Peter Reports in Jerusalem

11 Now the apostles and ^(A)the brothers and sisters who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. ² And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, ^[a](B)the Jewish believers took issue with him, ³ saying, “^(C)You ^[b]went to ^[c]uncircumcised men and ate with them.” ⁴ But Peter began and explained at length to them ^(D)in an orderly sequence, saying, ⁵ “^(E)I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw ^(F)a vision, an ^[d]object coming down like a great sheet lowered by four corners from the sky; and it came to where I was, ⁶ and I stared at it and was thinking about it, and I saw the four-footed animals of the earth, the wild animals, the ^[e]crawling creatures, and the birds of the sky. ⁷ I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; ^[f]kill and eat.’ ⁸ But I said, ‘By no means, Lord, for nothing ^[g]unholy or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ ⁹ But a voice from heaven answered a second time, ‘^(G)What God has cleansed, no longer ^[h]consider unholy.’ ¹⁰ This happened three times, and everything was drawn back up into the sky. ¹¹ And behold, at that moment three men who had been sent to me from ^(H)Caesarea came up to the house where we were staying. ^12 (I)And the Spirit told me to go with them ^(J)without ^[i]misgivings. ^(K)These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. ¹³ And he reported to us how he had seen the angel ^[j]standing in his house, and saying, ‘Send some men to Joppa and have Simon, who is also called Peter, brought here; ¹⁴ and he will speak ^(L)words to you by which you will be saved, you and ^(M)all your household.’ ¹⁵ And as I began to speak, ^(N)the Holy Spirit fell upon them just ^(O)as He did upon us at the beginning. ¹⁶ And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘^(P)John baptized with water, but you will be baptized ^[k]with the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷ Therefore, if ^(Q)God gave them the same gift as He also gave to us after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, ^(R)who was I that I could ^[l]stand in God’s way?” ¹⁸ When they heard this, they ^[m]quieted down and ^(S)glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has also granted to the Gentiles the ^(T)repentance that leads to life.”

The Church in Antioch

^19 (U)So then those who were scattered because of the ^[n]persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way ^[o]to ^(V)Phoenicia, ^(W)Cyprus, and ^(X)Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone. ²⁰ But there were some of them, men of ^(Y)Cyprus and ^(Z)Cyrene, who came to ^(AA)Antioch and began speaking to the ^[p](AB)Greeks as well, ^(AC)preaching the good news of the Lord Jesus. ²¹ And ^(AD)the hand of the Lord was with them, and ^(AE)a large number who believed turned to the Lord. ²² The ^[q]news about them ^[r]reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent ^(AF)Barnabas off ^[s]to ^(AG)Antioch. ²³ Then when he arrived and ^[t]witnessed ^(AH)the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with ^[u]resolute heart to remain true to the Lord; ²⁴ for he was a good man, and ^(AI)full of the Holy Spirit and faith. And ^[v](AJ)considerable numbers were added to the Lord. ²⁵ And he left for ^(AK)Tarsus to look for Saul; ²⁶ and when he had found him, he brought him to ^(AL)Antioch. And for an entire year they ^[w]met with the church and taught ^[x]considerable numbers of people; and ^(AM)the disciples were first called ^(AN)Christians in ^(AO)Antioch.

²⁷ Now ^[y]at this time some ^(AP)prophets came down from Jerusalem to ^(AQ)Antioch. ²⁸ One of them, named ^(AR)Agabus, stood up and ^[z]indicated ^[aa]by the Spirit that there would definitely be a severe famine ^(AS)all over the ^[ab]world. ^[ac]And this took place in the reign of ^(AT)Claudius. ²⁹ And to the extent that any of ^(AU)the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the ^[ad]relief of ^(AV)the brothers and sisters living in Judea. ^30 (AW)And they did this, sending it ^[ae]with ^(AX)Barnabas and Saul to the ^(AY)elders.

⁷ On ^(A)the first day of the week, when ^(B)we were gathered together to ^(C)break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his ^[a]message until midnight.

Paul in Ephesus

19 Now it happened that while ^(A)Apollos was in ^(B)Corinth, Paul passed through the ^(C)upper country and came to ^(D)Ephesus, and found some disciples. ² He said to them, “^(E)Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “On the contrary, ^(F)we have not even heard if there is a Holy Spirit.” ³ And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “^(G)Into John’s baptism.” ⁴ Paul said, “^(H)John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people ^(I)to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” ⁵ When they heard this, they were ^(J)baptized ^[a]in the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶ And when Paul had ^(K)laid hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them and they began ^(L)speaking with tongues and ^(M)prophesying. ⁷ There were about twelve men in all.

