And he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hands on him, so that he may be able to see.
But Ananias said, Lord, I have had accounts of this man from a number of people, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem:
And here he has authority from the chief priests to make prisoners all who give worship to your name.
But the Lord said, Go without fear: for he is a special vessel for me, to give to the gentiles and kings and to the children of Israel the knowledge of my name:
For I will make clear to him what troubles he will have to undergo for me.
And Ananias went out and came to the house, and putting his hands on him, said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, whom you saw when you were on your journey, has sent me, so that you may be able to see, and be full of the holy Spirit.
And straight away it seemed as if a veil was taken from his eyes, and he was able to see; and he got up, and had baptism;
And when he had taken food his strength came back. And for some days he kept with the disciples who were in Damascus.
And straight away, in the Synagogues, he was preaching Jesus as the Son of God.
And all those hearing him were full of wonder and said, Is not this the man who in Jerusalem was attacking all the worshippers of this name? and he had come here so that he might take them as prisoners before the chief priests.
But Saul went on increasing in power, and the Jews in Damascus were not able to give answers to the arguments by which he made it clear that Jesus was the Christ.
Then, after some days, the Jews made an agreement together to put him to death:
But Saul got knowledge of their design. And they kept watch day and night on the roads out of the town, so that they might put him to death:
But his disciples took him by night and let him down from the wall in a basket.
And when he came to Jerusalem, he made an attempt to be joined to the disciples, but they were all in fear of him, not taking him for a disciple.
But barnabas took him to the Apostles and gave them an account of how he had seen the Lord on the road, and had given hearing to his words, and how at Damascus he had been preaching in the name of Jesus without fear.
And he was with them, going in and out at Jerusalem,
Preaching in the name of the Lord without fear; and he had discussions with the Greek Jews; but they were working for his death.
And when the brothers had knowledge of it, they took him to Caesarea and sent him to Tarsus.
And so the church through all judaea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was made strong; and, living in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, was increased greatly.
And it came about that while Peter was going through all parts of the country he came to the saints who were living at Lydda.
And there was a certain man there, named Aeneas, who for eight years had been in bed, without power of moving.
And Peter said to him, Aeneas, Jesus Christ makes you well: get up and make your bed. And straight away he got up.
And all those living in Lydda and Sharon saw him, and were turned to the Lord.
Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, that is, Dorcas: this woman was given to good works and acts of mercy at all times.
And it came about, in those days, that she got ill and came to her death: and when she had been washed, they put her in a room which was high up.
And because Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, having knowledge that Peter was there, sent two men to him, requesting him to come to them straight away.
And Peter went with them. And when he had come, they took him into the room: and all the widows were there, weeping and putting before him the coats and clothing which Dorcas had made while she was with them.
But Peter made them all go outside, and went down on his knees in prayer; and turning to the body, he said, Tabitha, get up. And, opening her eyes, she saw Peter and got up.
And he took her hand, lifting her up; and, sending for the saints and widows, he gave her to them, living.
And news of it went all through Joppa, and a number of people had faith in the Lord.
And he was living in Joppa for some time with Simon, a leather-worker.
Now there was a certain man in Caesarea, named Cornelius, the captain of the Italian band of the army;
A serious-minded man, fearing God with all his family; he gave much money to the poor, and made prayer to God at all times.
He saw in a vision, clearly, at about the ninth hour of the day, an angel of the Lord coming to him and saying to him, Cornelius!
And he, looking on him in fear, said, What is it, Lord? And he said to him, Your prayers and your offerings have come up to God, and he has kept them in mind.
Now send men to Joppa, and get one Simon, named Peter,
Who is living with Simon, a leather-worker, whose house is by the sea.
And when the angel who said these words to him had gone away, he sent for two of his house-servants, and a God-fearing man of the army, one of those who were waiting on him at all times;
And having given them an account of everything, he sent them to Joppa.
Now the day after, when they were on their journey and were near the town, Peter went up to the top of the house for prayer, about the sixth hour:
And he was in need of food: but while they were getting it ready, a deep sleep came on him;
And he saw the heavens opening, and a vessel coming down, like a great cloth let down on the earth,
In which were all sorts of beasts and birds.
