Beginning
11 Now the Apostles and the brothers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the Word of God.
2 And when Peter had come up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision examined him,
3 saying, “You went to uncircumcised men and have eaten with them.”
4 Then Peter began expounding it in order to them, saying,
5 “I was in the city of Joppa, praying. And while in a trance, I saw this vision: a certain vessel, coming down as a great sheet, let down from Heaven by the four corners. And it came to me.
6 “When I had fastened my eyes on it, I considered, and saw four-footed beasts of the Earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and birds of the heaven.
7 “Also I heard a voice, saying to me, ‘Arise, Peter. Kill and eat.’
8 “And I said, ‘Absolutely not, Lord! For nothing common or unclean has ever entered into my mouth.’
9 “But the voice answered me a second time from the sky, ‘The things that God has purified, do not make common.’
10 “And this was done three times, and all were taken up again into the sky.
11 “Then behold, immediately there were three men who had already come to the house where I was, sent to me from Caesarea.
12 “And the Spirit said to me that I should go with them, without doubting. Moreover, these six brothers came with me. And we entered into the man’s house.
13 “And he showed us how he had seen an angel in his house, who stood and said to him, ‘Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter.
14 ‘He shall speak words to you, whereby both you and all your house shall be saved.’
15 “And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, just as upon us at the beginning.
16 “Then I remembered the Word of the Lord. How He said, ‘John baptized with water. But you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.’
17 “If, then, God gave them a similar gift to the one He gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?”
18 When they heard these things, they kept silent, and glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted repentance unto life to the Gentiles.”
19 And those who were scattered because of the affliction which arose about Stephen, passed through until they came to Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, preaching the Word to no one except the Jews.
20 Now some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come into Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, and preached the Lord Jesus.
21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, so that a great number believed and turned to the Lord.
22 Then, word of those things came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem. And they sent forth Barnabas, to go as far as Antioch;
23 who, when he had come and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and encouraged all to continue in the Lord with purpose of heart.
24 For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost, and faith. And many people joined themselves to the Lord.
25 Then Barnabas left for Tarsus to seek Paul.
26 And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And it so happened that they met with the church a whole year and taught many people. And the disciples were first called “Christians” in Antioch.
27 In those days, Prophets also came from Jerusalem to Antioch.
28 And one named Agabus stood up and signified by the Spirit that there would be great famine throughout all the world (which also happened under Claudius Caesar).
29 Then the disciples, everyone according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brothers who dwelt in Judea;
30 which they also did, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.
12 Now about that time, Herod the King stretched forth his hand to afflict some of the church,
2 And he killed James, the brother of John, with the sword.
3 And when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further, to take Peter also (during the Days of Unleavened Bread.)
4 And when he had caught him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to be kept, intending to bring him forth to the people after the Passover.
5 So Peter was kept in prison. But earnest prayer was made to God for him by the church.
6 And the night when Herod wished to have him brought out to the people, 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 came upon them. And a light shined in the house. And he struck Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands.
8 And the Angel said to him, “Dress yourself. And put on your sandals.” And so, he did. Then he said to him, “Wrap your garment around you, and follow me.”
9 So Peter came out and followed him; and did not know that what was done by the Angel was real, but thought he had seen a vision.
10 Now, after they had passed the first and the second guards, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them by itself. And they went out and passed through one street. And immediately the Angel departed from him.
11 And when Peter had come 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 expectations of the Jewish people.”
12 And as he considered it, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John (whose surname was Mark), where many were gathered together and prayed.
13 And when Peter knocked at the entry door, a girl named Rhoda came forth to answer it.
14 But when she recognized Peter’s voice, she did not open the gate. But with gladness, she ran in and told how Peter stood before the gate.
15 But they said to her, “You are mad.” Still she kept affirming that it was so. Then they said, “It is his angel.”
16 But Peter continued knocking. And when they had opened it, and saw him, they were astonished.
17 And with his hand he asked them to be silent. And he told them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, “Go show these things to James and to the brothers.” And he departed and went into another place.
18 Now as soon as it was day, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter.
19 And when Herod had asked for and not found him, he examined the guards, and commanded them to be led away for punishment. And he went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.
20 Then Herod was angry with those of Tyre and Sidon. But they all came to him with one mind. And having befriended Blastus, the King’s chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their country was nourished by the King.
21 And upon an appointed day, Herod clothed himself in royal apparel, and sat on the judgment seat, and made a speech to them.
22 And the people gave a shout, saying, “The voice of God, and not of man!”
23 But immediately the Angel of the Lord struck him - so that he was eaten by worms and gave up the ghost - because he did not give glory to God.
24 And the Word of God grew and multiplied.
25 So, when they had fulfilled their ministry, Barnabas and Saul took John with them (whose surname was Mark), and returned from Jerusalem.
13 Now in the church that was in Antioch, there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas and Simeon (called Niger), and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the Tetrarch) and Saul.
