Acts 12-16

Complete Jewish Bible

12 It was around this time that King Herod began arresting and persecuting certain members of the Messianic community; ² and he had Ya‘akov, Yochanan’s brother, put to death by the sword. ³ When Herod saw how much this pleased the Judeans, he went on to arrest Kefa as well. It was during the Days of Matzah, ⁴ so when Herod seized him, he threw him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each, with the intention of bringing him to public trial after Pesach. ⁵ So Kefa was being held under watch in prison, but intense prayer was being made to God on his behalf by the Messianic community.

⁶ The night before Herod was going to bring him to trial, Kefa was sleeping between two soldiers. He was bound with two chains; and guards were at the door, keeping watch over the prison. ⁷ Suddenly an angel of Adonai stood there, and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Kefa’s side and woke him. “Hurry! Get up!” he said; and the chains fell off his hands. ⁸ The angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals,” and he did. “Throw on your robe,” he said, “and follow me!” ⁹ Going out, Kefa followed him but did not realize that what was happening through the angel was real — he thought he was seeing a vision. ¹⁰ Having passed a first guard and a second, they arrived at the iron gate leading to the city. This opened to them by itself, and they made their exit. They went down the length of one street, and suddenly the angel left him. ¹¹ Then Kefa came to himself and said, “Now I know for sure that the Lord sent his angel to rescue me from Herod’s power and from everything the Judean people were hoping for.”

¹² Realizing what had happened, he went to the house of Miryam the mother of Yochanan (surnamed Mark), where many people had gathered to pray. ¹³ He knocked at the outside door, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴ She recognized Kefa’s voice and was so happy that she ran back in without opening the door, and announced that Kefa was standing outside. ¹⁵ “You’re out of your mind!” they said to her. But she insisted it was true. So they said, “It is his angel.” ¹⁶ Meanwhile, Kefa kept knocking; and when they opened the door and saw him, they were amazed. ¹⁷ Motioning to them with his hand to be quiet, he told them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison and said, “Tell all this to Ya‘akov and the brothers.” Then he left and went elsewhere.

¹⁸ When daylight came, there was no small commotion among the soldiers over what had become of Kefa. ¹⁹ Herod had a thorough search made for him, but they failed to find him, so he cross-examined the guards and ordered them put to death. Then Herod went down from Y’hudah to Caesarea and spent some time there.

²⁰ Now Herod was very angry with the people of Tzor and Tzidon, so they joined together and sought an audience with him. After securing the support of Blastus, the king’s chief personal servant, they asked for peace; because they depended on the king’s lands for their food supply. ²¹ A day was set, and Herod in his royal robes sat on the throne and made a speech to them. ²² The mob cried out, “This is the voice of a god, not a man!” ²³ At once, because Herod did not give the glory to God, an angel of Adonai struck him down. He was eaten away by worms and died.

²⁴ But the word of the Lord went on growing and being multiplied.

²⁵ Bar-Nabba and Sha’ul, having completed their errand, returned from Yerushalayim, bringing with them Yochanan, surnamed Mark.

13 In the Antioch congregation were prophets and teachers — Bar-Nabba, Shim‘on (known as “the Black”), Lucius (from Cyrene), Menachem (who had been brought up with Herod the governor) and Sha’ul. ² One time when they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Ruach HaKodesh said to them, “Set aside for me Bar-Nabba and Sha’ul for the work to which I have called them.” ³ After fasting and praying, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

⁴ So these two, after they had been sent out by the Ruach HaKodesh, went down to Seleucia and from there sailed to Cyprus. ⁵ After landing in Salamis, they began proclaiming the word of God in the synagogues, with Yochanan (Mark) as an assistant; ⁶ and thus they made their way throughout the whole island.

