Beginning

Peter explains the reason why he went in to the heathen. Barnabas and Paul preach to the heathen. Agabus prophesies of the famine to come.

11 And the apostles and the brethren that were throughout Judea heard that the heathen had also received the word of God. ² And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision contended with him, ³ saying, You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!

⁴ Then Peter began and explained the matter in order to them, saying, ⁵ I was in the city of Joppa, praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, a certain vessel descend, like a large linen cloth let down from heaven by the four corners; and it came to me. ⁶ When I looked into it, I considered and saw four-footed animals of the earth, and wild beasts and reptiles and birds of the air. ⁷ And I heard a voice saying to me, Arise, Peter; kill and eat. ⁸ And I said, God forbid, Lord, for nothing common or unclean has at any time entered into my mouth. ⁹ But the voice answered me again from heaven: Do not judge common those things that God has cleansed.

¹⁰ And this was done three times, and everything was taken up again into heaven.

¹¹ And behold, immediately three men came to the house where I was, sent from Caesarea to me. ¹² And the Spirit said to me that I should go with them, without doubting. Moreover, the six brethren accompanied me. And we entered into the man’s house. ¹³ And he described to us how he had seen an angel in his house, who stood and said to him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, named also Peter. ¹⁴ He will speak words to you whereby both you and all your house shall be saved.

¹⁵ And as I began to preach, the Holy Spirit fell on them, as he did on us at the beginning. ¹⁶ Then I remembered the words of the Lord, how he said John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. ¹⁷ Inasmuch then as God gave them the same gift as he did to us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I, that I should have withstood God?

¹⁸ When they heard this, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then God has granted repentance unto life to the Gentiles also.

¹⁹ Those who were scattered abroad through the affliction that arose about Stephen walked throughout till they came to Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but the Jews only. ²⁰ But some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they came to Antioch, spoke to the Greeks and preached the Lord Jesus. ²¹ And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.

²² Reports of these things came to the ears of the congregation that was in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to go to Antioch. ²³ When he arrived and had seen the grace of God, he was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they should continually cleave unto the Lord. ²⁴ For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

²⁵ Then Barnabas departed to Tarsus, to seek Saul. ²⁶ And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And it came about that for a whole year they were with the congregation there, and taught many people. And the disciples of Antioch were the first that were called Christian.

²⁷ In those days, prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch. ²⁸ And one of them, named Agabus, stood up and signified by the Spirit that there would be great dearth throughout all the world, which came to pass in the days of the Emperor Claudius. ²⁹ Then the disciples, everyone according to his ability, determined to send aid to the brethren who dwelt in Judea. ³⁰ Which thing they also did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.

Herod persecutes the Christians, kills James the brother of John, and puts Peter in prison, whom the Lord delivers by an angel. The shameful death of Herod.

12 In that time, Herod the king stretched forth his hand to persecute some of the congregation. ² And he killed James, the brother of John, with the sword. ³ And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further and took Peter also. This was during the days of sweet bread. ⁴ And when he had caught Peter, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to be kept, intending after the Passover to bring him forth to the people.

⁵ Then Peter was kept in prison. But prayer for him was made to God without ceasing by the congregation. ⁶ And when Herod was about to bring him out to the people, that night Peter slept between two soldiers, bound with two chains; and the guards before the door kept the prison.

⁷ And behold, the angel of the Lord was there present, and a light shone in the jail. And he struck Peter on the side and awoke him, saying, Rise up quickly! And his chains fell off from his hands. ⁸ And the angel said to him, Gird yourself, and bind on your sandals. And so he did. And the angel said to him, Cast your mantle around you, and follow me.

⁹ And Peter came out and followed him, and did not know that it was really being done by the angel, but thought he had seen a vision. ¹⁰ When they were past the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them by its own accord. And they went out and passed down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.

¹¹ And when Peter came to himself, he said, Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel, and has delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the Jews were waiting for. ¹² And as he considered the matter, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of one John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together in prayer.

¹³ As Peter knocked at the entry door, a maidservant named Rhoda came forth to listen. ¹⁴ And when she recognized Peter’s voice, she did not open the entry door for gladness, but ran in and said that Peter was standing before the entry. ¹⁵ And they said to her, You are mad. But she insisted that it was really so. Then they said, It is his angel. ¹⁶ But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. ¹⁷ And he motioned to them with his hand to hold their peace, and told them by what means the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go, and tell these things to James and to the brethren.

And he departed, and went to another place.

¹⁸ As soon as it was day, there was no little ado among the soldiers about what had become of Peter. ¹⁹ When Herod had called for him, but not found him, he examined the guards, and commanded them to depart. And he descended from Judea to Caesarea, and stayed there.

²⁰ Now Herod had been displeased with the people of Tyre and Sidon. And they came all at once and made intercession to Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, and requested peace, because their country was supplied with food by the king’s land. ²¹ And upon a day appointed, Herod arrayed himself in royal apparel, and sat in his seat and made a speech to them. ²² And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man!

²³ And immediately the angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the honour. And he was eaten by worms and gave up the spirit.

