Acts Chapters

Jesus Taken Up to Heaven

1 | •  ¹In the first part of my work, Theophilus, I wrote of all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning ²until the day he ascended to heaven.

But first, he had instructed, through the Holy Spirit, the apostles he had chosen. ³After his passion, he presented himself to them, giving many signs that he was alive; for forty days, he appeared to them and taught them concerning the kingdom of God. ⁴Once, when he had been eating with them, he told them, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the fulfillment of the Father’s promise about which I have spoken to you: ⁵John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit within a few days.”

⁶When they had come together, they asked him, “Is it now that you will restore the kingdom of Israel?” ⁷And he answered, “It is not for you to know the time and the steps that the Father has fixed by his own authority. ⁸But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the earth.”

⁹After Jesus said this, he was taken up before their eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. ¹⁰While they were still looking up to heaven, where he went, suddenly, two men dressed in white stood beside them ¹¹and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking up at the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will return in the same way as you have seen him go there.”

The Disciples Await the Holy Spirit

•  ¹²Then they returned to Jerusalem from Mount Olives, a fifteen-minute walk away. ¹³On entering the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying. Present there were Peter, John, James, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James, son of Alpheus; Simon the Zealot and Judas, son of James. ¹⁴They all met together and were constantly united in prayer. Some women were with them, including Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

Matthias Elected

•  ¹⁵It was during this time that Peter stood up in the midst of the community—about one hundred and twenty in all—¹⁶and he said,

“Brothers, it was necessary that the Scriptures referring to Judas be fulfilled. The Holy Spirit spoke through David about the one who would lead the crowd in coming to arrest Jesus. ¹⁷He was one of our number and had been called to share our common ministry.

¹⁸(We know that he bought a field with the reward of his sin, yet he threw himself headlong to his death; his body burst open, and all his bowels spilled out. ¹⁹This event became known to all the people living in Jerusalem, and they named that field Akeldama in their own language, which means Field of Blood).

²⁰In the Book of Psalms it is written: Let his house become deserted and may no one live in it. But it is also written: May another take his office. ²¹Therefore, we must choose someone from among those who were with us during all the time that the Lord Jesus moved about with us, ²²beginning with John’s baptism until the day Jesus was taken away from us. One of these has to become a witness to his resurrection with us.”

²³Then they proposed two: Joseph, called Barsabbas, also known as Justus and Matthias. ²⁴They prayed: “You know, Lord, what is in the hearts of all. Show us, therefore, which of the two you have chosen ²⁵to replace Judas in this apostolic ministry, which he deserted to go to the place he deserved.”

²⁶Then they drew lots between the two, and the choice fell on Matthias, who was added to the eleven apostles.

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

2 | •  ¹When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ²And suddenly, out of the sky, came a sound like a strong rushing wind, filling the whole house where they were sitting. There appeared ³tongues as if of fire, which parted and came to rest upon each one of them. ⁴All were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak other languages as the Spirit enabled them to speak.

⁵Staying in Jerusalem were religious Jews from every nation under heaven. ⁶When they heard this sound, a crowd gathered excitedly because each heard them speaking his own language. ⁷Full of amazement and wonder, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸How can we hear them in our native language? ⁹Here are Parthians, Medes and Elamites; and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia; Pontus and Asia; ¹⁰Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt; and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene; and visitors from Rome; ¹¹both Jews and foreigners who accept Jewish beliefs, Cretans and Arabians; and all of us hear them proclaiming in our own language what God the Savior does.”

¹²They were amazed and greatly confused, and they kept asking one another, “What does this mean?” ¹³But others laughed and said, “These people are drunk.”

Peter Addresses the Crowd

•  ¹⁴Then Peter stood up with the Eleven and, with a loud voice, addressed them, “Fellow Jews and all foreigners now staying in Jerusalem, listen to what I have to say. ¹⁵These people are not drunk as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. ¹⁶Indeed, what the prophet Joel spoke about has happened:

¹⁷In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on every mortal. Your sons and daughters will speak through the Holy Spirit; your young men will see visions, and your old men will have dreams.

¹⁸In those days, I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants, both men and women, and they will be prophets.

¹⁹I will perform miracles in the sky above and wonders on the earth below. ²⁰The sun will be darkened, and the moon will turn red as blood before the great and glorious Day of the Lord comes.

²¹And then whoever calls upon the Name of the Lord will be saved.

²²Fellow Israelites, listen to what I tell you about Jesus of Nazareth. God accredited him and through him did powerful deeds and wonders and signs in your midst, as you well know. ²³You delivered him to sinners to be crucified and killed, and in this way, the purpose of God from all times was fulfilled. ²⁴But God raised him to life and released him from the pain of death because it was impossible for him to be held in the power of death. ²⁵David spoke of him when he said: I saw the Lord before me at all times; he is by my side, that I may not be shaken. ²⁶Therefore, my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my body, too, will live in hope. ²⁷Because you will not forsake me in the abode of the dead, nor allow your Holy One to experience corruption. ²⁸You have made known to me the paths of life, and your presence will fill me with joy.

²⁹Friends, I don’t need to prove that the patriarch David died and was buried; his tomb is with us to this day. ³⁰But he knew that God had sworn to him that one of his descendants would sit upon his throne, and ³¹as a prophet, he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah. So he said that he would not be left in the region of the dead, nor would his body experience corruption.

³²This Messiah is Jesus; we all witness God raised him to life. ³³He has been exalted at God’s right side, and the Father has entrusted the Holy Spirit to him; this Spirit he has just poured upon us, as you now see and hear.

³⁴And look: David did not ascend into heaven, but he himself said: The Lord said to my Lord: sit at my right side, ³⁵until I make your enemies a stool for your feet. ³⁶Let Israel know for sure that God has made Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

³⁷When they heard this, they were deeply troubled. And they asked Peter and the other apostles, “What shall we do, brothers?”

³⁸Peter answered: “Each of you must repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins may be forgiven. Then, you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹For the promise of God was made to you and your children and to all those from afar, whom our God may call.”

⁴⁰Peter gave the message and appealed to them with many other words, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” ⁴¹Those who accepted his word were baptized; some three thousand persons were added that day.

The First Community

•  ⁴²They were faithful to the apostles' teaching, the everyday life of sharing, the breaking of bread, and the prayers.

⁴³A holy fear came upon all the people, for the apostles did many wonders and miraculous signs. ⁴⁴Now, all the believers lived together and shared all their belongings. ⁴⁵They would sell their property and all they had and distribute the proceeds to others, according to their need. ⁴⁶Each day, they met in the temple area; they broke bread in their homes; they shared their food with great joy and simplicity of heart; ⁴⁷praised God and won the people’s favor. And every day, the Lord added those who were being saved to their number.

Peter and John Cure a Lame Man

3 | •  ¹Once, when Peter and John were going up to the temple at three in the afternoon, the hour for prayer, ²a man crippled from birth was being carried in. Every day, they would bring him and put him at the temple gate called “Beautiful;” he begged those who entered the temple there.

³When he saw Peter and John entering the temple, he asked for alms. ⁴Then Peter, with John at his side, looked straight at him and said, “Look at us.” ⁵So he looked at them, expecting to receive something from them. ⁶Peter said, “I have neither silver nor gold, but what I have I give you: In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, walk!”

⁷He took the beggar by his right hand and helped him up. At once, his feet and ankles became firm. ⁸ Jumping up, he stood on his feet and began to walk. And he went with them into the temple, walking, leaping, and praising God.

⁹All the people saw him walking and praising God; ¹⁰they recognized him as the one who used to sit begging at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were all astonished and amazed at what had happened to him.

¹¹While he clung to Peter and John, everyone hurried in amazement toward them in Solomon’s Porch, as it was called. ¹²When Peter saw the people, he said to them,

“Fellow Israelites, why are you amazed at this? Why do you stare at us, as if it was by some power or holiness of our own that we made this man walk? ¹³The God of Abraham, of Isaac and Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over to death and denied before Pilate when even Pilate had decided to release him. ¹⁴You rejected the Holy and Just One and asked that a murderer be released to you. ¹⁵You killed the Master of life, but God raised him from the dead, and we are witnesses to this. ¹⁶It is his Name, and faith in his Name, that has healed this man whom you see and recognize. The faith that comes through Jesus has given him wholeness in the presence of all of you.

¹⁷Yet, I know you acted out of ignorance, as did your leaders. ¹⁸God has fulfilled, in this way, what he had foretold through all the prophets that his Messiah would suffer.

¹⁹Repent, then, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out; ²⁰and the time of refreshment may come by the mercy of God, when he sends the Messiah appointed for you, Jesus. ²¹For he must remain in heaven until the time of the universal restoration, which God spoke of long ago through his holy prophets.

²²Moses foretold this when he said: The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet, like me, from among your own people; you shall listen to him in all that he says to you. ²³Whoever does not listen to that prophet is to be cut off from among his people.

²⁴In fact, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel onward, have announced the events of these days. ²⁵You are the children of the prophets and heirs of the Covenant that God gave to your ancestors when he said to Abraham: All the families of the earth will be blessed through your descendants. ²⁶It is to you, first, that God sends his Servant; he raised him to life to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”

Peter and John Are Arrested

4 | •  ¹While Peter and John were still speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple guard, and the Sadducees came up to them. ²They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming that resurrection from the dead had been proved in the case of Jesus. ³Since it was already evening, they arrested them and put them in custody until the following day. ⁴Despite this, many who heard the message believed it, and their number increased to about five thousand.

⁵The next day, the Jewish leaders, elders, and teachers of the law assembled in Jerusalem. ⁶Annas, the High Priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and all of the high priestly class were there. ⁷They brought Peter and John before them and began questioning them, “How did you do this? Whose name did you use?”

⁸Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, spoke up, “Leaders of the people! Elders! ⁹It is a fact that we are being examined today for a good deed done to a cripple. How was he healed? ¹⁰You and all the people of Israel must know that this man stands before you, cured through the name of Jesus Christ, the Nazorean. You had him crucified. But God raised him from the dead. ¹¹Jesus is the stone rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. ¹²There is no salvation in anyone else; for there is no other Name given to humankind all over the world, by which we may be saved.”

¹³They were astonished at Peter and John's boldness, considering they were uneducated and untrained men. They also recognized that they had been with Jesus, ¹⁴but, as the man who had been cured stood beside them, they could make no reply.

¹⁵So they ordered them to leave the council room while they consulted with one another. ¹⁶They asked, “What shall we do with these men? Everyone in Jerusalem knows a remarkable sign has been given through them, and we cannot deny it. ¹⁷But to stop this from spreading further among the people, let us warn them never again to speak to anyone in the name of Jesus.” ¹⁸So they called them back and charged them not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus.

¹⁹But Peter and John answered, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s eyes for us to obey you rather than God. ²⁰We cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.” ²¹Then, the council threatened them once more and let them go. They could find no way of punishing them because of the people who glorified God for what had happened; ²²for the man who had been miraculously healed was over forty years old.

The Prayer of the Community

•  ²³As soon as Peter and John were set free, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and elders had told them.

²⁴When they heard it, they raised their voices as one. They called upon God, “Sovereign Lord, maker of heaven and earth, of the sea and everything in them, ²⁵you have put these words in the mouth of David our father and your servant through the Holy Spirit: Why did the pagan nations rage and the people conspire in folly? ²⁶The kings of the earth were aligned, and the princes gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed.

²⁷For indeed, in this very city, Herod, with Pontius Pilate and the pagans, together with the people of Israel, conspired against your holy servant, Jesus, whom you anointed. ²⁸Thus, indeed, they brought about whatever your powerful will had decided from all time would happen. ²⁹But now, Lord, see their threats against us; and enable your servants to speak your word boldly. ³⁰Stretch out your hand to heal and to work signs and wonders through the name of Jesus, your holy servant.”

³¹After they had prayed, the place where they were gathered shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God boldly.

An Attempt to Share Everything

•  ³²The whole community of believers was one in heart and mind. No one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but they shared all things in common. ³³With great power, the apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, for all of them were living in an exceptional time of grace.

³⁴There was no needy person among them, for those who owned land or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of the sale. ³⁵And they laid it at the feet of the apostles who distributed it according to each one’s need. ³⁶This is what a certain Joseph did. He was a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas, meaning ‘son of encouragement.’ ³⁷He sold a field he owned and handed the money to the apostles.