They ended up in Paphos, where they found a Jewish sorcerer and pseudo-prophet named Bar-Yeshua. ⁷ He had attached himself to the governor, Sergius Paulus, who was an intelligent man. Now the governor had called for Bar-Nabba and Sha’ul and was anxious to hear the message about God; ⁸ but the sorcerer Elymas (for that is how his name is translated) opposed them, doing his best to turn the governor away from the faith. ⁹ Then Sha’ul, also known as Paul, filled with the Ruach HaKodesh, stared straight at him and said, ¹⁰ “You son of Satan, full of fraud and evil! You enemy of everything good! Won’t you ever stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?^{[a] 11} So now, look! The hand of the Lord is upon you; and for a while you will be blind, unable to see the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over Elymas; and he groped about, trying to find someone to lead him by the hand. ¹² Then, on seeing what had happened, the governor trusted, astounded by the teaching about the Lord.

¹³ Having set sail from Paphos, Sha’ul and his companions arrived at Perga in Pamphylia. There Yochanan left them and returned to Yerushalayim, ¹⁴ but the others went on from Perga to Pisidian Antioch, and on Shabbat they went into the synagogue and sat down. ¹⁵ After the reading from the Torah and from the Prophets, the synagogue leaders sent them a message, “Brothers, if any of you has a word of exhortation for the people, speak!” ¹⁶ So Sha’ul stood, motioned with his hand, and said:

“Men of Isra’el and God-fearers, listen! ¹⁷ The God of this people Isra’el chose our fathers. He made the people great during the time when they were living as aliens in Egypt and with a stretched-out arm he led them out of that land.^{[b] 18} For some forty years^[c] he took care of them in the desert, ¹⁹ and after he had destroyed seven nations^[d] in the land of Kena‘an he gave their land to his people as an inheritance. ²⁰ All this took about 450 years. After that, he gave them judges,^[e] down to the prophet Sh’mu’el. ²¹ Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Sha’ul Ben-Kish, a man from the tribe of Binyamin. After forty years, ²² God removed him and raised up David as king for them, making his approval known with these words, ‘I found David Ben-Yishai to be a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want.’^[f]

²³ “In keeping with his promise, God has brought to Isra’el from this man’s descendants a deliverer, Yeshua. ²⁴ Now before the coming of Yeshua, Yochanan proclaimed to all the people of Isra’el an immersion in connection with turning to God from sin. ²⁵ But as Yochanan was ending his work, he said, ‘Who do you suppose I am? Well — I’m not! But after me is coming someone, the sandals of whose feet I am unworthy to untie.’

²⁶ “Brothers! — sons of Avraham and those among you who are ‘God-fearers’! It is to us that the message of this deliverance has been sent! ²⁷ For the people living in Yerushalayim and their leaders did not recognize who Yeshua was or understand the message of the Prophets read every Shabbat, so they fulfilled that message by condemning him. ²⁸ They could not find any legitimate ground for a death sentence; nevertheless they asked Pilate to have him executed; ²⁹ and when they had carried out all the things written about him, he was taken down from the stake^[g] and placed in a tomb.

³⁰ “But God raised him from the dead! ³¹ He appeared for many days to those who had come up with him from the Galil to Yerushalayim; and they are now his witnesses to the people.

³² “As for us, we are bringing you the Good News that what God promised to the fathers, ³³ he has fulfilled for us the children in raising up Yeshua, as indeed it is written in the second Psalm,

³⁴ And as for his raising him up from the dead, to return to decay no more, he said,

³⁵ This is explained elsewhere:

³⁶ For David did indeed serve God’s purposes in his own generation; but after that, he died, was buried with his fathers and did see decay. ³⁷ However, the one God raised up did not see decay.

³⁸ “Therefore, brothers, let it be known to you that through this man is proclaimed forgiveness of sins! ³⁹ That is, God clears everyone who puts his trust in this man, even in regard to all the things concerning which you could not be cleared by the Torah of Moshe.

⁴⁰ “Watch out, then, so that this word found in the Prophets may not happen to you:

⁴² As they left, the people invited Sha’ul and Bar-Nabba to tell them more about these matters the following Shabbat. ⁴³ When the synagogue meeting broke up, many of the born Jews and devout proselytes followed Sha’ul and Bar-Nabba, who spoke with them and urged them to keep holding fast to the love and kindness of God.