And a voice came to him, saying, Come, Peter; take them for food.
But Peter said, No, Lord; for I have never taken food which is common or unclean.
And the voice came to him a second time, What God has made clean, do not you make common.
And this was done three times: and then the vessel was taken back into heaven.
Now while Peter was in doubt as to the purpose of this vision, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made search for Simon's house, came to the door,
To see if Simon, named Peter, was living there.
And, while Peter was turning the vision over in his mind, the spirit said to him, See, three men are looking for you.
Go down, then, and go with them, doubting nothing, for I have sent them.
And Peter went down to the men, and said, I am the man you are looking for: why have you come?
And they said, Cornelius, a captain, an upright and God-fearing man, respected by all the nation of the Jews, had word from God by an angel to send for you to his house, and to give hearing to your words.
So he took them in for the night. And the day after, he went with them, taking some of the brothers from Joppa with him.
And the day after that, they came to Caesarea. And Cornelius was waiting for them, having got together his relations and his near friends.
And when Peter came in, Cornelius came to him and, falling down at his feet, gave him worship.
But Peter, lifting him up, said, Get up, for I am a man as you are.
And saying these words, he went in, and saw that a great number of people had come together;
And he said to them, You yourselves have knowledge that it is against the law for a man who is a Jew to be in the company of one who is of another nation; but God has made it clear to me that no man may be named common or unclean:
And so I came without question, when I was sent for. What then is your purpose in sending for me?
And Cornelius said, Four days from now I was in my house in prayer at the ninth hour; and I saw before me a man in shining clothing,
Who said, Cornelius, your prayer has come to the ears of God, and your offerings are kept in his memory.
Send, then, to Joppa, and get Simon, named Peter, to come to you; he is living in the house of Simon, a leather-worker, by the sea.
So, straight away, I sent for you; and you have done well to come. And now, we are all present before God, ready to give attention to all the things which the Lord has given you to say.
Then Peter said, Truly, I see clearly that God is no respecter of persons:
But in every nation, the man who has fear of him and does righteousness is pleasing to him.
The word which he sent to the children of Israel, giving the good news of peace through Jesus Christ (who is Lord of all)--
That word you yourselves have knowledge of, which was made public through all Judaea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism of which John was the preacher,
About Jesus of Nazareth, how God gave the holy Spirit to him, with power: and how he went about doing good and making well all who were troubled by evil spirits, for God was with him.
And we are witnesses of all the things which he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem; whom they put to death, hanging him on a tree.
On the third day God gave him back to life, and let him be seen,
Not by all the people, but by witnesses marked out before by God, even by us, who took food and drink with him after he came back from the dead.
And he gave us orders to give news of this to the people, and to give public witness that this is he whom God has made judge of the living and the dead.
To him all the prophets give witness, that through his name everyone who has faith in him will have forgiveness of sins.
While Peter was saying these words, the Holy Spirit came on all those who were hearing the word.
And the Jews of the faith, who had come with Peter, were full of wonder, because the Holy Spirit was given to the Gentiles,
And they were talking in tongues, and giving glory to God. Then Peter said,
Will any man say that these may not have baptism who have been given the Holy Spirit as we have?
And he gave orders for them to have baptism in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they kept him with them for some days.
Now the apostles and the brothers who were in judaea had news that the word of God had been given to the Gentiles.
And when Peter came to Jerusalem, those who kept the rule of circumcision had an argument with him,
Saying, You went to men without circumcision, and took food with them.
But Peter gave them an account of it all in order, saying to them,
I was in the town of Joppa, at prayer: and falling into a deep sleep, I saw in a vision a vessel like a great cloth let down from heaven, and it came down to me:
And looking on it with attention I saw in it all sorts of beasts and birds.
And a voice came to my ears saying, Come, Peter; take them for food.
But I said, No, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever come into my mouth.
But the voice, coming a second time from heaven, said, What God has made clean, do not you make common.
And this was done three times, and they were all taken up again into heaven.
