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.”

^19 (A)Go therefore and ^(B)make disciples of ^(C)all nations, ^(D)baptizing them ^(E)in^{[a] (F)}the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them ^(G)to observe all that ^(H)I have commanded you. And behold, ^(I)I am with you always, to ^(J)the end of the age.”

⁸ But you will receive ^(A)power ^(B)when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and ^(C)you will be ^(D)my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and ^(E)Samaria, and ^(F)to the end of the earth.”

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. ⁴³ And awe^[a] came upon every soul, and ^(F)many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. ⁴⁴ And all who believed were together and ^(G)had all things in common. ⁴⁵ And ^(H)they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. ⁴⁶ And day by day, ^(I)attending the temple ^(J)together and ^(K)breaking bread in their homes, they received their food ^(L)with glad and generous hearts, ⁴⁷ praising God and ^(M)having favor with all the people. And the Lord ^(N)added to their number ^(O)day by day those who ^(P)were being saved.

^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.

³⁵ Then Philip opened his mouth, and ^(A)beginning with this Scripture ^(B)he told him the good news about Jesus. ³⁶ And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! ^(C)What prevents me from being baptized?”^{[a] 38} And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. ³⁹ And when they came up out of the water, ^(D)the Spirit of the Lord ^(E)carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.

^28 (A)Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all ^(B)the flock, in which ^(C)the Holy Spirit has made you ^(D)overseers, ^(E)to care for ^(F)the church of God,^[a] which he ^(G)obtained ^(H)with his own blood.^[b]

²² And ^(A)he put all things under his feet and gave him as ^(B)head over all things to the church, ^23 (C)which is his body, ^(D)the fullness of him ^(E)who fills ^(F)all in all.

¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ ^(A)that surpasses knowledge, that ^(B)you may be filled with all ^(C)the fullness of God.

^20 (D)Now to ^(E)him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, ^(F)according to the power at work within us, ^21 (G)to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.