⁴⁴ The next Shabbat, nearly the whole city gathered together to hear the message about the Lord; ⁴⁵ but when the Jews who had not believed saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and spoke up against what Sha’ul was saying and insulted him. ⁴⁶ However, Sha’ul and Bar-Nabba answered boldly: “It was necessary that God’s word be spoken first to you. But since you are rejecting it and are judging yourselves unworthy of eternal life — why, we’re turning to the Goyim! ⁴⁷ For that is what Adonai has ordered us to do:

⁴⁸ The Gentiles were very happy to hear this. They honored the message about the Lord, and as many as had been appointed to eternal life came to trust. ⁴⁹ And the message about the Lord was carried throughout the whole region.

⁵⁰ But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the women ‘God-fearers’ of high social standing and the leading men of the city, and they organized persecution against Sha’ul and Bar-Nabba and expelled them from their district. ⁵¹ However, Sha’ul and Bar-Nabba shook off the dust of their feet against them and went on to Iconium; ⁵² and the talmidim were filled with joy and with the Ruach HaKodesh.

14 In Iconium the same thing happened — they went into the synagogue and spoke in such a way that a large number of both Jews and Greeks came to trust. ² But the Jews who would not be persuaded stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. ³ Therefore, Sha’ul and Bar-Nabba remained for a long time, speaking boldly about the Lord, who bore witness to the message about his love and kindness by enabling them to perform signs and miracles. ⁴ However, the people of the city were divided — some sided with the unbelieving Jews, others with the emissaries.

⁵ Eventually the unbelievers, both Jews and Gentiles, together with their leaders, made a move to mistreat the emissaries, even to stone them; ⁶ but they learned of it and escaped to Lystra and Derbe, towns in Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country, ⁷ where they continued proclaiming the Good News.

⁸ There was a man living in Lystra who could not use his feet — crippled from birth, he had never walked. ⁹ This man listened to Sha’ul speaking. Sha’ul, looking at him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, ¹⁰ said with a loud voice, “Stand up on your feet!” He jumped up and began to walk. ¹¹ When the crowds saw what Sha’ul had done, they began to shout in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in the form of men!” ¹² They began calling Bar-Nabba “Zeus” and Sha’ul “Hermes,” since he did most of the talking; ¹³ and the priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates, intending to offer a sacrifice to them with the people.

¹⁴ When the emissaries Bar-Nabba and Sha’ul heard of it, they tore their clothes and ran into the crowd, shouting, ¹⁵ “Men! Why are you doing this? We’re just men, human like you! We are announcing Good News to you — turn from these worthless things to the living God who made heaven and earth and the sea and everything in them!^{[m] 16} In times past, he allowed all peoples to walk in their own ways; ¹⁷ yet he did not leave himself without evidence of his nature; because he does good things, giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons, filling you with food and your hearts with happiness!” ¹⁸ Even saying this barely kept the crowds from sacrificing to them.

¹⁹ Then some unbelieving Jews came from Antioch and Iconium. They won over the crowds, stoned Sha’ul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. ²⁰ But as the talmidim gathered around him, he got up and went back into the town. The next day, he left with Bar-Nabba for Derbe.

²¹ After proclaiming the Good News in that city and making many people into talmidim, they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, ²² strengthening the talmidim, encouraging them to remain true to the faith, and reminding them that it is through many hardships that we must enter the Kingdom of God. ²³ After appointing elders for them in every congregation, Sha’ul and Bar-Nabba, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord in whom they had put their trust.

²⁴ Passing through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia. ²⁵ After speaking the message in Perga, they came down to Attalia; and from there, they sailed back to Antioch, ²⁶ the place where they had been handed over to the care of God for the work which they had now completed.

²⁷ When they arrived, they gathered the Messianic community together and reported what God had done through them, that he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. ²⁸ And they stayed for some time there with the talmidim.

15 But some men came down from Y’hudah to Antioch and began teaching the brothers, “You can’t be saved unless you undergo b’rit-milah in the manner prescribed by Moshe.” ² This brought them into no small measure of discord and dispute with Sha’ul and Bar-Nabba. So the congregation assigned Sha’ul, Bar-Nabba and some of themselves to go and put this sh’eilah before the emissaries and the elders up in Yerushalayim.

