. And so did some Cyreniansq and Alexandrians, and people from Ciliciar and Asia Minor. They used to argue with Stephen.

¹⁰ Buts they wouldn’t be able to resist his wisdom, and he would speak with the power of the Spirit.t

¹¹ Then they got some men to tell lies about him. They said, “We have heard him saying blasphemous things towards Moses and God.

¹² And they stirred up the people and the elders and scripture experts. They came up and violently grabbed him. And they dragged him in front of the High Council.

¹³ Then they put forward false witnesses who said, “This man never stops staying things against this Templeu and against the Law of Moses.

¹⁴ For example, we’ve heard him say that Jesus of Nazareth is going to tear down this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.”

¹⁵ And when all the people sitting on the Council looked hard at Stephen, they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

7

¹ Stephen’s Speech to the High Council The high priest said, “Is all this true?” And Stephen said,

² Gentlemen-brothers and fathers, listen. The God of glory appeared to our ancestor Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia.a This was before he settled in Haran.b

³ God said to him, Leave your land and your people, and come to the land that I’m going to show you.c

⁴ Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeansd and settled in Haran. He moved from there after the death of his father, and came to this land-where you now live.

⁵ And God didn’t give him any inheritancee in it-not even one square yard.f Yet God promised to give it to him as a possession-to him and his descendants,g. even though Abraham was childless.

⁶ And God put it this way: Yourh descendants are going to live as foreigners in a foreign land. They’re going to enslave your descendants and mistreat them for four hundred years.i And God said,

⁷ And I’m going to judge the nation that they are going to serve as slaves. After that they’re going to leave, and they’re going to serve me in this place.j

⁸ And God gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision.k And so Abraham had Isaac, and circumcisedl him on the eighth day. And Isaac circumcised Jacob, and Jacob circumcised the twelve patriarchs.

⁹ Now, the patriarchs were envious of Joseph, and sold him into slavery in Egypt. Butm God was with him,

¹⁰ and rescued him from all his troubles. And God gave Joseph favor and wisdom in the eyes of Pharaoh, the king of the Egyptians. And Pharaoh appointed him governor of Egypt and of his whole estate.

¹¹ Then there came a famine over all of Egypt and Canaan.n. There was great suffering,o and our ancestors couldn’t find anything to eat.

¹² Then Jacob heard that there was foodp in Egypt. He sent off our twelve ancestors on their first visit.

¹³ On their second visit, Joseph was recognized by his brothers, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family.q

¹⁴ Then Joseph sent for his father Jacob, and for his whole extended family of seventy-five people.

¹⁵ So Jacob came down to Egypt. And he died, as did our ancestors the patriarchs.

¹⁶ And they were transported to Shechemr and buried there, in the tomb that Abraham had purchaseds from the sons of Hamort atu Shechem.

¹⁷ As the time was getting close for the fulfillment of God’s solemn promise to Abraham, our people grew very numerousv in Egypt.

¹⁸ Thenw came a different king, who hadn’t known Joseph.

¹⁹ This king took advantage of our clan, and forced our ancestors to leave their babies outdoors to die.x

²⁰ At that time, Moses was born. And he was a child beautiful to God. For three months he was cared for in his father’s house,

²¹ and then he was left outdoors. When that happened, Pharaoh’s daughter rescued him,y and raised him as her own son.

²² And so Moses became trained in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. He was powerful in speech and in action.z

²³ When he got to be forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his Israelite brothers and sisters.

²⁴ He saw somebody being treated unjustly, and defended the person by killing the Egyptian.aa

²⁵ He was hoping his own people would understand that God was rescuing them through him.bb But they didn’t.

²⁶ The next day he showed up when they were fighting, and he tried to reconcile them and make peace. He said, “Men, you’re brothers! Why are you doing each other wrong?”

²⁷ But the one who was mistreating his fellow Israelitecc shoved him away and said, Who set you up as a leader and judge over us?

²⁸ Do you want to kill me,dd just like you killed that Egyptian yesterday?ee

²⁹ When he said that, Moses went into exile,ff and ended up living as a foreigner in Midian.gg He had two sons there.

³⁰ After forty years had gone by, an angel appeared to him in the desert of Mount Sinai,hh in the flame of a burning bush.ii

³¹ Moses was amazed at the sight of it, and when he went nearer to look more closely, he heardjj the voice of the Sovereign One:

³² I am the God of your ancestors-the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.kk. Moses started shaking, and didn’t dare to look.

³³ And the Sovereign One said to him, “Take the sandals off your feet! The place where you’re standing is holy ground.

³⁴ I’ve truly seen the mistreatment of my people in Egypt; I’ve heard their groaning, and I’ve gone down there to rescue them out of there. So now come along! I’m going to send you to Egypt.ll

³⁵ This is the same Moses that they’d rejectedmm when they said, Who set you up as a leader and judge?nn. This is the person God sent as a leader and rescuer,oo by means ofpp the angel who had appeared to him in the bush.

³⁶ This is the one who led them out, and did wonders and miracles in the land of Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the desert for forty years.

³⁷ This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, God’s going to give you a prophet like me, who comes from your own people.qq

³⁸ This Moses is the one who was in the Israelite community in the desert-with our ancestors-and with the angel that spoke to him on Mount Sinai. He received revelations from Godrr to give to us.

³⁹ But our ancestors wouldn’t listen to himss.-just the opposite. They shoved him aside and turned back to Egypt in their hearts.

⁴⁰ They said to Aaron, Make us gods that will go along in front of us! After all, this Moses, who led us out from the land of Egypt-we don’t know what happened to him.tt

⁴¹ And at that timeuu they made a calf idol. They sacrificed to it, and were celebratingvv the object that they’d made.ww

⁴² And God turned away, and left them to worship the stars in the sky.xx Just as scripture saysyy in the Book of the Prophets, Family of Israel,zz did you bring me offeringsaaa and sacrifices for forty years in the desert? No!

⁴³ Instead,bbb you carried along the tent of Moloch,ccc And the star of your god Rephanddd.- The images that you made so you could worship them. Well,eee I’m going to move you beyond Babylon!fff

⁴⁴ Our ancestors had the tent of witness in the desert. The One who talked with Moses had instructed him just how to make it, using the pattern that he’d seen.ggg

⁴⁵ Our ancestors who were with Joshua inherited it, and they brought it into the Promised Land. They took over those nations-God drove them out right in front of them.hhh That went on until David’s time.iii

⁴⁶ David “found favor in God’s eyes,” and he asked if he could find a dwelling place for Godjjj in Jacob’s family.

⁴⁷ But Solomon built God a house.

⁴⁸ Of course, the Most High doesn’t live in buildings built by human hands. Just like the prophet says,

⁴⁹ Heaven is my throne, And the earth is the footstool under my feet. What kind of house are you going to build for me, says the Sovereign One. Where am I going to lie down and rest?kkk

⁵⁰ Didn’t my hands make all of this?lll

⁵¹ You’re stiff-necked! Your hearts are uncircumcised, and so are your ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just like your ancestors!

⁵² Which of the prophets didn’t your ancestors persecute? They killed those who predicted the coming of the Just One-and you’ve become his betrayers and murderers!mmm

⁵³ You received the Law through the instructions of angels, and you didn’t obey it!nnn

⁵⁴ The High Council Stones Stephen to Death When they heard that, they were totally enraged,ooo and ground their teeth at Stephen.

⁵⁵ But he was full of the Holy Spirit. He stared into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at God’s right side.

⁵⁶ And he said, “Look! I see the heavens opened wide, and the Human One standing at God’s right side!

⁵⁷ But they shouted with a loud voice and covered their ears. Then they rushed at him all together,

⁵⁸ and threw him out of the city. And they began to stone him. And the witnesses took their coats off and laid them at the feet of a young man called Saul.

⁵⁹ As he was being stoned, Stephen called out, “Lord Jesus, accept my spirit!”

⁶⁰ Then he fell to his knees and shouted out with a loud voice, “Lord, don’t hold this sin against them!” And he diedppp saying that.

8

¹ Saul Persecutes the Community of Believers Now, Saul was in agreement with Stephen’s murder. And a huge persecution started that day in Jerusalem against the community. And everyone but the apostles got scattered throughout the countrysidea of Judeab and Samaria.c

² Meanwhile,d some devout men buried Stephen, crying loudly as they mourned for him.e

³ And Saul was devastating the community. He was going house to house, dragging out men and women, and putting them in prison.

⁴ Philip Preaches in Samaria Meanwhile, those who had been scattered went here and there preaching the good news.

⁵ For example, Philip wentf to the city of Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah to them.

⁶ And the crowds were paying complete attention to the things Philip was saying.g They listened and they watched the miracles he was doing.

⁷ For example, lots of people had unclean spirits, and the spirits would come out, screaming. And lots of people who were paralyzed and unable to walk got healed.

⁸ There was a lot of joy in that city.

⁹ Now, a certain man named Simon had been practicing sorcery in the city before Philip came. He’d astonished the people of Samaria, and was claiming to be somebody big.

¹⁰ Everybody used to pay attention to him, from the weakest to the most powerful.h They’d say, “This man is what’s called ‘the Great Power of God’!”i

¹¹ And they paid attention to him, because he’d been astonishing them with his magic arts for a good while.

¹² But then they believed Philip as he preached the good news about the Reign of God and about Jesus Christ.j And both men and women were getting baptized.

¹³ And Simon became a believerk too, and got baptized. He was listening carefully to Philip, and he was astonished, watching the miracles and the massive displays of power that were happening.

¹⁴ Then the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samarial had accepted God’s message.m So they sent Peter and John to them.

¹⁵ Those two went down and prayed for them to receive the Holy Spirit.

¹⁶ (Because the Spirit hadn’t come on any of them yet. They’d only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)

¹⁷ Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸ And Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given when the apostles laid their hands on people.n He brought them money, and

¹⁹ was saying, “Give me that authority, too, so that if I lay my hands on somebody, they’ll receive the Holy Spirit.”

²⁰ But Peter said to him, “Your money could go to hell, and you with it! You thought you would buy the gift of God with money?!o

²¹ You don’t have any part or place in this ministry! Your heart is not right withp God.

²² So renounceq this awful intention of yours, and plead with the Lord-just maybe you’ll be forgiven for having that intention in your heart.r

²³ Because I can see that you’re in a states of bitterness, and you’re tied up in wrongdoing.”

²⁴ Simon said back to him, “Please pray for me to the Lord yourselves-pray that nothing you said will happen to me.”

²⁵ When they’d stated their testimony, and had spoken the message about the Lord,t they started back to Jerusalem. And they were preaching the good news to lots of Samaritanu villages on the way.

²⁶ Philip Tells the Good News to a High Official from Ethiopia And an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go south on that deserted road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”v

²⁷ And he got up and went. And he saw an Ethiopian man-an influential officialw of the Candace,x the queen of Ethiopia. He was in charge of her whole treasury. He’d come to Jerusalem to worship,

²⁸ and now he was returning. And he was sitting in his carriage, reading the prophet Isaiah.

²⁹ And the Spirit said to Philip, go over and join that carriage.

³⁰ And when he ran up to it, Philip heard him reading Isaiah the prophet. And he said, “Do you understand what you’re reading?”

³¹ And the man said, “Well, how could I, unless somebody’s going to guide me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

³² And this is the scripture passage that he was reading: He was led like a sheep to slaughter, And just like a lamb in the hands of a sheep-shearer,y he was silent, And he didn’t open his mouth.

³³ He was humiliated-his trial was hijacked.z Who’s going to tell the story of his descendants? Because his life has been takenaa from the earth.bb

³⁴ When he’d read that, the official saidcc to Peter, “Can I ask you: who’s the prophet saying this about? Is it about himself, or about somebody else?”

³⁵ And Philip began to speak. Starting from this scripture,dd he told him the good news about Jesus.

³⁶ And as they were going along the road, they came to some water. And the officialee said, “Look, water! Is there anything to keep me from being baptized?ff

³⁷

³⁸ And he ordered the carriage to stop, and the two of them-Philip and the officialgg.-went down into the water. And Philip baptized him.

³⁹ And when Philip came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched him away, and the officialhh didn’t see him anymore. He simply went on his way, celebrating.

⁴⁰ Meanwhile, Philip found himself in Azotus.ii And he went through all the towns preaching the good news until he came to Caesarea.jj

9

¹ Jesus Stops Saul in his Tracks-And he Becomes a Believer But Saul was still fuming with murderous threatsa against the Lord’s followers. He went to the high priest and

² asked him for authorization letters to the synagoguesb in Damascus.c That way, if he found people from the Wayd.-men or women-he could bring them to Jerusalem in chains.

