Beginning
11 And the Moshiach’s Shlichim and the Achim b’Moshiach, the ones throughout Yehudah, heard that also the non-Jews received the dvar Hashem.
2 But when Kefa went up to Yerushalayim, those of the faction of the Bris Milah were taking issue with him,
3 Saying, "You entered into a bais of anashim arelim (uncircumcised men) and you sat at tish with them."
4 But Kefa began explaining to them beseder (in order), saying,
5 "I was davening in the shtetl of Yafo and in a trance I saw a chazon (vision) of a certain object descending like a large linen cloth lowered by four corners from Shomayim, and it came up to me.
6 "And when I had gazed upon it, I saw fourfooted animals of ha’aretz and chayyat hasadeh and remasim haAdamah and oph HaShomayim.
7 "And I heard also a bat kol saying to me, ‘Get up, Kefa. Kill and eat.’
8 "But I said, ‘By no means, Adoni, because nothing common or tameh (unclean) has ever entered into my stomach.’
9 "And the bat kol answered for a second time from Shomayim, ‘What Hashem made tahor (clean) do not declare tameh (unclean).’
10 "This happened shlosh pe’amim, and everything was pulled up again into Shomayim.
11 "Hinei, at once shloshah anashim stood at the bais in which I was, having been sent from Caesarea to me.
12 "And the Ruach Hakodesh said to me to accompany them without hesitating and these sheshet haAchim b’Moshiach came with me also, and we entered into the bais of the ish.
13 "He reported to us how he saw the malach in his bais having stood and having said, ‘Send to Yafo and summon Shimon, the one being called Kefa,
14 ‘Who will speak words to you by which you and all your bais will find Yeshu’at Eloheinu.’
15 "As I began to speak, the Ruach Hakodesh fell upon them, just as also upon us in the beginning.
16 And I remembered the dvar of Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Adoneinu, how he used to say, ‘Yochanan gave a tevilah of teshuva with a mikveh mayim, but you will be given a tevilah with the Ruach Hakodesh.'
17 "If then Hashem gave the same matanah to them as also to us after believing in Moshiach Adoneinu, who then was I to stand in the way of Hashem?"
18 And having heard these things, they were silenced and glorified Hashem, saying ‘Then also to the Nations Hashem has given teshuva unto Chayyim.'
19 Then the ones, that is, those having been scattered because of the tzoros that happened in connection with Stefanos, came to Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking to no one the dvar Hashem except only to Yehudim.
20 And there were some of them, anashim of Cyprus and Cyrene, who having come to Antioch, were speaking also to the Yevanim, proclaiming the Besuras HaGeulah of Adoneinu Yehoshua.
21 The hand of Adonoi was on them and a large number, having had emunah, turned to Moshiach Adoneinu.
22 The report about them was heard in the ears of the Kehillah of Moshiach in Yerushalayim, and they sent out Bar-Nabba to go to Antioch;
23 Who, having come, and having seen the Chen v’Chesed Hashem, rejoiced and was encouraging everyone with deveykus (devotion) to HaAdon to remain true to Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Adoneinu.
24 For Bar-Nabba was a mentsh, a gavra, an ish tov full of the Ruach Hakodesh and of emunah. And a great multitude was added to Adoneinu.
25 And Bar-Nabba left for Tarsus to look for Sha’ul,
26 And, having found him, he brought him to Antioch. And it came about that for an entire year, they met with Moshiach’s Kehillah there, and taught a large multitude. And it was in Antioch that the talmidim were first called Ma’aminim HaMeshichiyim (Messianic Believers).
27 Now in these yamim, nevi’im came down from Yerushalayim to Antioch.
28 One of them, by name of Agav, having got up, indicated through the Ruach Hakodesh a great famine was about to come all over the world. And this famine actually occurred during the time of Claudius.
29 Now the talmidim decided that according to their means, each of them would send support to the Achim b’Moshiach dwelling in Yehudah;
30 Which also they did, having sent to the Ziknei HaKehillot by the hand of Bar-Nabba and Sha’ul.
12 Now during that time Herod the king laid his hands on Moshiach’s Kehillah to harm some of them.
2 He killed Ya’akov the ach Yochanan with a cherev (sword).
3 Having seen that this was pleasing to the Judeans, Herod proceeded to arrest Kefa also. This happened during the yamim of Chag HaMatzot. [SHEMOT 12:15; 23:25]
4 When he had Kefa seized, he put him in the beis hasohar, having handed him over to four squads of chaiyalim to guard him, intending after Pesach to bring him before the people.
5 Therefore, Kefa was being kept in the beis hasohar. But tefillah to Hashem was earnestly being made by Moshiach’s Kehillah for him.
6 But b’lailah, when Herod was about to lead him out, Kefa, bound with two sharsherot (chains), was sleeping between two chaiyalim; and, before the delet (door), were shomrim (guards) keeping watch over the beis hasohar.
7 Then a malach HaAdon approached and ohr (light) shone in the cheder (room), and, having struck the side of Kefa, he awoke him, saying, "Get up quickly!" And the kavlei varzel (shackles of iron) fell off his hands. [TEHILLIM 107:14; 149:8]
8 The malach said to Kefa, "Put on your gartel and tie your sandals." And Kefa did so. And the malach says to him, "Put on your kaftan and follow me."
9 And having gone out, Kefa was following the malach, and he did not have da’as that the thing was happening grahda (as a matter of fact, in reality), but he was thinking he was seeing a chazon through the malach.
10 And having gone through the shomrim (guards), the first and the second, they came upon the Sha’ar HaBarzel leading to the Ir Kodesh. This was opened to them by itself. And having gone out, they went along one rekhov (street), and immediately the malach went away from him.
11 And Kefa, having come to himself, said, "Now I have da’as for sure that HaAdon sent out his malach and delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Judean people." [TEHILLIM 34:7; DANIEL 3:28; 6:22]
12 Having realized this, Kefa came upon the bais of Miryam the Em (mother) of Yochanan, the one being called Markos, where there were many having been assembled and davening.
13 And when Kefa knocked on the delet (door) of the gate, a na’arah by name Rhoda, approached to listen.
14 And having recognized the kol (voice) of Kefa, from simcha she did not open the gate but, having run inside, she reported that Kefa stood at the gate.
15 But the ones there said to her, "You are meshuggah!" But she kept insisting it was so. But they were saying, "It is his malach."
16 But Kefa continued knocking. And having opened the gate, they saw him, and were mishpoyel (standing in awe).
17 And having motioned to them with his hand to be silent, he told them how HaAdon led him out from the beis hasohar. Then Kefa said, "Report to Ya’akov [see p.848] and to the Achim b’Moshiach these things." And having gone out, Kefa went to another place.
18 Now when it was boker, there was not a little commotion among the chaiyalim as to what had become of Kefa.
19 Now Herod, having sought after him and not having found him, after questioning the shomrim, commanded them to be led away to execution. Then Herod went down from Yehudah to Caesarea, and was staying there.
20 Now Herod was gor (very) angry with the people of Tzor and those of Tzidon, and with one mind they were coming to him; and, having won over Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, they were requesting shalom, because their country was fed by the king’s lands. [MELACHIM ALEF 5:9,11; YECHEZKEL 27:17]
21 Now on the appointed day, Herod, having clothed himself with royal malbush (clothing) and having sat down on the kes hamishpat, was delivering a public address to them.
22 And the multitude was crying out, "Hinei, the kol of a g-d and not of an ish!"
23 Immediately, a malach Adonoi struck him, because he did not give the kavod to Hashem. And, having become eaten with worms, Herod died. [SHMUEL ALEF 25:38; SHMUEL BAIS 24:16,17; MELACHIM BAIS 19:35]
24 But the dvar Hashem was growing and increasing.
25 And Bar-Nabba and Sha’ul returned from Yerushalayim, having fulfilled their shlichus (mission) to deliver the tzedakah and having taken along with them [back to Antioch], Yochanan the one called Markos.
13 Now there was in Antioch there among the Moshiach’s Kehillah nevi’im and morim: Bar-Nabba, and Shimon called Niger, and Lucius from Cyrene, and Menachem (brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Rav Sha’ul.
2 They were ministering to Adonoi and under a tzom when the Ruach Hakodesh said to them, “Set apart for Me Bar-Nabba and Sha’ul for the avodas kodesh ministry to which I have called them.” [DIVREY HAYAMIM BAIS 13:10; 35:3; YECHEZKEL 40:46; 44:16; 45:4]
3 Then, having continued the tzom and having davened and having laid their hands upon them, they sent them off.
4 They, then, having been sent out by the Ruach Hakodesh, went down to Seleucia, and from there sailed away to Cyprus.
5 Having arrived in Salamis, they were proclaiming the dvar Hashem in the shuls, with Yochanan Markos also as ozer (helper).