2 Now as they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, “Separate Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
3 Then they fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, and let them go.
4 And after they were sent forth by the Holy Ghost, they came down to Seleucia. And from there they sailed to Cyprus.
5 And when they were at Salamis, they preached the Word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they also had John as their attendant.
6 So after they had gone through the island, to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer (a false prophet, a Jew) named Bar-Jesus,
7 who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man. He called Barnabas and Saul to him and asked to hear the Word of God.
8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for such is the meaning of his name) opposed them and sought to turn the proconsul away from the faith.
9 Then Saul (who is also called Paul) being full of the Holy Ghost, stared at him,
10 and said, “O, child of the devil, the enemy of all righteousness, full of all subtlety and all mischief! Will you not cease to pervert the straight ways of the Lord?!
11 “Now, therefore, behold the hand of the Lord upon you! And you shall be blind, not seeing the Sun for a time!” And immediately a mist and a darkness fell on him. And he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.
12 Then the proconsul, when he saw what had been done, believed, and was astonished at the doctrine of the Lord.
13 Now when Paul and those who were with him had departed by ship from Paphos, they came to Perga of Pamphylia. Then John left them and returned to Jerusalem.
14 But when they left Perga, they came to Antioch of Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and sat down.
15 And after the reading of the Law and Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, “Men, brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, speak.”
16 Then Paul stood up and beckoned with the hand, and said, “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, hear me!
17 “The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers and exalted the people when they dwelt in the land of Egypt. And with a high arm, He brought them out of there.
18 “And for about forty years, He endured their manners in the wilderness.
19 “And He destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan and divided their land to them by lot.
20 “Then afterward, He gave them Judges for about four hundred and fifty years, until the time of Samuel the Prophet.
21 “So after that, they desired a King. And God gave them Saul (the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin) for forty years.
22 “And after He had taken him away, he raised up David to be their King. Of whom He testified, saying, ‘I have found David of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all things that I will.
23 “Of this man’s seed, God has raised up the Savior Jesus, according to His promise to Israel.
24 “Before His coming, John had first preached the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.
25 “And when John had fulfilled his course, he said, ‘Whom do you think that I am? I am not He. But behold, there comes One after me, whose shoe of His feet I am not worthy to untie.’
26 “Men, brothers, children of the generation of Abraham, and whoever among you fears God, to you is the Word of this salvation sent.
27 “For the inhabitants of Jerusalem and their rulers - because they did not know Him, or even the words of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath - have fulfilled them in condemning Him.
28 “And even though they found no cause for death, they still asked Pilate to kill Him.
29 “And when they had fulfilled all things that were written of Him, they took Him down from the tree, and put Him in a sepulcher.
30 “But God raised Him up from the dead.
31 “And He was seen by those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem (who are his witnesses to the people) for many days.
32 “And we declare to you concerning the promise made to the fathers:
33 “that God has fulfilled it to us, their children, in that He raised up Jesus; even as it is written in the second Psalm, ‘You are My Son. This day have I begotten You.’
34 “And considering that He raised Him up from the dead, to return no more to decay, He has said this, ‘I will give you the holy things of David, which are faithful.’
35 “Therefore He also says in another place, ‘You will not allow Your Holy One to see decay.’
36 “For David - after he had served his time, by the counsel of God - slept, and was laid with his fathers, and saw decay.
37 “But He Whom God raised up, saw no decay.
38 “Therefore, be it known to you, brothers, that the forgiveness of sins is preached to you through this Man.
39 “And by Him, everyone who believes is justified from all things which the Law of Moses could not justify.
40 “Therefore beware, so that that which is spoken of in the Prophets does not come upon you:
41 ‘Behold, you despisers, and wonder, and vanish away. For I work a work in your days; a work which you shall not believe, if one should declare it you.’”
42 And when they had come out of the synagogue of the Jews, the Gentiles begged them to preach these words to them the next Sabbath.
43 Now, after the congregation had dispersed, many of the Jews (and proselytes who feared God) followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them and encouraged them to continue in the grace of God.
44 And the next Sabbath, almost the whole city came together to hear the Word of God.
45 But when the Jews saw the people, they were full of envy. And contradicting and blaspheming, they spoke against those things which were spoken by Paul.
46 Then Paul and Barnabas spoke boldly, and said, “It was necessary that the Word of God should have been spoken first to you. But seeing you reject it - and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life - lo, we turn to the Gentiles.
47 “For so has the Lord commanded us, saying, “I have made you a light of the Gentiles, so that you should be for salvation to the end of the world.”
48 And when the Gentiles heard it, they were glad, and glorified the Word of the Lord. And as many as were appointed to eternal life, believed.
49 Thus, the Word of the Lord was spread throughout the whole country.
50 But the Jews stirred up devout and honorable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their region.
51 But they shook off the dust of their feet against them and came to Iconium.
52 And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost.
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