Category: Acts

Peter and Cornelius

1 There was a man in Caesarea named Cornelius, who was a captain in the Roman army regiment called “The Italian Regiment.”

2 He was a religious man; he and his whole family worshiped God. He also did much to help the Jewish poor people and was constantly praying to God.

3 It was about three o’clock one afternoon when he had a vision, in which he clearly saw an angel of God come in and say to him, “Cornelius!”

4 He stared at the angel in fear and said, “What is it, sir?”

The angel answered, “God is pleased with your prayers and works of charity, and is ready to answer you.

5 And now send some men to Joppa for a certain man whose full name is Simon Peter.

6 He is a guest in the home of a tanner of leather named Simon, who lives by the sea.”

7 Then the angel went away, and Cornelius called two of his house servants and a soldier, a religious man who was one of his personal attendants.

8 He told them what had happened and sent them off to Joppa.

9 The next day, as they were on their way and coming near Joppa, Peter went up on the roof of the house about noon in order to pray.

10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat; while the food was being prepared, he had a vision.

11 He saw heaven opened and something coming down that looked like a large sheet being lowered by its four corners to the earth.

12 In it were all kinds of animals, reptiles, and wild birds.

13 A voice said to him, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat!”

14 But Peter said, “Certainly not, Lord! I have never eaten anything ritually unclean or defiled.”

15 The voice spoke to him again, “Do not consider anything unclean that God has declared clean.”

16 This happened three times, and then the thing was taken back up into heaven.

17 While Peter was wondering about the meaning of this vision, the men sent by Cornelius had learned where Simon’s house was, and they were now standing in front of the gate.

18 They called out and asked, “Is there a guest here by the name of Simon Peter?”

19 Peter was still trying to understand what the vision meant, when the Spirit said, “Listen! Threemen are here looking for you.

20 So get ready and go down, and do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.”

21 So Peter went down and said to the men, “I am the man you are looking for. Why have you come?”

22 “Captain Cornelius sent us,” they answered. “He is a good man who worships God and is highly respected by all the Jewish people. An angel of God told him to invite you to his house, so that he could hear what you have to say.”

23 Peter invited the men in and had them spend the night there.

The next day he got ready and went with them; and some of the believers from Joppa went along with him.

24 The following day he arrived in Caesarea, where Cornelius was waiting for him, together with relatives and close friends that he had invited.

25 As Peter was about to go in, Cornelius met him, fell at his feet, and bowed down before him.

26 But Peter made him rise. “Stand up,” he said, “I myself am only a man.”

27 Peter kept on talking to Cornelius as he went into the house, where he found many people gathered.

28 He said to them, “You yourselves know very well that a Jew is not allowed by his religion to visit or associate with Gentiles. But God has shown me that I must not consider any person ritually unclean or defiled.

29 And so when you sent for me, I came without any objection. I ask you, then, why did you send for me?”

30 Cornelius said, “It was about this time three days ago that I was prayingin my house at three o’clock in the afternoon. Suddenly a man dressed in shining clothes stood in front of me

31 and said: ‘Cornelius! God has heard your prayer and has taken notice of your works of charity.

32 Send someone to Joppa for a man whose full name is Simon Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner of leather, who lives by the sea.’

33 And so I sent for you at once, and you have been good enough to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God, waiting to hear anything that the Lord has instructed you to say.”

Peter’s Speech

34 Peter began to speak: “I now realize that it is true that God treats everyone on the same basis.

35 Those who fear him and do what is right are acceptable to him, no matter what race they belong to.

36 You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, proclaiming the Good News of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.

37 You know of the great event that took place throughout the land of Israel, beginning in Galilee after John preached his message of baptism.

38 You know about Jesus of Nazareth and how God poured out on him the Holy Spirit and power. He went everywhere, doing good and healing all who were under the power of the Devil, for God was with him.

39 We are witnesses of everything that he did in the land of Israel and in Jerusalem. Then they put him to death by nailing him to a cross.

40 But God raised him from death three days later and caused him to appear,

41 not to everyone, but only to the witnesses that God had already chosen, that is, to us who ate and drank with him after he rose from death.

42 And he commanded us to preach the gospel to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God has appointed judge of the living and the dead.

43 All the prophets spoke about him, saying that all who believe in him will have their sins forgiven through the power of his name.”

The Gentiles Receive the Holy Spirit

44 While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit came down on all those who were listening to his message.

45 The Jewish believers who had come from Joppa with Peter were amazed that God had poured out his gift of the Holy Spirit on the Gentiles also.

46 For they heard them speaking in strange tongues and praising God’s greatness. Peter spoke up:

47 “These people have received the Holy Spirit, just as we also did. Can anyone, then, stop them from being baptized with water?”