6 Having passed through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a certain ish, a magician, a Jewish navi sheker, by name of Bar-Yehoshua,
7 who was with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, an ish of seichel. This one, having summoned Bar-Nabba and Sha’ul, sought to hear the dvar Hashem.
8 But Elymas the magician was opposing them—for thus is his name translated—and was seeking to be mashpia on the proconsul (seeking to sway him to think undesirably) about the emunah (faith). [YESHAYAH 30:11]
9 But Rav Sha’ul, the one also called Paulos, having been filled with the Ruach Hakodesh, gazed at him,
10 and said, “O ish full of all mirmah (deceit, fraud) and all resha, ben haSatan, oyev (enemy) of all Tzedek, will you not cease making crooked the straight paths of Hashem? [HOSHEA 14:9]
11 “Now—hinei—the yad Hashem is on you, and you will be blind, not seeing the shemesh (sun) for awhile.” Immediately mistiness and choshech (darkness) fell on him, and, going about, he was seeking someone to lead him by the hand [SHEMOT 9:3; SHMUEL ALEF 5:6,7; TEHILLIM 32:4; BERESHIS 19:10,11; MELACHIM BAIS 6:18]
12 Then, the proconsul, having seen what had happened, had emunah, being mishpoyel (standing in awe) at the torah about Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Adoneinu.
13 And having put out to sea from Paphos, Rav Sha’ul and those with him came to Perga of Pamphylia. But Yochanan (Markos), having left them, returned to Yerushalayim.
14 But having gone on from Perga, they came to Pisidian Antioch, and, having entered the shul on Shabbos, they sat down.
15 After the kri’at HaTorah (reading of the Sefer Torah) and the kri’at HaNevi’im, the Rashei Beit HaKnesset sent to them, saying “Anashim Achim, if there is any dvar hachizzuk among you to the people, say it.”
16 And having got up and having motioned with his hand, Rav Sha’ul said, “Anshei Yisroel, and Yirei Elohim, listen!
17 “Elohei HaAm Yisroel chose Avoteinu. Hashem made the people great during their sojourn in Eretz Mitzrayim, and with an uplifted arm He led them out of it, [SHEMOT 6:1,6,7; 14:8; DEVARIM 7:6-8]
18 “and lav davka (approximately) ARBA’IM SHANAH He put up with them in the desert [DEVARIM 1:31; BAMIDBAR 14:33,34; TEHILLIM 95:10; SHEMOT 16:35]
19 “and having destroyed SHIVAH GOYIM in eretz Kena’an, he gave as a nachalah (an inheritance) their land [DEVARIM 7:1; YEHOSHUA 14:2; 19:51; TEHILLIM 78:55]
20 “during lav davka (approximately) arba me’ot vachamashim shanah. After these things, He gave shofetim until Shmuel HaNavi. [SHOFETIM 2:16; SHMUEL ALEF 3:19,20]
21 “And then they asked for a melech, and Hashem gave to them Sha’ul Ben Kish, an ish from the shevet of Binyamin, for arba’im shanah [SHMUEL ALEF 8:5,19; 10:1; 9:1,2]
22 ”And after having removed Sha’ul, Hashem raised up Dovid as a Melech for them. About Dovid also Hashem testified, saying ‘I found Dovid Ben Yishai an ISH KILEVAVO [“a man after His (G-d’s) heart”] who will do all My ratzon.’ [SHMUEL ALEF 15:23; 16:13; TEHILLIM 89:20; SHMUEL ALEF 13:14; YIRMEYAH 3:15; YESHAYAH 44:28]
23 “From the zera (seed) of this man, according to the havtachah (promise), Hashem has brought to Yisroel a Moshi’a (Savior), Yehoshua. [SHMUEL BAIS 7:11; 22:51; YIRMEYAH 30:9]
24 “Now previously, before the coming of Moshiach, Yochanan proclaimed to Klal Yisroel a tevilah of teshuva.
25 "Now as Yochanan was completing his course, he was saying, 'What do you suppose me to be? I am not! But, hinei, he comes after me of whom I am not worthy to untie the sandal of his feet."
