Thanksgiving and Prayer

^3 (A)We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, ⁴ since we heard of ^(B)your faith in Christ Jesus and of ^(C)the love that you have for all the saints, ⁵ because of ^(D)the hope ^(E)laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in ^(F)the word of the truth, the gospel, ⁶ which has come to you, as indeed ^(G)in the whole world it is ^(H)bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you ^(I)heard it and understood ^(J)the grace of God in truth,

Many Signs and Wonders Done

¹² Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people ^(A)by the hands of the apostles. And they were all ^(B)together in ^(C)Solomon's Portico. ¹³ None of the rest dared join them, but ^(D)the people held them in high esteem. ¹⁴ And ^(E)more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, ^15 (F)so that they even ^(G)carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by ^(H)at least his shadow might fall on some of them. ¹⁶ The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, ^(I)bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

The Apostles Arrested and Freed

¹⁷ But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of ^(J)the Sadducees), and filled with ^(K)jealousy ¹⁸ they arrested the apostles and ^(L)put them in the public prison. ¹⁹ But during the night ^(M)an angel of the Lord ^(N)opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, ²⁰ “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all ^(O)the words of ^(P)this ^(Q)Life.” ²¹ And when they heard this, ^(R)they entered the temple ^(S)at daybreak and began to teach.

Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.

Paul in Ephesus

19 And it happened that while ^(A)Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed ^(B)through the inland^[a] country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. ² And he said to them, ^(C)“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, ^(D)we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” ³ And he said, ^(E)“Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into ^(F)John's baptism.” ⁴ And Paul said, ^(G)“John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people ^(H)to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” ⁵ On hearing this, ^(I)they were baptized in^[b] the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶ And ^(J)when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and ^(K)they began speaking in tongues and ^(L)prophesying. ⁷ There were about twelve men in all.

⁸ And ^(M)he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them ^(N)about the kingdom of God. ^9 (O)But when some became stubborn and ^(P)continued in unbelief, speaking evil of ^(Q)the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus.^{[c] 10} This continued for ^(R)two years, so that ^(S)all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

The Advance of the Gospel

¹² I want you to know, brothers,^[a] that what has happened to me has really ^(A)served to advance the gospel, ¹³ so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard^[b] and ^(B)to all the rest that ^(C)my imprisonment is for Christ.