Laws of the Sanctuary

12 “These are the statutes and the judgments which you shall carefully ^[a]follow in the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess ^[b](A)as long as you live on the ^[c]earth. ² You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you are going to dispossess serve their gods, on the ^(B)high mountains, on the hills, and under every leafy tree. ³ And ^(C)you shall tear down their altars and smash their memorial stones to pieces, and burn their ^[d]Asherim in the fire, and cut to pieces the carved images of their gods; and you shall ^(D)eliminate their name from that place. ⁴ You shall not act this way toward the Lord your God. ^5 (E)But you shall seek the Lord at the place which the Lord your God will choose from all your tribes, to establish His name there for His dwelling, and you shall come there. ⁶ You shall bring there your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, ^(F)your tithes, the ^[e]contribution of your hand, your vowed offerings, your ^[f]voluntary offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock. ⁷ There you and your households shall eat before the Lord your God, and ^(G)rejoice in all ^[g]your undertakings in which the Lord your God has blessed you.

⁸ “You shall not do at all what we are doing here today, ^(H)everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes; ⁹ for you have not as yet come to ^(I)the resting place and the ^(J)inheritance which the Lord your God is giving you. ¹⁰ When you cross the Jordan and live in the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and ^(K)He gives you rest from all your enemies around you so that you live in security, ^11 (L)then it shall come about that the place in which the Lord your God will choose for His name to dwell, there you shall bring everything that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the ^[h]contribution of your hand, and all your choice vowed offerings which you will vow to the Lord. ¹² And you shall ^(M)rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and daughters, your male and female slaves, and the ^(N)Levite who is within your gates, since ^(O)he has no portion or inheritance with you.

¹³ “^(P)Be careful that you do not offer your burnt offerings in any cultic place that you see, ¹⁴ but only in the place which the Lord chooses in one of your tribes: there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do everything that I command you.

The Church in Antioch

^19 (A)So then those who were scattered because of the ^[a]persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way ^[b]to ^(B)Phoenicia, ^(C)Cyprus, and ^(D)Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone. ²⁰ But there were some of them, men of ^(E)Cyprus and ^(F)Cyrene, who came to ^(G)Antioch and began speaking to the ^[c](H)Greeks as well, ^(I)preaching the good news of the Lord Jesus. ²¹ And ^(J)the hand of the Lord was with them, and ^(K)a large number who believed turned to the Lord. ²² The ^[d]news about them ^[e]reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent ^(L)Barnabas off ^[f]to ^(M)Antioch. ²³ Then when he arrived and ^[g]witnessed ^(N)the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with ^[h]resolute heart to remain true to the Lord; ²⁴ for he was a good man, and ^(O)full of the Holy Spirit and faith. And ^[i](P)considerable numbers were added to the Lord. ²⁵ And he left for ^(Q)Tarsus to look for Saul; ²⁶ and when he had found him, he brought him to ^(R)Antioch. And for an entire year they ^[j]met with the church and taught ^[k]considerable numbers of people; and ^(S)the disciples were first called ^(T)Christians in ^(U)Antioch.

²⁷ Now ^[l]at this time some ^(V)prophets came down from Jerusalem to ^(W)Antioch. ²⁸ One of them, named ^(X)Agabus, stood up and ^[m]indicated ^[n]by the Spirit that there would definitely be a severe famine ^(Y)all over the ^[o]world. ^[p]And this took place in the reign of ^(Z)Claudius. ²⁹ And to the extent that any of ^(AA)the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the ^[q]relief of ^(AB)the brothers and sisters living in Judea. ^30 (AC)And they did this, sending it ^[r]with ^(AD)Barnabas and Saul to the ^(AE)elders.

The Sabbatical Year

15 “^(A)At the end of every seven years you shall ^[a]grant a release of debts. ² And this is the regulation for the release of debts: every creditor is to forgive what he has loaned to his neighbor; he shall not require it of his neighbor and his brother, because the Lord’s release has been proclaimed. ^3 (B)From a foreigner you may require it, but your hand shall ^[b]forgive whatever of yours is with your brother. ⁴ However, there will be no poor among you, since ^(C)the Lord will certainly bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, ⁵ if only you listen obediently to the voice of the Lord your God, to ^[c]follow carefully all this commandment which I am commanding you today. ^6 (D)For the Lord your God will have blessed you just as He has promised you, and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; and you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you.