48 So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay with them for a few days.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/ACT/10-625fde37aa9ffd2693ef8efc2bef969f.mp3?version_id=68—

Peter’s Report to the Church at Jerusalem

1 The apostles and the other believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.

2 When Peter went to Jerusalem, those who were in favor of circumcising Gentiles criticized him, saying,

3 “You were a guest in the home of uncircumcised Gentiles, and you even ate with them!”

4 So Peter gave them a complete account of what had happened from the very beginning:

5 “While I was praying in the city of Joppa, I had a vision. I saw something coming down that looked like a large sheet being lowered by its four corners from heaven, and it stopped next to me.

6 I looked closely inside and saw domesticated and wild animals, reptiles, and wild birds.

7 Then I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat!’

8 But I said, ‘Certainly not, Lord! No ritually unclean or defiled food has ever entered my mouth.’

9 The voice spoke again from heaven, ‘Do not consider anything unclean that God has declared clean.’

10 This happened three times, and finally the whole thing was drawn back up into heaven.

11 At that very moment three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea arrived at the house where I wasstaying.

12 The Spirit told me to go with them without hesitation. These six fellow believers from Joppa accompanied me to Caesarea, and we all went into the house of Cornelius.

13 He told us how he had seen an angel standing in his house, who said to him, ‘Send someone to Joppa for a man whose full name is Simon Peter.

14 He will speak words to you by which you and all your family will be saved.’

15 And when I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came down on them just as on us at the beginning.

16 Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’

17 It is clear that God gave those Gentiles the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ; who was I, then, to try to stop God!”

18 When they heard this, they stopped their criticism and praised God, saying, “Then God has given to the Gentiles also the opportunity to repent and live!”

The Church at Antioch

19 Some of the believers who were scattered by the persecution which took place when Stephen was killed went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, telling the message to Jews only.

20 But other believers, who were from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and proclaimed the message to Gentilesalso, telling them the Good News about the Lord Jesus.

21 The Lord’s power was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

22 The news about this reached the church in Jerusalem, so they sent Barnabas to Antioch.

23 When he arrived and saw how God had blessed the people, he was glad and urged them all to be faithful and true to the Lord with all their hearts.

24 Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and many people were brought to the Lord.

25 Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul.

26 When he found him, he took him to Antioch, and for a whole year the two met with the people of the church and taught a large group. It was at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians.

27 About that time some prophets went from Jerusalem to Antioch.

28 One of them, named Agabus, stood up and by the power of the Spirit predicted that a severe famine was about to come over all the earth. (It came when Claudius was emperor.)

29 The disciples decided that they each would send as much as they could to help their fellow believers who lived in Judea.

30 They did this, then, and sent the money to the church elders by Barnabas and Saul.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/ACT/11-7ae547a01fc43871d941abaad842cb30.mp3?version_id=68—

More Persecution

1 About this time King Herodbegan to persecute some members of the church.

2 He had James, the brother of John, put to death by the sword.

3 When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he went ahead and had Peter arrested. (This happened during the time of the Festival of Unleavened Bread.)

4 After his arrest Peter was put in jail, where he was handed over to be guarded by four groups of four soldiers each. Herod planned to put him on trial in public after Passover.

5 So Peter was kept in jail, but the people of the church were praying earnestly to God for him.

Peter Is Set Free from Prison

6 The night before Herod was going to bring him out to the people, Peter was sleeping between two guards. He was tied with two chains, and there were guards on duty at the prison gate.

7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord stood there, and a light shone in the cell. The angel shook Peter by the shoulder, woke him up, and said, “Hurry! Get up!” At once the chains fell off Peter’s hands.

8 Then the angel said, “Tighten your belt and put on your sandals.” Peter did so, and the angel said, “Put your cloak around you and come with me.”

9 Peter followed him out of the prison, not knowing, however, if what the angel was doing was real; he thought he was seeing a vision.

10 They passed by the first guard station and then the second, and came at last to the iron gate that opens into the city. The gate opened for them by itself, and they went out. They walked down a street, and suddenly the angel left Peter.

11 Then Peter realized what had happened to him, and said, “Now I know that it is really true! The Lord sent his angel to rescue me from Herod’s power and from everything the Jewish people expected to happen.”

12 Aware of his situation, he went to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying.

13 Peter knocked at the outside door, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer it.

14 She recognized Peter’s voice and was so happy that she ran back in without opening the door, and announced that Peter was standing outside.

15 “You are crazy!” they told her. But she insisted that it was true. So they answered, “It is his angel.”

16 Meanwhile Peter kept on knocking. At last they opened the door, and when they saw him, they were amazed.

17 He motioned with his hand for them to be quiet, and he explained to them how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell this to James and the rest of the believers,” he said; then he left and went somewhere else.

18 When morning came, there was a tremendous confusion among the guards—what had happened to Peter?

19 Herod gave orders to search for him, but they could not find him. So he had the guards questioned and ordered them put to death.