³ As he was getting near Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light shone on him out of heaven.

⁴ He fell to the ground and heard a voice speaking to him: “Saul, Saul! Why are you persecuting me?”

⁵ And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” He said, “I am Jesus. I’m the one you’re persecuting.

⁶ Now get up and go into the city, and you’ll be told what you have to do.”

⁷ Meanwhile, the men traveling with Saul had been standing there speechless. They’d heard the voice,e but they couldn’t see anyone.

⁸ Saul got up off the ground. But when he opened his eyes, he couldn’t see anything. So they led him by the hand as they went into Damascus.

⁹ And for three days he couldn’t see, and he didn’t eat or drink anything.

¹⁰ Now, there was a certain follower of Jesus in Damascus named Ananias,f and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias!” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.”

¹¹ And the Lord said to him, “Gog over to Straight Street, to Judas’s house. Go in and ask for a man named Saul, from Tarsus. Because he’s praying,

¹² and he’s seen a man named Ananias come and lay hands on him so that he’ll see again.”

¹³ But Ananias said back to him, “Lord, I’ve heard about this man from lots of people-what harmful things he’s done to your holy ones in Jerusalem.

¹⁴ And here in Damascus he has authority from the chief priests to arrest everyone who prays to you.”h

¹⁵ But the Lord said to him, “Go, because he belongs to me. I’ve chosen himi to bring my name to nations and rulers, and to the peoplej of Israel.

¹⁶ I’m going to show him how much he has to suffer for my sake.”k

¹⁷ So Ananias went off to Judas’s house, and laid his hands on Saul. He said, “Brother Saul, the Lord sent me-the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road asl you were coming here. He sent me so that you’ll be able to see again, and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

¹⁸ And right away something like fish scales fell off of Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. And Saul got up and got baptized.

¹⁹ And when he’d eaten some food, his strength came back. Saul Preaches Jesus in the Synagogues of Damascus Saul was with the followers of Jesus in Damascus for several days.

²⁰ And right away, in the synagogues,m he started proclaiming that Jesus was the Son of God.

²¹ And everybody that heard him was astonished. They were saying, “Isn’t this the man who tried to wipe out the people in Jerusalem that pray to this Jesus?n And didn’t he come here to arrest them and bring themo to the chief priests?”

²² And Saul got more and more powerful. He would completely out-argue the Jewsp in Damascus, and was proving that this was the Messiah.

²³ Paul Escapes from Damascus After quite a few days of this, the Jews of Damascus formed a plan to assassinate him.

²⁴ But Saul found out about their plan.q They were actually watching the gates of the city day and night, waiting for an opportunity so they could assassinate him.

²⁵ But his followers got him through the wall one night by lowering him down in a basket.

²⁶ Saul Visits the Believers and Apostles in Jerusalem When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he began trying to join the followers of Jesus. But they were all afraid of him. They didn’t believe he was a follower.

²⁷ But Barnabas took charge of him and led him to meet the apostles. Barnabas told them the story of how Saul had seen the Lord on the road, and the Lord had spoken to him. And he told about how he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus in Damascus.

²⁸ And he was with them for some time, walking around in Jerusalem and speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord.

²⁹ He was also talking and arguing with the people who spoke Greek.r But they started trying to assassinate him.

³⁰ When the brothers and sisters learned about it, they took him down to Caesareas and sent him off to Tarsus.

³¹ So the community all over Judeat and Galilee and Samaria had peace, and was growing stronger. The community was livingu in reverence for the Lord and growing, thanks to the Holy Spirit’s encouragement.

³² Peter’s Miracles in Lydda and Joppa Now, Peter was traveling around tov all the communities. At one point he happened to visit the holy ones who lived in Lydda.w

³³ There he found a man named Aeneas,x who had been lying in bed for eight years.

³⁴ Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ is healing you! Get up and make your bed.” And right away he stood up.

³⁵ Everyone in Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they all turned to the Lord.

³⁶ And in Joppa there was a follower of Jesus named Tabitha. That name means “Dorcas.”y She was always doing kind things and helping poor people.z

³⁷ But around that time, she got sickaa and died. And they washed her body and laid her in an upstairs room.

³⁸ Now, Lydda was near Joppa. And when the followers heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him. They pleaded with him, “Please come over to us right away!”

³⁹ So Peter got up and went with them. When he got there, they led him to the upstairs room. And all the widows crowded around him, crying. And they were showing him shirts and clothes Dorcas had made when she was still with them.

⁴⁰ But Peter made them all leave the room,bb and got on his knees and prayed. Thencc he turned to the body and said, “Tabitha, get up!” And she opened her eyes! And when she saw Peter, she sat up.

⁴¹ And he offered her his hand, and helped her stand up. Thendd he called to the holy ones and the widows, and gave her back to them alive.ee

⁴² That miracle became well known throughout Joppa, and lots of people became believersff in the Lord.

⁴³ And Peter eventually spent quite a few days in Joppa with a tannergg named Simon.

10

¹ The Spirit Draws Peter Together with Cornelius-A Gentile There was a man in Caesarea named Cornelius.a He was a Roman officerb from what was called “the Italian Regiment.”

² He was very devout towards God,c along with his whole family.d He used to do lots of things to help poor people,e and he prayed to God all the time.f

³ In a vision, at about three o’clock one afternoon, he clearly saw an angel of God coming to him. The angel said to him, “Cornelius!”

⁴ He stared at the angel, and was very frightened. He said, “What is it, sir?” And the angel said to him, “Your prayers and the things you do for the poor have gone up as a memorial offering to God.

⁵ Now, send some men to Joppa to get Simon, who’s called Peter.

⁶ He’s staying as a guest with Simon the tanner, whose house is next to the sea.”g

⁷ As soon as the angel speaking to him went away, Cornelius called two household servants, and one of his attendant soldiers who was devout towards God.

⁸ He explained everything to them and sent them to Joppa.

⁹ Now, the next day, they were still on the way. About noon, as they were getting near the city, Peter went up onto the roof to pray.

¹⁰ And he got hungry, and was wanting to eat. While they were making something for him, he went into a dream state.h

¹¹ And he saw heaven opened up, and a thing like a huge sheet coming down. He watched it being lowered down onto the ground by its four corners.i

¹² In it were all the various kinds of animals, reptiles and birds.j

¹³ And a voice came to him: “Get up, Peter-kill something and eat it.”

¹⁴ But Peter said, “Absolutely not, Lord! I’ve never eaten anything unholyk or unclean!”

¹⁵ And a voice came to him a second time: “Stop calling things God has cleansed unholy!”l

¹⁶ And this happened three times. Thenm the thing was lifted up into heaven.

¹⁷ Peter was all confused inside. What did his vision mean? Then suddenly,n there were the men sent by Cornelius. They’d asked for directions to Simon’s house, and were standing at the gate.

¹⁸ They asked, “Is Simon, who’s also called Peter, staying here?”

¹⁹ Peter was thinking about the vision when the Spirit said to him,o “Threep men are looking for you.

²⁰ Get up and go downstairs, and go with them without any hesitation.q I’ve sent them.”

²¹ So Peter went down and said to the men, “I’m the one you’re looking for. What brings you here?”

²² And they said, “Cornelius the Roman officerr is a person of integritys and reverence for God. He’s well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation. He was told by a holy angel to invite you to his house and hear what you have to say.”t

²³ So he invited them in and made them his guests. The next day he got up and left with them. Some of the followersu from Joppa went with him too.

²⁴ Theyv arrived in Caesarea the next morning. Cornelius was expecting them, and had gotten together his relatives and close friends.

²⁵ At the moment Peter arrived, Cornelius met him and bowed down to the ground at his feet.w

²⁶ But Peter raised him up. He said, “Stand up. I’m a human being, just like you.”x

²⁷ And Peter went inside, talking with him, and found lots of people gathered together.

²⁸ Peter said to them, “You know very well that it’s forbidden for a Jewish man to associate with a Gentile or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me not to call any human being unholy or unclean.

²⁹ That’s why I came without objection when I was invited. So may I ask you, why have you invited me here?”

³⁰ And Cornelius said, “Four days ago, at about three o’clock in the afternoon, I was in my house praying.y And suddenly a man in shining clothes stood in front of me.

³¹ He said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and the things you do for the poor have gone up as a memorial offering right toz God.

³² So send to Joppa and invite Simon, who’s called Peter. He’s staying as a guest in Simon the tanner’s house, next to the sea.’aa

³³ So I sent people to you right away, and you’ve been kind enough to come. So now, we’re all here in God’sbb presence to hear everything the Sovereign Onecc has told you to say.”

³⁴ Peter Preaches to the People in Cornelius’s House So Peter began to speak. He said,dd “I reallyee understand that God doesn’t regard some people as better than others.ff

³⁵ No-in every nation, the person who reveres God and does what is right is acceptable to God.

³⁶ You know the message that God sent to the peoplegg of Israel, bringing the good news of peacehh through Jesus the Messiah. He is Lord of all people!

³⁷ You know what happened throughout Judea,ii starting fromjj Galilee-after the baptism that John announced.

³⁸ You know how God anointedkk Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He traveled around doing good and healing everyone who was oppressed by the devil, because God was with him.

³⁹ We’re witnesses of all the things he did-in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem. And they murdered him by hanging him on a stake.ll

⁴⁰ God raised him on the third day, and let him show himself to usmm.-

⁴¹ not to all the people, but only to the witnesses God had chosen beforehand. We’re the ones who ate and drank with him after his resurrectionnn from among the dead.

⁴² And God has commanded us to announce to the people and testify: God has appointed this man as judge of the living and of the dead!

⁴³ This is the testimony of all the prophets:oo that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

⁴⁴ The Holy Spirit Falls on Gentiles While Peter was still saying these words, the Holy Spirit fell on everyone who was listening to the message.

⁴⁵ And the Jewish believerspp who had come with Peter were astounded-becauseqq the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles too.

⁴⁶ After all, they were hearing them speaking in other languages and praising the greatness of God. Then Peter said,

⁴⁷ “Surely nobody can refuse to let these people go into the water and be baptized! Haven’t they received the Holy Spirit just like we did?rr

⁴⁸ And Peter gave instructions for them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay with them for a few days.

11

¹ Peter Reports Back to the Apostles and Believers in Jerusalem Thena the apostles and the brothers and sisters throughout Judeab heard that the Gentiles had accepted God’s messagec too.

² And when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the Jewish believersd started arguing with him.

³ They were saying, “You paid a visit to uncircumcised men, and ate with them!”e

⁴ But Peter began explaining it to them step by step from the beginning. He said,

⁵ “I was in the city of Joppa praying, when I saw a vision in a dream state: a thing like a huge sheet was coming down out of heaven, being lowered by its four corners. And it landed right next to me.f

⁶ I looked closely at it, and began to examine it. And I saw four-footed animals, wild animals, reptiles and birds.g

⁷ And then I heard a voice saying to me, “Get up, Peter-kill something and eat it.”

⁸ But I said, “Absolutely not, Lord! Nothing unholyh or unclean has ever gone in my mouth!”

⁹ But the voice said back to me again from heaven, “Stop calling things God has cleansed unholy!”i

¹⁰ And that happened three times, then it was all lifted back up into heaven.

¹¹ Then suddenlyj at that moment three men were there at the house where I was staying. They’d been sent to me from Caesarea.

¹² And the Spirit told me to go with them without any hesitation.k These six brothers also went with me, and we went to the man’s house.

¹³ And he told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, who said, ‘Send to Joppa to get Simon, who’s called Peter.

¹⁴ He’s going to say some things to you, and you and your whole family are going to be saved by his message.’l

¹⁵ And as I was just starting to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as it did on us in the beginning.

¹⁶ And I remembered the Lord’s words-how he used to say, ‘John baptized with water, but you are going to be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

¹⁷ So if God gave them the same gift as God gave us when we became believersm in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think I could stand in God’s way?”n

¹⁸ When they heard that, they quit complaining and glorified God. They were saying, “Well then, God has also given the Gentiles the change of heart o that leads to eternal life.”

¹⁹ The Community of Believers in Antioch, Syria Now, as for the people who had gotten scattered because of the persecution to do with Stephen, they traveled all the way to Phoeniciap and Cyprus and Antioch. But they weren’t telling the message to anyone except Jews.

²⁰ Some of them were from Cyprus and Cyrene.q When these folks came to Antioch, they started talking to the people who spoke Greekr as well, and were telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus.

