Beginning

Peter’s Report in Jerusalem

11 Now the apostles and ^(A)the brothers 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)those who were circumcised took issue with him, ³ saying, “^(C)You ^[b]went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” ⁴ But Peter began speaking ^[c]and proceeded to explain to them ^(D)in orderly sequence, saying, ⁵ “^(E)I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw ^(F)a vision, ^[d]an object coming down like a great sheet lowered by four corners from heaven, and it came right down to me, ⁶ and when looking closely at it, I was observing it and saw the four-footed animals of the earth and the wild beasts and the crawling creatures and the birds of the ^[e]sky. ⁷ And I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise up, Peter; ^[f]slaughter and eat.’ ⁸ But I said, ‘By no means, Lord, for nothing defiled or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ ⁹ But a voice from heaven answered a second time, ‘^(G)What God has cleansed, no longer consider defiled.’ ¹⁰ And this happened three times, and everything was drawn back up into heaven. ¹¹ And behold, immediately three men appeared at the house in which we were, having been sent to me from ^(H)Caesarea. ^12 (I)And the Spirit told me to go with them ^[g](J)without taking issue at all. ^(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 ^[h]standing in his house, and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and summon Simon, who is also called Peter; 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 ^[i]with the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷ Therefore if ^(Q)God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, ^(R)who was I that I could prevent God’s way?” ¹⁸ And when they heard this, they ^[j]quieted down and ^(S)glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the ^(T)repentance that leads to life.”

The Church in Antioch

^19 (U)So then those who were scattered because of the ^[k]persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way ^[l]to ^(V)Phoenicia and ^(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 ^[m](AB)Greeks also, ^(AC)proclaiming 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 Now the ^[n]news about them ^[o]reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent ^(AF)Barnabas off ^[p]to ^(AG)Antioch, ²³ who, when he arrived and saw ^(AH)the grace of God, rejoiced and began to encourage them all with a purposeful heart to remain true to the Lord; ²⁴ for he was a good man, and ^(AI)full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a ^(AJ)considerable crowd was ^[q]brought to the Lord. ²⁵ And he left for ^(AK)Tarsus to search for Saul; ²⁶ and when he found him, he brought him to ^(AL)Antioch. And it happened that for an entire year they ^[r]met with the church and taught a considerable crowd. And ^(AM)the disciples were first called ^(AN)Christians in ^(AO)Antioch.

²⁷ Now in those days, ^(AP)some prophets came down from Jerusalem to ^(AQ)Antioch. ²⁸ And one of them named ^(AR)Agabus stood up and indicated ^[s]by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine ^(AS)all over the ^[t]world. ^[u]And this took place in the reign of ^(AT)Claudius. ²⁹ And as any of ^(AU)the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the service of ^(AV)the brothers living in Judea. ^30 (AW)And this they did, sending it ^[v]in charge of ^(AX)Barnabas and Saul to the ^(AY)elders.

An Angel Frees Peter from Prison

12 Now about that time ^[w]Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church in order to harm them. ² And he ^(AZ)had James the brother of John ^(BA)put to death with a sword. ³ And when he saw that it ^(BB)pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. Now ^[x]it was during ^(BC)the days of Unleavened Bread. ⁴ When he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him to four ^[y](BD)squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after ^(BE)the Passover to bring him out before the people. ⁵ So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.