The Fraud of Ananias and Sapphira

5 | •  ¹A man named Ananias, in agreement with his wife Sapphira, likewise sold a piece of land; ²with his wife’s knowledge, he put aside some of the proceeds, and the rest he turned over to the apostles.

³Then, Peter said to him, “Ananias, how is it that you let Satan fill your heart, and why do you intend to deceive the Holy Spirit by keeping some of the proceeds of your land for yourself? ⁴Who obliged you to sell it? And, after selling it, could you not have kept all the money? How could you think of such a thing? You have not deceived us but God.”

⁵Upon hearing these words, Ananias fell down and died. Great fear came upon all who heard of it; ⁶the young men stood up, wrapped his body, and carried it out for burial.

⁷About three hours later, Ananias’s wife came, unaware of what had happened. ⁸Peter challenged her, “Tell me whether you sold that piece of land for this price?” She said, “Yes, that was the price.” ⁹Peter replied, “How could you two agree to put the Holy Spirit to the test? Those who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out as well.”

¹⁰With that, she fell dead at his feet. The young men came in, found her dead, and carried her out for burial beside her husband. ¹¹And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of it.

•  ¹²Many miraculous signs and wonders were done among the people through the hands of the apostles. The believers, of one accord, used to meet in Solomon’s Porch. ¹³None of the others dared to join them, but the people held them in high esteem. ¹⁴So, an ever-increasing number of men and women believed in the Lord. ¹⁵The people carried the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats so that, when Peter passed by, at least his shadow might fall on some of them. ¹⁶The people gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those troubled by unclean spirits, and all of them were healed.

The Apostles Arrested Again

•  ¹⁷The High Priest and all his supporters, the party of the Sadducees, became very jealous of the apostles; ¹⁸so they arrested them and had them thrown into the public jail. ¹⁹But an angel of the Lord opened the prison door during the night, brought them out, and said to them, ²⁰“Go and stand in the temple court and tell the people the whole of this living message.” ²¹Accordingly, they entered the temple at dawn and resumed their teaching.

When the High Priest and his supporters arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin, the full Council of the Elders of Israel. They sent word to the jail to have the prisoners brought in, ²²but when the temple guards arrived at the jail, they did not find them inside, so they returned with the news, ²³“We found the prison securely locked and the prison guards at their post outside the gate; but when we opened the gate, we found no one inside.”

²⁴Upon hearing these words, the captain of the temple guard and the high priests were baffled, wondering where all of this would end. ²⁵Just then, someone arrived with the report, “Look, those men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple, teaching the people.” ²⁶Then the captain went off with the guards and brought them back, but without any show of force for fear of being stoned by the people.

²⁷So they brought them in and made them stand before the Council, and the High Priest questioned them, ²⁸“We gave you strict orders not to preach such a Savior, but you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend charging us with the killing of this man.” ²⁹Peter and the apostles replied, “Better for us to obey God, rather than any human authority!

³⁰The God of our ancestors raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a wooden post. ³¹God set him at his right hand as Leader and Savior to grant Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins. ³²We are witnesses of these things, as is the Holy Spirit God has given to those who obey him.”

•  ³³When the Council heard this, they became very angry and wanted to kill them. ³⁴But one of them, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law highly respected by the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin. He ordered the men to be taken outside for a short time ³⁵and then spoke to the assembly.

“Fellow Israelites, consider well what you intend to do to these men. ³⁶For some time, Theudas came forward claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men joined him. But he was killed, and all his followers were dispersed or disappeared. ³⁷After him, Judas the Galilean appeared at the time of the census and persuaded many people to follow him. But he, too, perished, and his whole following was scattered. ³⁸So, in this present case, I advise you to have nothing to do with these men. Leave them alone. If their project or activity is of human origin, it will destroy itself. ³⁹If, on the other hand, it is from God, you will not be able to destroy it, and you might indeed find yourselves fighting against God.”

The Council let themselves be persuaded. ⁴⁰They called in the apostles, had them whipped, and ordered them not to speak again of Jesus, the Savior. Then they set them free.

⁴¹The apostles went out from the Council, rejoicing that they were considered worthy to suffer disgrace for the Name's sake. ⁴²Day after day, in the temple and people’s homes, they continued to teach and proclaim that Jesus was the Messiah.

The Choosing of Assistants

6 | •  ¹In those days, as the number of disciples grew, the so-called Hellenists complained against the so-called Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. ²So the Twelve summoned the whole body of disciples together, and said, “It is not right that we should neglect the word of God to serve at tables. ³So, friends, choose among yourselves seven respected men, full of Spirit and wisdom, that we may appoint them to this task. ⁴As for us, we shall give ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the word.”

⁵The whole community agreed, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit; Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenus and Nicolaus of Antioch, who was a proselyte. ⁶They presented these men to the apostles, who first prayed over them and then laid hands upon them.

⁷The word of God continued to spread, and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem increased significantly. Even many priests accepted the faith.

The Story of Stephen

•  ⁸Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. ⁹Some persons who belonged to the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and Asia came forward. ¹⁰They argued with Stephen. But they could not match the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke. ¹¹As they could not face the truth, they bribed some men to say, “We heard him speak against Moses and God.”

¹²So they stirred up the people, the elders, and the teachers of the law; they took him by surprise, seized him, and brought him before the Council. ¹³Then they produced false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking against our Holy Place and the law. ¹⁴We even heard him say that Jesus, the Nazorean, will destroy our Holy Place and change the customs which Moses handed down to us.” ¹⁵And all who sat in the Council fixed their eyes on him, and his face appeared to them like the face of an angel.

7 | ¹So the High Priest asked him: “Is it true?” He answered, “Brothers and fathers, listen to me.

²The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia before he went to live in Haran. And he said to him: ³‘Leave your land and your relatives and go to the land which I will show you.’ ⁴So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After his father's death, God made him move to this land where you now dwell. ⁵And there, he did not give him anything that was his own, not even the smallest portion of land to put his foot on; but promised to give it to him, in possession, and to his descendants, though he had no child. ⁶So God spoke: ‘Your descendants shall live in a strange land. They shall be enslaved and maltreated for four hundred years. ⁷So, I shall call the nation, which they serve as slaves, to render an account for it. They will come out and worship me in this place.’

⁸He made with him the Covenant of circumcision. And so, at the birth of his son Isaac, Abraham circumcised him on the eighth day. Isaac did the same to Jacob and Jacob to the twelve patriarchs.

⁹The patriarchs envied Joseph, so they sold him into Egypt. But God was with him. ¹⁰He rescued him from all his afflictions, granted him wisdom, and made him please Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him governor of Egypt, and of the whole of his household. ¹¹Then there was a famine in all the land of Egypt and Canaan; it was great misery, and our ancestors did not have anything to eat. ¹²Upon learning that there was wheat in Egypt, Jacob sent our ancestors there on their first visit. ¹³On the second visit, Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Pharaoh came to know the family of Joseph. ¹⁴Joseph commanded that his father Jacob be brought to him with his family of seventy-five persons. ¹⁵Jacob then went to Egypt, where he and our ancestors died. ¹⁶They were transferred to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor at Shechem.

¹⁷As the promised time drew near, which God had made to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt ¹⁸until another king who did not know Joseph came. ¹⁹Dealing cunningly with our race, he forced our ancestors to abandon their newborn infants and let them die. ²⁰At that time, Moses was born, and God looked kindly on him. For three months, he was nursed in the home of his father, ²¹and when they abandoned him, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and raised him as her own son. ²²So, Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. He was mighty in word and deed. ²³And when he was forty, he wanted to visit his people, the Israelites. ²⁴When he saw one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and killed the Egyptian. ²⁵He thought his kinsfolk would understand that God was sending him to them as a liberator, but they did not understand. ²⁶On the following day, he came to them as they were fighting and tried to reconcile them, saying: ‘You are brothers, why do you hurt each other?’ ²⁷At that moment, the one injuring his companion rebuffed him, saying: ‘Who appointed you as our leader and judge? ²⁸Do you want to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ ²⁹When Moses heard this, he fled and went to live as a stranger in the land of Midian, where he had two sons.

³⁰After forty years, an angel appeared to him in the desert of Mount Sinai in the flame of a burning bush. ³¹Moses was astonished at the vision. And as he approached to look at it, he heard the voice of the Lord: ³²‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses was filled with fear and did not dare look at it. ³³But the Lord said to him: ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you stand is holy ground. ³⁴I have seen the affliction of my people in Egypt and heard them weeping, and I have come down to free them. And now, get up! I am sending you to Egypt.’

³⁵This Moses, whom they rejected, saying: ‘Who appointed you leader and judge?’ God sent, as leader and liberator with the assistance of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. ³⁶He led them out, performing signs and wonders in Egypt at the Red Sea and in the desert for forty years. ³⁷This Moses is the one who said to the Israelites: ‘God will give you a prophet like me, from among your own people.’ ³⁸This is the one who, in the assembly in the desert, became the mediator between the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai and our ancestors, and he received the words of life, that he might communicate them to us.

³⁹But our ancestors refused to obey; they rejected him and turned their hearts to Egypt, saying to Aaron: ⁴⁰‘Give us gods to lead us, since we do not know what has happened to that Moses, who brought us out of Egypt.’ ⁴¹So, in those days, they fashioned a calf, offered sacrifices to their idol and rejoiced in the work of their hands. ⁴²So God departed from them and let them worship the stars of heaven, as it is written in the Book of the Prophets: ‘People of Israel, did you offer me burnt offerings and sacrifices for forty years in the desert? ⁴³No, you carried instead the tent of Moloch and the star of the god Rehan, images you made to worship; for this,  I will banish you farther than Babylon.’

⁴⁴Our ancestors had the Tent of Meeting in the desert, for God had directed Moses to build it according to the pattern he had seen. ⁴⁵Our ancestors received it and brought it under the command of Joshua into the lands of the pagans that they conquered and whom God expelled before them. They kept it until the days of David, ⁴⁶who found favor with God and asked him to let him build a house for the God of Jacob. ⁴⁷However, it was Solomon who built that temple.

⁴⁸In reality, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands, as the Prophet says: ⁴⁹‘Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool. What house will you build for me, says the Lord? How could you give me a dwelling place? ⁵⁰Was it not I who made all these things?’

⁵¹But you are a stubborn people. You hardened your hearts and closed your ears. You have always resisted the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did. ⁵²Was there a prophet whom your ancestors did not persecute? They killed those who announced the coming of the Just One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered; ⁵³you who received the law through the angels but did not fulfill it.”

⁵⁴When they heard this reproach, they were enraged and gnashed their teeth against Stephen. ⁵⁵But he, full of the Holy Spirit, fixed his eyes on heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus at God’s right hand; ⁵⁶so he declared: “I see the heavens open and the Son of Man at the right hand of God.”

⁵⁷But they shouted, covered their ears with their hands, and rushed together upon him. ⁵⁸They brought him out of the city and stoned him, and the witnesses laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul. ⁵⁹As they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, saying: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” ⁶⁰Then he knelt down and said loudly: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he died.

8 | •  ¹Saul was there, approving his murder. This was the beginning of a great persecution against the Church in Jerusalem. All except the apostles were scattered throughout the region of Judea and Samaria. ²Devout men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. ³Saul, meanwhile, was trying to destroy the church. He entered house after house and dragged off men and women and had them put in jail.

Philip Proclaims the Word in Samaria

•  ⁴At the same time, those scattered went about preaching the word. ⁵Philip went down to a town of Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. ⁶All the people paid close attention to what Philip said as they listened to him and saw the miraculous signs that he did. ⁷For, in possession cases, the unclean spirits shrieked loudly. Many people who were paralyzed or crippled were healed. ⁸So there was great joy in that town.

Simon the Magician

•  ⁹A certain man named Simon had come to this town to practice magic. He held the Samaritans spellbound and passed himself off as a very important person. ¹⁰All the people from the least to the greatest put their trust in him saying, “This is the Power of God, the Great One.” ¹¹And they followed him because he had held them under the spell of his magic for a long time. ¹²But when they came to believe Philip, who announced the kingdom of God and Jesus Christ as Savior, both men and women were baptized.

¹³Simon himself believed he was baptized and would not depart from Philip. He was astonished when he saw the miraculous signs and wonders that happened.