²¹ And the Lord’s powers was with them, and a great number of people became believerst and turned to the Lord.

²² Then the news about them came tou the community in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas off to Antioch.

²³ He was very glad when he arrived and saw the grace of God. And he was encouraging them all to stay true to the Lord with sincere hearts.v

²⁴ Because Barnabas was a good man, and he was full of the Holy Spirit and faith. And a good sized crowd of people were brought over to the Lord.

²⁵ Then Barnabas went off to Tarsus to look for Saul.

²⁶ And when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. And so it worked outw that they stayed inx that community for a whole year, and taught a good sized crowd. And it was in Antioch that the followers of Jesus first got to be known as “Christians.”

²⁷ Now, during that time,y some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.

²⁸ And one of them, named Agabus,z got up and predicted, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that a huge famine was about to take place throughout the whole world. (That famine happened during the reign of Claudius Caesar.aa.)

²⁹ So the followers made a decision. In line with their financial condition, each of them would send something to help the brothers and sisters in Judea.bb

³⁰ And they did that. They sent the money to the elders withcc Barnabas and Saul.

12

¹ Herod Arrests and Executes James, and Peter is Thrown in Prison At that time, King Heroda arrested some people from the community, determined to mistreat them.

² And he executed James the brother of John.b

³ And when he saw that that pleased the Jewish leaders,c he went on to arrest Peter too. (It was during the festival of Unleavened Bread.d.)

⁴ And when he had arrested him, he put him in prison. And he posted four squads of soldierse to guard him. He wanted to bring him out to the people for a trial after the Passover.f

⁵ So while Peter was kept under guard in prison, the communities were praying all the time to God for him.g

⁶ Peter Miraculously Escapes from Prison When Herod was just about to bring him out in public, that night Peter was asleep between two soldiers. He was shackled with two chains, and guards were in front of the door, guarding the cell.h

⁷ Then suddenly the Lord’s angel stood there, and a light shone in the cell. He tappedi Peter on the side and woke him up. He was saying, “Quickly-get up!” And Peter’s chains fell off his hands.

⁸ And the angel said to him, “Get dressed, and put on your sandals.” And Peter did so. Then the angel said to him, “Throw on your coat and come with me.”j

⁹ As Peter followed him outside, he didn’t know that what the angel was doing was really happening. He just thought he was seeing a vision.

¹⁰ They passed through the first and second guard stations, then they came to the iron gate that leads to the city. And it opened for them all by itself. They came out and walked for a block,k then suddenly the angel left him.

¹¹ And Peter came to his senses and said, “Now I really know the Lord sent his angel and rescued me-from Herod’s grasp,l and from everything the Jewish public has been expecting.”

¹² When he realized that, he went to the home of Mary, John Mark’s mother. There were a good number of people gathered there praying.

¹³ Peter knocked on the door to the courtyard, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer it.

¹⁴ When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so happy that she didn’t open the door, but ran in and told everyone that Peter was standing right outside the courtyard.m

¹⁵ But they said, “You’re crazy.” But she insisted that it was true. Then they were saying, “It’s his angel.”

¹⁶ Meanwhile, Peter kept on knocking. And when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished.

¹⁷ When Peter had signaled for quiet with his hand,n he told them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, “Report all this to James and to the brothers and sisters.” Then he left and went to a different place.

¹⁸ When morning came, there was quite a bit of upseto among the soldiers: what had become of Peter?

¹⁹ Herod had him searched for, and he wasn’t found. When he’d questioned the guards, he ordered for them to be executed. Then he went down from Judeap to Caesarea and stayed there a while.

²⁰ Herod Dies One timeq Herod was furious with the people of Tyre and Sidon.r And they came to him all together, after they had won over Blastus, Herod’s personal assistant.s They were pleading for peace, because their region got its food from Herod’s country.

²¹ On the day of the meeting,t Herod put on his royal robes and sat on his throne. And he began to give a speech to them.

²² But the people were shouting, “This is the voice of a god, not a human being!”

²³ And right away an angel of the Sovereign One struck him down-because he hadn’t given God the glory. And he was eaten by worms and died.

²⁴ But the preaching of God’s message flourishedu and increased. And Barnabas and Saul returned to Antioch when they had finished their work of servicev in Jerusalem.w And they brought John Markx along with them.

²⁵

13

¹ The Antioch Community Sends Paul and Barnabas to Preach the Good News In Antioch, in the Christian community there, there were prophets and teachers. There was Barnabas, and Simon (known as Nigera.), Luciusb of Cyrene,c Manaend (who was brought up with Herode the tetrarch), and Saul.

² And as they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set aside Barnabas and Saul for me, for the work that I’ve called them to do.”

³ Sof when they’d fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them off.

⁴ Paul and Barnabas Preach the Good News in Cyprus Those two, sent out by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia.g From there they sailed off to Cyprus,

⁵ and were announcing God’s message in Salamish in the Jewish synagogues.i They also had Johnj with them as a helper.

⁶ When they’d gone through the whole island as far as Paphos,k they discovered a man who was a sorcerer. He was a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus.

⁷ He was with the governor,l Sergius Paulus, who was a smart man. The governor sent for Barnabas and Saul, and asked them if he could hear God’s message.

⁸ But Elymasm the sorcerer opposed them. (Elymas actually means “sorcerer.”)n He was trying to turn the governoro away from the faith.

⁹ But Saul (who is also known as Paul) was filled with the Holy Spirit, and looked intently at him.

¹⁰ He said, “You’re full of every kind of deception and trickery, you son of the devil! You’re an enemy of everything right. Do you never stop trying to twist the straight paths of the Sovereign One?

¹¹ And now, look! The Sovereign One’s hand is on you. You’re going to be blind-unable to see the sun for a while.” And right away a fog and a darkness came over him. And he was wandering around and searching for people to lead him by the hand.

¹² When the governorp saw what happened, he became a believer.q He was astounded at Lord’s teaching.

¹³ Paul and Barnabas Preach in Antioch of Pisidia From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia.r John then left them and returned to Jerusalem.

¹⁴ But they went on from Perga and arrived at Antioch in Pisidia.s And they went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down.

¹⁵ After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent a message to them. It said, “Brothers, if one of you has an encouraging message for the people, speak to us.”

¹⁶ So Paul got up and signaled for quiet with his hand. He said, Fellow Israelites, and people who revere God,t listen.

¹⁷ The God of this people, Israel, chose our ancestors. And God made our peopleu prosper during their stay in Egypt, and led them out of there with great power.v

¹⁸ Then,w for a period of about forty years, God put up with themx in the wilderness.

¹⁹ Theny God destroyed seven nations in Canaan,z and gave them their land as an inheritance.

²⁰ All of that took about four hundred and fifty years. After that, God gave them judgesaa until Samuel the prophet.

²¹ At that point they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish for forty years. He was a man from the tribe of Benjamin.

²² Then God removed him and raised up David as a king for them. It was about David that God testified: I’ve found David the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He’s going to do all the things I want him to do.bb

²³ From this man’s descendants,cc in line with the promise, God brought Israel a Savior: Jesus.dd

²⁴ Before his coming, John had announced to all the people of Israel a baptism foree a change of heart.ff

²⁵ And when John was finishing his work,gg he used to say, I’m not whathh you think I am! I’m not the One.ii Far from it! He’s coming after me, and I’m not even worthy to untie one of his sandals.jj

²⁶ Gentlemen, brothers,kk children of the family of Abraham-and those among you who revere God: the message of this salvation has been sent to us.ll

²⁷ Because the people living in Jerusalem and their leaders didn’t recognize him. They condemned him, fulfillingmm the very statementsnn of the prophets that are read aloud every Sabbath!oo

²⁸ Without finding any basis for a death sentence, they asked Pilate for him to be executed.

²⁹ And when they’d fulfilled all the things that have been written about him, they took him down from the stake and laid him in a tomb.

³⁰ But God raised him from among the dead!

³¹ He appeared, over a period of days, to the people who had gone up with him to Jerusalem from Galilee. These people are now his public witnesses.pp

³² Soqq we’re bringing you the good news: that God’s promise to our ancestors has come true!

³³ God has fulfilled it for us, their children,rr by resurrecting Jesus.ss Just as scripture saystt in the second Psalm, You’re my Son- I’ve become your Father today!uu

³⁴ Because God has raised him from among the dead, and he’s never going back to decay. Just as it says, I’m going to give you the holy and sure blessings I promised to David.vv

³⁵ Andww it also says in another place, You’re not going to allow your holy one to experience decay.xx

³⁶ Now David, after serving God’s purpose in his own generation, did die. And he was laid beside his ancestors and experienced decay.yy

³⁷ But the One that God has raised has not experienced decay.zz

³⁸ So, gentlemen, brothers, you should know thataaa forgiveness of sins is being announced to you through Jesusbbb.-

³⁹ forgiveness for all the things you couldn’t get forgivenccc under the Law of Moses. Throughddd him, everyone who believes is found innocent.

⁴⁰ So make sure that what the prophets have said doesn’t happen toeee you:

⁴¹ Look, you scoffers- Be amazed, and disappear. Because I myself am doing something in your time- Something you wouldn’t even believe if somebody told you.fff

⁴² When Paul and Barnabas left, the people invited them to talk about these thingsggg on the next Sabbath.

⁴³ As the synagogue let out, lots of the Jews and the devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas. They spoke to them and were urging them to stay in God’s grace.

⁴⁴ On the next Sabbath, practically the whole city had gathered to hear the message about the Lord.hhh

⁴⁵ When the Jews saw the crowds, they got full of jealousy. And they were contradicting the things Paul was sayingiii and insulting him.

⁴⁶ But Paul and Barnabas were very bold. They said, “It was important to tell you God’s message first. Since you’re refusing it,jjj and you consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we’re turning to the Gentiles.

⁴⁷ After all, the Lord has commanded us to do so: I have appointed you as a light to the Gentiles: You’re to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.kkk

⁴⁸ When the Gentiles heard that, they were very happy, and were praisinglll the message about the Lord.mmm And those who were chosennnn for eternal life became believers.ooo

⁴⁹ And the message about the Lord spread through the whole region.

⁵⁰ But the Jews stirred up the well-respected religious women and the important men of the city. They instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and kicked them out of their area.

⁵¹ Soppp they shook the dust off their feetqqq in protest against them and went to Iconium.rrr

⁵² And the followers of Jesus continued to be full of joy and the Holy Spirit.

14

¹ Paul and Barnabas Preach in Iconium The same thing happened in Iconium.a They went in the Jewish synagogueb and spoke, andc a large number of Jews and of Gentilesd became believers.e

² But the Jews who didn’t believe stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned themf against the brothers and sisters.

³ Nonetheless,g Paul and Barnabas stayed there quite some time, and were very courageous for the Lord.h And the Lord was testifying to the message about his grace by giving grace for miraclesi and wonders to happen through the touch of their hands.

⁴ But the people of the city were divided. Some people sided with the Jews, and others sided with the apostles.

⁵ Finally there was a move from both the Gentiles and the Jews, together with their leaders, to treat them shamefully and stone them.

⁶ When Paul and Barnabas learned about it, they escaped to the towns of Lystraj and Derbek in Lycaonia,l and the area around there.

⁷ And they were preaching the good news there.

⁸ Paul and Barnabas Preach in Lystra and Derbe A certain man with paralyzed feet used to sit outdoors in Lystra. He had been crippled from birth, and had never walked.

⁹ This man listened to Paul talking. When Paul looked closely at him, he saw that he had faith to be healed.m

¹⁰ Paul said in a loud voice, “Stand straight up on your feet!” And he jumped up and started walking around.

¹¹ When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in their localn language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!”o

¹² And they started calling Barnabas ‘Zeus’p and Paul ‘Hermes’q (because Paul was the main speaker).

¹³ And the priest of the temple of Zeus, which was right outside the city, brought bulls and flower necklaces to the gates. Together with the crowds, he was getting ready to offer a sacrifice.

¹⁴ When the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard about it, they tore their robes and rushed out into the crowd. They were shouting,

¹⁵ “Men, why are you doing this? We’re human beings just the same as you! We’re bringing you the good news, so that you’ll turn away from useless idols like these to the Living God- the God who made heaven,r earth and sea, and everything in them.s

¹⁶ In times past,t God allowed all the nations to go their own ways.

¹⁷ All the same, God has certainly provided proof of being realu.-by doing good things like giving you the rains from heaven, and the harvest seasons. God satisfies your hearts with food and with happiness.”