After this, Herod left Judea and spent some time in Caesarea.

The Death of Herod

20 Herod was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, so they went in a group to see him. First they convinced Blastus, the man in charge of the palace, that he should help them. Then they went to Herod and asked him for peace, because their country got its food supplies from the king’s country.

21 On a chosen day Herod put on his royal robes, sat on his throne, and made a speech to the people.

22 “It isn’t a man speaking, but a god!” they shouted.

23 At once the angel of the Lord struck Herod down, because he did not give honor to God. He was eaten by worms and died.

24 Meanwhile the word of God continued to spread and grow.

25 Barnabas and Saul finished their mission and returned fromJerusalem, taking John Mark with them.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/ACT/12-1a5b6999fa9517a197a1804dc4b35f74.mp3?version_id=68—

Barnabas and Saul Are Chosen and Sent

1 In the church at Antioch there were some prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon (called the Black), Lucius (from Cyrene), Manaen (who had been brought up with Governor Herod), and Saul.

2 While they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said to them, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul, to do the work to which I have called them.”

3 They fasted and prayed, placed their hands on them, and sent them off.

In Cyprus

4 Having been sent by the Holy Spirit, Barnabas and Saul went to Seleucia and sailed from there to the island of Cyprus.

5 When they arrived at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues. They had John Mark with them to help in the work.

6 They went all the way across the island to Paphos, where they met a certain magician named Bar-Jesus, a Jew who claimed to be a prophet.

7 He was a friend of the governor of the island, Sergius Paulus, who was an intelligent man. The governor called Barnabas and Saul before him because he wanted to hear the word of God.

8 But they were opposed by the magician Elymas (that is his name in Greek), who tried to turn the governor away from the faith.

9 Then Saul—also known as Paul—was filled with the Holy Spirit; he looked straight at the magician

10 and said, “You son of the Devil! You are the enemy of everything that is good. You are full of all kinds of evil tricks, and you always keep trying to turn the Lord’s truths into lies!

11 The Lord’s hand will come down on you now; you will be blind and will not see the light of day for a time.”

At once Elymas felt a dark mist cover his eyes, and he walked around trying to find someone to lead him by the hand.

12 When the governor saw what had happened, he believed; for he was greatly amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

In Antioch in Pisidia

13 Paul and his companions sailed from Paphos and came to Perga, a city in Pamphylia, where John Mark left them and went back to Jerusalem.

14 They went on from Perga and arrived in Antioch in Pisidia, and on the Sabbath they went into the synagogue and sat down.

15 After the reading from the Law of Moses and from the writings of the prophets, the officials of the synagogue sent them a message: “Friends, we want you to speak to the people if you have a message of encouragement for them.”

16 Paul stood up, motioned with his hand, and began to speak:

“Fellow Israelites and all Gentiles here who worship God: hear me!

17 The God of the people of Israel chose our ancestors and made the people a great nation during the time they lived as foreigners in Egypt. God brought them out of Egypt by his great power,

18 and for forty years he enduredthem in the desert.

19 He destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan and made his people the owners of the land.

20 All of this took about 450 years.

“After thishe gave them judges until the time of the prophet Samuel.

21 And when they asked for a king, God gave them Saul son of Kish from the tribe of Benjamin, to be their king for forty years.

22 After removing him, God made David their king. This is what God said about him: ‘I have found that David son of Jesse is the kind of man I like, a man who will do all I want him to do.’

23 It was Jesus, a descendant of David, whom God made the Savior of the people of Israel, as he had promised.

24 Before Jesus began his work, John preached to all the people of Israel that they should turn from their sins and be baptized.

25 And as John was about to finish his mission, he said to the people, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not the one you are waiting for. But listen! He is coming after me, and I am not good enough to take his sandals off his feet.’

26 “My fellow Israelites, descendants of Abraham, and all Gentiles here who worship God: it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent!

27 For the people who live in Jerusalem and their leaders did not know that he is the Savior, nor did they understand the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. Yet they made the prophets’ words come true by condemning Jesus.

28 And even though they could find no reason to pass the death sentence on him, they asked Pilate to have him put to death.

29 And after they had done everything that the Scriptures say about him, they took him down from the cross and placed him in a tomb.

30 But God raised him from death,

31 and for many days he appeared to those who had traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now witnesses for him to the people of Israel.

32-33 And we are here to bring the Good News to you: what God promised our ancestors he would do, he has now done for us, who are their descendants, by raising Jesus to life. As it is written in the second Psalm,

‘You are my Son;

today I have become your Father.’

34 And this is what God said about raising him from death, never to rot away in the grave:

‘I will give you the sacred and sure blessings

that I promised to David.’

35 As indeed he says in another passage,

‘You will not allow your faithful servant to rot in the grave.’