¹⁴When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that the Samaritans had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. ¹⁵They went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit; ¹⁶for he had not yet come down upon any of them since they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁷So Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸When Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, ¹⁹saying, “Give me also this power, so that anyone upon whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

²⁰Peter replied, “May you and your money perish for thinking that the gift of God could be bought with money! ²¹You cannot share in this since you do not understand the things of God. ²²Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours and pray to the Lord that you may be forgiven such a wrong way of thinking; ²³I see you are poisoned with bitterness and in the grip of sin.” ²⁴Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me yourselves so that none of these things you spoke of will happen to me.”

²⁵Peter and John gave their testimony and spoke the word of the Lord. And they returned to Jerusalem, bringing the Good News to many Samaritan villages along the way.

Philip Baptizes the Ethiopian

•  ²⁶An angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south, toward the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, the desert road.” ²⁷So he set out, and it happened that an Ethiopian was passing along that way. He was an official in charge of the treasury of the queen of the Ethiopians. He had come on pilgrimage to Jerusalem ²⁸and was on his way home. He was sitting in his carriage and reading the prophet Isaiah.

²⁹The Spirit told Philip, “Go and catch up with that carriage.” ³⁰So Philip ran up and heard the man reading the prophet Isaiah, and he asked, “Do you really understand what you are reading?” The Ethiopian replied, ³¹“How can I, unless someone explains it to me?” He then invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. ³²This was the passage of Scripture he was reading:

He was led like a sheep to be slaughtered; like a lamb that is dumb before the shearer, he did not open his mouth. ³³He was humbled and deprived of his rights. Who can speak of his descendants? For he was uprooted from the earth.

³⁴The official asked Philip, “Tell me, please, does the prophet speak of himself or someone else?”

³⁵Then Philip began to tell him the Good News of Jesus using this text of Scripture as his starting point. ³⁶As they traveled down the road, they came to a place with some water. Then the Ethiopian official said, “Look, here is water; what is to keep me from being baptized?” (³⁷)

³⁸Then he ordered the carriage to stop. Philip and the Ethiopian went down into the water, and he baptized him. ³⁹When they came out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away. The Ethiopian saw him no more, but he continued his way full of joy.

⁴⁰Philip found himself at Azotus, and he went about announcing the Good News in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

Saul Meets Jesus

9 | •  ¹Meanwhile, Saul considered nothing but violence and death for the disciples of the Lord. ²He went to the High Priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues of Damascus that would authorize him to arrest and bring to Jerusalem anyone he might find, man or woman, belonging to the Way.

³As he traveled along and approached Damascus, a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him. ⁴He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul! Why do you persecute me?” ⁵He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The voice replied, “I am Jesus, whom you persecute. ⁶Now get up and go into the city; you will be told what you are to do there.”

⁷The men traveling with him stood there speechless: they had heard the sound but could see no one. ⁸Saul got up from the ground and, opening his eyes, could not see. They took him by the hand and brought him to Damascus. ⁹He was blind, and he did not eat or drink for three days.

¹⁰There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias, to whom the Lord called in a vision, “Ananias!” He answered, “Here I am, Lord!” ¹¹Then the Lord said to him, “Go at once to Straight Street and ask at the house of Judas for a man of Tarsus named Saul. You will find him praying, ¹²for he has just seen in a vision that a man named Ananias has placed his hands upon him to restore his sight.”

¹³Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many sources about this man, and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; ¹⁴and now he is here with authority from the High Priest, to arrest all who call upon your name.” ¹⁵But the Lord said to him, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to bring my name to the pagan nations and their kings and the people of Israel as well. ¹⁶I myself will show him how much he will have to suffer for my name.”

¹⁷So Ananias left and went to the house. He laid his hands upon Saul and said, “Saul, my brother, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me to you so that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁸Immediately, something like scales fell from his eyes, and he could see; he got up and was baptized. ¹⁹Then he took food and was strengthened.

•  For several days, Saul stayed with the disciples at Damascus, ²⁰and he soon began to proclaim in the synagogues that Jesus was the Son of God. ²¹All who heard were astonished and said, “Is this not the one who cast out in Jerusalem all those calling upon this Name? Did he not come here to bring them bound before the chief priests?”

²²But Saul became more powerful and confounded the Jews living in Damascus when he proved that Jesus was the Messiah.

²³After a fairly long time, the Jews conspired together to kill him. ²⁴But Saul became aware of their plan: Day and night, they watched at the city gate to kill him. ²⁵So his disciples took him one night and let him down from the top of the wall, lowering him in a basket.

²⁶When Saul came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples there, but they feared him because they could not believe he was a disciple. ²⁷But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He recounted to them how Saul had seen the Lord on his way and the Lord's words. He told them also how Saul had preached boldly in the name of Jesus.

²⁸Then Saul began to live with them. He moved about freely in Jerusalem and preached openly in the name of the Lord. ²⁹He also spoke to the Hellenists and argued with them. But they wanted to kill him. ³⁰When the believers learned of this, they took him to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

³¹Meanwhile, the Church had peace. It was building up throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, with eyes turned to the Lord and filled with comfort from the Holy Spirit.

Peter Visits the Churches

•  ³²As Peter traveled around, he went to visit the saints who lived in Lydda. ³³There, he found a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years. ³⁴Peter told him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; get up and make your bed!” And the man got up at once. ³⁵All the people living in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.

³⁶There was a disciple in Joppa named Tabitha, which means Dorcas or Gazelle. She was always doing good deeds and helping the poor. ³⁷At that time, she fell sick and died. After having washed her body, they laid her in the upstairs room.

³⁸As Lydda is near Joppa, the disciples, on hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him with the request, “Please come to us without delay.”

³⁹So Peter went with them. On his arrival, they took him upstairs to the room. All the widows crowded around him in tears, showing him the clothes that Dorcas had made while she was with them. ⁴⁰Peter made them all leave the room, and then he knelt down and prayed. Turning to the dead body, he said, “Tabitha, stand up.” She opened her eyes, looked at Peter and sat up. ⁴¹Peter gave her his hand and helped her up. Then he called in the saints and widows and presented her to them alive. ⁴²This became known throughout Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord because of it. ⁴³As for Peter, he remained for some time in Joppa at Simon's house as a tanner of leather.

The Baptism of Cornelius

10 | •  ¹There was in Caesarea a man named Cornelius, captain of what was called the Italian Battalion. ²He was religious and God-fearing along with his whole household. He gave generously to the people and constantly prayed to God.

³One afternoon, at about three, he had a vision in which he clearly saw an angel of God coming toward him and calling him, “Cornelius!” ⁴He stared at the vision with awe and said, “What is it, sir?” And the angel answered, “Your prayers and your alms have just been recalled before God. ⁵Now send some men to Joppa, and summon a certain Simon, also known as Peter; ⁶he is the guest of Simon, a tanner, who lives beside the sea.”

⁷As soon as the angel who spoke to him departed, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among those attached to his service ⁸and, after having explained everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.

⁹The next day, while they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up to the roof at about noon to pray. ¹⁰He became hungry and wished to eat, but while they were preparing food, he fell into a trance. ¹¹The heavens were opened to him, and he saw an object that looked like a large sheet coming down until it rested on the ground by its four corners. ¹²In it were all kinds of four-legged animals of the earth, reptiles, and birds.

¹³Then a voice said to him, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!” ¹⁴But Peter replied, “Certainly not, Lord! I have never eaten any defiled or unclean creature.” ¹⁵Again, a second time, the voice spoke, “What God has made clean, you must not call unclean.” ¹⁶This happened three times, and then the sheet was taken up again into the sky.

¹⁷While Peter was still puzzling over the meaning of the vision he had seen, the messengers of Cornelius arrived at the gate asking for Simon's house. ¹⁸They called out to inquire whether Simon, also known as Peter, was staying there. ¹⁹At that moment, as Peter continued pondering on the vision, the Spirit said, “Men are looking for you; ²⁰get up and go downstairs and follow them without hesitation, for I have sent them.”

²¹So Peter went down to the men, “I am the one you are looking for. What brings you here?” They answered, ²²“He who sent us is Captain Cornelius. He is an upright and God-fearing man, well respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel has instructed him to summon you to his house so that he may listen to what you have to say.” ²³So Peter invited them in and put them up for the night.

The next day, he went off with them, and some of the believers from Joppa accompanied him. ²⁴The following day, he arrived in Caesarea, where Cornelius was expecting them; he had called his relatives and close friends together. ²⁵As Peter was about to enter, Cornelius went to him, fell on his knees, and bowed low. ²⁶But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stand up, for I too am a human being.”

²⁷After talking with him, Peter entered and found many people assembled there. ²⁸Then he said to them, “You know that it is forbidden for Jews to associate with anyone of another nation or to enter their houses. But God has made it clear to me that no one should call any person common or unclean; ²⁹because of this, I came at once when I was sent for. Now, I should like to know why you sent for me.”

³⁰Cornelius then answered, “Just three days ago at this time, about three in the afternoon, I was praying in my house when a man in shining clothes stood before me ³¹and said to me: ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer, and your alms have been remembered before him. ³²Send someone to Joppa and ask for Simon, also known as Peter, a guest at Simon's house, the Tanner by the sea.’ ³³So I sent for you at once and you have been kind enough to come. Now we are all here in God’s presence, waiting to hear all the Lord has commanded you to say.”

³⁴Peter then spoke to them, “Truly, I realize that God does not show partiality, ³⁵but in all nations, he listens to everyone who fears God and does good. ³⁶And this is the message he has sent to the children of Israel, the good news of peace he has proclaimed through Jesus Christ, who is the Lord of all. ³⁷No doubt you have heard of the event that occurred throughout the whole country of the Jews, beginning from Galilee after the baptism John preached. ³⁸You know how God anointed Jesus the Nazorean with the Holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good and healing all who were under the devil’s power because God was with him; ³⁹we are witnesses of all that he did throughout the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem itself. Yet, they put him to death by hanging him on a wooden cross.

⁴⁰But God raised him to life on the third day and let him manifest himself, ⁴¹not to all the people, but to the witnesses chosen beforehand by God—to us who ate and drank with him after his resurrection from death. ⁴²He commanded us to preach to the people and bear witness, that God appointed him to judge the living and the dead. ⁴³All the prophets say of him, that everyone who believes in him has forgiveness of sins through his name.”

⁴⁴Peter was still speaking when the Holy Spirit came upon all who listened to the word. ⁴⁵And the believers of Jewish origin who had come with Peter were amazed, “Why! God gives and pours the Holy Spirit on foreigners also!” ⁴⁶For indeed, this happened: they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.

⁴⁷Then Peter declared, “Can we refuse to baptize with water these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” ⁴⁸So he had them baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. After that, they asked him to remain with them for some days.

Peter Justifies his Conduct

11 | •  ¹News came to the apostles and the brothers and sisters in Judea that even foreigners had received the word of God. ²So, when Peter went up to Jerusalem, these Jewish believers began to argue with him, ³“You went to the home of uncircumcised people and ate with them!”

⁴So Peter began to give them the facts as they had happened, ⁵“I was at prayer in the city of Joppa when, in a trance, I saw a vision. Something like a large sheet came down from the sky and drew near to me, landing on the ground by its four corners. ⁶As I stared at it, I saw four-legged creatures of the earth, wild beasts and reptiles, and birds of the sky. ⁷Then I heard a voice saying to me: ‘Get up, Peter, kill and eat!’ ⁸I replied, ‘Certainly not, Lord! No common or unclean creature has ever entered my mouth.’ ⁹A second time, the voice from the heavens spoke, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call unclean.’ ¹⁰This happened three times, and then it was all drawn up into the sky. ¹¹At that moment, three men sent to me from Caesarea arrived at the house where we were staying. ¹²The Spirit instructed me to go with them without hesitation, so these six brothers came along with me, and we entered the man’s house. ¹³He told us how he had seen an angel standing in his house and telling him: ‘Send someone to Joppa and fetch Simon, also known as Peter. ¹⁴He will bring you a message by which you and all your household will be saved.’

¹⁵I had begun to address them when suddenly the Holy Spirit came upon them, just as it had come upon us at the beginning. ¹⁶Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷If, then, God had given them the same gift that he had given us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to resist God?”

¹⁸When they heard this, they set their minds at rest and praised God, saying, “Then God has granted life-giving repentance to the pagan nations as well.”

The Foundation of the Church at Antioch

•  ¹⁹Those who had been scattered because of the persecution over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, proclaiming the message, but only to the Jews. ²⁰But there were some natives of Cyprus and Cyrene among them who, on coming into Antioch, also spoke to the Greeks, giving them the good news of the Lord Jesus. ²¹The hand of the Lord was with them so that a great number believed and turned to the Lord.