And at that minute, three men, sent from Caesarea, came to the house where we were.
And the spirit gave me orders to go with them, doubting nothing. And these six brothers came with me; and we went into that man's house:
And he gave us an account of how he had seen the angel in his house, saying, Send to Joppa, and get Simon, named Peter, to come to you;
Who will say words to you through which you and all your family may get salvation.
And, while I was talking to them, the holy Spirit came on them, as on us at first.
And the words of the Lord came into my mind, how he said, The baptism of John was with water, but you will have baptism with the Holy Spirit.
If then God gave them, when they had faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the same as he gave to us, who was I to go against God?
And hearing these things they said nothing more, but gave glory to God, saying, Then to the gentiles as to us has God given a change of heart, so that they may have life.
Then those who had gone away at the time of the trouble about Stephen, went as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus, preaching to the Jews only.
But some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, when they came to Antioch, gave the good news about the Lord Jesus to the Greeks.
And the power of the Lord was with them, and a great number had faith and were turned to the Lord.
And news of them came to the ears of the church at Jerusalem: and they sent barnabas as far as Antioch:
Who, when he came and saw the grace of God, was glad; and he made clear to them the need of keeping near the Lord with all the strength of their hearts:
For he was a good man and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith: and a great number were joined to the Lord.
Then he went on to Tarsus, looking for Saul;
And when he had come across him, he took him to Antioch. And they were with the church there for a year, teaching the people; and the disciples were first given the name of Christians in Antioch.
Now in those days prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch.
And one of them, named Agabus, said publicly through the Spirit that there would be serious need of food all over the earth: which came about in the time of Claudius.
And the disciples, everyone as he was able, made a decision to send help to the brothers living in Judaea:
Which they did, sending it to the rulers of the church by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.
Now, about that time, herod the king made cruel attacks on the Christians.
And he put James, the brother of John, to death with the sword.
And when he saw that this was pleasing to the Jews he went on to take Peter in addition. This was at the time of the feast of unleavened bread.
And having taken him, he put him in prison, with four bands of armed men to keep watch over him; his purpose being to take him out to the people after the Passover.
So Peter was kept in prison: but the church made strong prayer to God for him.
And when Herod was about to take him out, the same night Peter was sleeping in chains between two armed men, and the watchmen were keeping watch before the door of the prison.
And a great light was seen shining in the room, and an angel of the Lord came to Peter and, touching him on his side so that he came out of his sleep, said, Get up quickly. And his chains came off his hands.
Then the angel said, Put on your shoes and get ready to go. And he did so. And he said, Put your coat round you and come with me.
And he went out after him; and he was not certain if what was done by the angel was a fact, for it seemed to him that he was seeing a vision.
And when they had gone past the first and second watchmen they came to the iron door into the town, which came open by itself: and they went out and down one street; and then the angel went away.
And when Peter came to his senses he said, Now, truly, I am certain that the Lord has sent his angel and taken me out of the hands of Herod, against all the hopes of the Jews.
And when he became clear about this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John named Mark, where a number of them had come together for prayer.
And he gave a blow on the door, and a young girl came to it, named Rhoda.
And hearing the voice of Peter, in her joy she went running, without opening the door, to say that Peter was outside.
And they said to her, You are off your head. But still she said, with decision, that it was so. And they said, It is his angel.
But Peter went on giving blows on the door: and when it was open and they saw him, they were full of wonder.
But he made a sign to them with his hand to be quiet, and gave them an account of how the Lord had taken him out of prison. And he said, Give the news to James and the brothers. And then he went away.
Now when it was day, the armed men were greatly troubled about what had become of Peter.
And Herod, when he sent for him, and he was not there, after questioning the watchmen, gave orders that they were to be put to death. Then he went down from judaea to Caesarea for a time.
Now he was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon: and they came to him, all together, and having made friends with Blastus, the controller of the king's house, they made a request for peace, because their country was dependent on the king's country for its food.
And on the day which had been fixed, Herod, dressed in his robes and seated in his place, made a public statement to them.