³ After being sent off by the congregation, they made their way through Phoenicia and Shomron, recounting in detail how the Gentiles had turned to God; and this news brought great joy to all the brothers.

⁴ On arrival in Yerushalayim, they were welcomed by the Messianic community, including the emissaries and the elders; and they reported what God had done through them. ⁵ But some of those who had come to trust were from the party of the P’rushim; and they stood up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and direct them to observe the Torah of Moshe.”

⁶ The emissaries and the elders met to look into this matter. ⁷ After lengthy debate, Kefa got up and said to them, “Brothers, you yourselves know that a good while back, God chose me from among you to be the one by whose mouth the Goyim should hear the message of the Good News and come to trust. ⁸ And God, who knows the heart, bore them witness by giving the Ruach HaKodesh to them, just as he did to us; ⁹ that is, he made no distinction between us and them, but cleansed their heart by trust. ¹⁰ So why are you putting God to the test now by placing a yoke on the neck of the talmidim which neither our fathers nor we have had the strength to bear? ¹¹ No, it is through the love and kindness of the Lord Yeshua that we trust and are delivered — and it’s the same with them.”

¹² Then the whole assembly kept still as they listened to Bar-Nabba and Sha’ul tell what signs and miracles God had done through them among the Gentiles. ¹³ Ya‘akov broke the silence to reply. “Brothers,” he said, “hear what I have to say. ¹⁴ Shim‘on has told in detail what God did when he first began to show his concern for taking from among the Goyim a people to bear his name. ¹⁵ And the words of the Prophets are in complete harmony with this for it is written,

All this has been known for ages.

¹⁹ “Therefore, my opinion is that we should not put obstacles in the way of the Goyim who are turning to God. ²⁰ Instead, we should write them a letter telling them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from fornication, from what is strangled and from blood. ²¹ For from the earliest times, Moshe has had in every city those who proclaim him, with his words being read in the synagogues every Shabbat.”

²² Then the emissaries and the elders, together with the whole Messianic community, decided to select men from among themselves to send to Antioch with Sha’ul and Bar-Nabba. They sent Y’hudah, called Bar-Sabba, and Sila, both leading men among the brothers, ²³ with the following letter:

From: The emissaries and the elders, your brothers

To: The brothers from among the Gentiles throughout Antioch, Syria and Cilicia

Greetings!

Shalom!

³⁰ The messengers were sent off and went to Antioch, where they gathered the group together and delivered the letter. ³¹ After reading it, the people were delighted by its encouragement. ³² Y’hudah and Sila, who were also prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers. ³³ After they had spent some time there, they were sent off with a greeting of “Shalom!” from the brothers to those who had sent them. ^{34 [o] 35} But Sha’ul and Bar-Nabba stayed in Antioch, where they and many others taught and proclaimed the Good News of the message about the Lord.

³⁶ After some time, Sha’ul said to Bar-Nabba, “Let’s go back and visit the brothers in all the towns where we proclaimed the message about the Lord, and see how they’re doing.” ³⁷ Now Bar-Nabba wanted to take with them Yochanan, the one called Mark. ³⁸ But Sha’ul thought it would be unwise to take this man with them, since he had gone off and left them in Pamphylia to do the work by themselves. ³⁹ There was such sharp disagreement over this that they separated from each other, with Bar-Nabba taking Mark and sailing off to Cyprus.

⁴⁰ However, Sha’ul chose Sila and left, after the brothers had committed him to the love and kindness of the Lord. ⁴¹ He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the congregations.

16 Sha’ul came down to Derbe and went on to Lystra, where there lived a talmid named Timothy. He was the son of a Jewish woman who had come to trust, and a Greek father. ² All the brothers in Lystra and Iconium spoke well of Timothy. ³ Sha’ul wanted Timothy to accompany him; so he took him and did a b’rit-milah, because of the Jews living in those areas; for they all knew that his father had been a Greek.