²²News of this reached the ears of the Church in Jerusalem, so they sent Barnabas to Antioch. ²³When he arrived and saw the manifest signs of God’s favor, he rejoiced and urged them all to remain firmly faithful to the Lord; ²⁴for he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith. Thus, large crowds came to know the Lord.

²⁵Then Barnabas went off to Tarsus to look for Saul; ²⁶and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. They had meetings with the Church for a year and instructed many people. It was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.

•  ²⁷At that time, some prophets went down from Jerusalem to Antioch; ²⁸and one named Agabus, inspired by the Holy Spirit, foretold that a great famine would spread over the world. This actually happened in the days of Emperor Claudius. ²⁹So the disciples decided, within their means, to set something aside and send relief to the brothers and sisters living in Judea. ³⁰They did this and sent their donations to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.

James Is Put to Death;

Peter’s Miraculous Escape

12 | •  ¹About that time, King Herod decided to persecute some members of the Church. ²He had James, the brother of John, killed with the sword, ³and when he saw how it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also.

This happened during the festival of the Unleavened Bread. ⁴Herod had him seized and thrown into prison with four squads, each of four soldiers, to guard him. He wanted to bring him to trial before the people after the Passover feast, ⁵but while Peter was imprisoned, the whole Church prayed earnestly for him.

⁶On the very night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound by a double chain, while guards kept watch at the gate of the prison.

⁷Suddenly, an angel of the Lord stood there, and a light shone in the prison cell. The angel tapped Peter on the side and woke him saying, “Get up quickly!” At once, the chains fell from Peter’s wrists. The angel said, “Put on your belt and your sandals.” Peter did so, ⁸and the angel added, “Now, put on your cloak and follow me.”

⁹Peter followed him out, yet he did not realize what was happening with the angel was real; he thought he was seeing a vision. ¹⁰They passed the first guard and then the second, and they came to the iron door leading out to the city, which opened by itself for them. They went out and went down a narrow alley when the angel suddenly left him.

¹¹Then Peter recovered his senses and said, “Now I know that the Lord has sent his angel and has rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from all that the Jews had in store for me.”

¹²Peter then found his bearings and came to the house of Mary, the mother of John, also known as Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. ¹³When he knocked at the outside door, a maid named Rhoda came to answer it. ¹⁴On recognizing Peter's voice, she was so overcome with joy that, instead of opening the door, she ran in to announce that Peter was at the door. ¹⁵They said to her, “You are crazy!” And as she insisted, they said, “It must be his angel.”

¹⁶Meanwhile, Peter continued knocking, and when they finally opened the door, they were amazed to see him. ¹⁷He motioned to them with his hand to be quiet and told them how the Lord had brought him out of prison. And he said to them, “Report this to James and the brothers.” Then he left and went to another place.

¹⁸At daybreak, there was a great commotion among the soldiers over what had become of Peter. ¹⁹Herod began a search for him and, not finding him, had the guards questioned and executed. After that, he came down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.

Herod’s Death

²⁰At that time, Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. By general agreement, they appeared before him, and after having won over Blastus, the king’s treasurer, they asked for peace, for their country was supplied with food from Herod's territory. ²¹On the appointed day, Herod, clothed in royal robes, sat on his throne and addressed them. ²²The assembled crowd shouted, “A god is speaking, not a man!”

²³The angel of the Lord immediately struck Herod, for he did not return the honor to God, and he died eaten by worms.

²⁴Meanwhile, the word of God was increasing and spreading. ²⁵Barnabas and Saul carried out their mission and then came back to Jerusalem, taking with them John, also called Mark.

Paul Sent by the Church

13 | •  ¹There were at Antioch—in the Church which was there—prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Symeon known as Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod, and Saul. ²On one occasion, while they were celebrating the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said to them, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul to do the work for which I have called them.” ³So, after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

Paul’s First Mission

•  ⁴These then, sent by the Holy Spirit, went down to the port of Seleucia and from there sailed to Cyprus. ⁵Upon their arrival in Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogue; John was with them as an assistant.

⁶They traveled over the whole island as far as Paphos, where they met a certain magician named Bar-Jesus, a Jewish false prophet, ⁷who lived with the governor Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. He had summoned Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear the word of God. ⁸But they were opposed by the Elymas (that is, the magician) who tried to turn the governor from the faith.

⁹Then Saul, also known as Paul, full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him ¹⁰and said, “You son of the devil, full of all kinds of deceit, and enemy of all that is right! Will you never stop perverting the straight paths of the Lord? ¹¹Now, the Lord’s hand is upon you; you will become blind and, for a time, you will not see the light of day.” Immediately a dark mist came upon him, and he groped about for someone to lead him by the hand.

¹²The governor saw what had happened; he believed and was deeply impressed by the teaching about the Lord.

Paul in the Capital of Pisidia

¹³From Pathos, Paul and his companions set sail and came to Perga in Pamphylia. There, John left them and returned to Jerusalem, ¹⁴while they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. On the Sabbath day, they entered the synagogue and sat down. ¹⁵After reading the law and the prophets, the synagogue officials sent this message to them, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the assembly, please speak up.”

¹⁶So Paul arose, motioned to them for silence and began, “Fellow Israelites and all you who fear God, listen. ¹⁷The God of our people, Israel, chose our ancestors, and after he had made them increase during their stay in Egypt, he led them out by powerful deeds. ¹⁸For forty years he fed them in the desert; ¹⁹and after he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. ²⁰All this took four hundred and fifty years. ²¹After that, he gave them Judges, until Samuel the prophet. Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul, son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, who was king for forty years. ²²After that time, God removed him and raised up David as king, to whom he bore witness saying: I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will do all I want him to do.

²³It is from the descendants of David that God has now raised up the promised Savior of Israel, Jesus. ²⁴John proclaimed a baptism of repentance for all the people of Israel before he appeared. ²⁵As John was ending his life’s work, he said: ‘I am not what you think I am, for after me another one is coming, whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.’

²⁶My brothers, children descendants of Abraham, and you who fear God, it is to you that this message of salvation has been sent. ²⁷It is a fact that the inhabitants of Jerusalem and their leaders did not recognize Jesus. Yet, in condemning him, they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath but not understood. ²⁸Even though they found no charge against him that deserved death, they asked Pilate to have him executed. ²⁹And after they had carried out all that had been written concerning him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb.

³⁰But God raised him from the dead, ³¹and for many days after that, he showed himself to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They have now become his witnesses before the people. ³²We, ourselves, announce to you this Good News: All that God promised our ancestors, ³³he has fulfilled for us, their descendants, by raising Jesus, according to what is written in the second Psalm: You are my Son, today I have begotten you. ³⁴On raising him from the dead, so that he would never know the decay of death, God fulfilled his promise: I will give you the holy blessings, the sure ones that I kept for David.

³⁵Moreover, in another place, it is said: You will not allow your holy one to suffer corruption. ³⁶David was subjected to corruption, for he died and was laid beside his ancestors after serving God’s purpose in his own time. ³⁷But the one God raised up—Jesus—did not know corruption. ^38-39Through him, fellow Israelites, you have forgiveness of sins, and this is our good news. Whoever believes in him is freed of everything from which the law of Moses could not free you.

⁴⁰Now, watch out, lest what was said by the prophet happens to you: ⁴¹Take care, you cynics; be amazed and disappear! For I am about to do something in your days which you would never believe even if you had been told.”

⁴²As Paul and Barnabas withdrew, they were invited to speak again on the same subject the following Sabbath. ⁴³After that, when the assembly broke up, many Jews and devout God-fearing people followed them, and to these they spoke, urging them to hold fast to the grace of God.

⁴⁴The following Sabbath, almost the entire city gathered to listen to Paul, who spoke pretty long about the Lord. ⁴⁵But the presence of such a crowd made the Jews jealous. So they began to oppose whatever Paul said with insults.

⁴⁶Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out firmly, saying, “It was necessary that God’s word be first proclaimed to you, but since you now reject it and judge yourselves to be unworthy of eternal life, we turn to non-Jewish people. ⁴⁷For thus we were commanded by the Lord: I have set you as a light to the pagan nations, so that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”

⁴⁸When they heard this, those who were not Jews rejoiced and praised the message of the Lord, and all those destined for everlasting life believed in it. ⁴⁹Thus, the word spread throughout the whole region.

⁵⁰Some of the Jews, however, incited God-fearing women of the upper class and the leading men of the city as well and stirred up an intense persecution against Paul and Barnabas. Finally, they had them expelled from their region. ⁵¹The apostles shook the dust from their feet in protest against this people and went to Iconium, ⁵²leaving the disciples filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.

Iconium Is Evangelized

14 | •  ¹In Iconium Paul and Barnabas likewise went into the Jewish synagogue and preached in such a manner that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed. ² Still, the Jews, who would not believe, stirred up the pagan people and poisoned their minds against the brothers. ³Despite this, Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there. They spoke fearlessly of the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace with the miraculous signs and wonders he gave them the power to do.

⁴But the people of the city were divided, some siding with the Jews and some with the apostles. ⁵A move was made by pagans and Jews, together with their leaders, to harm the apostles and to stone them. ⁶But Paul and Barnabas learned of this and fled to the Lycaonian towns of Lystra and Derbe and the surrounding countryside, ⁷where they continued preaching the Good News.

Lystra and Derbe

•  Paul and Barnabas spent a fairly long time at Lystra. ⁸There was a crippled man in Lystra who had never been able to stand or walk. ⁹One day, while listening to the preaching, Paul looked intently at him and saw that he had the faith to be saved. ¹⁰So he said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And the man leaped up and began walking.

¹¹When the people saw what Paul had done, they cried out in the language of Lycaonia, “The gods have come to us in human likeness!” ¹²They named Barnabas Zeus and Paul, and they called Hermes since he was the chief speaker. ¹³Even the priest of the temple of Zeus, which stood outside the town, brought oxen and garlands to the gate; together with the people, he wanted to offer sacrifice to them.

¹⁴When Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their garments to show their indignation and rushed into the crowd, shouting, ¹⁵“Friends, why are you doing this? We are mortals just like you, human beings. We are now telling you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn away from these useless things to the living God who made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all that is in them. ¹⁶In past generations, he allowed each nation to go its own way, ¹⁷though he never stopped making himself known, for he is continually doing good, giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, providing you with food and filling your hearts with gladness.”

¹⁸Even these words could hardly keep the crowd from offering sacrifice to them.

¹⁹Then, some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and turned the people against them. They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the town, leaving him for dead. ²⁰When his disciples gathered around him, he stood up and returned to the town. And the next day, he left for Derbe with Barnabas.

Return to Antioch

•  ²¹After proclaiming the gospel in that town and making many disciples, they returned to Lystra and Iconium and on to Antioch. ²²They were strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain firm in the faith, for they said, “We must go through many trials to enter the kingdom of God.” ²³In each church, they appointed elders, and after praying and fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had placed their faith.

²⁴Then they traveled through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. ²⁵They preached the word in Perga and went down to Attalia. ²⁶From there, they sailed back to Antioch, where they had first been commended to God’s grace for the task they had now completed.

²⁷On their arrival, they gathered the Church and told them all that God had done through them and how he had opened the door of faith to the non-Jews. ²⁸They spent a fairly long time there with the disciples.

The Council at Jerusalem

15 | •  ¹Some persons who had come from Judea to Antioch were teaching the brothers this way, “Unless you are circumcised, according to the law of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

²Because of this, there was trouble, and Paul and Barnabas had fierce arguments with them. For Paul told the people to remain as they were when they became believers. Finally, those who had come from Jerusalem suggested that Paul, Barnabas, and some others go up to Jerusalem to discuss the matter with the apostles and elders.

³The Church sent them on their way. As they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, they reported how the non-Jews had turned to God, and there was great joy among all the brothers and sisters.

⁴On their arrival in Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the Church, the apostles, and the elders, to whom they told all that God had done through them. ⁵Some believers, however, who belonged to the party of the Pharisees, stood up and said that non-Jewish men must be circumcised and instructed to keep the law of Moses. ⁶So the apostles and elders met together to consider this matter.

⁷As the discussions heated, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that from the beginning, God chose me among you so that non-Jews could hear the Good News from me and believe. ⁸God, who can read hearts, put himself on their side by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. ⁹He made no distinction between them and us and cleansed their hearts through faith. ¹⁰So, why do you want to put God to the test? Why do you lay on the disciples a burden that neither our ancestors nor we were able to carry? ¹¹We believe, indeed, that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they are.”