⁷ “If there is ^(E)a poor person among you, one of your brothers, in any of your ^[d]towns in your land which the Lord your God is giving you, ^(F)you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from your poor brother; ⁸ but ^(G)you shall fully open your hand to him, and generously lend him enough for his need in whatever he lacks. ⁹ Be careful that there is no mean-spirited ^[e]thought in your heart, ^[f]such as, ‘^(H)The seventh year, the year of release of debts, is near,’ and ^(I)your eye is malicious toward your poor brother, and you give him nothing; then he ^(J)may cry out to the Lord against you, and it will be a sin in you. ¹⁰ You shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be ^[g]grudging when you give to him, because ^(K)for this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your work, and in all ^[h]your undertakings. ^11 (L)For the poor will not cease ^[i]to exist in the land; therefore I am commanding you, saying, ‘You shall fully open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.’

¹² “^(M)If your fellow countryman, a Hebrew man or woman, is sold to you, then he shall serve you for six years, but in the seventh year you shall set him ^[j]free. ¹³ And when you set him ^[k]free, you shall not send him away empty-handed. ¹⁴ You shall give generously to him from your flock, your threshing floor, and from your wine vat; you shall give to him as the Lord your God has blessed you. ¹⁵ And you are to remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I am commanding ^[l]this of you today. ¹⁶ But it shall come about, ^(N)if he says to you, ‘I will not leave you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he is doing well with you, ¹⁷ then you shall take an ^[m]awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your servant permanently. You shall also do the same to your female slave.

¹⁸ “It shall not seem difficult for you when you set him ^[n]free, because he has given you six years with double the ^[o]service of a hired worker; so the Lord your God will bless you in whatever you do.

Peter’s Arrest and Deliverance

12 Now about that time ^[a]Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church, to do them harm. ² And he ^(A)had James the brother of John ^(B)executed with a sword. ³ When he saw that it ^(C)pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter as well. (Now these were ^[b](D)the days of Unleavened Bread.) ⁴ When he had arrested him, he put him in prison, turning him over to four ^[c](E)squads of soldiers to guard him, intending only after ^(F)the Passover to bring him before the people. ⁵ So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made to God ^[d]intensely by the church.

⁶ On ^[e]the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, ^(G)bound with two chains, and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison. ⁷ And behold, ^(H)an angel of the Lord suddenly ^(I)stood near Peter, and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter’s side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And ^(J)his chains fell off his hands. ⁸ And the angel said to him, “Put on your belt and ^[f]strap on your sandals.” And he did so. And he *said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” ⁹ And he went out and continued to follow, and yet he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing ^(K)a vision. ¹⁰ Now when they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which ^(L)opened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. ¹¹ When Peter ^(M)came ^[g]to himself, he said, “Now I know for sure that ^(N)the Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all ^[h]that the Jewish people were expecting.” ¹² And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of ^(O)John, who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and ^(P)were praying. ¹³ When he knocked at the door of the gate, ^(Q)a slave woman named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴ When she recognized Peter’s voice, ^(R)because of her joy she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate. ¹⁵ They said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was so. They said, “It is ^(S)his angel.” ¹⁶ But Peter continued knocking; and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were amazed. ¹⁷ But ^(T)motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, “Report these things to ^[i](U)James and ^(V)the brothers.” Then he left and went to another place.

¹⁸ Now when day came, there was no small disturbance among the soldiers as to ^[j]what could have become of Peter. ¹⁹ When Herod had searched for him and had not found him, he examined the guards and ordered that they ^(W)be led away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to ^(X)Caesarea and was spending time there.

Death of Herod

²⁰ Now he was very angry with the people of ^(Y)Tyre and Sidon; and with one mind they came to him, and having won over Blastus the king’s chamberlain, they were asking for peace, because ^(Z)their country was supported with grain from the king’s country. ²¹ On an appointed day, after putting on his royal apparel, Herod took his seat on the ^[k]rostrum and began delivering an address to them. ²² The people repeatedly cried out, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” ²³ And immediately ^(AA)an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and ^[l]died.

²⁴ But ^(AB)the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied.