Good News Translation (GNT)

Stephen’s Speech

1 The High Priest asked Stephen, “Is this true?”

2 Stephen answered, “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! Before our ancestor Abraham had gone to live in Haran, the God of glory appeared to him in Mesopotamia

3 and said to him, ‘Leave your family and country and go to the land that I will show you.’

4 And so he left his country and went to live in Haran. After Abraham’s father died, God made him move to this land where you now live.

5 God did not then give Abraham any part of it as his own, not even a square foot of ground, but God promised to give it to him, and that it would belong to him and to his descendants. At the time God made this promise, Abraham had no children.

6 This is what God said to him: ‘Your descendants will live in a foreign country, where they will be slaves and will be badly treated for four hundred years.

7 But I will pass judgment on the people that they will serve, and afterward your descendants will come out of that country and will worship me in this place.’

8 Then God gave to Abraham the ceremony of circumcision as a sign of the covenant. So Abraham circumcised Isaac a week after he was born; Isaac circumcised his son Jacob, and Jacob circumcised his twelve sons, the famous ancestors of our race.

9 “Jacob’s sons became jealous of their brother Joseph and sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him

10 and brought him safely through all his troubles. When Joseph appeared before the king of Egypt, God gave him a pleasing manner and wisdom, and the king made Joseph governor over the country and the royal household.

11 Then there was a famine all over Egypt and Canaan, which caused much suffering. Our ancestors could not find any food,

12 and when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent his sons, our ancestors, on their first visit there.

13 On the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and the king of Egypt came to know about Joseph’s family.

14 So Joseph sent a message to his father Jacob, telling him and the whole family, seventy-five people in all, to come to Egypt.

15 Then Jacob went to Egypt, where he and his sons died.

16 Their bodies were taken to Shechem, where they were buried in the grave which Abraham had bought from the clan of Hamor for a sum of money.

17 “When the time drew near for God to keep the promise he had made to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had grown much larger.

18 At last a king who did not know about Joseph began to rule in Egypt.

19 He tricked our ancestors and was cruel to them, forcing them to put their babies out of their homes, so that they would die.

20 It was at this time that Moses was born, a very beautiful child. He was cared for at home for three months,

21 and when he was put out of his home, the king’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son.

22 He was taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians and became a great man in words and deeds.

23 “When Moses was forty years old, he decided to find out how his fellow Israelites were being treated.

24 He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his help and took revenge on the Egyptian by killing him. (

25 He thought that his own people would understand that God was going to use him to set them free, but they did not understand.)

26 The next day he saw two Israelites fighting, and he tried to make peace between them. ‘Listen, men,’ he said, ‘you are fellow Israelites; why are you fighting like this?’

27 But the one who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside. ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us?’ he asked.

28 ‘Do you want to kill me, just as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?’

29 When Moses heard this, he fled from Egypt and went to live in the land of Midian. There he had two sons.

30 “After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai.

31 Moses was amazed by what he saw, and went near the bush to get a better look. But he heard the Lord’s voice:

32 ‘I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and dared not look.

33 The Lord said to him, ‘Take your sandals off, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.

34 I have seen the cruel suffering of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groans, and I have come down to set them free. Come now; I will send you to Egypt.’

35 “Moses is the one who was rejected by the people of Israel. ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us?’ they asked. He is the one whom God sent to rule the people and set them free with the help of the angel who appeared to him in the burning bush.

36 He led the people out of Egypt, performing miracles and wonders in Egypt and at the Red Sea and for forty years in the desert.

37 Moses is the one who said to the people of Israel, ‘God will send you a prophet, just as he sent me,and he will be one of your own people.’

38 He is the one who was with the people of Israel assembled in the desert; he was there with our ancestors and with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and he received God’s living messages to pass on to us.

39 “But our ancestors refused to obey him; they pushed him aside and wished that they could go back to Egypt.

40 So they said to Aaron, ‘Make us some gods who will lead us. We do not know what has happened to that man Moses, who brought us out of Egypt.’

41 It was then that they made an idol in the shape of a bull, offered sacrifice to it, and had a feast in honor of what they themselves had made.

42 So God turned away from them and gave them over to worship the stars of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:

‘People of Israel! It was not to me

that you slaughtered and sacrificed animals

for forty years in the desert.

43 It was the tent of the god Molech that you carried,

and the image of Rephan, your star god;

they were idols that you had made to worship.

And so I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’

44 “Our ancestors had the Tent of God’s presence with them in the desert. It had been made as God had told Moses to make it, according to the pattern that Moses had been shown.

45 Later on, our ancestors who received the tent from their fathers carried it with them when they went with Joshua and took over the land from the nations that God drove out as they advanced. And it stayed there until the time of David.

46 He won God’s favor and asked God to allow him to provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.

47 But it was Solomon who built him a house.

48 “But the Most High God does not live in houses built by human hands; as the prophet says,

49 ‘Heaven is my throne, says the Lord,

and the earth is my footstool.

What kind of house would you build for me?

Where is the place for me to live in?

50 Did not I myself make all these things?’

51 “How stubborn you are!” Stephen went on to say. “How heathen your hearts, how deaf you are to God’s message! You are just like your ancestors: you too have always resisted the Holy Spirit!

52 Was there any prophet that your ancestors did not persecute? They killed God’s messengers, who long ago announced the coming of his righteous Servant. And now you have betrayed and murdered him.

53 You are the ones who received God’s law, that was handed down by angels—yet you have not obeyed it!”

The Stoning of Stephen

54 As the members of the Council listened to Stephen, they became furious and ground their teeth at him in anger.

55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw God’s glory and Jesus standing at the right side of God.

56 “Look!” he said. “I see heaven opened and the Son of Man standing at the right side of God!”

57 With a loud cry the Council members covered their ears with their hands. Then they all rushed at him at once,

58 threw him out of the city, and stoned him. The witnesses left their cloaks in the care of a young man named Saul.

59 They kept on stoning Stephen as he called out to the Lord, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”

60 He knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord! Do not remember this sin against them!” He said this and died.

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1 And Saul approved of his murder.

Saul Persecutes the Church

That very day the church in Jerusalem began to suffer cruel persecution. All the believers, except the apostles, were scattered throughout the provinces of Judea and Samaria.

2 Some devout men buried Stephen, mourning for him with loud cries.

3 But Saul tried to destroy the church; going from house to house, he dragged out the believers, both men and women, and threw them into jail.

The Gospel Is Preached in Samaria

4 The believers who were scattered went everywhere, preaching the message.

5 Philip went to the principal cityin Samaria and preached the Messiah to the people there.

6 The crowds paid close attention to what Philip said, as they listened to him and saw the miracles that he performed.

7 Evil spirits came out from many people with a loud cry, and many paralyzed and lame people were healed.

8 So there was great joy in that city.

9 A man named Simon lived there, who for some time had astounded the Samaritans with his magic. He claimed that he was someone great,

10 and everyone in the city, from all classes of society, paid close attention to him. “He is that power of God known as ‘The Great Power,’” they said.

11 They paid this attention to him because for such a long time he had astonished them with his magic.

12 But when they believed Philip’s message about the good news of the Kingdom of God and about Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

13 Simon himself also believed; and after being baptized, he stayed close to Philip and was astounded when he saw the great wonders and miracles that were being performed.

14 The apostles in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had received the word of God, so they sent Peter and John to them.

15 When they arrived, they prayed for the believers that they might receive the Holy Spirit.

16 For the Holy Spirit had not yet come down on any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

18 Simon saw that the Spirit had been given to the believers when the apostles placed their hands on them. So he offered money to Peter and John,

19 and said, “Give this power to me too, so that anyone I place my hands on will receive the Holy Spirit.”

20 But Peter answered him, “May you and your money go to hell, for thinking that you can buy God’s gift with money!

21 You have no part or share in our work, because your heart is not right in God’s sight.

22 Repent, then, of this evil plan of yours, and pray to the Lord that he will forgive you for thinking such a thing as this.

23 For I see that you are full of bitter envy and are a prisoner of sin.”

24 Simon said to Peter and John, “Please pray to the Lord for me, so that none of these things you spoke of will happen to me.”

25 After they had given their testimony and proclaimed the Lord’s message, Peter and John went back to Jerusalem. On their way they preached the Good News in many villages of Samaria.

Philip and the Ethiopian Official

26 An angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get ready and go southto the road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This road is not used nowadays.)

27-28 So Philip got ready and went. Now an Ethiopian eunuch, who was an important official in charge of the treasury of the queen of Ethiopia, was on his way home. He had been to Jerusalem to worship God and was going back home in his carriage. As he rode along, he was reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah.

29 The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to that carriage and stay close to it.”

30 Philip ran over and heard him reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah. He asked him, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

31 The official replied, “How can I understand unless someone explains it to me?” And he invited Philip to climb up and sit in the carriage with him.

32 The passage of scripture which he was reading was this:

“He was like a sheep that is taken to be slaughtered,

like a lamb that makes no sound when its wool is cut off.

He did not say a word.

33 He was humiliated, and justice was denied him.

No one will be able to tell about his descendants,

because his life on earth has come to an end.”

34 The official asked Philip, “Tell me, of whom is the prophet saying this? Of himself or of someone else?”

35 Then Philip began to speak; starting from this passage of scripture, he told him the Good News about Jesus.

36 As they traveled down the road, they came to a place where there was some water, and the official said, “Here is some water. What is to keep me from being baptized?”

