Peter Returns to Jerusalem

11 The apostles and the believers in Judea heard that non-Jewish people had accepted God’s teaching too. ² But when Peter came to Jerusalem, some Jewish believers^[a] argued with him. ³ They said, “You went into the homes of people who are not Jews and are not circumcised, and you even ate with them!”

⁴ So Peter explained the whole story to them. ⁵ He said, “I was in the city of Joppa. While I was praying, I had a vision. I saw something coming down from heaven. It looked like a big sheet being lowered to the ground by its four corners. It came down close to me, ⁶ and I looked inside. I saw all kinds of animals, including wild ones, as well as reptiles and birds. ⁷ I heard a voice say to me, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill anything here and eat it!’

⁸ “But I said, ‘I can’t do that, Lord! I have never eaten anything that is not pure or fit to be used for food.’

⁹ “But the voice from heaven answered again, ‘God has made these things pure. Don’t say they are unfit to eat!’

¹⁰ “This happened three times. Then the whole thing was taken back into heaven. ¹¹ Suddenly there were three men standing outside the house where I was staying. They had been sent from Caesarea to get me. ¹² The Spirit told me to go with them without wondering if it was all right. These six brothers here also went with me, and we went to the house of Cornelius. ¹³ He told us about the angel he had seen standing in his house. The angel said, ‘Send some men to Joppa to get Simon, the one who is also called Peter. ¹⁴ He will speak to you, and what he tells you will save you and everyone living in your house.’

¹⁵ “After I began speaking, the Holy Spirit came on them just as he came on us at the beginning.^{[b] 16} Then I remembered the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘John baptized people in water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷ God gave these people the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. So how could I object to what God wanted to do?”

¹⁸ When the Jewish believers heard this, they stopped arguing. They praised God and said, “So God is also allowing even those who are not Jews to change their hearts so that they can have the life he gives!”

The Good News Comes to Antioch

¹⁹ The believers were scattered by the persecution^[c] that began when Stephen was killed. Some of them went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch. They told the Good News in these places, but only to Jews. ²⁰ Some of these believers were men from Cyprus and Cyrene. When these men came to Antioch, they began speaking to people who were not Jews.^[d] They told them the Good News about the Lord Jesus. ²¹ The Lord was helping these men, and a large number of people believed and decided to follow the Lord.

²² When the church in Jerusalem heard about this, they sent Barnabas to Antioch. ^23-24 Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith. When he went to Antioch and saw how God had blessed the believers there, he was very happy. He encouraged them all, saying, “Always be faithful to the Lord. Serve him with all your heart.” Many more people became followers of the Lord.

²⁵ Then Barnabas went to the city of Tarsus to look for Saul. ²⁶ When he found him, he brought him to Antioch. They stayed there a whole year. Every time the church came together, Barnabas and Saul met with them and taught many people. It was in Antioch that the followers of the Lord Jesus were called “Christ-followers” for the first time.

²⁷ About that same time some prophets went from Jerusalem to Antioch. ²⁸ One of them, named Agabus, stood up and spoke with the help of the Spirit. He said, “A very bad time is coming to the whole world. There will be no food for people to eat.” (This time of famine happened when Claudius was emperor.) ²⁹ The Lord’s followers decided that they would each send as much as they could to help their brothers and sisters who lived in Judea. ³⁰ They gathered the money and gave it to Barnabas and Saul, who took it to the elders in Judea.

More Trouble for the Believers

12 During this same time, King Herod began to do harm to some of those who were part of the church. ² He ordered James, the brother of John, to be killed with a sword. ³ Herod saw that many of the Jews liked this, so he decided to arrest Peter too. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. ⁴ He arrested Peter and put him in jail, where he was guarded by a group of 16 soldiers. Herod planned to bring Peter before the people, but he wanted to wait until after the Passover festival. ⁵ So Peter was kept in jail, but the church was constantly praying to God for him.