⁶ Now on ^[z]the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, ^(BF)bound with two chains, and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison. ⁷ And behold, ^(BG)an angel of the Lord suddenly ^(BH)appeared and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter’s side and woke him up, saying, “Rise up quickly.” And ^(BI)his chains fell off his hands. ⁸ And the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and ^[aa]put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he *said to him, “Wrap your garment around yourself and follow me.” ⁹ And he went out and continued to follow, and he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but was thinking he was seeing ^(BJ)a vision. ¹⁰ And when they had passed the first and second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which ^(BK)opened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. ¹¹ When Peter ^(BL)came ^[ab]to himself, he said, “Now truly I know that ^(BM)the Lord has sent His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all ^[ac]that the Jewish people were expecting.” ¹² And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of ^(BN)John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and ^(BO)were praying. ¹³ And when he knocked at the door of the gate, ^(BP)a servant-girl named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴ And when she recognized Peter’s voice, ^(BQ)because of her joy she did not open the gate. But she ran in and reported that Peter was standing in front of the gate. ¹⁵ And they said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was so. They kept saying, “It is ^(BR)his angel.” ¹⁶ But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened the door, they saw him and were astounded. ¹⁷ But ^(BS)motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he recounted to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, “Report these things to ^(BT)James and ^(BU)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 what ^[ad]had become of Peter. ¹⁹ And when Herod had searched for him and had not found him, he examined the guards and ordered that they ^(BV)be led away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to ^(BW)Caesarea and was spending time there.

The Death of Herod

²⁰ Now he was very angry with the people of ^(BX)Tyre and Sidon; and with one accord they came to him, and having won over Blastus the king’s chamberlain, they were asking for peace, because ^(BY)their country was fed by the king’s country. ²¹ And on an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal apparel and sitting on the judgment seat, began delivering an address to them. ²² And the assembly kept crying out, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” ²³ And immediately ^(BZ)an angel of the ^[ae]Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.

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

²⁵ And ^(CB)Barnabas and ^(CC)Saul ^[af]returned ^[ag]to Jerusalem, ^(CD)fulfilling their ministry, taking along with them ^(CE)John, who was also called Mark.

Barnabas and Saul Sent from Antioch by the Holy Spirit

13 Now there were at ^(CF)Antioch, in the ^(CG)church that was there, ^(CH)prophets and ^(CI)teachers: ^(CJ)Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of ^(CK)Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with ^(CL)Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. ² And while they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, ^(CM)the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me ^(CN)Barnabas and Saul for ^(CO)the work to which I have called them.” ³ Then, when they had fasted and ^(CP)prayed and ^(CQ)laid their hands on them, ^(CR)they sent them away.

On Cyprus

⁴ So, being ^(CS)sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to ^(CT)Cyprus. ⁵ And when they reached Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in ^(CU)the synagogues of the Jews, and they also had ^(CV)John as their helper. ⁶ And when they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a ^(CW)magician, a Jewish ^(CX)false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus, ⁷ who was with the ^(CY)proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. ⁸ But Elymas the ^(CZ)magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the ^(DA)proconsul away from ^(DB)the faith. ⁹ But Saul, who was also known as Paul, ^[ah](DC)filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on him, ¹⁰ and said, “You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you ^(DD)son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked ^(DE)the straight ways of the ^[ai]Lord? ¹¹ Now, behold, ^(DF)the hand of the ^[aj]Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time.” And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand. ¹² Then the ^(DG)proconsul believed when he saw what had happened, being astonished at ^(DH)the teaching of the Lord.

In Pisidian Antioch

¹³ Now after Paul and his companions set sail from ^(DI)Paphos, they came to ^(DJ)Perga in ^(DK)Pamphylia, but ^(DL)John left them and returned to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ But going on from Perga, they arrived at ^(DM)Pisidian ^(DN)Antioch. And on ^(DO)the Sabbath day, they went into ^(DP)the synagogue and sat down. ¹⁵ And after ^(DQ)the reading of the Law and ^(DR)the Prophets ^(DS)the synagogue officials sent to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it.” ¹⁶ So Paul stood up, and ^(DT)motioning with his hand said,