And the people, with loud cries, said, It is the voice of a god, not of a man.
And straight away the angel of the Lord sent a disease on him, because he did not give the glory to God: and his flesh was wasted away by worms, and so he came to his end.
But the word of the Lord went on increasing.
And barnabas and Saul came back from Jerusalem, when their work was ended, taking with them John named Mark.
Now there were at Antioch, in the church there, prophets and teachers, Barnabas, and Symeon who was named Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, a relation of herod the king, and Saul.
And while they were doing the Lord's work, and going without food, the holy Spirit said, Let Barnabas and Saul be given to me for the special work for which they have been marked out by me.
Then, after prayer and going without food they put their hands on them, and sent them away.
So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia; and from there they went by ship to Cyprus.
And at Salamis they were preaching the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and John was with them, helping them.
And when they had gone through all the island to Paphos, they came across a certain wonder-worker and false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus;
Who was with the ruler, Sergius Paulus, an able man. This man sent for barnabas and Saul, desiring to have knowledge of the word of God.
But Elymas, the wonder-worker (for that is the sense of his name), put himself against them, with the purpose of turning the ruler from the faith.
But Saul, whose other name is Paul, being full of the Holy Spirit, looking hard at him, said,
O you, who are full of false tricks and evil ways, a son of the Evil One, hating all righteousness, will you for ever be turning people from the right ways of the Lord?
And now, see, the hand of the Lord is on you, and you will be blind and not able to see the sun for a time. And straight away a dark mist came down on him; and he went about looking for a guide.
Then the ruler, when he saw what was done, had faith, being full of wonder at the teaching of the Lord.
Then Paul and those who were with him went by ship from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia: and there John went away from them and came back to Jerusalem.
But they, going through from Perga, came to antioch in Pisidia; and they went into the synagogue on the Sabbath and were seated.
And after the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the Synagogue sent to them, saying, Brothers, if you have a word of comfort for the people, say on.
And Paul, getting up and making a sign with his hand, said, Men of Israel, and you who have the fear of God, give ear.
The God of this people Israel made selection of our fathers, lifting the people up from their low condition when they were living in the land of Egypt, and with a strong arm took them out of it.
And for about forty years he put up with their ways in the waste land.
And having put to destruction seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them the land for their heritage for about four hundred and fifty years.
And after these things he gave them judges, till the time of Samuel the prophet.
Then at their request for a king, God gave them Saul, the son of Kish, a man of the family of Benjamin, who was their king for forty years.
And having put him on one side, he made David their king, to whom he gave witness, saying, I have taken David, the son of Jesse, a man dear to my heart, who will do all my pleasure.
From this man's seed has God given to Israel a Saviour, even Jesus, as he gave his word;
For whose coming John made ready the way by preaching to all the people of Israel the baptism which goes with a change of heart.
And when John was completing his work, he said, What do I seem to you to be? I am not he; but one is coming after me, whose shoes I am not good enough to undo.
My brothers, children of the family of Abraham, and those among you who have the fear of God, to us the word of this salvation is sent.
For the men of Jerusalem and their rulers, having no knowledge of him, or of the sayings of the prophets which come to their ears every Sabbath day, gave effect to them by judging him.
And though no cause of death was seen in him, they made a request to Pilate that he might be put to death.
And when they had done all the things said in the Writings about him, they took him down from the tree, and put him in the place of the dead.
But God gave him back from the dead:
And for a number of days he was seen by those who came with him from galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses before the people.
And we are giving you the good news of the undertaking made to the fathers,
Which God has now put into effect for our children, by sending Jesus; as it says in the second Psalm, You are my Son; this day I have given you being.
And about his coming back from the dead, never again to go to destruction, he has said these words, I will give you the holy and certain mercies of David.
Because he says in another Psalm, You will not let your Holy One see destruction.
Now David, having done God's work for his generation, went to sleep, and was put with his fathers, and his body came to destruction:
But he, who was lifted up by God, did not see destruction.
And so, let it be clear to you, my brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is offered to you:
And through him everyone who has faith is made free from all those things, from which the law of Moses was not able to make you free.