¹²The whole assembly kept silent as they listened to Paul and Barnabas describe all the miraculous signs and wonders that God had done among the non-Jews through them.

•  ¹³After they had finished, James spoke up, “Listen to me, brothers. ¹⁴Symeon has just explained how God first showed his care by taking a people for himself from non-Jewish nations. ¹⁵And the words of the prophets agree with this, for Scripture says,

¹⁶After this, I will return and rebuild David's booth, which has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins and set it up again. ¹⁷Then, the rest of humanity will look for the Lord, and all the nations will be consecrated to my Name. So says the Lord, who does today ¹⁸what he decided from the beginning.

•  ¹⁹Because of this, I think that we should not make difficulties for those non-Jews who are turning to God. ²⁰Let us just tell them not to eat food that is unclean from having been offered to idols, to keep themselves from prohibited marriages, and not to eat the flesh of animals that have been strangled or any blood. ²¹For, from the earliest times, Moses has been taught in every place, and every Sabbath his laws are recalled.”

The Council’s Letters

•  ²²Then the apostles, elders, and the whole Church decided to choose representatives from among them to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. These were Judas, known as Barsabbas, and Silas, both leading men among the brothers. ²³They took with them the following letter:

“Greetings from the apostles and elders, your brothers, to the believers of non-Jewish birth in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia. ²⁴We have heard that some people among us have worried you about their discussions and troubled your peace of mind. They were not appointed by us. ²⁵But now, it seems right to us, in an assembly, to choose representatives and send them to you, along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, ²⁶who have dedicated their lives to the service of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁷We send you then Judas and Silas, who, themselves, will give you these instructions by word of mouth.

•  ²⁸We, with the Holy Spirit, have decided not to put any other burden on you except what is necessary: ²⁹You are to abstain from blood; from the meat of strangled animals; and prohibited marriages. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”

³⁰After saying goodbye, the messengers went to Antioch, assembled the community, and handed them the letter. ³¹When they read the news, all were delighted with the encouragement it gave them. ³²Judas and Silas, themselves prophets, spoke at length to encourage and strengthen them. ³³After they had spent some time there, the believers sent the messengers off in peace; ³⁴Silas, however, preferred to stay with them, and only Judas went off. ³⁵So Paul and Barnabas continued in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of God with many others.

Paul’s Second Mission

•  ³⁶After some days, Paul told Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the believers in every town where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, to see how they are getting on.” ³⁷Barnabas wanted to take with them John, also called Mark, ³⁸but Paul did not think it right to take him since he had not stayed with them to the end of their mission but had turned back and left them in Pamphylia. ³⁹Such a sharp disagreement resulted in the two finally being separated. Barnabas took Mark along with him and sailed for Cyprus. ⁴⁰Paul, for his part, chose Silas and left commended by the brothers and sisters to the grace of the Lord.

⁴¹He traveled throughout Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches there.

Paul Recruits Timothy

16 | •  ¹Paul traveled on to Derbe and then to Lystra. A disciple named Timothy lived there whose mother was a believer of Jewish origin but whose father was a Greek. ²As the believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him, Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him. ³So he took him, and because of the Jews of that place who all knew that his father was a Greek, he circumcised him.

⁴As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions of the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. ⁵Meanwhile, the churches grew stronger in faith and increased in number every day.

⁶They traveled through Phrygia and Galatia because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the message in the province of Asia. ⁷When they came to Mysia, they tried to go on to Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to do this. ⁸So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.

Paul Goes to Macedonia

•  ⁹There, one night, Paul had a vision. A Macedonian stood before him, begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” ¹⁰When he awoke, he told us of this vision, and we understood that the Lord was calling us to give the Good News to the Macedonian people.

¹¹So we put out to sea from Troas and sailed straight across to Samothrace Island and the next day to Neapolis. ¹²From there, we went inland to Philippi, the leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We spent some days in that city.

¹³On the Sabbath, we went outside the city gate to the bank of the river, where we thought the Jews would gather to pray. We sat down and began speaking to the women who were gathering there. ¹⁴One of them was a God-fearing woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a dealer in purple cloth.

As she listened, the Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying. ¹⁵After she had been baptized, together with her household, she invited us to her house: “If you think I am faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my house.” She persuaded us to accept her invitation.

Paul and Silas in Prison

•  ¹⁶One day, as we were on our way to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and, through her fortune-telling, gained much profit for her owners.

¹⁷She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting: “These people are servants of the Most High God. They will make known to you a way of salvation.” ¹⁸The girl did this for several days until Paul was annoyed. Then he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ, I command you, come out of her!” The spirit went out of her that very moment.

¹⁹When her owners realized all the expected profits had gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the local authorities. ²⁰And when they had turned them over to the officials, they said, ²¹“These people are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. They have come here to introduce customs which are not lawful for us Romans to adopt or practice.”

²²So they set the crowd against them, and the officials tore the clothes off Paul and Silas and ordered them to be flogged. ²³And after inflicting many blows on them, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to guard them safely. ²⁴Upon receiving these instructions, he threw them into the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

A Miraculous Deliverance

²⁵Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God about midnight, and the other prisoners were listening. ²⁶Suddenly, a severe earthquake shook the place, rocking the prison to its foundations. Immediately, all the doors flew open, and the prisoners' chains fell off. ²⁷The jailer woke up to see the prison gates wide open. Thinking that the prisoners had escaped, he drew his sword to kill himself, ²⁸but Paul shouted to him, “Do not harm yourself! We are all still here.”

²⁹The jailer asked for a light, then rushed in and fell at the feet of Paul and Silas. ³⁰After he had secured the other prisoners, he led them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” ³¹They answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you, and your household, will be saved.” ³²Then they spoke the word of God to him and all his household.

³³Even at that hour of the night, the jailer took care of them and washed their wounds, and he and his whole household were baptized at once. ³⁴He led them to his house, spread a meal before them, and joyfully celebrated with his whole household his newfound faith in God.

³⁵The next morning, the officials sent police officers with the order, “Let those men go.” ³⁶The jailer told Paul and Silas, “The officials have sent an order for you and Silas to be released. You may leave and go in peace.”

³⁷But Paul said to him, “They flogged us publicly and jailed us without trial, men who are Roman citizens, and now they want to smuggle us out secretly? Oh no! Let them come themselves and lead us out.”

³⁸The police officers reported this to the officials, who were afraid when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. ³⁹So they came and apologized to them, took them out, and asked them to leave the town.

⁴⁰Once outside the prison, Paul and Silas went to Lydia’s house, where they met and encouraged the brothers and sisters and then departed.

Difficulties in Thessalonica

17 | •  ¹Paul and Silas took the road through Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. ²As Paul used to do, he went to the synagogue, and on three Sabbaths, he held discussions with them about the Scriptures. ³He explained and proved to them that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead, and he said, “Such a Messiah is this Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you.”

⁴Some of them were convinced and joined Paul and Silas. So, too, did a great number of Greeks sympathetic to Judaism, and many prominent women.

⁵This only made the Jews jealous, so they gathered some of the good-for-nothing street loafers and formed a mob to start a riot in the town. They came to Jason's house to bring Paul and Silas before the people’s assembly. ⁶Not finding them there, they dragged Jason and some believers off to the city authorities, shouting, “These people who have turned the world upside down have come here also, ⁷and Jason has given them hospitality. They all disregard the decrees of the Emperor and claim that there is another King, Jesus.”

⁸This way, they upset the crowd and the city officials who heard them. ⁹The officials released Jason and the others on bail.

¹⁰The believers sent Paul and Silas off to Beroea as soon as night fell. On their arrival, they went to the Jewish synagogue. ¹¹Its members were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica and enthusiastically welcomed the message. Each day, they examined the Scriptures to see if these things were so. ¹²Many came to believe, as did numerous influential Greek women and many men.

¹³But when the Jews of Thessalonica learned that Paul had also proclaimed the word of God in Beroea, they hurried there to cause a commotion and stir up the crowds. ¹⁴The believers sent Paul away to the coast at once, but Silas and Timothy stayed in Beroea. ¹⁵Paul was taken as far as Athens by his escort, who then returned to Beroea with instructions for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible.

Paul in Athens

•  ¹⁶While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he felt uneasy seeing a city full of idols. ¹⁷He held discussions in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing people and daily debates in the public square with ordinary passersby.

¹⁸Epicureans and Stoic philosophers debated with him, some of them asking, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others commented, “He sounds like a promoter of foreign gods,” because he was heard to speak of Jesus and ‘the Resurrection.’ ¹⁹So they took Paul and led him off to the Areopagus hall and said, “We would like to know what this new teaching is that you are talking about. ²⁰Some of the things we hear you say sound strange to us and we would like to know what they mean.”

²¹Indeed, all Athenian citizens, as well as the foreigners who live there, enjoy talking about or listening to the latest news as their favorite occupation.

²²Then Paul stood up in the Areopagus hall and said, “Athenian citizens, I note that you are very religious in every way. ²³As I looked around at your shrines, I even discovered an altar with this inscription: To an unknown God. What you worship is unknown; I intend to make it known to you.

²⁴God, who made the world and everything in it, does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands, as he is Lord of heaven and earth. ²⁵Nor does his worship depend on anything made by human hands, as if he were in need. Rather, he gives life, breath, and everything else to everyone. ²⁶From one stock, he created the whole human race to live throughout the earth and fixed each nation's time and boundaries. ²⁷He wanted them to seek him by themselves, even if it was only by groping for him that they succeeded in finding him.

Yet, he is not far from any one of us. ²⁸For, in him, we live and move and have our being, as some of your poets have said: for we, too, are his offspring. ²⁹If we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think of divinity as something like a statue of gold, silver, or stone, a product of human art and imagination.

³⁰But now, God prefers to overlook this time of ignorance and calls on all people to change their ways. ³¹He has set a day to judge the world with justice through a man he has appointed. And so that all may believe it, he has just given a sign by raising this man from the dead.”

³²When they heard Paul speak of a resurrection from death, some made fun of him, while others said, “We must hear you on this topic some other time.” ³³At that point, Paul left. ³⁴But a few did join him and believed. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus court, a woman named Damaris, and some others.

Paul in Corinth

18 | •  ¹After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. ²There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla following a decree of the Emperor Claudius, which ordered all Jews to leave Rome. ³Paul visited them and then stayed and worked with them because they shared the same tent-making trade. ⁴Every Sabbath, he held discussions in the synagogue, trying to convince Jews and Greeks.

⁵When Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul gave himself wholly to preaching and proving to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. ⁶One day, when they opposed him and insulted him, he shook the dust from his clothes in protest saying, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. I am not to blame if, from now on, I go to the non-Jews.”

⁷So Paul left there and went to the house of a God-fearing man named Titus Justus, who lived next door to the synagogue. ⁸A leading man of the synagogue, Crispus, along with his whole household, believed in the Lord. On hearing Paul, many more Corinthians believed and were baptized.

⁹One night, in a vision, the Lord said to Paul, “Do not be afraid, but continue speaking and do not be silent, ¹⁰for many people in this city are mine. I am with you, so no one will harm you.” ¹¹So Paul stayed a year and a half in that place, teaching the word of God among them.

¹²When Gallio was governor of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the court. And they accused him, ¹³“This man tries to persuade us to worship God in ways that are against the law.”

¹⁴Paul was about to speak in his own defense when Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of a misdeed or vicious crime, I would have to consider your complaint. ¹⁵But since this is a quarrel about teachings and divine names that are proper to your own law, see to it yourselves: I refuse to judge such matters.” ¹⁶And he sent them out of the court.

¹⁷Then the people seized Sosthenes, a leading man of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal, but Gallio paid no attention to it.

¹⁸Paul stayed with the disciples in Corinth for many days; he then left them and sailed off with Priscilla and Aquila for Syria. As he was no longer under a vow he had taken, he shaved his head before sailing from Cenchreae.

¹⁹When they reached Ephesus, he left Priscilla and Aquila behind and entered the synagogue to hold discussions with the Jews. ²⁰But although they asked him to stay longer, he declined. ²¹And he took leave of them saying, “God willing, I will come back to you again.” Then he set sail from Ephesus. ²²On landing at Caesarea, he greeted the Church and then went down to Antioch.

•  ²³After spending some time there, he left and traveled from place to place through Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening the disciples.