36 For David served God’s purposes in his own time, and then he died, was buried with his ancestors, and his body rotted in the grave.

37 But this did not happen to the one whom God raised from death.

38-39 All of you, my fellow Israelites, are to know for sure that it is through Jesus that the message about forgiveness of sins is preached to you; you are to know that everyone who believes in him is set free from all the sins from which the Law of Moses could not set you free.

40 Take care, then, so that what the prophets said may not happen to you:

41 ‘Look, you scoffers! Be astonished and die!

For what I am doing today

is something that you will not believe,

even when someone explains it to you!’”

42 As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to come back the next Sabbath and tell them more about these things.

43 After the people had left the meeting, Paul and Barnabas were followed by many Jews and by many Gentiles who had been converted to Judaism. The apostles spoke to them and encouraged them to keep on living in the grace of God.

44 The next Sabbath nearly everyone in the town came to hear the word of the Lord.

45 When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy; they disputed what Paul was saying and insulted him.

46 But Paul and Barnabas spoke out even more boldly: “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you. But since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we will leave you and go to the Gentiles.

47 For this is the commandment that the Lord has given us:

‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles,

so that all the world may be saved.’”

48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and praised the Lord’s message; and those who had been chosen for eternal life became believers.

49 The word of the Lord spread everywhere in that region.

50 But the Jews stirred up the leading men of the city and the Gentile women of high social standing who worshiped God. They started a persecution against Paul and Barnabas and threw them out of their region.

51 The apostles shook the dust off their feet in protest against them and went on to Iconium.

52 The believers in Antioch were full of joy and the Holy Spirit.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/ACT/13-c568d473089c494d4e5fb662b35b95c3.mp3?version_id=68—

In Iconium

1 The same thing happened in Iconium: Paul and Barnabas went to the synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of Jews and Gentiles became believers.

2 But the Jews who would not believe stirred up the Gentiles and turned them against the believers.

3 The apostles stayed there for a long time, speaking boldly about the Lord, who proved that their message about his grace was true by giving them the power to perform miracles and wonders.

4 The people of the city were divided: some were for the Jews, others for the apostles.

5 Then some Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, decided to mistreat the apostles and stone them.

6 When the apostles learned about it, they fled to the cities of Lystra and Derbe in Lycaonia and to the surrounding territory.

7 There they preached the Good News.

In Lystra and Derbe

8 In Lystra there was a crippled man who had been lame from birth and had never been able to walk.

9 He sat there and listened to Paul’s words. Paul saw that he believed and could be healed, so he looked straight at him

10 and said in a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!” The man jumped up and started walking around.

11 When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they started shouting in their own Lycaonian language, “The gods have become like men and have come down to us!”

12 They gave Barnabas the name Zeus, and Paul the name Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.

13 The priest of the god Zeus, whose temple stood just outside the town, brought bulls and flowers to the gate, for he and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifice to the apostles.

14 When Barnabas and Paul heard what they were about to do, they tore their clothes and ran into the middle of the crowd, shouting,

15 “Why are you doing this? We ourselves are only human beings like you! We are here to announce the Good News, to turn you away from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven, earth, sea, and all that is in them.

16 In the past he allowed all people to go their own way.

17 But he has always given evidence of his existence by the good things he does: he gives you rain from heaven and crops at the right times; he gives you food and fills your hearts with happiness.”

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

19 Some Jews came from Antioch in Pisidia and from Iconium; they won the crowds over to their side, stoned Paul and dragged him out of the town, thinking that he was dead.

20 But when the believers gathered around him, he got up and went back into the town. The next day he and Barnabas went to Derbe.

The Return to Antioch in Syria

21 Paul and Barnabas preached the Good News in Derbe and won many disciples. Then they went back to Lystra, to Iconium, and on to Antioch in Pisidia.

22 They strengthened the believers and encouraged them to remain true to the faith. “We must pass through many troubles to enter the Kingdom of God,” they taught.

23 In each church they appointed elders, and with prayers and fasting they commended them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.

24 After going through the territory of Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia.

25 There they preached the message in Perga and then went to Attalia,

26 and from there they sailed back to Antioch, the place where they had been commended to the care of God’s grace for the work they had now completed.

27 When they arrived in Antioch, they gathered the people of the church together and told them about all that God had done with them and how he had opened the way for the Gentiles to believe.

28 And they stayed a long time there with the believers.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/ACT/14-d2b3253330b4219a8132549f8ba262d0.mp3?version_id=68—

The Meeting at Jerusalem

1 Some men came from Judea to Antioch and started teaching the believers, “You cannot be saved unless you are circumcised as the Law of Moses requires.”

2 Paul and Barnabas got into a fierce argument with them about this, so it was decided that Paul and Barnabas and some of the others in Antioch should go to Jerusalem and see the apostles and elders about this matter.

