one of whom, named Agabus, being instructed by the Spirit, publicly predicted the speedy coming of a great famine throughout the world. (It came in the reign of Claudius.)

And they determined, according as any one of the disciples was well off, each of them to send to the brethren who dwelt in Judaea, to minister to them;

Now at that time Herod [Agrippa I] the king [of the Jews] arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to harm them.

whom having seized he put in prison, having delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep, purposing after the passover to bring him out to the people.

Then when Peter realized what had actually happened, he said, "Now I know for certain that [it was] the Lord who sent His angel to rescue me from Herod's custody and from all that the Jewish people had planned [to do to me]."

And having become clearly conscious in himself, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was surnamed Mark, where were many gathered together and praying.

when he had knock'd at the door of the gate, a servant named Rhoda came to ask who was there.

And Herod, who sought for him, and not having found, having examined the guards, he commanded them to be led away. And going down from Judea to Caesarea, he remained there.

And Herod was highly displeased with the Tyrians and Sidonians, and with one accord they came unto him, and having made a friend of Blastus, who is over the bed-chambers of the king, they were asking peace, because of their country being nourished from the king's;

and Barnabas and Saul did turn back out of Jerusalem, having fulfilled the ministration, having taken also with them John, who was surnamed Mark.

Now there were in Antioch, in the assembly which was there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius the Cyrenian, and Manaen, foster-brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

When they had traveled across the whole island they came to Paphos [a town on the island of Cyprus]; [there] they met a certain magician named Bar-Jesus, who was a Jewish false prophet.

Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God.

Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him,

[and] said, "O [you who are] full of all deceit and of all unscrupulousness, [you] son of the devil, [you] enemy of all righteousness! Will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord!

And now behold, the Lord's hand is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell upon him a mist and darkness; and going about he sought persons who should lead him by the hand.

Then the proconsul, who saw that which happened, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord.

Then Paul and those who were with him went by ship from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia: and there John went away from them and came back to Jerusalem.

So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand, he said,

“Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen!

"Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen! The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors and made them a great people during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with a public display of power he led them out of there.

For about four hundred and fifty years. In later times he gave them Judges, of whom the Prophet Samuel was the last.

Next they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a Benjamite, who reigned forty years.

And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.

It was from this man's descendants that God, as he promised, brought to Israel a Savior, who is Jesus.

His coming occurred after John [the Immerser] had preached to Israel that those who repented should be immersed [as evidence that they had done so].

And as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose.

Brethren, sons of Abraham's race, and those who among you fear God, to you has the word of this salvation been sent:

for those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, not having known him, have fulfilled also the voices of the prophets which are read on every sabbath, by judging him.

And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people.

to you therefore we declare, that the promise which God had made to the fathers, he has now perform'd to us, who are their children, by his having raised up Jesus again.

Now David having served his own generation according to the will of God, fell asleep, and was laid with his fathers, and saw corruption: but He whom God raised,

But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption.

and from all things from which ye were not able in the law of Moses to be declared righteous, in this one every one who is believing is declared righteous;

[Hab. 1:5 says], "Look, you people who despise [God], and be amazed [at what He can do] and be destroyed [for rejecting Him]; for I [i.e., God] will accomplish such a work during your days that you will not believe [it could happen, even] if someone told you about it."

Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.

but Paul and Barnabas told them boldly, you indeed were the first, to whom the word of God was to be preach'd: but since you reject it, and judge your own selves unworthy of eternal life, be assur'd, we shall make the same offer to the Gentiles:

And [when] the Gentiles heard [this], they began to rejoice and to glorify the word of the Lord. And all those who were designated for eternal life believed.

But the Jews excited the women of the upper classes who were worshippers, and the first people of the city, and raised a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and cast them out of their coasts.

But the Jews who did not believe stirred up the minds of those of the nations and made them evil-affected against the brethren.

Long time therefore they tarried there'speaking boldly in the Lord, who bare witness unto the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.

But the large crowd in the city [who heard them] became divided [over how to respond to it]; some sided with the [unbelieving] Jews and some with the apostles.

And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked:

The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed,

But the crowds, who saw what Paul had done, lifted up their voices in Lycaonian, saying, The gods, having made themselves like men, are come down to us.

And they actually called Barnabas, Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the man who led the word.