“Men of Israel, and ^(DU)you who fear God, listen: ¹⁷ The God of this people Israel ^(DV)chose our fathers and ^[ak](DW)lifted up the people during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm ^(DX)He led them out from it. ¹⁸ And for ^(DY)a period of about forty years ^(DZ)He put up with them in the wilderness. ^19 (EA)And when He destroyed ^(EB)seven nations in the land of Canaan, He ^(EC)distributed their land as an inheritance—all of which took ^(ED)about 450 years. ²⁰ After these things He ^(EE)gave them judges until ^(EF)Samuel the prophet. ²¹ Then they ^(EG)asked for a king, and God gave them ^(EH)Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. ²² And after He had ^(EI)removed him, He raised up David to be their king, about whom He also said, bearing witness, ‘^(EJ)I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My ^[al]will.’ ^23 (EK)From the seed of this man, ^(EL)according to promise, God has brought to Israel ^(EM)a Savior, Jesus, ²⁴ after ^(EN)John had preached before ^[am]His coming a ^(EO)baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. ²⁵ And as John ^(EP)was fulfilling his course, ^(EQ)he kept saying, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not He. But behold, one is coming after me of whom I am not worthy to untie the sandals of His feet.’

²⁶ “Brothers, sons of Abraham’s family, and those among you who fear God, to us the word of ^(ER)this salvation was sent. ²⁷ For those who live in Jerusalem, and their ^(ES)rulers, ^(ET)recognizing neither Him nor the ^[an]utterances of ^(EU)the prophets which are ^(EV)read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning Him. ²⁸ And though they found no ground for death, they ^(EW)asked Pilate that He be ^[ao]executed. ²⁹ And when they had ^(EX)finished all that was written concerning Him, ^(EY)they took Him down from ^(EZ)the tree and ^(FA)laid Him in a tomb. ³⁰ But God ^(FB)raised Him from the dead; ³¹ and for many days ^(FC)He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now ^(FD)His witnesses to the people. ³² And we ^(FE)proclaim to you the good news of ^(FF)the promise made to the fathers, ³³ that God has fulfilled this promise ^[ap]to our children in that He ^(FG)raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘^(FH)You are My Son; today I have begotten You.’ ³⁴ But that He ^(FI)raised Him up from the dead, no longer to return to corruption, He has spoken in this way: ‘^(FJ)I will give you the holy and ^[aq]faithful lovingkindnesses of David.’ ³⁵ Therefore He also says in another Psalm, ‘^(FK)You will not give Your ^[ar]Holy One over to see corruption.’ ³⁶ For ^(FL)David, after he had ^[as]served ^(FM)the purpose of God in his own generation, ^(FN)fell asleep and was laid among his fathers and saw corruption; ³⁷ but He whom God ^(FO)raised did not see corruption. ³⁸ Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that ^(FP)through ^[at]Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, ³⁹ and that in Him, ^(FQ)everyone who believes is justified from all things which you could not be justified from ^[au]through the Law of Moses. ⁴⁰ Therefore watch out, so that the thing spoken of ^(FR)in the Prophets may not come upon you:

⁴² And as ^[aw]Paul and Barnabas were leaving, the people kept pleading that these words might be spoken to them the next ^(FT)Sabbath. ⁴³ Now when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and of the ^(FU)God-fearing ^[ax](FV)proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, were urging them to continue in ^(FW)the grace of God.

Many Gentiles Believe

⁴⁴ And the next ^(FX)Sabbath, nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of ^[ay]the ^[az]Lord. ⁴⁵ But when ^(FY)the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, ^[ba]blaspheming. ⁴⁶ Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you ^(FZ)first. Since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, ^(GA)we are turning to the Gentiles. ⁴⁷ For so the ^[bb]Lord has commanded us,

⁴⁸ And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying ^(GD)the word of ^[bd]the ^[be]Lord, and as many as ^(GE)had been appointed to eternal life believed. ⁴⁹ And ^(GF)the word of the ^[bf]Lord was being spread through the whole region. ⁵⁰ But ^(GG)the Jews incited the ^[bg](GH)God-fearing women ^(GI)of prominence and the leading men of the city, and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their ^[bh]district. ⁵¹ But ^(GJ)having shaken off the dust of their feet against them, they went to ^(GK)Iconium. ⁵² And the disciples were continually ^(GL)filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.