3 They were sent on their way by the church; and as they went through Phoenicia and Samaria, they reported how the Gentiles had turned to God; this news brought great joy to all the believers.

4 When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church, the apostles, and the elders, to whom they told all that God had done through them.

5 But some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and told to obey the Law of Moses.”

6 The apostles and the elders met together to consider this question.

7 After a long debate Peter stood up and said, “My friends, you know that a long time ago God chose me from among you to preach the Good News to the Gentiles, so that they could hear and believe.

8 And God, who knows the thoughts of everyone, showed his approval of the Gentiles by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he had to us.

9 He made no difference between us and them; he forgave their sins because they believed.

10 So then, why do you now want to put God to the test by laying a load on the backs of the believers which neither our ancestors nor we ourselves were able to carry?

11 No! We believe and are saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they are.”

12 The whole group was silent as they heard Barnabas and Paul report all the miracles and wonders that God had performed through them among the Gentiles.

13 When they had finished speaking, James spoke up: “Listen to me, my friends!

14 Simon has just explained how God first showed his care for the Gentiles by taking from among them a people to belong to him.

15 The words of the prophets agree completely with this. As the scripture says,

16 ‘After this I will return, says the Lord,

and restore the kingdom of David.

I will rebuild its ruins

and make it strong again.

17 And so all the rest of the human race will come to me,

all the Gentiles whom I have called to be my own.

18 So says the Lord, who made this known long ago.’

19 “It is my opinion,” James went on, “that we should not trouble the Gentiles who are turning to God.

20 Instead, we should write a letter telling them not to eat any food that is ritually unclean because it has been offered to idols; to keep themselves from sexual immorality; and not to eat any animal that has been strangled, or any blood.

21 For the Law of Moses has been read for a very long time in the synagogues every Sabbath, and his words are preached in every town.”

The Letter to the Gentile Believers

22 Then the apostles and the elders, together with the whole church, decided to choose some men from the group and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose two men who were highly respected by the believers, Judas, called Barsabbas, and Silas,

23 and they sent the following letter by them:

“We, the apostles and the elders, your brothers, send greetings to all our brothers of Gentile birth who live in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia.

24 We have heard that some who went from our group have troubled and upset you by what they said; they had not, however, received any instruction from us.

25 And so we have met together and have all agreed to choose some messengers and send them to you. They will go with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul,

26 who have risked their lives in the service of our Lord Jesus Christ.

27 We send you, then, Judas and Silas, who will tell you in person the same things we are writing.

28 The Holy Spirit and we have agreed not to put any other burden on you besides these necessary rules:

29 eat no food that has been offered to idols; eat no blood; eat no animal that has been strangled; and keep yourselves from sexual immorality. You will do well if you take care not to do these things. With our best wishes.”

30 The messengers were sent off and went to Antioch, where they gathered the whole group of believers and gave them the letter.

31 When the people read it, they were filled with joy by the message of encouragement.

32 Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, spoke a long time with them, giving them courage and strength.

33 After spending some time there, they were sent off in peace by the believers and went back to those who had sent them.

35 Paul and Barnabas spent some time in Antioch, and together with many others they taught and preached the word of the Lord.

Paul and Barnabas Separate

36 Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in every town where we preached the word of the Lord, and let us find out how they are getting along.”

37 Barnabas wanted to take John Mark with them,

38 but Paul did not think it was right to take him, because he had not stayed with them to the end of their mission, but had turned back and left them in Pamphylia.

39 There was a sharp argument, and they separated: Barnabas took Mark and sailed off for Cyprus,

40 while Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the care of the Lord’s grace.

41 He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/ACT/15-cfcdc865a8cc13a8e98756b92927ccd6.mp3?version_id=68—

Timothy Goes with Paul and Silas

1 Paul traveled on to Derbe and Lystra, where a Christian named Timothy lived. His mother, who was also a Christian, was Jewish, but his father was a Greek.

2 All the believers in Lystra and Iconium spoke well of Timothy.

3 Paul wanted to take Timothy along with him, so he circumcised him. He did so because all the Jews who lived in those places knew that Timothy’s father was Greek.

4 As they went through the towns, they delivered to the believers the rules decided upon by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem, and they told them to obey those rules.

5 So the churches were made stronger in the faith and grew in numbers every day.

In Troas: Paul’s Vision

6 They traveled through the region of Phrygia and Galatia because the Holy Spirit did not let them preach the message in the province of Asia.

7 When they reached the border of Mysia, they tried to go into the province of Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.

8 So they traveled right on throughMysia and went to Troas.

9 That night Paul had a vision in which he saw a Macedonian standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!”

10 As soon as Paul had this vision, we got ready to leave for Macedonia, because we decided that God had called us to preach the Good News to the people there.