•  ²⁴A certain Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, arrived at Ephesus. He was an eloquent speaker and an authority on the Scriptures, ²⁵and he had some knowledge of the way of the Lord. He preached and taught correctly about Jesus enthusiastically, although he knew only of John’s baptism. ²⁶As he began to speak boldly in the synagogue, Priscilla and Aquila heard him, so they took him home and explained the way more accurately. ²⁷As Apollos wished to go to Achaia, the believers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly strengthened those who, by God’s grace, had become believers, ²⁸for he vigorously refuted the Jews, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah.

Paul in Ephesus

19 | •  ¹While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the country's interior and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples ²whom he asked, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” They answered, “We have not even heard that anyone may receive the Holy Spirit.” ³Paul asked, “What kind of baptism have you received?” And they answered, “The baptism of John.”

⁴Paul then explained, “John’s baptism was for conversion, but he himself said they should believe in the one who was to come, and that one is Jesus.” ⁵Upon hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶Then Paul laid his hands on them. The Holy Spirit came down upon them, and they began to speak in tongues and to prophesy. ⁷There were about twelve of them in all.

⁸Paul went into the synagogue, and for three months, he preached and discussed there boldly, trying to convince them about the kingdom of God. ⁹Some of them, instead of believing, grew obstinate and criticized the way publicly. So Paul departed from them and took the disciples with him. He taught daily in the lecture hall of a certain Tyrannus. ¹⁰He did this for two years so that all those who lived in the province of Asia, Jews, and non-Jews, heard the word of the Lord.

•  ¹¹God did extraordinary deeds of power through the hands of Paul. ¹²Even handkerchiefs, or cloths that had touched his skin, were laid upon the sick, and their illnesses were cured, and evil spirits also departed from them.

¹³Some Jews who traveled around driving out evil spirits also tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus over those possessed by evil spirits, saying, “I command you, by this Jesus whom Paul preaches.” ¹⁴Among them were the seven sons of a Jewish priest named Sceva. ¹⁵But one day, when they entered a house and dared to do this, the evil spirit said to them, “Jesus I recognize, and Paul I know; but who are you?” ¹⁶Then the man with the evil spirit sprang at them and overpowered, first, one and then another. And he handled them so violently that they fled from that house naked and mauled. ¹⁷This became known to all the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus; all of them were very impressed and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in great honor.

¹⁸Many who had become believers came forward and openly acknowledged their former practices. ¹⁹Many who had practiced magic arts collected their books and burned them before everyone. When these values were assessed, they totaled fifty thousand silver coins.

²⁰In this way, the word of the Lord spread widely and with power.

The Silversmiths’ Riot

•  ²¹When all these events were completed, Paul, led by the Holy Spirit, decided to travel through Macedonia and Achaia again and then go to Jerusalem. And he said, “After I have been there, I must visit Rome also.” ²²So he sent two of his assistants, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia ahead of him while he himself stayed on for a time in Asia.

²³About that time, the city was deeply troubled because of the Way. ²⁴It all began because of a certain silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver models of the temple of the goddess Artemis and whose business brought a great deal of profit to the workers. ²⁵He called them together with others who did similar work and said, “Friends, you know that our prosperity depends on this work. ²⁶But as you can see and hear for yourselves, this Paul has led astray many people here in Ephesus and throughout most of the province of Asia. He has convinced them that gods made by human hands are not gods at all. ²⁷The danger grows that not only will our trade be discredited, but even the temple of the great goddess Artemis will count for nothing. She whom Asia and all the world worships may soon be stripped of her renown.”

²⁸On hearing this, they became enraged and shouted, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” ²⁹The uproar spread throughout the whole city. The mob rushed to the theater, dragging Gaius and Aristarchus, the two Macedonians who were Paul’s traveling companions. ³⁰Paul wished to face this crowd, but the disciples would not let him. ³¹Some of the officials of the Asian province also, who were friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to show himself in the theater.

³²Meanwhile, the whole assembly was in an uproar. Some shouted one thing, and some shouted another, and most of them did not know why they were there. ³³Some of the crowd wanted a certain Alexander to speak, whom the Jews put forward. Alexander intended to make a speech of defense before the crowd, ³⁴but when they recognized that he was a Jew, they chanted together for about two hours, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

³⁵Finally, the town clerk was able to calm the mob. He said, “Citizens of Ephesus, who does not know that Ephesus is the keeper of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image which fell from the sky? ³⁶Since these things are undeniable, you must calm yourselves and do nothing rash. ³⁷These men you brought here are not temple robbers, nor have they spoken ill of our goddess. ³⁸If Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen want to bring charges against anyone, the courts are open, and there are officials. Let them bring charges against each other. ³⁹If anything further needs to be investigated, let it be done in the lawful assembly. ⁴⁰For, as it is today, we are in danger of being charged with rioting since there is no valid excuse we can give for this wild demonstration.” ⁴¹And the town clerk dismissed the assembly.

Paul Returns to Macedonia

20 | •  ¹After the uproar died down, Paul called his disciples together to encourage them. Then he said goodbye and set out on his journey to Macedonia. ²He traveled throughout those regions and spent himself in speaking and encouraging them. He finally arrived in Greece.

³When he had been there for three months, he wanted to set sail for Syria. Still, as the Jews were plotting against him, he decided to return by way of Macedonia. ⁴When he was about to leave for the Asian province, some companions went with him: Sopater, son of Pyrrhus, from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy, Tychicus and Trophimus from Asia. ⁵So they went ahead and waited for us in Troas, ⁶while we set sail from Philippi as soon as the festival of Unleavened Bread was over. Five days later, we joined them in Troas, where we spent a week.

The Eucharist at Troas

•  ⁷On the first day of the week, we were together for the breaking of the bread, and Paul, who intended to leave the following day, spoke at length. The discourse continued until midnight, ⁸with many lamps burning in the upstairs room where we were gathered. A young man named Eutychius was sitting on the window ledge ⁹and as Paul kept on talking, Eutychius grew increasingly sleepy until he finally fell sound asleep and fell from the third floor to the ground. There, they found him dead.

¹⁰Paul went down, bent over him, and took him in his arms. “Do not be alarmed,” he said, “there is life in him.” ¹¹Then he went back upstairs, broke the bread, and ate. After that, he talked with them for a long time until daybreak, and then he left. ¹²As for the young man, they lifted him up alive and were greatly comforted.

¹³We went on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we were to pick up Paul. This was the arrangement since Paul intended to travel by foot. ¹⁴In fact, we met him at Assos and taking him aboard, we went on to Mitylene. ¹⁵We sailed from there and arrived off Chios the next day. A day later, we came to Samos; the following day, we reached Miletus.

¹⁶Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid wasting time in Asia, for he was eager to reach Jerusalem by the day of Pentecost, if possible.

Paul’s Farewell to the Ephesian Elders

•  ¹⁷From Miletus, Paul sent word to Ephesus summoning the elders of the Church. ¹⁸When they came to him, he addressed them, “You know how I lived among you, from the first day I set foot in the province of Asia; ¹⁹how I served the Lord in humility through the sorrows and trials that the Jews caused me. ²⁰You know that I never held back from doing anything that could be useful for you; I spoke publicly and in your homes; ²¹and I urged Jews and non-Jews alike to turn to God and believe in our Lord Jesus.

²²But now I am going to Jerusalem, chained by the Spirit, without knowing what will happen to me there. ²³Yet in every city, the Holy Spirit warns me that imprisonment and troubles await me. ²⁴Indeed, I put no value on my life; if only I could finish my race and complete the service to which the Lord Jesus assigned me to announce the good news of God’s grace.

²⁵I now feel sure that none of you, among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom of God, will ever see me again. ²⁶Therefore, I declare to you this day that my conscience is clear about all of you. ²⁷For I have spared no effort in fully declaring to you God’s will.

²⁸Keep watch over yourselves and the whole flock the Holy Spirit has placed into your care. Shepherd the Church of the Lord that he has won at the price of his own blood. ²⁹I know that ruthless wolves will come among you after I leave and not spare the flock. ³⁰And from among you some will corrupt the truth and induce the disciples to follow them.

³¹Be on the watch, therefore, remembering that I did not cease to warn everyone for three years, night and day, even with tears. ³²Now I commend you to God and his grace-filled word, which can make you grow and gain the inheritance you shall share with all the saints.

³³I have not looked for anyone’s silver, gold, or clothing. ³⁴You, yourselves, know that these hands of mine have provided for both my needs and those with me. ³⁵In every way I have shown you that by working hard one must help the weak, remembering the words that the Lord Jesus himself said, ‘Happiness lies more in giving than in receiving.’”

³⁶After this discourse, Paul knelt down with them and prayed. ³⁷Then they all began to weep, throwing their arms around and kissing him. ³⁸They were deeply distressed because he had said that they would never see him again. And they even went with him to the ship.

On to Jerusalem

21 | ¹When we finally took leave of them, we went out to sea and sailed straight to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes; and from there, to Patara. ²There we found a ship that made for Phoenicia; we went aboard and set sail. ³We caught sight of Cyprus but passed it by on our left as we continued on towards Syria. We landed at Tyre, where the ship had to unload cargo. ⁴There we found the disciples and stayed a week. Warned by the Spirit, they told Paul not to go to Jerusalem.

•  ⁵But when it was time, we departed and continued our journey. All of them, wives and children included, came out of the city with us and on the beach, we knelt down and prayed. ⁶After that, we said goodbye to one another; we boarded the ship, and they returned home.

⁷We continued our journey, sailing from Tyre to Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and spent a day with them. ⁸On the following day, we left and came to Caesarea. There, we entered the house of Philip, the evangelist, and stayed with him. He was one of the Seven ⁹and had four unmarried daughters gifted with prophecy.

¹⁰We were there some days when a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. Coming to us, he took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands with it saying, ¹¹“Thus speaks the Holy Spirit: ‘This is how the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and hand him over to the foreign power.’”

¹²When we heard this, we, together with these people of Caesarea, begged Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. ¹³Then he answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” ¹⁴When he would not be persuaded, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”

¹⁵After this, we got ready and went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁶With us were some of the disciples of Caesarea who brought us to the house of a Cypriot, where we were to stay. He was called Mnason and was one of the early disciples.

Paul Is Received by the Church of Jerusalem

•  ¹⁷When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers welcomed us warmly. ¹⁸Paul went with us to James’ house the next day, where all the elders had gathered. ¹⁹After greeting them, Paul told them in detail everything God had done among the non-Jews through his ministry.

²⁰After hearing this, they all praised God but said, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews of Judea have come to believe, and all of them are zealous for the law. ²¹Yet they have heard that you teach the Jews who live in pagan nations to depart from Moses, telling them not to have their sons circumcised and to renounce Jewish customs. ²²We shall gather the assembly for, in any case, they will hear that you have arrived. ²³Then, do as we tell you.

There are four men among us who have made a vow. ²⁴Take them and purify yourself along with them, paying the sacrifice for them to shave their heads. In that way, everyone will know that what they have been told about you is not true, and you will continue keeping the law.

²⁵As for the non-Jews who have become believers, we sent them a letter to tell them that they are only obliged not to eat meat offered to idols, or blood, or flesh of strangled animals, and also to avoid prohibited sexual union.”

²⁶So the next day, Paul took the men; together with them, he purified himself and entered the temple to give notice of what day the sacrifice would be offered for each of them to end his time of purification.

Paul Is Arrested in the Temple

•  ²⁷When the seven days were almost over, some Jews from Asia who saw Paul in the temple began to stir up the whole crowd. They seized him, ²⁸shouting, “Fellow Israelites, help! This is the man who is spreading his teaching everywhere against our people, our law, and this Sanctuary. And now he has even brought non-Jews into the temple area, defiling this Holy Place.” ²⁹For they thought they had seen him in the city with Trophimus, a Greek man from Ephesus, and they supposed that Paul had introduced him into the temple.

³⁰Then turmoil spread through the whole city. People came running from all sides. They seized Paul and dragged him outside the temple. At once, the gates were shut.

³¹They would have killed him had not a report reached the commander of the Roman troops that all of Jerusalem was rioting. ³²At once, the commander took some officers and soldiers and rushed down to the crowd.