26 "Achim, Bnei Mishpochah Avraham, and Yirei Elohim, it is to us that the dvar of this Yeshu’ah HaGedolah (Great Deliverance) was sent out. [TEHILLIM 107:20]
27 "For the ones dwelling in Yerushalayim and their moshlim (rulers) did not have da’as of this one or of the dvarim of the Nevi’im being read every Shabbos; they fulfilled these dvarim by condemning him.
28 "Even without finding a cause for a mishpat mavet, they asked Pilate that he be done away with.
29 "When they finished all the things having been written about him, he was taken down from HaEtz (DEVARIM 21:23), and they put him into a kever (tomb, Isa 53:9).
30 "But Hashem made him to stand up alive again from the Mesim,
31 "and he was seen over many yamim by the ones having come up with him from the Galil to Yerushalayim who now are his edim to the people.
32 "And we are preaching to you the Besuras HaGeulah of the Havtachah made to Avoteinu, [YESHAYAH 40:9; 52:7]
33 "That Hashem has fulfilled this havtachah for us, their banim, having made to stand up alive again Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua, as also in the Tehillim it has been written, BENI ATAH, ANI HAYOM YELIDETICHA ("You are My son; today I have become your father"). [TEHILLIM 2:7]
34 "And that He made him to stand up alive again from the Mesim, no longer to return to decay, thus he has said, ‘I will give you CHASEDEI DOVID HANE’EMANIM. [YESHAYAH 55:3 TARGUM HASHIVIM]
35 "Therefore, also elsewhere in the Tehillim, he says LO TITEN CHASIDECHA LIR’OT SHACHAT ("You will not allow your Chasid (Moshiach) to undergo decay"). [TEHILLIM 15:10; 16:10 TARGUM HASHIVIM]
36 "For Dovid, after in his own dor (generation) he had served birtzon Hashem, fell asleep, and VAYISHKAV DOVID IM AVOTAV (“and Dovid rested with his fathers”) and he experienced decay. [SHMUEL BAIS 7:12; MELACHIM ALEF 2:10; SHOFETIM 2:10; DIVREY HAYAMIM BAIS 29:28]
37 "But whom Hashem made to stand up alive again did not experience decay.
38 "Let it be known, therefore, to you, Anashim Achim, that through this one, selicha (forgiveness) of chatta’im (averos [sins]) is proclaimed to you; and from all things of which by the Torah of Moshe Rabbenu you were not able to be justified,
39 "By this one everyone having emunah is justified.
40 "Be shomer then that the thing having been spoken by the Nevi’im (Prophets) may not come upon you,
41 "Look," scoffers, "And be amazed and marvel, and stand in awe" and perish, "because I am working a work in your yamim, a work which you may by no means believe if someone should tell you." [CHABAKUK 1:5 TARGUM HASHIVIM]
42 And as Rav Sha’ul and Bar-Nabba were going out, the people were begging that these dvarim be spoken to them the following Shabbos.
43 And when the gathering was dismissed, rabbim (many) of the Yehudim and of the Gerim (Proselytes) with chassidus followed Rav Sha’ul and Bar-Nabba, who urged them to remain in the Chen v’Chesed Hashem.
44 Now on the following Shabbos nearly all the city was assembled to hear the dvar Hashem.
45 But when the Yehudim saw the multitudes, they were filled with kinah and were choilek (taking issue) and speaking keneged (against, in opposition to) the things being spoken by Rav Sha’ul, and they were committing Chillul Hashem.
46 And having spoken with ometz lev (boldness), Rav Sha’ul and Bar-Nabba said, ‘To you it was necessary rishonah (first) for the dvar Hashem to be spoken; vi-bahlt (since) you reject it, and judge yourselves not worthy of Chayyei Olam, hinei, we are turning to the Goyim.
47 "For thus has Hashem commanded us, "I have placed you as a light to the Nations, that you should bring salvation to the end of the earth." [Isa 49:6]
48 Now hearing this, the Goyim rejoiced with simcha gedolah and were praising the dvar Hashem. And as many as had been destined to Chayyei Olam became ma’aminim hameshichiyim.
49 And the dvar Hashem was spreading through the entire region.
50 But the Yehudim aroused the chashuve (prominent) G-d fearing nashim and the gontser machers of the city, and they instigated redifah keneged Rav Sha’ul and Bar Nabba, and they drove them from out of their territory.
51 And having shaken off the dust of their feet against them, Rav Sha’ul and Bar- Nabba came to Iconium;
52 And the talmidim were being filled with simcha and the Ruach Hakodesh.
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