In Philippi: the Conversion of Lydia

11 We left by ship from Troas and sailed straight across to Samothrace, and the next day to Neapolis.

12 From there we went inland to Philippi, a city of the first district of Macedonia;it is also a Roman colony. We spent several days there.

13 On the Sabbath we went out of the city to the riverside, where we thought there would be a place where Jews gathered for prayer. We sat down and talked to the women who gathered there.

14 One of those who heard us was Lydia from Thyatira, who was a dealer in purple cloth. She was a woman who worshiped God, and the Lord opened her mind to pay attention to what Paul was saying.

15 After she and the people of her house had been baptized, she invited us, “Come and stay in my house if you have decided that I am a true believer in the Lord.” And she persuaded us to go.

In Prison at Philippi

16 One day as we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a young servant woman who had an evil spirit that enabled her to predict the future. She earned a lot of money for her owners by telling fortunes.

17 She followed Paul and us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God! They announce to you how you can be saved!”

18 She did this for many days, until Paul became so upset that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I order you to come out of her!” The spirit went out of her that very moment.

19 When her owners realized that their chance of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them to the authorities in the public square.

20 They brought them before the Roman officials and said, “These men are Jews, and they are causing trouble in our city.

21 They are teaching customs that are against our law; we are Roman citizens, and we cannot accept these customs or practice them.”

22 And the crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas.

Then the officials tore the clothes off Paul and Silas and ordered them to be whipped.

23 After a severe beating, they were thrown into jail, and the jailer was ordered to lock them up tight.

24 Upon receiving this order, the jailer threw them into the inner cell and fastened their feet between heavy blocks of wood.

25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

26 Suddenly there was a violent earthquake, which shook the prison to its foundations. At once all the doors opened, and the chains fell off all the prisoners.

27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he thought that the prisoners had escaped; so he pulled out his sword and was about to kill himself.

28 But Paul shouted at the top of his voice, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”

29 The jailer called for a light, rushed in, and fell trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas.

30 Then he led them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

31 They answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your family.”

32 Then they preached the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in the house.

33 At that very hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; and he and all his family were baptized at once.

34 Then he took Paul and Silas up into his house and gave them some food to eat. He and his family were filled with joy, because they now believed in God.

35 The next morning the Roman authorities sent police officers with the order, “Let those men go.”

36 So the jailer told Paul, “The officials have sent an order for you and Silas to be released. You may leave, then, and go in peace.”

37 But Paul said to the police officers, “We were not found guilty of any crime, yet they whipped us in public—and we are Roman citizens! Then they threw us in prison. And now they want to send us away secretly? Not at all! The Roman officials themselves must come here and let us out.”

38 The police officers reported these words to the Roman officials; and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were afraid.

39 So they went and apologized to them; then they led them out of the prison and asked them to leave the city.

40 Paul and Silas left the prison and went to Lydia’s house. There they met the believers, spoke words of encouragement to them, and left.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/ACT/16-e8b8b9e66a248c4cc66dbfa76fa85f37.mp3?version_id=68—

In Thessalonica

1 Paul and Silas traveled on through Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue.

2 According to his usual habit Paul went to the synagogue. There during three Sabbaths he held discussions with the people, quoting

3 and explaining the Scriptures, and proving from them that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from death. “This Jesus whom I announce to you,” Paul said, “is the Messiah.”

4 Some of them were convinced and joined Paul and Silas; so did many of the leading women and a large group of Greeks who worshiped God.

5 But some Jews were jealous and gathered worthless loafers from the streets and formed a mob. They set the whole city in an uproar and attacked the home of a man named Jason, in an attempt to find Paul and Silas and bring them out to the people.

6 But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city authorities and shouted, “These men have caused trouble everywhere! Now they have come to our city,

7 and Jason has kept them in his house. They are all breaking the laws of the Emperor, saying that there is another king, whose name is Jesus.”

8 With these words they threw the crowd and the city authorities in an uproar.

9 The authorities made Jason and the others pay the required amount of money to be released, and then let them go.

In Berea

10 As soon as night came, the believers sent Paul and Silas to Berea. When they arrived, they went to the synagogue.

11 The people there were more open-minded than the people in Thessalonica. They listened to the message with great eagerness, and every day they studied the Scriptures to see if what Paul said was really true.

12 Many of them believed; and many Greek women of high social standing and many Greek men also believed.

13 But when the Jews in Thessalonica heard that Paul had preached the word of God in Berea also, they came there and started exciting and stirring up the mobs.

14 At once the believers sent Paul away to the coast; but both Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea.

15 The men who were taking Paul went with him as far as Athens and then returned to Berea with instructions from Paul that Silas and Timothy should join him as soon as possible.

In Athens

16 While Paul was waiting in Athens for Silas and Timothy, he was greatly upset when he noticed how full of idols the city was.