And the priest of Jupiter who was before the city, having brought bulls and garlands to the gates, would have done sacrifice along with the crowds.

and saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and bring you good tidings, that ye should turn from these vain things unto a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that in them is:

Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways.

And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and, having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead.

And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.

Arriving there, they gathered the church together and began to report [in great detail] everything that God had done with them and how He had opened to the Gentiles a door of faith [in Jesus as the Messiah and Savior].

But certain persons who had come down from Judaea tried to convince the brethren, saying, "Unless you are circumcised in accordance with the Mosaic custom, you cannot be saved."

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

and being arrived at Jerusalem, they were receiv'd by the church, by the apostles, and presbyters, to whom they related all that God had done by them.

But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees who believed, saying, It is needful to circumcise them, and to charge them to keep the law of Moses.

After a lengthy debate, Peter stood up and told them, "Brothers, you know that in the early days, God chose me to be the one among you through whom the gentiles would hear the message of the gospel and believe.

And God, who knoweth the heart, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Spirit, even as he did unto us;

and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith [in Jesus].

That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.

Saith the Lord, who maketh these things known from of old.

Wherefore I judge, not to trouble those who from the nations turn to God;

For Moses, from generations of old, has in every city those who preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath.

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

and they wrote thus by them, The apostles and the elders, brethren, unto the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greeting:

Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment:

men who have given up their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth.

Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets (divinely inspired spokesmen), encouraged and strengthened the believers with many words.

And having passed some time there, they were let go in peace from the brethren to those who sent them.

Then after certain days said Paul to Barnabas, Let us now return and visit our brethren in every city among whom we have preached the word of the Lord, that we may see how they hold on.

And Barnabas was minded to take with them John also, who was called Mark.

But Paul thought not good to take him with them, who departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work.

Now Paul traveled to Derbe and also to Lystra. A disciple named Timothy was there, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer [in Christ], however, his father was a Greek.

who had a good testimony of the brethren in Lystra and Iconium.

Him would Paul have go forth with him, and took him and circumcised him on account of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew his father that he was a Greek.

And as they passed through the cities they instructed them to observe the decrees determined on by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem.

Here, one night, Paul saw a vision. There was a Macedonian who was standing, entreating him and saying, "Come over into Macedonia and help us."

And on the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where it was the custom for prayer to be, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had assembled.

And a certain woman, by name Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, who worshipped God, heard; whose heart the Lord opened to attend to the things spoken by Paul.

And it came to pass, as we were going to the place of prayer, that a certain maid having a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much gain by soothsaying.

The same following after Paul and us cried out, saying, These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim unto you the way of salvation.

When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities who met together in the public square.

And when they had taken them before the authorities, they said, These men, who are Jews, are greatly troubling our town;

and they teach customs which it is not lawful for us, who are Romans, to receive or to observe.

Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.

The jailor, who was awakened from sleep [by the commotion] saw the jail doors open so drew his [short] sword and prepared to kill himself, assuming that all the prisoners had escaped. [Note: He would have faced a humiliating execution himself if he had allowed capital offense criminals to escape. With that prospect in view, it was considered honorable by the Romans for a person to commit suicide].

And they spoke the word of the Lord [concerning eternal salvation through faith in Christ] to him and to all who were in his house.

And taking them that same hour of the night, he washed their stripes; and was baptised, himself and all who belonged to him immediately.

Then he brought them up into his house and prepared a meal for them. So, he and everyone in his household, who had believed in God [and were immersed], rejoiced greatly.

When day came, the magistrates sent guards, who commanded, "Release those men."

But Paul said to them, Having beaten us publicly uncondemned, us who are Romans, they have cast us into prison, and now they thrust us out secretly? no, indeed, but let them come themselves and bring us out.

This answer the lictors took back to the praetors, who were alarmed when they were told that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens.

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

And some of them believed, and joined themselves to Paul and Silas, and of the Greeks who worshipped, a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.

But the Jewish leaders became jealous, and they took some contemptible characters who used to hang out in the public square, formed a mob, and started a riot in the city. They attacked Jason's home and searched it for Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the people.

But when they failed to find them, they dragged Jason and some brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here too;

Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.

And they threw the crowd into confusion, and the city officials who heard these [things].

And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.

but these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, who received the word with all enthusiasm, searching the scriptures daily, if these things are so.