When they saw the commander and the soldiers, the crowd stopped beating Paul. ³³The commander went over to Paul, arrested him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains; then he inquired who he was and what he had done. ³⁴But some in the crowd shouted one thing and others another. As the commander could not find out the facts because of the uproar, he ordered Paul to be brought to the fortress. ³⁵When Paul reached the steps, he actually had to be carried up by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob, ³⁶for a multitude of people followed shouting, “Kill him!”

³⁷Just as he was about to be taken inside, Paul said to the commander, “May I say something to you?” He replied, “So you speak Greek! ³⁸Are you not the Egyptian, then, who caused a riot some time ago and led a band of four thousand terrorists out into the desert?” Paul answered, ³⁹“I am a Jew, a citizen of Tarsus, a well-known city in Cilicia. I beg you, let me address these people.”

The commander agreed. ⁴⁰So Paul, standing on the steps, motioned to the people with his hand, and when they were silent, he began to speak to them in Hebrew.

Paul Addresses the Jews

22 | •  ¹“Brothers and fathers, listen to what I say to you in my defense.” ²When they heard him speaking to them in Hebrew, they became more quiet. So he went on.

³“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up here in this city, where I was educated in the school of Gamaliel, according to the strict observance of our law. And I was dedicated to God’s service, as are all of you today. ⁴As for this Way, I persecuted it to the point of death and arrested its followers, both men and women, throwing them into prison.

⁵The High Priest and the Council of Elders can witness this. From them, I received letters from the Jewish brothers in Damascus, and I set out to arrest those who were there and bring them back to Jerusalem for punishment. ⁶But, as I was traveling along, nearing Damascus at about noon, a great light from the sky suddenly flashed about me. ⁷I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me: ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ ⁸I answered: ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me: ‘I am Jesus, the Nazorean, whom you persecute.’ ⁹The men with me saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of the one speaking to me. ¹⁰I asked: ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord replied: ‘Get up and go to Damascus; there, you will be told all that you are destined to do.’ ¹¹Yet, the brightness of that light had blinded me, and so I was led by the hand into Damascus by my companions.

¹²There, a certain Ananias came to me. He was a devout observer of the law and well spoken of by all the Jews living there. ¹³As he stood by me, he said: ‘Brother Saul, recover your sight.’ At that moment, I could see, and I looked at him. ¹⁴He then said, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, to see the Just One, and to hear the words from his mouth. ¹⁵From now on, you shall be his witness before all the pagan people and tell them everything you have seen and heard. ¹⁶And now, why delay? Get up, be baptized, and have your sins washed away by calling upon his Name.’

¹⁷On my return to Jerusalem, I was praying in the temple when I fell into a trance ¹⁸and saw him. He spoke to me: ‘Get ready to leave Jerusalem without delay because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ ¹⁹I answered: ‘Lord, they know well that I imprisoned those who believed in you and had them beaten in every synagogue; ²⁰and, while the blood of your witness Stephen was being poured out, I stood by and approved it and even guarded the cloaks of his murderers.’ ²¹Then he said to me: ‘Go, for I am sending you far away, to the pagan nations.’”

²²Up to this point, the crowd listened to Paul, but on hearing the last words, they began to shout, “Kill him! He does not deserve to live!” ²³They were screaming, waving their cloaks, and throwing dust into the air. ²⁴So the commander ordered Paul to be brought inside the fortress and questioned, after flogging, to find out why they made such an outcry against him.

²⁵But when the soldiers had strapped him down, Paul said to the officer standing there, “Is it legal to flog a Roman citizen without a trial?”

²⁶On hearing this, the officer went to the commander and said, “What are you doing? That man is a Roman citizen.” ²⁷The commander asked him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes,” answered Paul. ²⁸The commander said, “It cost me a lot of money to become a Roman citizen.” Paul answered, “I am one by birth.”

²⁹Then those who were about to question him backed away, and the commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put a Roman citizen in chains.

Paul Appears Before the Sanhedrin

³⁰The next day, the commander wanted to know for certain the charges the Jews were making against Paul. So, he released him from prison and called together the High Priest and the whole Council, and they brought Paul down and made him stand before them.

23 | •  ¹Paul looked directly at the Council and said, “Brothers, to this day, I have lived my life with a clear conscience before God.” ²At that, the High Priest Ananias ordered his attendants to strike him on the mouth. ³Then Paul said, “God is about to strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law and you break the law by ordering me to be struck!” ⁴At this, the attendants protested, “How dare you insult God’s High Priest!” ⁵Paul answered, “Brothers, I did not know that he was the High Priest. For Scripture says: You shall not curse the ruler of your people.’’

⁶Paul knew that part of the Council were Sadducees and other Pharisees, so he spoke out in the Council, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, son of a Pharisee. I am on trial here for the hope in the resurrection of the dead.”

⁷At these words, an argument broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. ⁸The Sadducees claim that there are neither resurrection nor angels nor spirits, while the Pharisees acknowledge all these things.

⁹Then the shouting grew louder, and some teachers of the law of the Pharisee party protested, “We find nothing wrong with this man. Maybe a spirit or an angel has spoken to him.”

¹⁰The argument became so violent that the commander feared that Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He, therefore, ordered the soldiers to go down and rescue him from their midst and take him back to the fortress.

¹¹That night, the Lord stood by Paul and said, “Courage! As you have witnessed me here in Jerusalem, so must you do in Rome.”

The Plot to Kill Paul

¹²When it was day, certain Jews formed a conspiracy. They bound themselves by an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. ¹³There were more than forty of them who joined in this conspiracy.

¹⁴They went to the high priests and the elders and said, “We have bound ourselves by oath not to taste food until we have killed Paul. ¹⁵Now, it is up to you and the Council to convince the Roman commander to bring him down to you on the pretext that you want to investigate his case more thoroughly. We, for our part, are prepared to kill him before he gets there.”

¹⁶But the son of Paul’s sister heard about the planned ambush. So he went to the headquarters and informed Paul. ¹⁷Paul sent for one of the officers and said, “Take this young man to the commander, for he has something to report to him.” ¹⁸So the officer took him and brought him to the commander saying, “The prisoner, Paul, called me and asked me to bring this boy to you, because he has something to tell you.”

¹⁹The commander took him by the hand and, drawing him aside, asked him privately, “What is it that you have to report to me?” ²⁰The boy replied, “The Jews have agreed among themselves to ask you tomorrow to have Paul brought down to the Council as if to inquire more thoroughly about him. ²¹But do not be persuaded by them, for there are more than forty of them ready to ambush him having bound themselves by an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him. They are now ready to do it and are awaiting your decision.” ²²The commander let the boy go with this advice, “Do not tell anyone that you gave me this information.”

Paul Is Transferred to Caesarea

²³The commander summoned two officers and said, “Get ready to leave for Caesarea by nine o’clock tonight with two hundred infantrymen, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen. ²⁴Provide horses also for Paul to ride so that he may be brought safely to Felix, the governor.”

²⁵He then wrote the governor a letter to this effect:

²⁶“Claudius Lysias greets the Most Excellent Governor Felix and communicates to him the following: ²⁷The Jews had arrested this man and were about to kill him when I intervened with my troops and took him out of their hands since I knew he was a Roman citizen. ²⁸I wanted to know their charge against him, so I presented him before the Sanhedrin. ²⁹ I discovered that the accusation was related to their law matters, but nothing deserved death or imprisonment. ³⁰When I was informed that the Jews had prepared a plot against this man, I decided to send him to you and told his accusers to present their complaints before you. Farewell.”

³¹The soldiers acted in accordance with these instructions. They took Paul and brought him to Antipatris by night. ³²They returned to the fortress the following day, but the horsemen continued journeying with him. ³³Upon entering Caesarea, they handed the letter to the governor and presented Paul to him. ³⁴When Felix read the letter, he asked Paul which province he was from; when he learned that Paul was from Cilicia, ³⁵said, “I shall hear your accusers when they come.” And he ordered that he be kept in custody in the palace of Herod.

The Case Before Felix

24 | ¹After five days, Ananias, the High Priest, came down to Caesarea with some elders and a lawyer named Tertullus. And they presented their case against Paul before the governor. ²Paul was called in, and Tertullus accused him in this way:

³“Most Excellent Felix, thanks to your labors and wise reforms, our people now enjoy great peace. We accept all this in every way and every place. We are totally grateful to you. ⁴So as not to take more of your time, I beg you to listen briefly to us with your usual kindness. ⁵We have found that this man is a pest; he creates division among the Jews throughout the world. He is a leader of the Nazorene sect. ⁶He even tried to profane the temple. So we seized him. We would have judged him according to our law, ⁷but Lysias, the commandant, intervened violently and took him from us. ⁸Then he declared that his accusers must present themselves before you. By examining him yourself, you will learn from him about all we accuse him of.”

⁹The Jews confirmed this, firmly maintaining that all this was so.

¹⁰Then the governor motioned to Paul, who said:

“As I know that you have administered this nation for many years, I make my defense with much confidence. ¹¹You, yourself, can ascertain that not more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship; ¹²and that they did not find me disputing with anyone, or inciting the people, either in the temple or in the synagogues or the city. ¹³So they cannot prove the things of which they now accuse me.

¹⁴But I admit before you that I serve the God of our ancestors, according to the Way they call a sect. I believe everything written in the law and in the prophets; ¹⁵and I have the same hope in God that they have: that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both the good and the sinners. ¹⁶So I always strive to have a clear conscience before God and people.

¹⁷After many years, I came to help those of my nation and offer sacrifices. ¹⁸On that occasion, they found me in the temple; I had been purified, according to the law, and there was no crowd or commotion. Yet, all began with some Jews from Asia, ¹⁹who ought to be here before you to accuse me if they have anything against me. ²⁰Let these men say what crime they found in me when I stood before the Sanhedrin; ²¹unless it was for having declared in a loud voice, when I was before them: ‘Today, I am being judged on account of the resurrection of the dead.’”

²²Felix, who was well informed about the Way, postponed the case and said to them, “When the commandant, Lysias, comes down, I will examine the case thoroughly.” ²³So he ordered the captain to keep Paul under guard, giving him a certain liberty without preventing his friends from attending to him.

²⁴After some days, Felix came with his wife, Drusilla, a Jew. He sent for Paul and let him speak about faith in Christ. ²⁵But when Paul spoke about justice, self-control, and the future judgment, Felix was frightened, and he said to him: “You may leave now; I shall send for you some other time.” ²⁶Felix hoped that Paul would give him money, so he sent for him often and conversed with him.

²⁷Two years passed, and Porcius Festus succeeded Felix. As Felix wanted to remain on good terms with the Jews, he left Paul in prison.

The Trial Before Festus

25 | ¹Three days after Festus arrived in the province, he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem. ²There, the chief priests and the elders accused Paul again. ³In a very hypocritical way, they asked, as a favor from Festus, that Paul be brought to Jerusalem, but they were planning to kill him on the way. ⁴Festus answered that Paul was under custody in Caesarea and, as he, himself, had to go there shortly, he added, ⁵“Let those of you, who have the authority go down with me to Caesarea; and if this man has done anything wrong, let them accuse him.”

⁶Festus did not stay in Jerusalem for more than eight or ten days, then went to Caesarea. The next day, he sat on the tribunal and sent for Paul. ⁷When Paul arrived, the Jews who came from Jerusalem stood around him and presented many serious charges that they could not prove. ⁸Paul defended himself from all these, saying, “I have not committed any offense against the law of the Jews or against the temple or Caesar.”

⁹Then Festus, who wanted to please the Jews, asked Paul: “Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem to be tried before me?” ¹⁰Paul answered, “I am on trial before Caesar’s tribunal; here I must be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews: you, yourself, know this very well. ¹¹If I have committed any crime that deserves death, I accept death. But if I have not done anything they accuse me of, no one can give me up. I appeal to Caesar.”

¹²So Festus, after conferring with his council, answered, “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar, you shall go.”

¹³Some days later, King Agrippa and his sister Bernice, arrived in Caesarea to greet Festus. As they were to stay there several days, Festus told the king about Paul’s case and said to him,

¹⁴“We have here a man whom Felix left as a prisoner. ¹⁵When I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews accused him and asked me to sentence him. ¹⁶I told them that it is not the custom of the Romans to hand over a man without allowing him to defend himself in front of his accusers. ¹⁷So they came, and I took my seat without delay on the tribunal and sent for the man.