⁴ As they went on through the towns, they delivered to the people the decisions reached by the emissaries and the elders in Yerushalayim for them to observe. ⁵ Accordingly, the congregations were strengthened in the faith and increased in number day by day.

⁶ They traveled through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, because they had been prevented by the Ruach HaKodesh from speaking the message in the province of Asia. ⁷ When they came to the frontier of Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia; but the Spirit of Yeshua would not let them. ⁸ So, after passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.

⁹ There a vision appeared to Sha’ul at night. A man from Macedonia was standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” ¹⁰ As soon as he had seen the vision, we lost no time getting ready to leave for Macedonia; for we concluded that God had called us to proclaim the Good News to them.

¹¹ Sailing from Troas, we made a straight run to Samothrace; the next day we went to Neapolis; ¹² and from there, we went on to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that part of Macedonia. We spent a few days in this city; ¹³ then on Shabbat, we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we understood a minyan met. We sat down and began speaking to the women who had gathered there. ¹⁴ One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in fine purple cloth. She was already a “God-fearer,” and the Lord opened up her heart to respond to what Sha’ul was saying. ¹⁵ After she and the members of her household had been immersed, she gave us this invitation: “If you consider me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay in my house.” And she insisted till we went.

¹⁶ Once, when we were going to the place where the minyan gathered, we were met by a slave girl who had in her a snake-spirit that enabled her to predict the future. She earned a lot of money for her owners by telling fortunes. ¹⁷ This girl followed behind Sha’ul and the rest of us and kept screaming, “These men are servants of God Ha‘Elyon! They’re telling you how to be saved!” ¹⁸ She kept this up day after day, until Sha’ul, greatly disturbed, turned and said to the spirit, “In the name of Yeshua the Messiah, I order you to come out of her!” And the spirit did come out, at that very moment.

¹⁹ But when her owners saw that what had come out was any further prospect of profit for them, they seized Sha’ul and Sila and dragged them to the market square to face the authorities. ²⁰ Bringing them to the judges, they said, “These men are causing a lot of trouble in our city, since they are Jews. ²¹ What they are doing is advocating customs that are against the law for us to accept or practice, since we are Romans.” ²² The mob joined in the attack against them, and the judges tore their clothes off them and ordered that they be flogged. ²³ After giving them a severe beating, they threw them in prison, charging the jailer to guard them securely. ²⁴ Upon receiving such an order, he threw them into the inner cell and clamped their feet securely between heavy blocks of wood.

²⁵ Around midnight, Sha’ul and Sila were praying and singing hymns to God, while the other prisoners listened attentively. ²⁶ Suddenly there was a violent earthquake which shook the prison to its foundations. All the doors flew open and everyone’s chains came loose. ²⁷ The jailer awoke, and when he saw the doors open he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, for he assumed that the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸ But Sha’ul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We’re all here!”

²⁹ Calling for lights, the jailer ran in, began to tremble and fell down in front of Sha’ul and Sila. ³⁰ Then, leading them outside, he said, “Men, what must I do to be saved?” ³¹ They said, “Trust in the Lord Yeshua, and you will be saved — you and your household!” ³² Whereupon they told him and everyone in his household the message about the Lord.

³³ Then, even at that late hour of the night, the jailer took them and washed off their wounds; and without delay, he and all his people were immersed. ³⁴ After that, he brought them up to his house and set food in front of them; and he and his entire household celebrated their having come to trust in God.

³⁵ The next morning, the judges sent police officers with the order, “Release those men.” ³⁶ The jailer told Sha’ul, “The judges have sent word to release both of you. So come out, and go on your way in peace.” ³⁷ But Sha’ul said to the officers, “After flogging us in public when we hadn’t been convicted of any crime and are Roman citizens, they threw us in prison. Now they want to get rid of us secretly? Oh, no! Let them come and escort us out themselves!”

³⁸ The officers reported these words to the judges, who became frightened when they heard that Sha’ul and Sila were Roman citizens. ³⁹ They came and apologized to them; then, after escorting them out, requested them to leave the city. ⁴⁰ From the prison they went to Lydia’s house, and after seeing and encouraging the brothers they departed.