So take care that these words of the prophets do not come true for you;
See, you doubters, have wonder and come to your end; for I will do a thing in your days to which you will not give belief, even if it is made clear to you.
And when they went out, they made a request that these words might be said to them again on the Sabbath after.
Now when the meeting was ended, a number of the Jews and of the God-fearing Gentiles who had become Jews, went after Paul and Barnabas: who put before them how important it was to keep on in the grace of God.
And on the Sabbath after, almost all the town came together to give hearing to the word of God.
But when the Jews saw such a great number of people, they were full of envy and said evil words against Paul's preaching.
Then Paul and Barnabas without fear said, It was necessary for the word of God to be given to you first; but because you will have nothing to do with it, and have no desire for eternal life, it will now be offered to the Gentiles.
For so the Lord has given us orders, saying, I have given you for a light to the Gentiles so that you may be for salvation to the ends of the earth.
And the Gentiles, hearing this, were glad and gave glory to the word of God: and those marked out by God for eternal life had faith.
And the word of the Lord went through all the country.
But the Jews, working up the feelings of the God-fearing women of high position and of the chief men of the town, got an attack started against Paul and Barnabas, driving them out of those parts.
But they, shaking off the dust of that place from their feet, came to Iconium.
And the disciples were full of joy and of the Holy Spirit.
Now in Iconium they went together to the Synagogue of the Jews and gave such teaching that a great number of Jews and greeks had faith.
But those Jews who had not the faith, made the minds of the gentiles bitter against the brothers.
So they kept there for a long time, taking heart in the Lord, who gave witness to the word of his grace by causing signs and wonders to be done by their hands.
But there was a division among the people of the town; some were on the side of the Jews and some on the side of the Apostles.
And when a violent attempt was made by the Gentiles and the Jews, with their rulers, to make an attack on them and have them stoned,
Having got news of it, they went in flight to the towns of Lycaonia, Lystra, and Derbe, and the country round about:
And went on preaching the good news there.
And at Lystra there was a certain man, who from birth had been without the use of his feet, never having had the power of walking.
This man was giving ear to the preaching of Paul, who, looking at him, and seeing that he had faith to be made well,
Said in a loud voice, Get up on your feet. And, jumping up, he went walking about.
And when the people saw what Paul had done, they said in a loud voice, in the language of Lycaonia, The gods have come down to us in the form of men.
And they gave the name of Jupiter to Barnabas, and to Paul that of Mercury, because he was the chief talker.
And the priest of the image of Jupiter, which was before the town, took oxen and flowers to the doors of the town, and was about to make an offering with the people.
But when this came to the ears of the Apostles, Paul and Barnabas, they went running out among the people, parting their clothing, and crying out,
Good people, why are you doing these things? We are men with the same feelings as you, and we give you the good news so that you may be turned away from these foolish things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all things in them:
Who in the past let all nations go in the ways which seemed good to them.
But he was not without witness, because he did good, and gave you rain from heaven and times of fruit, making your hearts full of food and joy.
And even with these words, it was hard for them to keep the people from making an offering to them.
But some Jews came to that place from antioch and Iconium, and got control over the people; and after stoning Paul, they had him pulled out of the town, taking him for dead.
But when the disciples came round him, he got up and went into the town: and the day after he went away with barnabas to Derbe.
And having made a number of disciples through the preaching of the good news in that town, they went back to Lystra and Iconium and Antioch,
Making strong the souls of the disciples, saying to them that they were to keep the faith, and that we have to go through troubles of all sorts to come into the kingdom of God.
And when they had made selection of some to be rulers in every church, and had given themselves to prayer and kept themselves from food, they put them into the care of the Lord in whom they had faith.
And they went through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia.
And, after preaching the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia;
And from there they went by ship to Antioch, where they had been handed over to the grace of God for the work which they had not done.
And when they came there, and had got the church together, they gave them an account of all the things which God had done through them, and how he had made open a door of faith to the Gentiles.
And they were with the disciples there for a long time.