Peter Is Led Out of the Jail

⁶ One night, Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two of the soldiers. More soldiers were guarding the door of the jail. Herod was planning to bring Peter out before the people the next day. ⁷ Suddenly an angel of the Lord was standing there, and the room was filled with light. The angel tapped Peter on the side and woke him up. The angel said, “Hurry, get up!” The chains fell off Peter’s hands. ⁸ The angel said, “Get dressed and put on your sandals.” Peter did as he was told. Then the angel said, “Put on your coat and follow me.”

⁹ So the angel went out and Peter followed. He did not know if the angel was really doing this. He thought he might be seeing a vision. ¹⁰ Peter and the angel went past the first guard and the second guard. Then they came to the iron gate that separated them from the city. The gate opened for them by itself. After they went through the gate and walked about a block, the angel suddenly left.

¹¹ Peter realized then what had happened. He thought, “Now I know that the Lord really sent his angel to me. He rescued me from Herod and from everything those Jews thought would happen to me.”

¹² When Peter realized this, he went to the home of Mary, the mother of John, who was also called Mark. Many people were gathered there and were praying. ¹³ Peter knocked on the outside door. A servant girl named Rhoda came to answer it. ¹⁴ She recognized Peter’s voice, and she was very happy. She even forgot to open the door. She ran inside and told the group, “Peter is at the door!” ¹⁵ The believers said to her, “You are crazy!” But she continued to say that it was true. So they said, “It must be Peter’s angel.”

¹⁶ But Peter continued to knock. When the believers opened the door, they saw him. They were amazed. ¹⁷ Peter made a sign with his hand to tell them to be quiet. He explained to them how the Lord led him out of the jail. He said, “Tell James and the other brothers what happened.” Then he left and went to another place.

¹⁸ The next day the soldiers were very upset. They wondered what happened to Peter. ¹⁹ Herod looked everywhere for him but could not find him. So he questioned the guards and then ordered that they be killed.

The Death of Herod Agrippa

Later, Herod moved from Judea. He went to the city of Caesarea and stayed there a while. ²⁰ Herod was very angry with the people from the cities of Tyre and Sidon. But these cities needed food from his country, so a group of them came to ask him for peace. They were able to get Blastus, the king’s personal servant, on their side.

²¹ Herod decided on a day to meet with them. On that day he was wearing a beautiful royal robe. He sat on his throne and made a speech to the people. ²² The people shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not a man!” ²³ Herod did not give the glory to God. So an angel of the Lord caused him to get sick. He was eaten by worms inside him, and he died.

²⁴ The message of God was spreading, reaching more and more people.

²⁵ After Barnabas and Saul finished their work in Jerusalem, they returned to Antioch, taking John Mark with them.

Barnabas and Saul Given a Special Work

13 In the church at Antioch there were some prophets and teachers. They were Barnabas, Simeon (also called Niger), Lucius (from the city of Cyrene), Manaen (who had grown up with King Herod^[e]), and Saul. ² These men were all serving the Lord and fasting when the Holy Spirit said to them, “Appoint Barnabas and Saul to do a special work for me. They are the ones I have chosen to do it.”

³ So the church fasted and prayed. They laid their hands on Barnabas and Saul and sent them out.

Barnabas and Saul in Cyprus

⁴ Barnabas and Saul were sent out by the Holy Spirit. They went to the city of Seleucia. Then they sailed from there to the island of Cyprus. ⁵ When Barnabas and Saul came to the city of Salamis, they told the message of God in the Jewish synagogues. John Mark was with them to help.

⁶ They went across the whole island to the city of Paphos. There they met a Jewish man named Barjesus who did magic. He was a false prophet. ⁷ He always stayed close to Sergius Paulus, who was the governor and a very smart man. He invited Barnabas and Saul to come visit him, because he wanted to hear the message of God. ⁸ But the magician Elymas (as Barjesus was called in Greek) spoke against them, trying to stop the governor from believing in Jesus. ⁹ But Saul (also known as Paul), filled with the Holy Spirit, looked hard at Elymas ¹⁰ and said, “You son of the devil, full of lies and all kinds of evil tricks! You are an enemy of everything that is right. Will you never stop trying to change the Lord’s truths into lies? ¹¹ Now the Lord will touch you and you will be blind. For a time you will not be able to see anything—not even the light from the sun.”