⁸ And he entered ^(N)the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, having discussions and persuading them ^(O)about the kingdom of God. ⁹ But when ^(P)some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of ^[b](Q)the Way before the ^[c]people, he withdrew from them and took ^(R)the disciples away with him, and had discussions daily in the school of Tyrannus. ¹⁰ This took place for ^(S)two years, so that all who lived in ^[d](T)Asia heard ^(U)the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

Miracles at Ephesus

¹¹ God was performing ^(V)extraordinary ^[e]miracles by the hands of Paul, ^12 (W)so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and ^(X)the evil spirits went out. ¹³ But also some of the Jewish ^(Y)exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to ^[f]use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had the evil spirits, saying, “I order you in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches!” ¹⁴ Now there were seven sons of ^[g]Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, doing this. ¹⁵ But the evil spirit responded and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know of Paul, but who are you?” ¹⁶ And the man in whom was the evil spirit, pounced on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. ¹⁷ This became known to all who lived in ^(Z)Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified. ¹⁸ Also many of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. ¹⁹ And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they added up the prices of ^[h]the books and found it to be fifty thousand ^[i](AA)pieces of silver. ²⁰ So ^[j](AB)the word of the Lord ^(AC)was growing and prevailing mightily.

²¹ Now after these things were finished, Paul resolved in ^[k]the Spirit to ^(AD)go to Jerusalem ^(AE)after he had passed through ^(AF)Macedonia and ^(AG)Achaia, saying, “After I have been there, ^(AH)I must also see Rome.” ²² And after he sent into ^(AI)Macedonia two of ^(AJ)those who assisted him, ^(AK)Timothy and ^(AL)Erastus, he himself stayed in ^[l](AM)Asia for a while.

²³ About that time ^[m]a major disturbance occurred in regard to ^[n](AN)the Way. ²⁴ For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of ^[o]Artemis, ^(AO)was bringing ^[p]considerable ^[q]business to the craftsmen; ²⁵ he gathered these men together with the workmen of similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that our prosperity ^[r]depends upon this business. ²⁶ You see and hear that not only in ^(AP)Ephesus, but in almost all of ^[s](AQ)Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable number of people, saying that ^[t](AR)gods made by hands are not gods at all. ²⁷ Not only is there danger that this trade of ours will fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess ^[u]Artemis will be regarded as worthless, and that she whom all of ^[v](AS)Asia and ^(AT)the ^[w]world worship will even be dethroned from her magnificence.”

²⁸ When they heard this and were filled with rage, they began shouting, saying, “Great is ^[x]Artemis of the ^(AU)Ephesians!” ²⁹ The city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging along ^(AV)Gaius and ^(AW)Aristarchus, Paul’s ^(AX)Macedonian traveling ^(AY)companions. ³⁰ And when Paul wanted to go into the assembly, ^(AZ)the disciples would not let him. ³¹ Also some of the ^[y]Asiarchs who were friends of his sent word to him and repeatedly urged him not to ^[z]venture into the theater. ^32 (BA)So then, some were shouting one thing and some another, for the ^[aa]assembly was in confusion and the majority did not know ^[ab]for what reason they had come together. ³³ Some of the crowd ^[ac]concluded it was Alexander, since the Jews had put him forward; and having ^(BB)motioned with his hand, Alexander was intending to make a defense to the assembly. ³⁴ But when they recognized that he was a Jew, a single outcry arose from them all as they shouted for about two hours, “Great is ^[ad]Artemis of the Ephesians!”

³⁵ After quieting the crowd, the town clerk *said, “Men of ^(BC)Ephesus, what person is there after all who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is guardian of the temple of the great ^[ae]Artemis and of the image which fell down from ^[af]the sky? ³⁶ So, since these are undeniable facts, you ought to keep calm and to do nothing rash. ³⁷ For you have brought these men here who are neither ^(BD)temple robbers nor blasphemers of our goddess. ³⁸ So then, if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are in session and ^[ag](BE)proconsuls are available; have them bring charges against one another. ³⁹ But if you want anything beyond this, it shall be settled in the ^[ah]lawful ^[ai]assembly. ⁴⁰ For indeed, we are in danger of being accused of a riot in connection with today’s events, since there is no real reason for it, and in this connection we will be unable to account for this disorderly gathering.” ⁴¹ After saying this he dismissed the ^[aj]assembly.

¹⁵ but if there are ^[a](A)questions about ^[b]teaching and ^[c]persons and your own law, see to it yourselves; I am unwilling to be a judge of these matters.”