Now certain men came down from Judaea, teaching the brothers and saying that without circumcision, after the rule of Moses, there is no salvation.
And after Paul and barnabas had had no little argument and discussion with them, the brothers made a decision to send Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them to the apostles and the rulers of the church at Jerusalem about this question.
So they, being sent on their way by the church, went through Phoenicia and Samaria, giving news of the salvation of the Gentiles, to the great joy of all the brothers.
And when they came to Jerusalem, they had a meeting with the church and the Apostles and the rulers, and they gave an account of all the things which God had done through them.
But some of the Pharisees, who were of the faith, got up and said, It is necessary for these to have circumcision and to keep the law of Moses.
And the Apostles and the rulers of the church came together and gave thought to the question.
And when there had been much discussion, Peter got up and said to them, My brothers, you have knowledge that some time back it was God's pleasure that by my mouth the good news might be given to the gentiles so that they might have faith.
And God, the searcher of hearts, was a witness to them, giving them the holy Spirit even as he did to us;
Making no division between them and us, but making clean their hearts by faith.
Why then are you testing God, by putting on the neck of the disciples a yoke so hard that not even our fathers or we were strong enough for it?
But we have faith that we will get salvation through the grace of the Lord Jesus in the same way as they.
And all the people were quiet while Barnabas and Paul gave an account of the signs and wonders which God had done among the Gentiles by them.
And when they had come to an end, James, answering, said, My brothers, give ear to me:
Symeon has given an account of how God was first pleased to take from among the Gentiles a people for himself.
And this is in agreement with the words of the prophets, as it is said,
After these things I will come back, and will put up the tent of David which has been broken down, building up again its broken parts and making it complete:
So that the rest of men may make search for the Lord, and all the Gentiles on whom my name is named,
Says the Lord, who has made these things clear from the earliest times.
For this reason my decision is, that we do not put trouble in the way of those who from among the Gentiles are turned to God;
But that we give them orders to keep themselves from things offered to false gods, and from the evil desires of the body, and from the flesh of animals put to death in ways against the law, and from blood.
For Moses, from times long past, has his preachers in every town, reading his law in the synagogues every Sabbath.
Then it seemed good to the Apostles and the rulers and all the church, to send men from among them to antioch with Paul and Barnabas; Judas, named Barsabbas, and Silas, chief men among the brothers:
And they sent a letter by them, saying, The Apostles and the older brothers, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and syria and Cilicia, may joy be with you:
Because we have knowledge that some who went from us have been troubling you with their words, putting your souls in doubt; to whom we gave no such order;
It seemed good to us, having come to an agreement together, to send these men to you, with our well loved Barnabas and Paul,
Men who have given up their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And so we have sent Judas and Silas, who will say the same things to you themselves, by word of mouth.
For it seemed good to the Holy spirit and to us, to put on you nothing more than these necessary things;
To keep from things offered to false gods, and from blood, and from things put to death in ways which are against the law, and from the evil desires of the body; if you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. May you be happy.
So they, being sent away, came down to Antioch, and having got the people together, they gave them the letter.
And after reading it, they were glad of its comfort.
And Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, gave teaching to the brothers and made them strong in the faith.
And when they had been there for some time, they were sent back in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them.
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But Paul and Barnabas kept on in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of God, with a number of others.
And after some days, Paul said to Barnabas, Let us go back and see the brothers in every town where we have given the word of God, and see how they are.
And Barnabas had a desire to take with them John, named Mark.
But Paul was of the opinion that it was not right to take with them one who had gone away from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone on with the work.
And there was a sharp argument between them, so that they were parted from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and went by ship to Cyprus;
But Paul took Silas and went away with the blessing of the brothers.
And he went through Syria and Cilicia, making the churches stronger in the faith.
And he came to Derbe and Lystra: and there was a certain disciple there named Timothy, whose mother was one of the Jews of the faith, but his father was a Greek;
Of whom the brothers at Lystra and Iconium had a high opinion.
Paul had a desire for him to go with him, and he gave him circumcision because of the Jews who were in those parts: for they all had knowledge that his father was a Greek.