¹⁸ Even when they said all that, Paul and Barnabas barely stopped the crowds from sacrificing to them.

¹⁹ Paul is Nearly Stoned to Death Later,v Jews came over from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds. They stoned Paul and started dragging him out of the city-they thought he was dead.

²⁰ But the followers of Jesus got in a circle around him, and he got up and went into the city. The next day, he left with Barnabas for Derbe.

²¹ Paul and Barnabas Return to Antioch in Syria After they’d brought the good news to that city, and had made quite a few converts, they went back to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch.

²² They were strengthening the followers,w encouraging them to stay in the faith. And they were saying, “We have to go through lots of sufferingsx to enter God’s reign.”

²³ They also appointed elders for them in each community. When they’d prayed and fasted,y they handed them over into the care of the Lord they had come to trust.

²⁴ And when they’d gone through Pisidia,z they came to Pamphylia.aa

²⁵ When they’d preached the good newsbb in Perga, they went down to the coast at Attalia.cc

²⁶ From there they sailed off to Antioch,dd the place where they had first been entrusted to the grace of God for this work. They were finished.ee

²⁷ When they arrived, they got the community together. And they began telling them about all the things God had done with them-howff God had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.

²⁸ And they stayed with the followers for quite a long time.

15

¹ A Conference in Jerusalem about the Status of Gentile Believers Thena some people came down from Judeab and were teaching the brothers and sisters that “Unless you’re circumcised according to the custom handed down from Moses,c you can’t be saved.”

² And there was a big disagreementd and debate between Paul and Barnabas and the people visiting from Jerusalem.e So the brothers and sisters appointedf Paul and Barnabas, and certain other members of the community,g to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question.

³ So when they’d been sent on their journey by the community, they went through Phoeniciah and Samaria. As they went, they were telling the story of the conversion of the Gentiles, and they gavei a lot of joy to all the brothers and sisters.

⁴ When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the community and by the apostles and elders. And they toldj them all the things God had done with them.

⁵ But certain believers, who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees,k got up and were saying, “You have to circumcisel them, and command them to keep the Law of Moses.”

⁶ Som the apostles and elders got together to look into this question.

⁷ And after much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Gentlemen, brothers!n You know what happened with uso back in the early days: God chose to have the Gentiles hear the message of the good news from my mouth-and to become believers.p

⁸ And God, who knows people’s hearts, testified on their behalf, by giving them the Holy Spirit, just like us.

⁹ And God didn’t make any distinction between us and them: God cleansed their hearts by faith.

¹⁰ So why are you testing God now? Why are you trying to put a yoke on the necks of the followers-one that neither our ancestors nor ourselves have been strong enough to bear?

¹¹ No, we believe that it’s through the grace of the Lord Jesus that we’re saved, just the same way they are.”

¹² Then the whole crowd got quiet, and they were listening to Barnabas and Paul. They were describing all the miraclesq and wonders God had done through them while they were with the Gentiles.r

¹³ When they’d finished, James responded, “Gentlemen, brothers!s Listen to me.

¹⁴ Simont has described how God first visited the Gentiles, and acceptedu from them a people for God’s name.

¹⁵ And the words of the prophets are in agreement with this. Just as scripture says:v

¹⁶ After this I’m going to come back, And I’m going to rebuild David’s tent that’s fallen down. I’m going to rebuild its ruins and restore it,

¹⁷ So that the restw of humanityx will search for the Sovereign One- All the Gentilesy who are called by my name.z. The Sovereign One, who is doing all this, says so.aa

¹⁸ These things have been known forever.bb

¹⁹ So my judgment is that we shouldn’tcc make things more difficult for people who are turning to God from among the Gentiles.

²⁰ We should just instruct them to stay away from things that have been polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things that have been strangled, and from blood.dd

²¹ After all, Moses has had people to preach him in every city from ancient times.ee He’s read aloud in the synagoguesff every Sabbath.”

²² The Apostles and Elders of Jerusalem Send a Letter to the Gentile Believers Then it seemed appropriate to the apostles and elders, together with the whole community, to choose men from among them to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (known as Barsabbasgg.) and Silas, both leaders among the brothers and sisters.

²³ Then they sent them with this letter:hh. From the apostles and elders, your brothers. Greetings to the Gentile brothers and sisters in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia.ii

²⁴ We’ve heard that certain ones of us have gone upjj and upset you with their teaching,kk and have disturbed your peace of mind.ll

²⁵ So we’ve all agreed to send men to you with our dear friends Paul and Barnabas-

²⁶ men who have risked their lives on behalf of the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

²⁷ We’ve sent Judas and Silas. They will give youmm the same message by word of mouth.

²⁸ It has seemed appropriate to us and to the Holy Spirit not to put any further burden on you than just these necessary items:

²⁹ Stay away from foods sacrificed to idols, from eating blood, from eating what is strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep away from these things, you’ll do fine. Stay well!

³⁰ So then they were sent on their way, and went upnn to Antioch. And they gathered the community together and delivered the letter.

³¹ And when they had read it, they were very happy with the encouragementoo in it.

³² Judas and Silas, who were prophets, also said a lot of things to strengthen and encourage the brothers and sisters.

³³ And when they had spent some time with them, they left the brothers and sisters and returned in peace to Jerusalem.pp

³⁴

³⁵ But Paul and Barnabas stayed on in Antioch. They were teaching and preaching the good news of the Lord along with lots of other people.

³⁶ After an Argument, Paul Goes with Silas and Barnabas Goes with Mark After some time,qq Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s go back and visit the brothers and sisters in each city where we preached the message of the Lord, and see how they’re doing.”

³⁷ Now, Barnabas wanted to take John along (known as Mark).

³⁸ But Paul thought it was best not to take him along, because he had leftrr them in Pamphylia,ss and hadn’t been with them for the work.

³⁹ This got to be such a painful dispute that they ended up going their separate ways. Barnabas took Mark and set sail for Cyprus.

⁴⁰ And Paul chose Silas, and after the brothers and sisters had entrusted them to the grace of the Lord,

⁴¹ they went off through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

16

¹ Timothy Joins Paul and Silas in Lystra Paul also came to Derbea and to Lystra.b In Lystra, there was a followerc named Timothy. He was the son of a believing Jewish woman and a non-Jewishd father.

² He was well-recommended by the brothers and sisters in Lystra and Iconium.e

³ Paul wanted Timothy to go with him. So he took him and had him circumcised,f because of the Jews that were in that placeg.-they all knew that his father was a non-Jew.h

⁴ And as they were going from town to town, they were passing on to them the rules that had been decided on by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem, for people to follow.

⁵ And so the communities were being strengthened in their faith, and their numbers were getting bigger every day.

⁶ Paul Sees a Vision: “Come Over to Macedonia and Help us Out!” Next they traveled through the area of Phrygiai and Galatia,j because they’d been forbidden by the Holy Spirit from preachingk in Asia.

⁷ And after going along the borders of Mysia,l they were trying to go into Bithynia,m but the Spirit of Jesus wouldn’t let them.

⁸ So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.n

⁹ And during the night, a vision cameo to Paul. A Macedonianp man was standing there and pleading with him. He was saying, “Come over to Macedoniaq and help us out!”

¹⁰ When he saw that vision, we tried right away to leave for Macedonia. We were convinced God had invited usr to preach the good news to the Macedonians.

¹¹ Lydia Becomes a Believer in Philippi, Macedonia So we set out from Troas and sailed straight to Samothrace,s and the next day we got to Neapolis.t

¹² From there we went to Philippi,u which is a leading cityv in the district of Macedonia. It’s a Roman colony.w

¹³ And on the Sabbath day, we went outside the gate and along the river. We thought there was supposed to be prayer going on there.x So we sat down and were talking with the women who had gathered there.

¹⁴ One of them was a devout woman of God named Lydia, a seller of purple cloth who came from the city of Thyatira.y She was listening, and the Lord opened her heart to pay close attention to the things Paul was saying.

¹⁵ When she and the people in her household had gotten baptized, she invited us home. She was saying, “If you’ve foundz me to be faithful to the Lord, come stay at my house.” And she made us go home with her.

¹⁶ Paul and Silas are Arrested and Imprisoned at Philippi Once when we were on our way to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of demonic prophecy. She used to make a lot of moneyaa for her owners by telling fortunes.

¹⁷ This girl used to follow along behind Paul and the rest of us and shout, “These people are servants of the highest God!bb They’re telling youcc about the path of salvation!”

¹⁸ And she kept on doing that for several days. Finally Paul got so irritated that he turned around and said to the spirit,dd “I’m telling you in the name of Jesus Christ, come out of her!” And it came out right away.ee

¹⁹ But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities.

²⁰ They brought them in front of the Roman officialsff and said, “These people are Jews, and they’re totally upsetting our city!

²¹ They’re tellinggg people to observe religious customs that we are not allowed to accept or practice as Romans.”

²² And the crowd joined in the attack against them. Then the Roman officialshh had them stripped, and gave the order for them to be beaten with wooden rods.

²³ And when they had given them a severe beating,ii they threw them in prison. And they gave orders to the prison warden to guard them carefully.

²⁴ Since he had that sort of order, he put them in the innermost part of the prison and clamped their ankles between wooden boards.jj

²⁵ About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.

²⁶ And suddenly there was a big earthquake. It was so big that the foundations of the prison got shifted. And immediately all the doors came open, and everyone’s restraints came loose.

²⁷ And when the warden woke up and saw all the doors of the prison open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself.kk (He was assuming that the prisoners had escaped.)

²⁸ But Paul shouted in a loud voice, “Don’t do yourself any harm! We’re all in here!”

²⁹ And the warden called for lights and rushed in. Trembling, he threw himself down in front of Paul and Silas.

³⁰ Then he led them outside and said, “Gentlemen,ll what do I have to do to be saved?”

³¹ And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you and your household will be saved.”

³² And they told him the message about the Lord, together with everyone in his household.mm

³³ And while it was still the middle of the night,nn he took them and washed their wounds, and he immediately got baptized---he and all his people.oo

³⁴ Then he led them back to the house and fixed them a meal.pp And he was overjoyed-together with his entire household-that he had come to believe in God.

³⁵ When morning came, the Roman officialsqq sent their officersrr with the message, “Release those people.”

³⁶ And the warden reported all this to Paul: “The Roman officialsss have sent their officerstt to have you released. So now be released, and go on your way in peace.”uu

³⁷ But Paul said to them, “They’ve beaten us-Roman citizens-in public without a trial, and have thrown us in prison. And now they’re going to toss us out quietly? Oh, no-definitely not. Let them come personally and show us out of the prison.”

³⁸ So the officersvv sent this message to the Roman officials.ww They were afraid when they heard that Paul and his companions were Roman citizens,

³⁹ and they came and begged them to accept their apology. And when the Roman officialsxx had shown them out of the prison, they kept asking them to leave the city.

⁴⁰ But when they had gotten out of prison they went to Lydia’s house. And after they had seen and encouraged the brothers and sisters, they left Philippi.

17

¹ A Riot in Thessalonica When they had gone through Amphipolisa and Apollonia,b they came to Thessalonica.c There was a Jewish synagogue there.

² And as usual, Paul went to it.d And over three Sabbaths he discussed things out of the scriptures with them.

³ He was explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and be raised from among the dead. And he was saying, “This Jesus that I’m proclaiming to you is the Messiah!”

⁴ Some of the Jews were persuaded, and they joined Paul and Silas, and so did a large number of devout Gentiles,e and quite a few important women.

⁵ But the Jews got jealous. They recruited some nasty charactersf from the marketplace, got a mob together, and set about disrupting the whole city. They even besieged Jason’s house, intending to bring Paul and Silas in front of the city assembly.g

⁶ When they didn’t find them, they dragged Jason and some other believersh in front of the city authorities. They were shouting, “These people have been disrupting the whole world, and now they’re here, too!

⁷ Jason has taken them in. These people are all acting against Caesar’s laws. They’re saying there’s another king, Jesus.”

⁸ And they stirred up the crowd and the city authorities who were listening to all this.

⁹ Finallyi they got bail from Jason and the others and let them go.

¹⁰ Paul and Silas Preach in Berea And the brothers and sisters sent Paul and Silas off that very nightj to Berea.k When they arrived, they went into the Jewish synagogue.

¹¹ And those folks were more fair-mindedl than the folks in Thessalonica. They accepted the message with total enthusiasm. Every day they were studying the scriptures to see if Paul’s claims were true.m

¹² And lots of them became believers,n including quite a few well-respected women and men.