17 So he held discussions in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentiles who worshiped God, and also in the public square every day with the people who happened to come by.

18 Certain Epicurean and Stoic teachers also debated with him. Some of them asked, “What is this ignorant show-off trying to say?”

Others answered, “He seems to be talking about foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching about Jesus and the resurrection.

19 So they took Paul, brought him before the city council, the Areopagus, and said, “We would like to know what this new teaching is that you are talking about.

20 Some of the things we hear you say sound strange to us, and we would like to know what they mean.” (

21 For all the citizens of Athens and the foreigners who lived there liked to spend all their time telling and hearing the latest new thing.)

22 Paul stood up in front of the city council and said, “I see that in every way you Athenians are very religious.

23 For as I walked through your city and looked at the places where you worship, I found an altar on which is written, ‘To an Unknown God.’ That which you worship, then, even though you do not know it, is what I now proclaim to you.

24 God, who made the world and everything in it, is Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made by human hands.

25 Nor does he need anything that we can supply by working for him, since it is he himself who gives life and breath and everything else to everyone.

26 From one human being he created all races of people and made them live throughout the whole earth. He himself fixed beforehand the exact times and the limits of the places where they would live.

27 He did this so that they would look for him, and perhaps find him as they felt around for him. Yet God is actually not far from any one of us;

28 as someone has said,

‘In him we live and move and exist.’

It is as some of your poets have said,

‘We too are his children.’

29 Since we are God’s children, we should not suppose that his nature is anything like an image of gold or silver or stone, shaped by human art and skill.

30 God has overlooked the times when people did not know him, but now he commands all of them everywhere to turn away from their evil ways.

31 For he has fixed a day in which he will judge the whole world with justice by means of a man he has chosen. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising that man from death!”

32 When they heard Paul speak about a raising from death, some of them made fun of him, but others said, “We want to hear you speak about this again.”

33 And so Paul left the meeting.

34 Some men joined him and believed, among whom was Dionysius, a member of the council; there was also a woman named Damaris, and some other people.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/ACT/17-716b0e9b4b6b2589e631dbf0bbf96a22.mp3?version_id=68—

In Corinth

1 After this, Paul left Athens and went on to Corinth.

2 There he met a Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, for Emperor Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them,

3 and stayed and worked with them, because he earned his living by making tents, just as they did.

4 He held discussions in the synagogue every Sabbath, trying to convince both Jews and Greeks.

5 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul gave his whole time to preaching the message, testifying to the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah.

6 When they opposed him and said evil things about him, he protested by shaking the dust from his clothes and saying to them, “If you are lost, you yourselves must take the blame for it! I am not responsible. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

7 So he left them and went to live in the house of a Gentile named Titius Justus, who worshiped God; his house was next to the synagogue.

8 Crispus, who was the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with all his family; and many other people in Corinth heard the message, believed, and were baptized.

9 One night Paul had a vision in which the Lord said to him, “Do not be afraid, but keep on speaking and do not give up,

10 for I am with you. No one will be able to harm you, for many in this city are my people.”

11 So Paul stayed there for a year and a half, teaching the people the word of God.

12 When Gallio was made the Roman governor of Achaia, Jews there got together, seized Paul, and took him into court.

13 “This man,” they said, “is trying to persuade people to worship God in a way that is against the law!”

14 Paul was about to speak when Gallio said to the Jews, “If this were a matter of some evil crime or wrong that has been committed, it would be reasonable for me to be patient with you Jews.

15 But since it is an argument about words and names and your own law, you yourselves must settle it. I will not be the judge of such things!”

16 And he drove them out of the court.

17 They all grabbed Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the court. But that did not bother Gallio a bit.

The Return to Antioch

18 Paul stayed on with the believers in Corinth for many days, then left them and sailed off with Priscilla and Aquila for Syria. Before sailing from Cenchreae he had his head shaved because of a vow he had taken.

19 They arrived in Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He went into the synagogue and held discussions with the Jews.

20 The people asked him to stay longer, but he would not consent.

21 Instead, he told them as he left, “If it is the will of God, I will come back to you.” And so he sailed from Ephesus.

22 When he arrived at Caesarea, he went to Jerusalem and greeted the church, and then went to Antioch.

23 After spending some time there, he left and went through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the believers.

Apollos in Ephesus and Corinth

24 At that time a Jew named Apollos, who had been born in Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent speaker and had a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures.

25 He had been instructed in the Way of the Lord, and with great enthusiasm he proclaimed and taught correctly the facts about Jesus. However, he knew only the baptism of John.

26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him home with them and explained to him more correctly the Way of God.

27 Apollos then decided to go to Achaia, so the believers in Ephesus helped him by writing to the believers in Achaia, urging them to welcome him. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who through God’s grace had become believers.