Then everything became dark for Elymas. He walked around lost. He was trying to find someone to lead him by the hand. ¹² When the governor saw this, he believed. He was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

Paul and Barnabas Go to Antioch in Pisidia

¹³ Paul and the people with him sailed away from Paphos. They came to Perga, a city in Pamphylia. There John Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ They continued their trip from Perga and went to Antioch, a city near Pisidia.

On the Sabbath day they went into the Jewish synagogue and sat down. ¹⁵ The Law of Moses and the writings of the prophets were read. Then the leaders of the synagogue sent a message to Paul and Barnabas: “Brothers, if you have something to say that will help the people here, please speak.”

¹⁶ Paul stood up, raised his hand to get their attention, and said, “People of Israel and all you others who worship the true God, please listen to me! ¹⁷ The God of Israel chose our ancestors. And during the time our people lived in Egypt as foreigners, he made them great. Then he brought them out of that country with great power. ¹⁸ And he was patient with them for 40 years in the desert. ¹⁹ God destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan and gave their land to his people. ²⁰ All this happened in about 450 years.

“After this, God gave our people judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. ²¹ Then the people asked for a king. God gave them Saul, the son of Kish. Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin. He was king for 40 years. ²² After God took Saul away, God made David their king. This is what God said about David: ‘David, the son of Jesse, is the kind of person who does what pleases me. He will do everything I want him to do.’

²³ “As he promised, God has brought one of David’s descendants to Israel to be their Savior. That descendant is Jesus. ²⁴ Before he came, John told all the people of Israel what they should do. He told them to be baptized to show they wanted to change their lives. ²⁵ When John was finishing his work, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not the Messiah.^[f] He is coming later, and I am not worthy to be the slave who unties his sandals.’

²⁶ “My brothers, sons in the family of Abraham, and you other people who also worship the true God, listen! The news about this salvation has been sent to us. ²⁷ The Jews living in Jerusalem and their leaders did not realize that Jesus was the Savior. The words the prophets wrote about him were read every Sabbath day, but they did not understand. They condemned Jesus. When they did this, they made the words of the prophets come true. ²⁸ They could not find any real reason why Jesus should die, but they asked Pilate to kill him.

²⁹ “These Jews did all the bad things that the Scriptures said would happen to Jesus. Then they took Jesus down from the cross and put him in a tomb. ³⁰ But God raised him up from death! ³¹ After this, for many days, those who had gone with Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem saw him. They are now his witnesses to our people.

³² “We tell you the Good News about the promise God made to our ancestors. ³³ We are their descendants, and God has made this promise come true for us. God did this by raising Jesus from death. We also read about this in Psalm 2:

³⁴ God raised Jesus from death. Jesus will never go back to the grave and become dust. So God said,

³⁵ But in another Psalm it says,

³⁶ “David did God’s will during the time he lived. Then he died and was buried like all his ancestors. And his body did rot in the grave! ³⁷ But the one God raised from death did not rot in the grave. ^38-39 Brothers, understand what we are telling you. You can have forgiveness of your sins through this Jesus. The Law of Moses could not free you from your sins. But you can be made right with God if you believe in Jesus. ⁴⁰ So be careful! Don’t let what the prophets said happen to you:

⁴² As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people asked them to come again on the next Sabbath day and tell them more about these things. ⁴³ After the meeting, many of the people followed Paul and Barnabas, including many Jews and people who had changed their religion to be like Jews and worship the true God. Paul and Barnabas encouraged them to continue trusting in God’s grace.