¹⁸When the accusers had the floor, they did not accuse him of any of the crimes that I was led to think he had committed; ¹⁹instead, they quarreled with him about religion and about a certain Jesus, who has died but whom Paul asserted to be alive. ²⁰I did not know what to do about this case, so I asked Paul if he wanted to go to Jerusalem to be tried there. ²¹But Paul appealed to be judged by the emperor. So I ordered that he be kept in custody until I send him to Caesar.” ²²Agrippa told Festus, "I would like to hear that man.” Festus answered him: “Tomorrow, you shall.”

²³On the following day, Agrippa and Bernice arrived, had a great ceremony, and entered the audience hall with the city’s commanders and elders. Festus ordered that Paul be brought in and said:

²⁴“King Agrippa, and all here present; here you see this man, about whom the whole community of the Jews came to see me in Jerusalem, as well as here, protesting loudly that he must not live. ²⁵I, for my part, am convinced that he has not done anything that deserves death. But, after he appealed to be judged by the emperor, I decided to send him on. ²⁶Well, if I have no definite information, what can I write to Caesar about him? Therefore, I present him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, that you may examine him and that I may know what to write. ²⁷For it seems absurd to me to send a prisoner without indicating the charges against him.”

Paul’s Speech Before King Agrippa

26 | •  ¹Agrippa said to Paul: “You may speak in your own defense.” So Paul stretched out his hand and began in this way:

²“King Agrippa, you have just heard about the accusations of the Jews. I consider myself fortunate in having the opportunity to defend myself against all this before you today, ³for you are an expert in the customs of the Jews and their disputes. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.

⁴All the Jews know how I have lived from my youth; how I have lived among my own people and in Jerusalem. ⁵They have always known me, and they can tell you if they wish, that I have lived as a Pharisee in the most rigorous sect of our religion. ⁶If I am now tried here, it is because of the hope I have in the promise made by God to our ancestors. ⁷The hope of attaining this promise is behind the fervent worship that our twelve tribes render to God night and day. Yet now, O king, the Jews accuse me of this hope! ⁸But why refuse to believe that God raises the dead?

⁹I initially thought that I had to use all possible means to counteract the Name of Jesus of Nazareth. ¹⁰This I did in Jerusalem; and with the authorization of the chief priests, I put in prison many who believed; and I cast my vote when they were condemned to death.

¹¹I went round the synagogues and multiplied punishments against them to force them to renounce their faith; such was my rage against them that I pursued them, even to foreign cities.

¹²With this purpose in mind, I went to Damascus with full authority and commissioned by the chief priests. ¹³On the way, O king, at midday, I saw a light from heaven, more brilliant than the sun that dazzled me and those who accompanied me. ¹⁴We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice in Hebrew: ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? In vain do you kick against the goad.’

¹⁵I answered: ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said: ‘I am Jesus, whom you persecute. ¹⁶Get up now and stand on your feet. I have revealed myself to make you a servant and witness what I have just shown you and what I will show you later. ¹⁷I will rescue you from all evil that may come from your own people or from the pagans to whom I am sending you. ¹⁸For you shall open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God; and, through faith in me, may obtain forgiveness of their sins and a place among those who are sanctified.’

¹⁹Since that time, King Agrippa, I did not stray from this heavenly vision; ²⁰on the contrary, I began preaching; first, to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and throughout Judea; and then to the pagan nations that they should repent, and turn to God showing the fruits of true conversion. ²¹I was carrying out this mission when the Jews arrested me in the temple and tried to kill me. But, with the help of God, I still stand here today to give my testimony, both to the great and the small.

²²I do not teach anything other than what Moses and the prophets announced beforehand: ²³The Messiah had to die; and after being the first to be raised from the dead, he would proclaim the light to his people and all nations.

²⁴As Paul came to this point of his defense, Festus said loudly: “Paul, you are mad; your great learning has deranged your mind!” ²⁵But Paul answered: “I am not mad, Most Excellent Festus, but everything I have said is reliable and true. ²⁶The king is acquainted with all these things, so I speak confidently to him. I am convinced he knows everything about this case, for these things did not happen in a dark corner. ²⁷King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do.”

²⁸Agrippa said to him: “You almost believe that you have already made me a Christian!” ²⁹Paul answered him: “Whether little or more, I would that not only you, but all who hear me this day, may come to be as I am—except for these chains.”

³⁰Then the king rose and, with him, the governor, Bernice, and all the attendants. ³¹When they went out, they talked among themselves and said: “This man has done nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.” ³²And Agrippa told Festus, "Had he not appealed to Caesar, he could have been set free.”

Departure for Rome

27 | •  ¹When it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they handed over Paul and the other prisoners into the care of an officer of the Augustan battalion named Julius. ²We boarded a ship of Adramyttium, bound for the Asian coasts. We left, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica. ³We arrived at Sidon on the next day. Julius was very kind to Paul, letting him visit his friends and be cared for by them. ⁴From there, we sailed along the sheltered coast of Cyprus because the winds were against us. ⁵We sailed across the seas off Cilicia and Pamphylia and arrived at Myra in Lycia. ⁶There, the captain found a ship from Alexandria sailing for Italy and made us board it.

⁷We sailed slowly for several days and arrived with great difficulty at Cnidus. As the wind did not allow us to enter that port, we sailed for the shelter of Crete with the Cape of Salmone within sight. ⁸We turned with difficulty and arrived at a place called Good Ports, near the city of Lasea.

⁹Time passed, and the crossing began to be dangerous: we had already celebrated the feast of the Fast. ¹⁰Then Paul said to them: “Friends, I believe that it would not be very wise to proceed with our crossing for we could lose not only the cargo and the ship, but also our lives.” ¹¹But the Roman officer relied more on the ship’s captain and the owner of the ship than on Paul's words. ¹²And, as the port was not suitable for wintering, the majority agreed to set out from there in the hope of reaching the harbor of Crete called Phoenix, overlooking Africa and Choros, where they could spend the winter.

Storm and Shipwreck

¹³Then the south wind began to blow, and they thought they had gained their purpose; they weighed anchor and sailed along the island of Crete. ¹⁴But a little later, a strong wind called “the northeaster” swept down on them from across the island. ¹⁵The ship was dragged along and could not face the wind so we remained adrift.

¹⁶As we crossed under the lee of the small island of Cauda, we managed—but with effort—to secure the lifeboat. ¹⁷After lifting it aboard, they used cables to undergird the hull, and since we feared running aground on the sands of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor. So we continued to be dragged along.

¹⁸The storm lashed at us so strongly that on the next day, they began throwing the cargo overboard. ¹⁹On the third day, the sailors, with their own hands, threw out the ship’s gear. ²⁰For several days, neither the sun nor the stars could be seen, and the tempest had not subsided: we lost all hope of saving ourselves.

²¹As we had not eaten for days, Paul stood among them and said: “Friends, if you had followed my advice when I told you not to set sail from Crete, we would not be in such danger now, and we could have avoided this loss. ²²But now I invite you to regain courage, for no one among you shall die; only the ship shall be destroyed. ²³Last night, there appeared to me an angel of my God whom I serve ²⁴and he said to me: ‘Paul, do not be afraid, you must present yourself before Caesar’s tribunal; and God has guaranteed you the life of all those who sail with you.’

²⁵Have courage, my friends, for I trust God that it will be as he told me. ²⁶But we have to run aground on some island.”

²⁷Near midnight, on the fourteenth night, the sailors suspected that land was near as we were drifting in the Adriatic Sea. ²⁸They measured the depth of the water, and it was thirty-seven meters. After a while, they measured it again, which was twenty-seven meters. ²⁹They feared we might hit some rocks, so they cast out four anchors from the stern and waited anxiously for morning. ³⁰Then the sailors tried to escape from the ship under the pretext of extending the cables of the anchors from the bow, so they lowered the lifeboat into the sea. ³¹But Paul told the captain and the soldiers: “If they leave the ship, you cannot be saved.” ³²So the soldiers cut the mooring cables of the boat and let it fall.

³³As they waited for dawn, Paul urged everyone: “For fourteen days, you have not eaten anything because of anxious waiting. ³⁴I ask you to eat now if you want to live; be sure that not even a hair of your head will be lost.” ³⁵Having said this, he took bread, thanked God in everybody’s presence, broke it, and began to eat. ³⁶All were encouraged, and they, too, ate. ³⁷They were two hundred and seventy-six persons in all. ³⁸When they had eaten enough, they threw the wheat into the sea to lighten the boat.

³⁹When morning came, they did not recognize the land but noticed a bay with a beach, so they decided to run the ship aground, if possible. ⁴⁰They cast off the anchors and left them in the sea; simultaneously, they loosened the ropes of the rudders, hoisted the foresail to the wind, and headed for the beach. ⁴¹But they struck a sandbank, and the ship ran aground. The bow stuck and was immovable while the violent waves broke up the stern.

⁴²The soldiers then planned to kill the prisoners for fear that some of them might escape by swimming. ⁴³But the captain, who wished to save Paul, did not allow them to do this. He ordered those who knew how to swim to be the first to jump into the water and head for the shore, ⁴⁴and the rest to hold on to planks or pieces of the ship. So all of us reached land safe and sound.

On Malta

28 | •  ¹After being saved, we learned that the island was called Malta. ²The natives were very cordial. They lit a big bonfire and took good care of us all since it was raining and cold.

³Paul gathered a bundle of dried twigs. As he threw them into the fire, a viper suddenly came out, because of the heat, and entwined itself around his hand. ⁴When the natives saw the viper hanging from his hand, they said to one another: “Surely this man is a murderer: he has barely escaped from the raging sea, yet divine justice will not allow him to live.” ⁵But Paul shook off the viper into the fire and suffered no harm. They waited to see him swell and die; ⁶but after observing him for a while, they saw that nothing had happened to him, so they changed their minds and began to say that he was a god.

⁷Near this place was an estate owned by the head of the island, named Publius. For three days, this man welcomed us hospitably. ⁸It so happened that his father was in bed with fever and dysentery. Paul went to see him; he prayed and laid his hands on him and healed him. ⁹Because of this, the rest of the sick people on the island came to see him and were cured. ¹⁰So they showered us with kindness, and on our departure, they provided us with everything we needed.

From Malta to Rome

•  ¹¹After three months, we boarded a ship that had spent the winter on the island. It belonged to an Alexandrian company and carried the figurehead of Castor and Pollux as insignia. ¹²We sailed for Syracuse, staying there for three days; ¹³and after circling the coast, we arrived at Rhegium. On the following day, a south wind began to blow, and at the end of two days, we arrived at Puteoli, ^14,where we found some of our brothers, who invited us to stay with them for a week. And that was how we came to Rome.

¹⁵There, the brothers and sisters had been informed of our arrival and came out to meet us as far as the Appian Forum and the Three Taverns. When Paul saw them, he gave thanks to God and took courage. ¹⁶Upon our arrival in Rome, the captain turned the prisoners over to the military governor but permitted Paul to lodge in a private house with the soldier who guarded him.

Paul Meets the Jews in Rome

•  ¹⁷After three days, Paul called together the leaders of the Jews. When they had gathered, he said to them: “Brothers, though I have not done anything against our people or the traditions of our fathers, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans. ¹⁸They examined me and wanted to set me free, for they saw nothing in my case that deserved death. ¹⁹But the Jews objected, so I was forced to appeal to Caesar without the least intention of bringing any case against my own people. ²⁰Therefore, I have asked to see you and speak with you since it is because of the hope of Israel that I bear these chains.”

²¹They answered: “We have not received any letter about you from Judea, and none of the brothers who have come from there have brought any message or said anything against you. ²²But we wish to hear from you what you think, although we know already that people speak against this sect you belong to everywhere.”

²³They set a day for him and came in great numbers to his lodging. So Paul explained everything he wanted to tell them regarding the kingdom of God and tried to convince them concerning Jesus, taking the law of Moses and the prophets as his starting point. This continued from morning till night. ²⁴Some were convinced by his words, others were not. ²⁵Finally, the Jews left, still arguing strongly among themselves, and Paul sent them away with this statement: “What the Holy Spirit said has come true, when he spoke to your ancestors through the prophet Isaiah:

²⁶Go to these people and say to them: However much you hear, you will not understand; you will see, and see again, but not perceive.

²⁷The hearts of these people have grown hard; they have covered their ears and closed their eyes lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest their spirit understand, and I should heal them.

•  ²⁸Let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the pagans: they will listen.”

³⁰Paul stayed for two full years in a house he rented, where he received all those who came to see him without any hindrance. ³¹He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught the truth about Jesus Christ, the Lord, quite openly and without any hindrance.