38 The official ordered the carriage to stop, and both Philip and the official went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.

39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away. The official did not see him again, but continued on his way, full of joy.

40 Philip found himself in Azotus; he went on to Caesarea, and on the way he preached the Good News in every town.

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The Conversion of Saul

1 In the meantime Saul kept up his violent threats of murder against the followers of the Lord. He went to the High Priest

2 and asked for letters of introduction to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he should find there any followers of the Way of the Lord, he would be able to arrest them, both men and women, and bring them back to Jerusalem.

3 As Saul was coming near the city of Damascus, suddenly a light from the sky flashed around him.

4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul! Why do you persecute me?”

5 “Who are you, Lord?” he asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you persecute,” the voice said.

6 “But get up and go into the city, where you will be told what you must do.”

7 The men who were traveling with Saul had stopped, not saying a word; they heard the voice but could not see anyone.

8 Saul got up from the ground and opened his eyes, but could not see a thing. So they took him by the hand and led him into Damascus.

9 For three days he was not able to see, and during that time he did not eat or drink anything.

10 There was a believer in Damascus named Ananias. He had a vision, in which the Lord said to him, “Ananias!”

“Here I am, Lord,” he answered.

11 The Lord said to him, “Get ready and go to Straight Street, and at the house of Judas ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying,

12 and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come in and place his hands on him so that he might see again.”

13 Ananias answered, “Lord, many people have told me about this man and about all the terrible things he has done to your people in Jerusalem.

14 And he has come to Damascus with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who worship you.”

15 The Lord said to him, “Go, because I have chosen him to serve me, to make my name known to Gentiles and kings and to the people of Israel.

16 And I myself will show him all that he must suffer for my sake.”

17 So Ananias went, entered the house where Saul was, and placed his hands on him. “Brother Saul,” he said, “the Lord has sent me—Jesus himself, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here. He sent me so that you might see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

18 At once something like fish scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he was able to see again. He stood up and was baptized;

19 and after he had eaten, his strength came back.

Saul Preaches in Damascus

Saul stayed for a few days with the believers in Damascus.

20 He went straight to the synagogues and began to preach that Jesus was the Son of God.

21 All who heard him were amazed and asked, “Isn’t he the one who in Jerusalem was killing those who worship that man Jesus? And didn’t he come here for the very purpose of arresting those people and taking them back to the chief priests?”

22 But Saul’s preaching became even more powerful, and his proofs that Jesus was the Messiah were so convincing that the Jews who lived in Damascus could not answer him.

23 After many days had gone by, the Jews met together and made plans to kill Saul,

24 but he was told of their plan. Day and night they watched the city gates in order to kill him.

25 But one night Saul’s followers took him and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.

Saul in Jerusalem

26 Saul went to Jerusalem and tried to join the disciples. But they would not believe that he was a disciple, and they were all afraid of him.

27 Then Barnabas came to his help and took him to the apostles. He explained to them how Saul had seen the Lord on the road and that the Lord had spoken to him. He also told them how boldly Saul had preached in the name of Jesus in Damascus.

28 And so Saul stayed with them and went all over Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord.

29 He also talked and disputed with the Greek-speaking Jews, but they tried to kill him.

30 When the believers found out about this, they took Saul to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus.

31 And so it was that the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had a time of peace. Through the help of the Holy Spirit it was strengthened and grew in numbers, as it lived in reverence for the Lord.

Peter in Lydda and Joppa

32 Peter traveled everywhere, and on one occasion he went to visit God’s people who lived in Lydda.

33 There he met a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had not been able to get out of bed for eight years.

34 “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ makes you well. Get up and make your bed.” At once Aeneas got up.

35 All the people living in Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.

36 In Joppa there was a woman named Tabitha, who was a believer. (Her name in Greek is Dorcas, meaning “a deer.”) She spent all her time doing good and helping the poor.

37 At that time she got sick and died. Her body was washed and laid in a room upstairs.

38 Joppa was not very far from Lydda, and when the believers in Joppa heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him with the message, “Please hurry and come to us.”

39 So Peter got ready and went with them. When he arrived, he was taken to the room upstairs, where all the widows crowded around him, crying and showing him all the shirts and coats that Dorcas had made while she was alive.

40 Peter put them all out of the room, and knelt down and prayed; then he turned to the body and said, “Tabitha, get up!” She opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up.

41 Peter reached over and helped her get up. Then he called all the believers, including the widows, and presented her alive to them.

42 The news about this spread all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord.

43 Peter stayed on in Joppa for many days with a tanner of leather named Simon.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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