And on their way through the towns, they gave them the rules which had been made by the apostles and the rulers of the church at Jerusalem, so that they might keep them.
So the churches were made strong in the faith and were increased in number every day.
And after they had gone through the land of Phrygia and Galatia, the holy Spirit did not let them take the word into Asia;
And having come to Mysia, they made an attempt to go into Bithynia, but the spirit of Jesus did not let them;
And going past Mysia, they came down to Troas.
And Paul had a vision in the night; a man of macedonia came, requesting him, and saying, Come over into Macedonia and give us help.
And when he had seen the vision, straight away we made the decision to go into Macedonia, for it seemed certain to us that God had sent us to give the good news to them.
So, from Troas we went straight by ship to Samothrace and the day after to Neapolis;
And from there to Philippi, which is the most important town of Macedonia and a Roman colony: and we were there for some days.
And on the sabbath we went outside the town, by the river, where we had an idea that there would be a place of prayer; and, being seated, we had talk with the women who had come together.
And a certain woman named Lydia, a trader in purple cloth of the town of Thyatira, and a God-fearing woman, gave ear to us: whose heart the Lord made open to give attention to the things which Paul was saying.
And when she and her family had had baptism, she made a request to us, saying, If it seems to you that I am true to the Lord, come into my house and be my guests. And she made us come.
And when we were going to the place of prayer, we came across a girl with a spirit which gave knowledge of the future, whose masters made great profit from her power.
She came after Paul and us, crying out and saying, These men are the servants of the Most High God, who are giving you news of the way of salvation.
And this she did on a number of days. But Paul was greatly troubled and, turning, said to the spirit, I give you orders in the name of Jesus Christ, to come out of her. And it came out that very hour.
But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they took Paul and Silas, pulling them into the market-place before the rulers;
And when they had taken them before the authorities, they said, These men, who are Jews, are greatly troubling our town;
Teaching rules of living which it is not right for us to have or to keep, being Romans.
And the people made an attack on them all together: and the authorities took their clothing off them, and gave orders for them to be whipped.
And when they had given them a great number of blows, they put them in prison, giving orders to the keeper of the prison to keep them safely:
And he, having such orders, put them into the inner prison with chains on their feet.
But about the middle of the night, Paul and Silas were making prayers and songs to God in the hearing of the prisoners;
And suddenly there was an earth-shock, so that the base of the prison was moved: and all the doors came open, and everyone's chains came off.
And the keeper, coming out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, took his sword and was about to put himself to death, fearing that the prisoners had got away.
But Paul said in a loud voice, Do yourself no damage, for we are all here.
And he sent for lights and came rushing in and, shaking with fear, went down on his face before Paul and Silas,
And took them out and said, Sirs, what have I to do to get salvation?
And they said, Have faith in the Lord Jesus, and you and your family will have salvation.
And they gave the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.
And that same hour of the night, he took them, and when he had given attention to their wounds, he and all his family had baptism straight away.
And he took them into his house and gave them food, and he was full of joy, having faith in God with all his family.
But when it was day, the authorities sent the police, saying, Let these men go.
And the keeper said to Paul, The authorities have given orders to let you go: come out now, and go in peace.
But Paul said to them, They have given us who are Romans a public whipping without judging us, and have put us in prison. Will they now send us out secretly? no, truly, let them come themselves and take us out.
And the police gave an account of these words to the authorities, and they were full of fear on hearing that they were Romans;
Then they came and made prayers to them, requesting them, when they had taken them out, to go away from the town.
And they came out of the prison and went to the house of Lydia: and when they had seen the brothers they gave them comfort and went away.
Now when they had gone through Amphipolis and Apollonia they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews:
And Paul, as he generally did, went in to them, and on three sabbath days had discussions with them from the holy Writings,
Saying to them clearly and openly that Christ had to be put to death and come back to life again; and that this Jesus, whom, he said, I am preaching to you, is the Christ.
And some of them had faith, and were joined to Paul and Silas; and a number of the God-fearing Greeks, and some of the chief women.