¹³ But theno the Jews from Thessalonica found out that Paul was announcing God’s message in Berea too. And they came and stirred up the crowds there as well.

¹⁴ But the brothers and sisters quickly sent Paul away to the coast. (Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea.)

¹⁵ The people who were responsible for protecting Paul on his journey brought him as far as Athens. Then they headed back, with instructions for Silas and Timothy: come to Paul as quickly as they could.p

¹⁶ Paul Stays in Athens-And Gets an Opportunity to Preach Meanwhile, Paul stayed in Athens waiting for them. And his spirit kept getting provoked in him, seeing the city so full of idols.

¹⁷ But he was having discussions in the Jewish synagogue,q and would also talk with the devout Gentiles.r And every day in the marketplace, he’d talk with whoever happened to be there.

¹⁸ Even some Epicureans and Stoic philosophers would have deep discussions with him. And some people would say, “What is this quack philosophert trying to say?” Others would say, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign gods"—because he was telling the good news of Jesus and the resurrection.

¹⁹ So they took him and led him to the Athens education council.u They said, “We’d like to hear about this new teaching you’ve been talking about.v

²⁰ The ideas we’re hearing from you are a bit unfamiliar to us, so we’d like to know what they’re about.”w

²¹ (All Atheniansx.---and their foreign visitors-spend their time doing nothing but telling or hearing something new.)

²² So Paul stood up in front of the education councily and said, Gentlemen of Athens, I see that you are extremely religious in every way.

²³ Because as I’ve been going through your city and looking at your objects of worship, I’ve even found an altar with these words carved on it:z “To an Unknown God.” So what you’re worshiping without knowledge, I’m going to proclaim to you.

²⁴ God, who made the world and everything in it, is the Sovereign of heaven and earth. God doesn’t live in temples made by human hands,

²⁵ and God isn’t served by human hands-as if God needed something. No, it is God who givesaa life, breath, and everything else to everyone.

²⁶ And God made every human nation from one person,bb so that they’d live acrosscc the whole face of the earth. God had already decided their set times, and the limits on the places they would live.

²⁷ They were to search for God, and perhaps even reach outdd and find God. And in fact, God isn’t far away from anyee one of us.

²⁸ After all, it’s in God that we live and move and exist.ff As some of your poets have put it, We are God’s children.gg

²⁹ So, since we’re God’s children, we shouldn’t suppose that divinity is like gold or silver or stone-like a sculpture produced by human skill and imagination.

³⁰ So although God has overlooked human ignorance in the past, God is now telling all people everywhere to change their hearts.hh

³¹ Because God has set a day to judge the world with justice, through a man that God has appointed. And God has given assurance of this to everyone by raising him from among the dead.

³² Now, when they heard about resurrection of dead people, some people started sneering. But others said, “We’d like to hear from you about this again.”

³³ Paul then left the council.ii

³⁴ And some men stuck with him and became believers,jj for example Dionysiuskk the Areopagite. There was also a woman named Damaris,ll and some other people as well.

18

¹ Paul Goes to Corinth Later, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.

² Therea he met a Jew named Aquila,b who was from Pontus. Aquila had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla. They had had to move because of the emperor Claudius’s order that all the Jews had to leave Rome. Paul visited Aquila and Priscilla,

³ and because he had the same trade, he was staying with them and working. (They were tentmakers by trade.)

⁴ And he used to have discussions with people in the synagoguec every Sabbath, and he was persuading both Jews and Gentiles.d

⁵ Then, when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia,e Paul began to give all of his attention to preaching the good news.f He kept testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah.g

⁶ But when they opposed him and insulted him, he tore his clothes and said to them, “Your blood is on your own heads-it’s not on my hands.h From now on I’m going to the Gentiles.”

⁷ And he left there and went to the house of a person named Titius Justus, whose house was next door to the synagogue.

⁸ Crispus the synagogue leader also became a believer in the Lord, together with his whole household. And lots of Corinthians were becoming believers when they heard the message, and were getting baptized.

⁹ And in a vision one night, the Lord said to Paul, “Don’t be afraid at all-keep speaking out, and don’t be quiet!

¹⁰ I’m with you, and no one’s going to attack you and harm you.i I have many people in this city.”

¹¹ And Paul stayed there a year and six months, teaching themj God’s message.

¹² Now, while Gallio was the governork of Achaia,l the Jews all got together and attacked Paul. And they brought him up to the governor’s judgment bench.

¹³ They were claiming that “This man is persuading people to worship God in a way that’s against the law!”

¹⁴ And just as Paul was about to open his mouth to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, “If this were about some injustice or evil crime, you Jews, it would be reasonable to hear your case.

¹⁵ But since it’s about disputes about words and names and your own law, deal with thatm yourselves. I have no desire to be a judge of those things.”

¹⁶ And he dismissed them from the judgment bench.

¹⁷ Then they all took hold of Sosthenesn the leader of the synagogue, and started beating him up right in front of the judgment bench. But none of thato made any difference to Gallio.

¹⁸ Paul Returns a Second Time to Antioch in Syria Despite that trouble, Paul stayed with the brothers and sisters in Corinth quite a few more days. Then he said goodbye to them and sailed to Syria, and Priscilla and Aquila went with him. Paul cut his hair in Cenchreae,p because he was keeping a vow.

¹⁹ They came ashore at Ephesus,q and Paul parted company with them there. Then he went to the synagogue by himself and had discussions with the Jews.

²⁰ And they were asking him to stay longer in Ephesus, but he wouldn’t.

²¹ He said his goodbyes, and was saying, “I’ll come back to you again if God wills.”r Then he sailed from Ephesus

²² and came ashore at Caesarea.s After he had gone up and said hello to the community in Jerusalem, he traveledt to Antioch in Syria.

²³ And after spending some time there, he left and went town by townu through Galatiav and Phrygia,w strengthening all the followers.

²⁴ Apollos Preaches and Teaches in Ephesus and Corinth A Jew named Apollosx.-an educatedy man from Alexandria-arrived in Ephesus.z He was a powerful teacher ofaa the scriptures.

²⁵ Apollos had been taught the Way of the Lord,bb and was on firecc with the Spirit. He used to speak and teach accurately about Jesus, but only knew about the baptism of John.

²⁶ He had begun talking openly in the synagoguedd about Jesus, and Priscilla and Aquila heard him. So they took him aside and explained the Wayee to him more accurately.

²⁷ He also wanted to go over to Achaia,ff and the brothers and sisters in Ephesus encouraged him to do it. They wrote to the followers that they should welcome him. When he got there, he was a great help to those who had become believers by God’s grace.

²⁸ Because he thoroughlygg refuted the Jews in public, and demonstrated with the scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah.hh

19

¹ Paul Preaches and Teaches in Ephesus While Apollosa was in Corinth, Paul traveled through places far inland from the sea, and came to Ephesusb.. He found some followers there

² and said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?”c And they told him, “No-we haven’t even heard there is a Holy Spirit.”

³ And he said, “So what baptism did you receive?”d And they told him, “John’s baptism.”

⁴ So Paul said, “John baptized people with a baptism for a change of heart.e He used to tell the people to believe in the One who was coming after him-which is to say, he wanted them to believe in Jesus.

⁵ When they heard that, they got baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

⁶ Then Paul laid his hands on them and the Holy Spirit came over them, and they began to speak in other languagesf and prophesy.

⁷ Altogether they were about twelve men.

⁸ Paul also went into the synagogue, and was speaking openly over a period of about three months. He was having discussions and trying to persuade people about God’s reign.

⁹ But theng some people started getting stubborn and disobedient. They were insulting the Way in front of the congregation. So Paul split off from them and kept the followers separate. He was teachingh every day in the school of Tyrannus.i

¹⁰ This went on over a period of two years, until everyone in Asia had heard the Lord’s message-Jews and Gentiles alike.

¹¹ And God was bringing about extraordinary displays of power through Paul’s hands.

¹² It even got to the point that handkerchiefs and towelsj that had touched his skin were taken to the sick, and their illnesses left them. Evil spirits would leave too.

¹³ And some of the traveling Jewish exorcists even tried naming the name of the Lord Jesus over people who had evil spirits. They’d say, “I command you, by the Jesus that Paul preaches!”

¹⁴ For example,k there were seven sons of a Jewish chief priest who were doing that.

¹⁵ But the evil spirit said back to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know Paul-but who are you?”

¹⁶ And the man that the evil spirit was in pounced on them, and he defeatedl and overpowered all of them. They finally ran away from his house nakedm and wounded.

¹⁷ This story became known to everyone in Ephesus-Jews and Gentiles alike. And it frightened them all,n and the name of the Lord Jesus began to be a lot more respected.o

¹⁸ And lots of the people who had become believers started publicly confessing and revealing their magic rituals.

¹⁹ Quite a few of those who practiced magic gathered their books together and burned them in front of everyone. (They calculated their value and found they had been worth fifty thousand silver coins.p

²⁰ In those waysq the Lord’s messager advanced powerfully and got stronger.

²¹ A Riot in Ephesus After all of this had happened, Paul decided in the Spirits to travel through Macedoniat and Achaia,u and go to Jerusalem. He was saying, “After I get there, I have to see Rome, too.”

²² And he sent two of his assistants, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia. But he stayed a while in Asia.v

²³ And during that time there was a major disturbancew about the Way.

²⁴ There was a silversmith named Demetrius,x who used to make silver shrines for the goddess Artemis. He used to bring in quite a bit of businessy for the craftspeople that way.

²⁵ He got them together with the people in related trades and said, “Gentlemen, you know that our wealthz comes from this business.

²⁶ And you’re seeing and hearing that this Paul has converted and led astray a large crowd-not just in Ephesus, but in practically all of Asia. He’s been saying that hand-crafted godsaa aren’t real gods.

²⁷ Now, this not only threatens to bring our trade a bad reputation-it also threatens to make people despise the temple of our great goddess Artemis.bb The goddess that all of Asia and the whole world worships is about to be brought down from her position of greatness!”

²⁸ Now, when they heard that, they got completely furious. And they started shouting, “Artemis of the Ephesians is great!”

²⁹ And the whole city was filled with confusion. They all rushed to the stadium, kidnapping Gaiuscc and Aristarchusdd of Macedonia, Paul’s traveling companions.

³⁰ And Paul wanted to go in and talk to the people of the city, but the followers wouldn’t let him.

³¹ And even some of the officials of the regionee who were friendly towards him sent messages to him, begging him not to go into the stadium.

³² Because the city meeting was in confusion-with some people shouting one thing, and some other people shouting something else. The majority of them didn’t even know the reason why they’d been brought together.

³³ When the Jews pushed Alexander up to the front, some people from the crowd told him what to say.ff Alexander motioned with his hand for quiet, and began trying to give an explanation to the crowd.

³⁴ But when they recognized that he was a Jew, a single chant came from all of them for about two hours. They were shouting, “Artemis of the Ephesians is great!”

³⁵ Finallygg the secretary of the city quieted the crowd and said, “Men of Ephesus, whohh is there that doesn’t know the city of Ephesus-temple-guardian of the great Artemis, and of her image that fell from heaven?

³⁶ So since this is all undeniable, you need to settle down and not be doing anything rash.

³⁷ After all, you’ve brought these men here, who aren’t temple robbers, nor have they insulted our goddess.ii

³⁸ So if Demetrius and his fellow craftspeople have a complaint against somebody, the courts are open and there are governors.jj They can settle it between themselves.kk

³⁹ And if you’re wanting anything further, it will be settled in a lawful city meeting.

⁴⁰ After all, we’re actually in danger of being charged with rioting over today’s affair. Because there’s no real reason we can give as an explanationll for this disorderly gathering.” And after saying all that,mm he closed the meeting.

⁴¹

20

¹ Paul Goes to Macedonia and Greece After the commotion died down, Paul sent for the followers and encouraged them. Then he said goodbye and left to go to Macedonia.

² And he went through those regions and gave many encouraging messages to the followers.a Then he arrived in Greece,

³ and spent three months there. Then there was a secret plan against him by the Jews, just as he was about to set sail for Syria. So he decided to go back through Macedonia.

⁴ Sopaterb the son of Pyrrhus,c from Berea,d Aristarchuse and Secundusf from Thessalonica, Gaiusg and Timothy from Derbe,h and Tychicusi and Trophimusj from Asia, all went with him.

⁵ These men went on ahead and were waiting for us in Troas.k

⁶ Then we sailed out of Philippil after the festivalm of Unleavened Bread,n and came to them in Troas after five days. We stayed there for seven days.