28 For with his strong arguments he defeated the Jews in public debates by proving from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/ACT/18-834ec51073b6b59c2fd68bc5ee8d8d1e.mp3?version_id=68—

Paul in Ephesus

1 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior of the province and arrived in Ephesus. There he found some disciples

2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?”

“We have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit,” they answered.

3 “Well, then, what kind of baptism did you receive?” Paul asked.

“The baptism of John,” they answered.

4 Paul said, “The baptism of John was for those who turned from their sins; and he told the people of Israel to believe in the one who was coming after him—that is, in Jesus.”

5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

6 Paul placed his hands on them, and the Holy Spirit came upon them; they spoke in strange tongues and also proclaimed God’s message.

7 They were about twelve men in all.

8 Paul went into the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly with the people, holding discussions with them and trying to convince them about the Kingdom of God.

9 But some of them were stubborn and would not believe, and before the whole group they said evil things about the Way of the Lord. So Paul left them and took the believers with him, and every dayhe held discussions in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.

10 This went on for two years, so that all the people who lived in the province of Asia, both Jews and Gentiles, heard the word of the Lord.

The Sons of Sceva

11 God was performing unusual miracles through Paul.

12 Even handkerchiefs and aprons he had used were taken to the sick, and their diseases were driven away, and the evil spirits would go out of them.

13 Some Jews who traveled around and drove out evil spirits also tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus to do this. They said to the evil spirits, “I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches.”

14 Seven brothers, who were the sons of a Jewish High Priest named Sceva, were doing this.

15 But the evil spirit said to them, “I know Jesus, and I know about Paul; but you—who are you?”

16 The man who had the evil spirit in him attacked them with such violence that he overpowered them all. They ran away from his house, wounded and with their clothes torn off.

17 All the Jews and Gentiles who lived in Ephesus heard about this; they were all filled with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was given greater honor.

18 Many of the believers came, publicly admitting and revealing what they had done.

19 Many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in public. They added up the price of the books, and the total came to fifty thousand silver coins.

20 In this powerful way the word of the Lordkept spreading and growing stronger.

The Riot in Ephesus

21 After these things had happened, Paul made up his mindto travel through Macedonia and Achaia and go on to Jerusalem. “After I go there,” he said, “I must also see Rome.”

22 So he sent Timothy and Erastus, two of his helpers, to Macedonia, while he spent more time in the province of Asia.

23 It was at this time that there was serious trouble in Ephesus because of the Way of the Lord.

24 A certain silversmith named Demetrius made silver models of the temple of the goddess Artemis, and his business brought a great deal of profit to the workers.

25 So he called them all together with others whose work was like theirs and said to them, “Men, you know that our prosperity comes from this work.

26 Now, you can see and hear for yourselves what this fellow Paul is doing. He says that hand-made gods are not gods at all, and he has succeeded in convincing many people, both here in Ephesus and in nearly the whole province of Asia.

27 There is the danger, then, that this business of ours will get a bad name. Not only that, but there is also the danger that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will come to mean nothing and that her greatness will be destroyed—the goddess worshiped by everyone in Asia and in all the world!”

28 As the crowd heard these words, they became furious and started shouting, “Great is Artemis of Ephesus!”

29 The uproar spread throughout the whole city. The mob grabbed Gaius and Aristarchus, two Macedonians who were traveling with Paul, and rushed with them to the theater.

30 Paul himself wanted to go before the crowd, but the believers would not let him.

31 Some of the provincial authorities, who were his friends, also sent him a message begging him not to show himself in the theater.

32 Meanwhile the whole meeting was in an uproar: some people were shouting one thing, others were shouting something else, because most of them did not even know why they had come together.

33 Some of the people concluded that Alexander was responsible, since the Jews made him go up to the front. Then Alexander motioned with his hand for the people to be silent, and he tried to make a speech of defense.

34 But when they recognized that he was a Jew, they all shouted together the same thing for two hours: “Great is Artemis of Ephesus!”

35 At last the city clerk was able to calm the crowd. “Fellow Ephesians!” he said. “Everyone knows that the city of Ephesus is the keeper of the temple of the great Artemis and of the sacred stone that fell down from heaven.

36 Nobody can deny these things. So then, you must calm down and not do anything reckless.

37 You have brought these men here even though they have not robbed temples or said evil things about our goddess.

38 If Demetrius and his workers have an accusation against anyone, we have the authorities and the regular days for court; charges can be made there.

39 But if there is something more that you want, it will have to be settled in a legal meeting of citizens.

40 For after what has happened today, there is the danger that we will be accused of a riot. There is no excuse for all this uproar, and we would not be able to give a good reason for it.”

41 After saying this, he dismissed the meeting.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/ACT/19-353462825fef1fa2c9d76c79d826d245.mp3?version_id=68—