But the Jews, being moved with envy, took with them certain low persons from among the common people, and getting together a great number of people, made an outcry in the town, attacking the house of Jason with the purpose of taking them out to the people.
And when they were not able to get them, they took Jason and some of the brothers by force before the rulers of the town, crying, These men, who have made trouble all over the world have now come here;
Whom Jason has taken into his house: and they are acting against the orders of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.
And hearing these things the people and the rulers of the town were troubled.
And having made Jason and the others give an undertaking to keep the peace, they let them go.
And the brothers straight away sent Paul and Silas away by night to Beroea: and they, when they came there, went to the Synagogue of the Jews.
Now these were more noble than the Jews of Thessalonica, for they gave serious attention to the word, searching in the holy Writings every day, to see if these things were so.
And a number of them had faith, and no small number of the Greek women of high position and of the men.
Most of the teaching of Jesus are recorded in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The Complete Sayings of Jesus presents every word spoken by Jesus in one place and provides an index to assist in finding specific ocassions, places and/or events. It is a must read aid for serious Bible study.
He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, saith the Lord. These are the words of Christ; and they direct us to imitate his life and character. The Imitation of Christ is guide to following the example of Jesus Christ. Let it be our most earnest study to dwell upon the life and example of Jesus.
The Apocrypha books are 14 books that were included between the old and new testaments in the original King James Version of the bible and many others. Church leaders agreed that these books were valuable for instruction in life and manners, but did not all agree that they should be considered cannon.
The Childrens Bible provides bible lessons from the Old and New testaments. There are 216 stories written in plain english. The stories are easy to read and understand but they are not just for childern. It is a pleasure to read and enjoy these important stories.
Let us love one another, for love comes from God and every one who loves is a child of God and knows God. He who loves not man does not know God, for God is love. God showed his love for us, for he sent his only Son into the world that through him we might have life. Love the stranger.
In Mark 12:30 Jesus said;
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this [is] the first commandment.
And the second Mark 12:31 [is] like, [namely] this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
The Gospel of The Birth of Mary was attributed to St. Matthew and was received as genuine and authentic by early Christians. It is to be found in the works of Jerome, a Father of the Church in the 4th century and is translated from his collection.
The Book of Enoch is ascribed to the great-grandfather of Noah and is included in the cannon of some churches. It describes the fall of the angels (watchers), visions of heaven and hell and the birth of Noah. Quotes from the book of Enoch are found in the New Testament.
The First Book of Adam and Eve. Books 1 begins immediately after the expulsion from the Garden of Eden. We learn about the fall but also of the promise to save Adam and his decendents. The story depicts mans struggle against evil, the devil and sin.
The Second Book of Adam and Eve. Discusses Adam's sorrow and death. The history of the patriarchs who lived before the Flood until the birth of Noah; the children of Seth on Mount Hermon and Cain's death. It ends with the testament and translation of Enoch.
The Infancy of Jesus Christ (Infancy Gospel of Thomas) relates the life of Jesus from the ages of five to twelve. It is believed that the document was transcribed from oral traditions some time prior to the second century. The ancient writing is possibly Gnostic and many early church leaders considered it heretical.
Daily Bible study is essential. The Bible Verse of the Day provides a collection of enlightening and inspiration bible verses. Improve your knowledge and understanding of the Bible and your life by studying the words of the holy scripture. Explore the King James Bible (kjv) and discover new insights.
The World English Bible was produced to provide speakers of modern English with a version of the Bible that is easily understood. The Bible is in the public domain and available world-wide. It is an accurate modern translation of the original King James Bible, including the Apocryphal books.
Looking for something in the Bible? Want to find a specifc verse or list of words? The Bible search feature makes it easy find verses or words. Enter the verses or words in the search bar or visit the search page to access additional search options. Finding information in the Bible will never be easier.
The favorite verses page is a list of popular bible verses. Each verse includes a link to the chapter and verse of the book where it is found in the bible. Click on any link for a bible verse and it will take you to that location in the bible.
The bible contains great stories. Visit the bible stories page for links to some of the best known and most significant stories and passages in the bible.