²⁴ And the word of God grew and multiplied. ²⁵ As for Barnabas and Paul, they went again to Jerusalem and delivered the relief, and took with them John, who was also called Mark.

Paul and Barnabas are called to preach among the heathen. Of Sergius Paulus and Elymas the magician. Paul preaches at Antioch.

13 There were in the congregation at Antioch certain prophets and teachers, such as Barnabas, and Simeon called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. ² As they worshipped the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate unto me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. ³ Then they fasted and prayed, and put their hands on them, and let them go. ⁴ And they, after they were sent by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to the island of Cyprus. ⁵ And when they had come to Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John Mark to assist them.

⁶ When they had gone throughout the isle to the city of Paphos, they found a certain magician, a false prophet who was a Jew named Bar-Jesus. ⁷ He was with the proconsul of the province, one Sergius Paulus, a man of understanding. This man called to him Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God. ⁸ But Elymas the magician (for so was his name by translation) withstood them, and sought to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

⁹ Then Saul, who also is called Paul, being full of the Holy Spirit, set his eyes on him ¹⁰ and said, O full of all subtlety and deceitfulness, child of the devil and enemy of all righteousness, you cease not to pervert the straight ways of the Lord. ¹¹ And now behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a season.

And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness, and he went about seeking someone to lead him by the hand. ¹² Then the proconsul, when he saw what had happened, believed, and wondered at the doctrine of the Lord.

¹³ When those who were with Paul departed from Paphos by ship, they went to Perga, a city of Pamphylia; but there John Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ But they wandered through the districts from Perga to Antioch, a city of the province of Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and sat down. ¹⁵ And after the law and the prophets were read, the leaders of the synagogue sent to them, saying, Men and brethren, if you have any sermon to exhort the people, do speak.

¹⁶ Then Paul stood up and beckoned with his hand and said, Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen! ¹⁷ The God of this people chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with a mighty arm brought them out of it. ¹⁸ And for the time of about forty years he suffered their ways in the wilderness. ¹⁹ And he destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, and divided their land to them by lot. ²⁰ And afterward he gave them judges for about 450 years, until the time of Samuel the prophet. ²¹ And after that they desired a king, and God gave to them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for 40 years. ²² And after he had put him down, he set up David to be their king, of whom he reported, saying: I have found David the son of Jesse to be a man after my own heart. He will fulfil all my will.

²³ From this man’s seed, God (according to his promise) brought forth to the people of Israel a saviour, one Jesus, ²⁴ when John, before his coming, had first preached the baptism of repentance to Israel. ²⁵ And when John was finishing his course, he said, He whom you think that I am, I am not. But behold, there comes one after me, the shoes of whose feet I am not worthy to loose.  

²⁶ Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whoever among you fears God, to you is this word of salvation sent. ²⁷ The inhabiters of Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not know him, nor yet the voices of the prophets that are read every Sabbath day, have fulfilled the prophets in condemning him. ²⁸ And when they found no cause of death in him, yet they asked Pilate to kill him. ²⁹ And when they had fulfilled all the things that were written of him, they took him down from the tree and put him in a sepulchre. ³⁰ But God raised him again from death, ³¹ and he was seen during many days by those who came with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses to the people.

³² And we declare to you that the promise made to the fathers, ³³ God has fulfilled unto us, their children, in that he raised up Jesus again, even as it is written in the second psalm: You are my Son; this same day I have begotten you. ³⁴ As concerning that he raised him up from death, now no more to return to corruption, he said thus: The holy promises made to David, I will give faithfully to you. ³⁵ Therefore he says also in another place: You shall not suffer your Holy One to see corruption. ³⁶ However David, after he had in his time fulfilled the will of God, slept, and was laid with his fathers, and saw corruption. ³⁷ But he whom God raised again saw no corruption.

³⁸ Be it known to you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man the forgiveness of sins is preached to you, ³⁹ and that by him all who believe are justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. ⁴⁰ Beware, therefore, lest that fall on you which is spoken of in the prophets: ⁴¹ Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish! For I do a work in your days that you will not believe, though a man were to declare it to you.

⁴² When they came out of the synagogue of the Jews, the Gentiles urged them to preach the word to them between the Sabbath days. ⁴³ When the congregation broke up, many of the Jews and virtuous converts followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them, and exhorted them to continue in the grace of God. ⁴⁴ And the next Sabbath day, almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God.

⁴⁵ When the Jews saw the people, they were full of indignation and spoke against those things that were said by Paul, contradicting and railing on it. ⁴⁶ Then Paul and Barnabas were bold and said, It was fitting that the word of God should first have been preached to you. But seeing you put it from you, and think yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. ⁴⁷ For so has the Lord commanded us: I have made you a light to the Gentiles, to be salvation to the end of the world.

⁴⁸ The Gentiles heard and were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord and believed – even as many as were appointed to eternal life. ⁴⁹ And the word of the Lord went abroad throughout all the region.

⁵⁰ But the Jews moved the devout and honourable women and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their district. ⁵¹ And they shook off the dust from their feet against them, and went to Iconium. ⁵² And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.