¹⁵ He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter replied, ^(A)“You are ^(B)the Christ, ^(C)the Son of ^(D)the living God.” ¹⁷ And Jesus answered him, ^(E)“Blessed are you, ^(F)Simon Bar-Jonah! For ^(G)flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, ^(H)but my Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ And I tell you, ^(I)you are Peter, and ^(J)on this rock^[a] I will build my church, and ^(K)the gates of ^(L)hell^[b] shall not prevail against it. ¹⁹ I will give you ^(M)the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and ^(N)whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed^[c] in heaven.”

If Your Brother Sins Against You

^15 (A)“If your brother sins against you, ^(B)go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have ^(C)gained your brother. ¹⁶ But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established ^(D)by the evidence of two or three witnesses. ¹⁷ If he refuses to listen to them, ^(E)tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, ^(F)let him be to you as ^(G)a Gentile and ^(H)a tax collector. ¹⁸ Truly, I say to you, ^(I)whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed^[a] in heaven. ¹⁹ Again I say to you, if two of you ^(J)agree on earth about anything they ask, ^(K)it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three are ^(L)gathered in my name, ^(M)there am I among them.”

⁴¹ So those who received his word were baptized, and ^(A)there were added that day about three thousand souls.

The Fellowship of the Believers

⁴² And ^(B)they devoted themselves to the apostles' ^(C)teaching and the ^(D)fellowship, to ^(E)the breaking of bread and the prayers.

⁴⁷ praising God and ^(A)having favor with all the people. And the Lord ^(B)added to their number ^(C)day by day those who ^(D)were being saved.

¹¹ And ^(A)great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

Many Signs and Wonders Done

¹² Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people ^(B)by the hands of the apostles. And they were all ^(C)together in ^(D)Solomon's Portico. ¹³ None of the rest dared join them, but ^(E)the people held them in high esteem. ¹⁴ And ^(F)more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,

^3 (A)Therefore, brothers,^[a] pick out from among you seven men ^(B)of good repute, ^(C)full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. ⁴ But ^(D)we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” ⁵ And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, ^(E)a man full of faith and ^(F)of the Holy Spirit, and ^(G)Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, ^(H)a proselyte of Antioch. ⁶ These they set before the apostles, and ^(I)they prayed and ^(J)laid their hands on them.

Barnabas and Saul Sent Off

13 Now there were in the church at Antioch ^(A)prophets and ^(B)teachers, ^(C)Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger,^[a] Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of ^(D)Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. ² While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, ^(E)the Holy Spirit said, ^(F)“Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul ^(G)for the work to which I have called them.” ³ Then after fasting and ^(H)praying they laid their hands on them and ^(I)sent them off.

²³ And when they had ^(A)appointed ^(B)elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting ^(C)they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

²⁷ And when they arrived and gathered the church together, ^(A)they declared all that God had done with them, and ^(B)how he had ^(C)opened ^(D)a door of faith to the Gentiles.