⁴⁴ On the next Sabbath day, almost all the people in the city came together to hear the word of the Lord. ⁴⁵ When the Jews there saw all these people, they became very jealous. Shouting insults, they argued against everything Paul said. ⁴⁶ But Paul and Barnabas spoke very boldly. They said, “We had to tell God’s message to you Jews first, but you refuse to listen. You have made it clear that you are not worthy of having eternal life. So we will now go to those who are not Jews. ⁴⁷ This is what the Lord told us to do:

⁴⁸ When the non-Jewish people heard Paul say this, they were happy. They gave honor to the message of the Lord, and many of them believed it. These were the ones chosen to have eternal life.

⁴⁹ And so the message of the Lord was being told throughout the whole country. ⁵⁰ But the Jews there caused some of the important religious women and the leaders of the city to be angry and turn against Paul and Barnabas and throw them out of town. ⁵¹ So Paul and Barnabas shook the dust off their feet.^[g] Then they went to the city of Iconium. ⁵² But the Lord’s followers in Antioch were happy and filled with the Holy Spirit.

Paul and Barnabas in Iconium

14 Paul and Barnabas went to the city of Iconium. As they did in Antioch, they entered the Jewish synagogue. They spoke to the people there. They spoke so well that many Jews and Greeks believed what they said. ² But some of the Jews did not believe. They said things that caused the non-Jewish people to be angry and turn against the believers.

³ So Paul and Barnabas stayed in Iconium a long time, and they spoke bravely for the Lord. They told the people about God’s grace. The Lord proved that what they said was true by causing miraculous signs and wonders to be done through them. ⁴ But some of the people in the city agreed with the Jews who did not believe Paul and Barnabas. Others followed the apostles. So the city was divided.

⁵ Some of the Jews there, as well as their leaders and some of the non-Jewish people, were determined to hurt Paul and Barnabas. They wanted to stone them to death. ⁶ When Paul and Barnabas learned about this, they left the city. They went to Lystra and Derbe, cities in Lycaonia, and to the surrounding areas. ⁷ They told the Good News there too.

Paul in Lystra and Derbe

⁸ In Lystra there was a man who had something wrong with his feet. He had been born crippled and had never walked. ⁹ He was sitting and listening to Paul speak. Paul looked straight at him and saw that the man believed God could heal him. ¹⁰ So Paul shouted, “Stand up on your feet!” The man jumped up and began walking around.

¹¹ When the people saw what Paul did, they shouted in their own Lycaonian language. They said, “The gods have come down to us in the form of humans!” ¹² The people began to call Barnabas “Zeus,” and they called Paul “Hermes,” because he was the main speaker. ¹³ The temple of Zeus was near the city. The priest of this temple brought some bulls and flowers to the city gates. The priest and the people wanted to offer a sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas.

¹⁴ But when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, understood what the people were doing, they tore their own clothes.^[h] Then they ran in among the people and shouted to them: ¹⁵ “Men, why are you doing this? We are not gods. We are human just like you. We came to tell you the Good News. We are telling you to turn away from these worthless things. Turn to the true living God, the one who made the sky, the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them.

¹⁶ “In the past God let all the nations do what they wanted. ¹⁷ But God was always there doing the good things that prove he is real. He gives you rain from heaven and good harvests at the right times. He gives you plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.”

¹⁸ Even after saying all this, Paul and Barnabas still could hardly stop the people from offering sacrifices to them.

¹⁹ Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and persuaded the people to turn against Paul. So they threw stones at him and dragged him out of the town. They thought they had killed him. ²⁰ But when the followers of Jesus gathered around him, he got up and went back into the town. The next day he and Barnabas left and went to the city of Derbe.

The Return to Antioch in Syria

²¹ They also told the Good News in the city of Derbe, and many people became followers of Jesus. Then Paul and Barnabas returned to the cities of Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch. ²² In those cities they helped the followers grow stronger in their faith and encouraged them to continue trusting God. They told them, “We must suffer many things on our way into God’s kingdom.” ²³ They also chose elders for each church and stopped eating for a period of time to pray for them. These elders were men who had put their trust in the Lord Jesus, so Paul and Barnabas put them in his care.