⁷ Paul Visits the Community at Troas On the first day of the week we got together for a meal,o and Paul was teachingp them. He was going to leave the next day, and he kept on talking into the middle of the night.

⁸ And there were quite a few lamps in the upstairs room where we’d gotten together.

⁹ And there was a young man named Eutychusq sitting on the window sill. He was falling into a deep sleep as Paul went on teaching at length. When he’d fallen asleep, he fell down from the third floor. They picked him up, and he was dead.r

¹⁰ But Paul went downstairs, threw himself on top of him, and hugged him. Then he said, “Don’t be upset-he’s still with us.”s

¹¹ And when Paul had gone back upstairs, he had a meal.t When he had finished eating, he talked quite a bit more, until sunrise. After that he left.u

¹² And they brought the boy home alive, and were extremely relieved.

¹³ Sailing from Troas to Miletus We got on board ship and sailed for Assos. At that pointv we were going to take Paul on board: that’s how he had arranged it. He himself was going to go by land.

¹⁴ So when he met us in Assos, we took him aboard and went to Mitylene.w

¹⁵ Then we sailed off from there, and the next day we came opposite Chios,x and the day after that we came over to Samos,y and the next day we went to Miletus.z

¹⁶ Paul, by the way, had decided that we should sail past Ephesus, so that he wouldn’t lose time in Asia. Because he was hurryingaa to be in Jerusalem for the Day of Pentecost, if possible.

¹⁷ Paul’s Farewell Speech to the Elders of the Ephesian Community So from Miletus Paul sent to Ephesus, and asked the elders of the community to come to him.

¹⁸ When they got to him, he said to them, You all know what I was like the whole time I was with you-from the first day I set foot in Asia.

¹⁹ I was serving the Lord with complete humility and tears. And you know the pressures I experienced because of the secret plans that the Jews made against me.bb

²⁰ You know that I never held back anything that was to your advantage: I always preached to you and taught you, both in public and in all your houses.cc

²¹ I testified to Jews and Gentilesdd alike about a change of heartee and turning towards God,ff and about faith in our Lord Jesus.gg

²² And now I’ve been bound by the Spirit to gohh to Jerusalem-I don’t know what will happen to me there.

²³ But I do knowii that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city and says that imprisonmentjj and troubles are waiting for me.

²⁴ But I don’t regard my life as precious to me at all-as long as I finish my race, and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus: to testify to the good news of the grace of God.

²⁵ And now I know that none of you is going to see my face again. I have gone around preaching God’s reign in your presence.kk

²⁶ So I testify to you on this day: my hands are freell from everyone’s blood.

²⁷ Because I never held back from telling youmm all of God’s will.

²⁸ Watch out for yourselves, and for the whole flock that the Holy Spirit has placed you in as pastors.nn Shepherd the community of God, which God acquired with the blood of God’s own Son.oo

²⁹ I know that after I leave vicious wolves are going to come in among you, and they’re not going to sparepp the flock.

³⁰ And even some of you will start teaching distorted things to draw followers to themselves.qq

³¹ So keep watch! Remember: day and night for three years I never stopped warningrr each one of youss with tears.

³² And now I’m entrusting you to God,tt and to the message of God’s grace. That message has the power to build you up and to give you your inheritance with all the holy ones.

³³ I haven’t schemed to get my hands onuu anybody’s silver or gold or clothing.

³⁴ You yourselves know that these hands of mine have provided for my needs and the needs of those who were with me.

³⁵ I’ve always demonstrated to you that we should help the weak by working hard like that. And we should remember the Lord Jesus’ words, how he himself said, “It’s a bigger blessingvv to give than to receive.”

³⁶ When Paul had said all that, he got down on his knees with them all and prayed.

³⁷ And everyone cried a good deal, and they were hugging Paul and kissing him.ww

³⁸ They were saddest about his statementxx that they were never going to see his face again. Then they went with him to the ship.

21

¹ Paul Travels to Jerusalem Eventually we set sail, after a very reluctant parting.a We did a straight run and came to Cos,b and on the next day we got to Rhodes. From there we sailed to Patara.c

² When we found a ship crossing to Phoeniciad we got on board and set sail.

³ After sighting Cyprus and leaving it behind us on the left, we began sailing for Syria, and landed at Tyre-the ship was unloading its cargo there.

⁴ We tracked down the followers of Jesus and stayed seven days there. And they were saying to Paul by the Spirit not to set foot in Jerusalem.

⁵ When our days with them were over, we left and started walking to the ship, and they all escorted us out from the city, with their wives and children. And when we’d knelt down on the beach and prayed,

⁶ we said goodbye to each other. Then we got on board the ship and they went back home.

⁷ When we’d finished the voyage from Tyre and arrived at Ptolemais,e we said hello to the brothers and sisters and stayed with them for a day.

⁸ The next day we left and came to Caesarea.f Thereg we went to Philip the evangelist’s house, and stayed with him. (He was one of the seven.)h

⁹ Philip had four unmarriedi daughters who were prophets.

¹⁰ When we had stayed there quite a few days,j a prophet named Agabusk came overl from Judea.m

¹¹ He came up to us and took Paul’s belt, and tied up his own hands and feet. Then he said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘This is how the Jewish leadersn are going to tie up the man who owns this belt in Jerusalem-and they’re going to betray him to Gentile authorities.’”o

¹² When we heard that, both we and our hostsp started begging Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.

¹³ Then Paul said back to us, “What are you doing, crying and breaking my heart? After all, I’m not just prepared to be imprisoned,q but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

¹⁴ Since he couldn’t be persuaded, we gave it up and said, “Let the Lord’s will be done.”

¹⁵ After somer days there, we got ready and started on our way up to Jerusalem.

¹⁶ The followers from Caesarea went with us too, and led us to a man named Mnason’ss house to stay. He was a long-time follower from Cyprus.

¹⁷ Paul Visits James, the Lord’s Brother in Jerusalem When we got to Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters gave us a warm welcome.

¹⁸ The next day Paul went with us to visit James, and all the elders were there.

¹⁹ Paul said hello to them all, and spent time giving them a detailed report of everythingt God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

²⁰ When they heard his report, the started praising God. They said to him, “Brother, you can see how many tens of thousands of Jewish believers there are.u And they’re all passionate about the law.

²¹ They’ve been told about you that you teach all the Jews living among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses. They say you tell people not to circumcisev their children or to practice the Jewish customs.

²² What should we do? They’re certainly going to hear that you’ve come.w

²³ So here’s what we advise you to do.x There are four men with us who are keeping a vow.y

²⁴ Take them with you and get purified with them. And pay for them so they can get their hair cut. Thenz everybody will know that there’s nothing in what they’ve been told about you. They’ll know that you’re personally committed to keeping the Law.aa

²⁵ And as for the Gentiles who have become believers,bb we’ve sent off a letter with our decision that they should keep away from foods sacrificed to idols, from blood, from what’s been strangled,cc and from sexual immorality.”

²⁶ The next day Paul took the men and got purified with them. Then he went into the Temple, and told the priests when the period of purification would be finished.dd (At that time the offering would be made for each them.)

²⁷ Paul is Arrested in the Temple But when the seven days were almost finished, the Jews from Asia saw him in the Temple and stirred up the whole crowd. They grabbed himee

²⁸ and were shouting, “Brotherff Israelites, help us! This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere things against this people, the Law, and the Temple!gg He has even brought Gentileshh into the Temple! He has made this holy place unholy!”

²⁹ (They said this because they had seen Trophimusii the Ephesian with Paul in the city. They were assuming that Paul had brought him into the Temple.)

³⁰ The whole city was upset, and the people all rushed together and grabbed Paul. They started dragging him out of the Temple, and immediately the doors were shut behind them.

³¹ And they were demanding Paul’s death. But word got to the Roman military commanderjj that Jerusalem was rioting.

³² Right away he took a band of soldiers and officers with him and ran down to where they were. When the people saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

³³ Then the commander came up and took hold of Paul, and ordered him shackled with two chains. And he started asking, “Who is this, and what has he done?”

³⁴ And various people in the crowd were shouting one thing and another. And he couldn’t get a definite answer because of the commotion. So he ordered for Paul to be brought to the fortress.

³⁵ And when Paul was on the steps, he had to be carried by the soldiers due to the violence of the crowd.

³⁶ Because the mob of people was following them and shouting, “Execute him!”

³⁷ As they were about to go into the fortress, Paul said to the commander, “May I say something to you?” And the commander said, “Do you know Greek?

³⁸ So I guess you’re not that Egyptian-the one who started a riot recently, and led those four thousand assassins off into the wilderness?”

³⁹ And Paul said, “I’m a Jew from Tarsus in Ciliciakk.-I’m a citizen of quite a major city.ll And I’m asking you, please give me permission to speak to the people.”

⁴⁰ And he gave him permission. Paul stood on the steps and got things to quiet down by gesturing to the people with his hand. When it was prettymm quiet, he addressed them in the Hebrew language:nn

22

¹ Paul Defends his Faith and Ministry “Brothers, fathers! Listen to my defense, which I’m now going to present to you.”

² Now when they heard that Paul was addressing them in the Hebrew language,a they got even quieter. And he said,

³ “I’m a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia. But I was brought up here in this city, and studied withb Gamaliel.c I’ve been thoroughlyd trained in the Law of our ancestors. I was a person passionate for God, just like all of you are today.

⁴ I persecuted this Way, and killed its followers.e I was arresting men and women and putting them in prison.f

⁵ The high priest and whole high councilg will testify to what I’m saying.h I had received letters from them to our brothers in Damascus, and was going up there. I was going to bring those who were in prisoni there to Jerusalem, so they could be punished.”

⁶ Paul Tells of his Conversion (Acts 9:1-19a; 26:12-18) Now, I was traveling along and getting near Damascus-it was about noon. Suddenly, a bright light flashed around me from heaven.

⁷ I fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to me, “Saul, Saul! Why are you persecuting me?”

⁸ And I answered, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said to me, “I am Jesus of Nazareth. I’m the one you’re persecuting.”

⁹ Now, the people with me saw the light. But they didn’t understandj the voice of the One who was speaking to me.

¹⁰ I said, “What should I do, Lord?” And the Lord said to me, “Get up and go into Damascus. There you’ll be told everything that you’ve been appointed to do.”

¹¹ And I couldn’t see, after the brilliancek of that light. So I came into Damascus being led by the hand by the people I was with.

¹² Thenl a man named Ananiasm came to me. He was a devout person who kept the Law.n He was well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there.o

¹³ He came up and said to me, “Brother Saul, see again!” And at that moment I could see him.p

¹⁴ And he said, “The God of our ancestors chose you to know God’s will-and to see the Just One and hear his very voice.q

¹⁵ That’s because you’re going to be a witness for him. You’ll tell all people what you’ve seen and heard.

¹⁶ So now what are you waiting for? Get up and get baptized-get your sins washed away by calling on his name.”r

¹⁷ Paul Tells How Jesus Sent him to the Gentiles Now, when I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the Temple, I went into a dream state.s

¹⁸ And I saw Jesus saying to me, “Hurry-leave Jerusalem right away! They’re not going to accept your testimony about me.”

¹⁹ And I said, “Lord, they know that I’ve been putting the people who believe in you in prison, and having them beatent in one synagogueu after another!

²⁰ And when your witness Stephen’s blood was being shed, I personally stood there approving of it. I even looked after the coats of the people who were killing him!”

²¹ And he said to me, “Go-I’m going to send you far away from here, to the Gentiles.”

²² Paul Narrowly Escapes being Tortured Now, they had been listening to Paul until he made that statement. But now they all shouted, “Execute him! A person like him should be wiped off the face of the earth!v He shouldn’t be allowed to live!”

²³ And they were screaming and flinging down their coats and throwing dust in the air.

²⁴ The commander gave the order to bring Paul inside the fortress. He had given the order for him to be questioned under torture, to find out the reason they’d been shouting about him.w

²⁵ But when they had stretched him out to be whipped,x Paul said to the Roman officery standing there, “Are you allowed to whip a person who is a Roman citizen without even a trial?”

²⁶ And when the officerz heard that, he came up to the commander and told him what Paul had said. He said, “What are you going to do? This person is a Roman citizen!”

²⁷ And the commander came over to Paul and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” And he said, “Yes.”

²⁸ And the commander said back to him, “I acquired my Roman citizenship with a large sum of money.” And Paul said, “Well, I was born into it.”

²⁹ Then the people who were about to tortureaa Paul immediately stepped away from him. And the commander was frightened too-he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen, and he had put him in chains.

³⁰ Paul Appears in Front of the High Council On the next day he released Paul, because he wanted to find out what the Jews were accusing him of. He ordered the chief priests and the whole high council to come together. Then he brought Paul down and stood him in front of them.bb

23

¹ Paul looked straight at the high council and said, “Gentlemen, brothers!a I’ve lived my life with a completely clear conscienceb towards God, right up to this day.”

² And the high priest Ananiasc ordered the people standing next to Paul to hit him in the mouth.

³ Then Paul said to him, “God’s going to hit you, you whitewashed wall! Are you really going to sit there and judge med according to the Law, and break the Law by ordering me to be hit?”

⁴ And the people standing next to Paul said, “You’re insulting God’s high priest!”e

⁵ And Paul said, “Brothers, I didn’t know that he is the high priest. Because scripture says,f ‘You’re not to say bad thingsg about a leader of your people.’”h

⁶ Now, Paul knew that some of them were Sadduceesi and others were Pharisees.j He started shouting in the council, “Gentlemen, brothers!k I am a Pharisee, and a son of Pharisees. I’m on trial about my hope in the resurrection of the dead!”

⁷ And when he said that, a disagreement arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the group was split in two.

⁸ Because Sadducees say there is no such thing as resurrection or an angel or a spirit. But Pharisees agree that all three exist.

⁹ There was all kinds of shouting,l and some of the scripture experts who belonged to the Pharisees stood up and started insisting, “We find nothing wrong with this person! Maybe a spirit, or an angel, has spoken to him!”

¹⁰ The disagreement became so violentm that the commander was afraid Paul would be torn in two.n He ordered his soldiers to go down and snatch Paul out of there,o and take him to the fortress.

¹¹ On the following night, the Lord came to Paul and said, “Keep your courage up. Just as you’ve testified to the truthp about me in Jerusalem, you also have to testify in Rome.”

¹² Forty Men Vow to Ambush Paul and Kill him When morning came, some of the Judeansq made a secret plan. They put themselves under a curse if they ate or drank anything before they had killed Paul.

¹³ There were more than forty of them that made that secret plan.

¹⁴ They all came to the chief priests and the elders and said, “We’ve put ourselves under a curse so that we can’t eat anything until we kill Paul.

¹⁵ So now you and the council need to explain things to the commander in such a way that he brings him down to you. Pretend that you want to consider his case in greater detail.r But we’re ready to kill him before he gets here.”s

¹⁶ Now, Paul’s sister’s son heard about the trap. He came up and was let intot the fortress, and told Paul about it.

¹⁷ Paul then called one of the Roman officersu and said, “Take this young man to the commander. He has something to report to him.”

¹⁸ So he took him and led him to the commander and said, “The prisoner Paul called me over and asked me to bring this young man to you. He has something to say to you.”

¹⁹ The commander took the boy by the hand and went someplace private. He asked him, “What is it that you have to report to me?”

²⁰ And he said, “The Judeansv have agreed to make a request of you tomorrow, so that you bring Paul down to the high council. The pretext will be that the council wantsw to ask in a bit more detail about him.

²¹ Don’t believe them!x More than forty of their men are waiting to ambush him. They’ve put themselves under a curse so that they can’t eat or drink until they’ve killed him. And now they are ready and waiting for your agreement.”y

²² The Commander Sends Paul to Felix the Governor So then the commander let the young man go, after giving him a strict order: “Don’t tell anyone that you revealed this to me.”

²³ Thenz he called over two of his officersaa and said, “Get two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmenbb ready to march to Caesarea starting at nine o’clock tonight.

²⁴ And have animals for Paul to ride, so that he can be brought safely to Felix the governor.”

²⁵ Then the commander wrote a letter that went like this:cc

²⁶ From Claudius Lysiasdd to His Excellency, Governor Felix. Greetings.

²⁷ This man was arrested by the Judeansee and was about to be killed by them. When I learned that he was a Roman citizen, I went with my soldiers and rescued him.

²⁸ And I wanted to know why they were accusing him, so I brought him to their high council.

²⁹ I found that he was being accused in relation to disputes about their own Law-there wasn’t any accusation against him that deserved death or imprisonment.

³⁰ And when I learned that there was a plot against the man, I immediately sent him to you.ff And I’ve instructed his accusers to make their case against him to you.”gg

³¹ So the soldiers followed their orders andhh took Paul at night to Antipatris.ii

³² Then the next day they left the horsemen to go on with him, and returned to the fortress.

³³ The horsemen went to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, and they brought Paul to him.

³⁴ The governor read the letter, and he asked what province Paul came from. He learned he came from Cilicia.jj

³⁵ “I’ll hear your case,”kk he said, “when the people who are accusing you are present too.” And he ordered him to be held in Herod’sll palace.

24

¹ Paul Stands Trial in Front of Felix After five days, the high priest Ananias came down to Caesarea with some of the elders and a lawyera named Tertullus.b They all appeared in front of the governor to make their case against Paul.c

² So Paul was summoned, and Tertullus began to accuse him. He said to the governor, “We’ve had a long time of peace thanks to your governorship.d And lots of reforms have come about in this nation thanks to your foresight.

³ We all acknowledge and are grateful for everything you do, Your Excellency Felix!e

⁴ And we certainly do not wish to interrupt you at length-but I’d like to ask your indulgence in hearing us for a brief moment.f

⁵ We are here before you because we have found this man to be a public nuisance. He’s been stirring up arguments with all the Jews throughout the Roman Empire. He’s a leader of the sect of the Nazarenes.g

⁶ He also tried to pollute the Temple, but we caught him.h

⁷

⁸ You can learn about all these things that we’re accusing him of by questioning him yourself.”

⁹ Then the Judeansi joined in the attack too. They insisted that it was all true.j

¹⁰ When the governor nodded for him to speak, Paul gave his response. “Since you’ve been a judge in this nation for many years, I’m happy to offer a defense of myself.

¹¹ You can verify that I went up to Jerusalem to pray not more than twelve days ago.

¹² And I wasn’t found arguing with anyone or attracting a crowd-not in the Temple, in the synagogues,k or around the city.

¹³ And they can’t prove the things they just accused me of.l

¹⁴ But I will admit this to you: I serve the God of our ancestors as a follower ofm the Way. (They’re calling it a ‘sect.’) I follow the Way because I believe everything that’s written in the Law and the prophets.n

¹⁵ I’m putting my hope in God-just as my accusers themselves areo.-that there’s going to be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust.p

¹⁶ So I always take care to keep a clear conscience towards God and all people.

¹⁷ Now, after many years away, I came to Jerusalem. I was bringing money to the poor people of my nation. I also intended to make offerings in the Temple.

¹⁸ I was found making those offerings in a ceremonially pure state.q There was no crowd or disturbance involved.

¹⁹ Now, there were some Jews from Asia-but they ought to be here in front of you if they have something against me.

²⁰ Otherwise these people herer should say what crime they discovereds when I was tried byt the high council.

²¹ Or is it about that one single thing I said, when I stood on trial in front of them and shouted, ‘I’m being judged by you today over the resurrection of the dead’?”

²² Then Felix adjournedu the trial. He was already well informed about the Way. He said, “I’ll decide your case when Lysias the commander comes.”

²³ And he ordered the Roman officerv to guard Paul, but that he should have freedom to move around. The officer wasn’t to prevent any of Paul’s friendsw from taking care of his needs.

²⁴ Felix Leaves Paul in Prison for Two Years After a number of days, Felix came with his wife Drusilla,x who was Jewish. He sent for Paul, and listened to him talk about faith in Messiah Jesus.y

²⁵ But when Paul was teaching about integrity and self-control, and about the coming judgment, Felix got frightened. And he said back to him, “Leave for now. And when I get the time I’ll send for you.”

²⁶ He was also hoping Paul would give him a bribe-so he sent for him a lot, and would talk with him.

²⁷ And after two years he was replaced as governor by Porciusz Festus. And Felix left Paul imprisoned, as a way of gaining favor with the Judeans.aa

25

¹ Festus (Successor to Felix) Looks into Paul’s Case So then Festus arrived in the province, and three days later he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea.a

² And the chief priests and the most important Judeansb presented their case against Paul.

³ And they were pleading with Festus to grant them a favor against him: to have him transferred to Jerusalem. Because they had made a secret plan to kill him on the way.

⁴ But Festus replied that Paul was being held at Caesarea, and that he himself was just about to leave for there.

⁵ He said, “So let your most capable people come down with me. If there is anything wrong about the man, they can bring charges against him.”

⁶ Paul Appeals his Case to Caesar So after spending no more than eight or ten days in Jerusalem Festus went down to Caesarea. The next day he held a hearingc and ordered for Paul to be brought in.

⁷ When he arrived, the Judeans who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him. They made many seriousd charges against him, which they couldn’t prove.

⁸ Paul defended himself by saying, “I haven’t sinned in any way against the Jewish Law, against the Temple, or against Caesar.”

⁹ But Festus wanted to gain favor with the Judeans. He said back to Paul, “Are you willing to go to up Jerusalem, and be tried on these charges in front of me there?”

¹⁰ And Paul said, “I’m standing in Caesar’s court, where I should be tried. I’ve done nothing wrong to the Judeans, as you very well know.e

¹¹ If I’m guilty, and have done something that deserves death, I have no objection to dying.f But if there is nothing to the charges these people are making against me, no one can turn me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!”

¹² Then Festus, after talking with his advisers, replied, “You’ve appealed to Caesar—you’ll go to Caesar.”

¹³ Festus Asks for Advice from King Agrippa A few days later, King Agrippa and Bernice visited Caesareag to welcomeh Festus.

¹⁴ And since they were spending quite a few days there, Festus laid out the case against Paul for him. He was saying, “There’s a certain man that Felix left behind as a prisoner.

¹⁵ When I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of Judeai brought charges against him and asked for a judgment against him.

¹⁶ I told themj it’s not the Roman custom to hand somebody over as a favor. Firstk the accused person gets to see the accusers face to face and have a chance to make a defense as to the accusation.

¹⁷ So they came here with me, andl I didn’t waste any time. I held a hearingm the next day, and ordered the man brought in.

¹⁸ But when his accusers stood up,n they didn’t bring any of the criminal chargeso I had been expecting.

¹⁹ Instead, they had some disputes against him about their own religion-and about a certain dead man named Jesus, that Paul insisted was alive.

²⁰ And I didn’t know what to make of those arguments. So I started to ask if maybe he might be willing to go to Jerusalem, and stand trial there for the charges.p

²¹ But Paul appealed to be held in custody for the Emperor’s decision. So I ordered him to be held in custody until I can send him to Caesar.”

²² Agrippa said to Festus, “I’d like to hear this person myself.” And he said, “You’ll hear him tomorrow.”

²³ Paul is Brought in Front of King Agrippa and his Sister Bernice So the next day Agrippa and Bernice came, and there was a big ceremony.q They came into the governor’s audience hall with the Roman commanders and the leadingr men of the city. Then Festus gave the order, and Paul was brought in.

²⁴ Festus said, “King Agrippa, and all of you gentlemen here with us! You’re looking at the person that the whole Jewish community complaineds to me about both in Jerusalem and here. They were shouting that he shouldn’t be allowed to live.t

²⁵ But I didn’t see that he’d done anything worthy of death.u But since he himself has appealed to the Emperor, I’ve decided to send him.

²⁶ But I don’t have anything reliable to write to the Emperor about him. That’s why I’ve brought him in front of you, especially you, King Agrippa. That way, after this hearing I’ll have something to write.

²⁷ After all, it seems senseless to me to send a prisoner without indicating the charges against him.”

26

¹ Paul Gives his Defense in Front of Agrippa Agrippa then said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul extended his handa and began his defense:

² Givenb all the things that I’m being accused of by the Jews, I consider myself fortunate that it is in front of you, King Agrippa, that I’m about to defend myself here today.

³ Because you’re especially knowledgeable about all Jewish customs and disputes. So I askc that you hear me out patiently.

⁴ All Jews are well aware of my life from childhood onwards-with my fellow Jewsd and among the people of Jerusalem.

⁵ They’ve known me all along-if they were just willing to testify. They know that I lived by the rules of the strictest sect of our religion: I was a Pharisee.e

⁶ And now I stand here on trial for my hope in the promise made by God to our ancestors.

⁷ It’s that promise that our twelve tribes hope to attain by diligently servingf God night and day. It’s for that hope, King Agrippa, that I’m being accused by the Jews.

⁸ Why do you all find it unbelievableg that God should raise the dead?

⁹ But then again, I myself once thought the name of Jesus of Nazareth had to be vigorously opposed.h

¹⁰ And I did so in Jerusalem. I even imprisonedi many of the holy ones, after receiving authority to do so from the chief priests. And when they were being killed, I cast my vote against them.

¹¹ And I went around all the synagogues,j often having them punished. I would try to force them to curse him. I was so totally enraged at them that I was even persecuting them ink cities outside Israel.

¹² Paul Tells of his Conversion (Acts 9:1-19a; 22:6-16) That’s what I was doing when I was on my way to Damascus, with authority and permission from the chief priests.

¹³ In the middle of the day on the road, King Agrippa, I saw a light from heaven. It was brighter than the sun, and was shining around me and my traveling companions.

¹⁴ When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, “Saul, Saul! Why are you persecuting me? It’s hard for you to kick back against the goads.”l

¹⁵ And I said, “Who are you, Lord?” And the Lord said, “I am Jesus. I’m the one you’re persecuting.

¹⁶ Now get up and stand on your feet: there’s a reason I’ve appeared to you. I’ve appointed you to be a servant and a witness. You’ll be a witness to the vision of me that you’ve just seen,m and to other visions of me that I’m going to give you.n

¹⁷ I’m going to be rescuing you from your own people and from the Gentiles.

¹⁸ I’m sending you to the Gentiles, to open their eyes. That way they’ll turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God. They’ll receive forgiveness of their sins, and an inheritanceo alongside those who have already been made holy by putting their faith in me.”

¹⁹ Paul Tells of his Preaching In conclusion,p King Agrippa, I didn’t disobey that heavenly vision.

²⁰ In Damascus at first, and then in Jerusalem, and the whole territory of Judea,q and among the Gentiles, I’ve been announcing that people should change their heartsr and turn to God, doing things worthy of a changed heart.s

²¹ That’s why the Judeanst grabbed me in the Temple and tried to kill me.

²² But I’ve had help from God to this day, and I’ve stood my ground. I’ve been testifying to the weak and to the powerful.u I haven’t said anything beyond what the prophets and Moses said was going to happen:

²³ that the Messiah was to suffer and be the first to rise from among the dead. And he would spread light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.

²⁴ Festus Accuses Paul of Being Crazy As Paul was making these points in defense of himself, Festus shouted, “You’re crazy,v Paul! All that education is driving you crazy!”

²⁵ And Paul said, “I’m not crazy, Your Excellency.w Far from it. I’m saying things that are true and level-headed.x

²⁶ And the King knows about these things, so I’m speaking openly to him. After all, I’m convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, since it didn’t happen off in a corner somewhere.y

²⁷ Do you believe the prophets, King Agrippa? I know you do!”

²⁸ And Agrippa said to Paul, “Pretty soon, you’re going to win me over and make me a Christian!”z

²⁹ Paul replied, “Whether sooner or later, I’d just pray to God that you could be like I am-and not only you, but everyone listening to me today. Except for these chains, that is.”

³⁰ The king, the governor and Bernice stood up along with those sitting there with them.

³¹ When they had left the room, they began talking to each other. They were saying, “That fellow isn’t doing anything that deserves death or imprisonment.”aa

³² And Agrippa said to Festus, “The fellow could have been set free, if he hadn’t appealed to Caesar.”

27

¹ Paul Sails for Rome Finallya the decision was made for us to sail to Italy. Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a Roman officer of the Imperial Regimentb named Julius.

² We boarded a ship from Adramyttiumc that was about to sail for places in Asia. We set sail, and Aristarchusd the Macedoniane from Thessalonicaf was with us.

³ The next day we landed at Sidon.g Julius was kind to Paul, and let him visit his friends so they could take care of him.

⁴ From there we put out to sea again and sailed on the downwind side of Cyprus, because the winds were against us.

⁵ We then sailed across the open water to Ciliciah and Pamphylia,i and landed at Myraj in Lycia.k

⁶ And the Roman officerl found an Alexandrian ship there that was sailing for Italy, and got us on it.

⁷ After quite a few days of sailing slowly, we barely got to Cnidus.m Since the wind wouldn’t let us go any further, we sailed on the downwind side of Crete, off Salmone.n

⁸ We were sailing along the coast and barely got past Salmone to a place called Fair Havens. The town of Laseao was close to it.

⁹ A good amount of time had been lost, and sailing was already dangerous. The Day of Atonementp was already past. Paul warned them,

¹⁰ “Gentlemen, I can see that we’re going to sail into disaster and heavy lossq.-not just to the cargo and the ship, but even to our own lives.”

¹¹ But Julius, the Roman officer,r trusteds what the captain and the owner said more than what Paul was saying.

¹² And the harbor they were in wasn’t a good place to spend the winter, so most wanted to leave that place. They were hoping they could get to Phoenix,t and spend the winter there. Phoenix is a harbor on Crete that faces both southwest and northwest.

¹³ A Terrible Storm on the Mediterranean Sea And when a gentle wind started blowing from the south, they thought their plan had worked out.u They pulled up the anchor and sailed along the coast of Crete.

¹⁴ But before long a hurricane wind called “the northeaster” hit us from the land.

¹⁵ The ship was caught in it, and couldn’t come around to face the wind. So we gave up and were swept along.

¹⁶ Then we passed behindv a little island called Cauda,w and managed to get the lifeboat secured-barely.

¹⁷ When they had gotten it up, they worked with cables to brace the ship. They were afraid they would run agroundx at Syrtis,y so they let down the sea anchor, and we got carried along that way.

¹⁸ But we got heavily battered by the storm, and on the second day they started throwing cargo overboard.

¹⁹ And on the third day they threw the ship’s equipment overboard with their bare hands.

²⁰ But there was no signz of sun or stars for many days, and the hugeaa storm kept raging. Finally we lost all hopebb that we would be saved.

²¹ When everyone had gone a long time without food, Paul stood in front of everyonecc and said, “Gentlemen, you should have taken my advice and not sailed from Crete—you would have avoided this whole disaster.dd

²² But now I encourage you to keep your spirits up. Because none of you is going to lose their life-only the ship will be lost.

²³ Because an angel visited me tonight, fromee the God that I belong to and that I serve.

²⁴ He said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul. You have to stand in front of Caesar. And God has granted you the lives of all the people who are sailing with you.’

²⁵ So keep your spirits up, gentlemen. I believe in God, and that it’s going to turn out exactly as I’ve been told.

²⁶ But we have to run agroundff on a certain island.”

²⁷ Now, it got to be the fourteenth night of being swept along in the Sea of Adria.gg And in the middle of the night the sailors started to think we were getting near to land somewhere.

²⁸ And when they measured the depth, they found it was a hundred and twenty feet. When they had sailed a little further they measured again and found it was ninety feet.

²⁹ And they were afraid we’d run aground on the rocks somewhere, so they set out four anchors from the sternhh and started praying for morning to come.

³⁰ Then some of the sailors tried to escape the ship by lowering the lifeboat into the water. They had been pretending that they were going to set out anchors from the bow.ii

³¹ Paul said to the Roman officerjj and the soldiers, “Unless those men stay on the ship, you can’t be saved.”

³² Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the lifeboat, and let it fall.

³³ Right before daybreak, Paul encouraged everyone to eat some food. He was saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you’ve been in suspense and have gone without food. You haven’t eaten a thing.

³⁴ So I’m urging you to eat some food, because it’s a matter of your own safety. Not even a hair on one of your heads is going to be lost.”

³⁵ When he’d said that, he took a loaf of bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. And he broke it and started to eat.

³⁶ And their spirits lifted, and they ate some food.

³⁷ There were two hundred and seventy-six of us altogetherkk on the ship.

³⁸ When people had had enough food, they started lightening the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.

³⁹ The Shipwreck When day came, they didn’t recognize the land. But they noticed a bay with a beach. They planned to run the ship agroundll there if they could.

⁴⁰ Somm they cut the anchors loose into the sea, and loosened the rudder ties. Then they raised the forward sail to the wind, and started heading for the beach.

⁴¹ But they came on a reef,nn and ran the ship aground.oo And the bow stayed firmly stuck, and the stern started coming apart because of the force of the waves.

⁴² And the soldiers plannedpp to kill the prisoners, so nobody would swim away and escape.

⁴³ But the Roman officerqq wanted to save Paul, and kept them from doing it.rr He ordered the people who could swim to jump overboard first and get to the shore.

⁴⁴ And the rest had to get there on boards and on various things from the ship. And that’s how everybody got safely to shore.

28

¹ Safe Ashore on Malta So we had gotten through safely. We then learned that the island was called Malta.

² And the islandersa showed us extraordinary kindness. They started a fire and welcomed us all, because it was rainy and cold.b

³ And Paul gathered a bunch of brushwood and laid it on the fire. And a poisonous snake came out because of the heat, and attached itself to Paul’s hand. And when the islandersc saw the creature hanging from his hand, they started saying to one another, “Surely this man is a murderer. He’s been saved from the sea, but justice hasn’t allowed him to live.”

⁴ But then Paul just shook the creature off into the fire and didn’t suffer any harm.

⁵ They kept expecting him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead.

⁶ But after a long time of waiting and watching, with nothing out of the ordinary happening to him, they changed their minds and started saying he was a god.

⁷ Nearby to that place were the fieldsd of the chief official of the island, whose name was Publius. He welcomed us and was very friendly, and put us up for three days.

⁸ And it happened that Publius’s father had gotten ill, and was sick in bed with a fever and diarrhea.e Paul went in to visit him. He prayed, laid his hands on him, and healed him.

⁹ And when that happened, all the other people on the island who were ill started coming and getting cured too.

¹⁰ Those folks honored us in many ways, and when we were setting sail they gave us everything we needed.

¹¹ Paul Arrives at Rome After three months, we set sail on an Alexandrian ship that had spent the winter at the island. On its bow was a carving of the twin gods Castor and Pollux.f

¹² We came ashore at Syracuseg and stayed there for three days.

¹³ From there we set sailh and reached Rhegium.i After a day there a wind started blowing from the south, and on the second day we came to Puteoli.j

¹⁴ We found some Christian brothers and sisters there, and we were invited to stayk with them for seven days. And so we finally came to Rome.

¹⁵ The brothers and sisters from there had heard about us, and came out to meet us. They came all the way to the Appian Forum and the Three Taverns. When Paul saw them, he gave thanks to God and was encouraged.l

¹⁶ When we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier guarding him.

¹⁷ Paul Arranges a Meeting with the Jewish Leaders in Rome After three days, he called together the leaders in the Jewish community there.m When they had all come together, he said to them, “Gentlemen, brothers!n I haven’t done anything against the people of Israel or against the customs of our ancestors. Yet I was handed over to the Romans as a prisoner from Jerusalem.

¹⁸ When they questioned me, they intended to release me, because I hadn’t done anything that deserved death.o

¹⁹ But when the Judeansp objected to my release, I was forced to appeal to Caesar. It’s not that I have any legal grievance against my people.

²⁰ So here’s the reason I’ve requested to see you and talk to you: it’s because of the hope of Israel that I’m wearing these chains.”q

²¹ They said to Paul, “We haven’t received letters from Judear about you. And none of the Jewish brothers has arrived and reported or said anything bad about you.

²² We’d like to hear your opinions, because we’re aware that people everywhere complain about this sect.”s

²³ Paul Preaches to the Jews of Rome So they arranged a date with him, and a large number of peoplet came to him where he was staying. Paul explained the Reign of God to them from morning till night. He was testifying to them and trying to persuade them about Jesus, both from the Law of Moses and the prophets.

²⁴ And some were persuaded by the things he said, but others wouldn’t believe.

²⁵ And since they were in disagreement, they started to leave, after Paul said one last thing: “The Holy Spirit spoke wiselyu to your ancestors through the prophet Isaiah:

²⁶ Go to this people and say, Listen closely, but you’ll never understand; Look closely, but you’re never going to see;

²⁷ Because this people’s hearts have gotten dull,v. And they can hardly hear with their ears, And they’ve closed their eyes. Otherwise they would see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand in their hearts, And they would turn back to me- And I wouldw heal them.x

²⁸ So you should all know that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles-and they’re going to listen.”

²⁹

³⁰ Paul stayed in Rome for two whole years, in his own rented place. And he used to welcome everyone who came to him.

³¹ He was preaching the Reign of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ completely openly. No one tried to stop him.y