²⁴ Paul and Barnabas went through the country of Pisidia. Then they came to the country of Pamphylia. ²⁵ They told people the message of God in the city of Perga, and then they went down to the city of Attalia. ²⁶ And from there they sailed away to Antioch in Syria. This is the city where the believers had put them into God’s care and sent them to do this work. Now they had finished it.

²⁷ When Paul and Barnabas arrived, they gathered the church together. They told them everything God had used them to do. They said, “God opened a door for the non-Jewish people to believe!” ²⁸ And they stayed there a long time with the Lord’s followers.

The Meeting at Jerusalem

15 Then some men came to Antioch from Judea and began teaching the non-Jewish believers: “You cannot be saved if you are not circumcised as Moses taught us.” ² Paul and Barnabas were against this teaching and argued with these men about it. So the group decided to send Paul, Barnabas, and some others to Jerusalem to talk more about this with the apostles and elders.

³ The church helped them get ready to leave on their trip. The men went through the countries of Phoenicia and Samaria, where they told all about how the non-Jewish people had turned to the true God. This made all the believers very happy. ⁴ When the men arrived in Jerusalem, the apostles, the elders, and the whole church welcomed them. Paul, Barnabas, and the others told about all that God had done with them. ⁵ Some of the believers in Jerusalem had belonged to the Pharisees. They stood up and said, “The non-Jewish believers must be circumcised. We must tell them to obey the Law of Moses!”

⁶ Then the apostles and the elders gathered to study this problem. ⁷ After a long debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “My brothers, I am sure you remember what happened in the early days. God chose me from among you to tell the Good News to those who are not Jewish. It was from me that they heard the Good News and believed. ⁸ God knows everyone, even their thoughts, and he accepted these non-Jewish people. He showed this to us by giving them the Holy Spirit the same as he did to us. ⁹ To God, those people are not different from us. When they believed, God made their hearts pure. ¹⁰ So now, why are you putting a heavy burden^[i] around the necks of the non-Jewish followers of Jesus? Are you trying to make God angry? We and our fathers were not able to carry that burden. ¹¹ No, we believe that we and these people will be saved the same way—by the grace of the Lord Jesus.”

¹² Then the whole group became quiet. They listened while Paul and Barnabas told about all the miraculous signs and wonders that God had done through them among the non-Jewish people. ¹³ When they finished speaking, James said, “My brothers, listen to me. ¹⁴ Simon Peter has told us how God showed his love for the non-Jewish people. For the first time, God accepted them and made them his people. ¹⁵ The words of the prophets agree with this too:

¹⁹ “So I think we should not make things hard for those who have turned to God from among the non-Jewish people. ²⁰ Instead, we should send a letter telling them only the things they should not do:

²¹ They should not do any of these things, because there are still men in every city who teach the Law of Moses. The words of Moses have been read in the synagogue every Sabbath day for many years.”

The Letter to the Non-Jewish Believers

²² The apostles, the elders, and the whole church wanted to send some men with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch. The group decided to choose some of their own men. They chose Judas (also called Barsabbas) and Silas, men who were respected by the believers. ²³ The group sent the letter with these men. The letter said:

From the apostles and elders, your brothers,

To all the non-Jewish brothers in the city of Antioch and in the countries of Syria and Cilicia.

Dear Brothers:

If you stay away from these, you will do well.

We say goodbye now.

³⁰ So Paul, Barnabas, Judas, and Silas left Jerusalem and went to Antioch. There they gathered the group of believers together and gave them the letter. ³¹ When the believers read it, they were happy. The letter comforted them. ³² Judas and Silas, who were also prophets, said many things to encourage the believers and make them stronger in their faith. ³³ After Judas and Silas stayed there for a while, they left. They received a blessing of peace from the believers. Then they went back to those who had sent them. ^34 [k]

³⁵ But Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch. They and many others taught the believers and told other people the Good News about the Lord.

Paul and Barnabas Separate

³⁶ A few days later, Paul said to Barnabas, “We should go back to all the towns where we told people the message of the Lord. We should visit the believers to see how they are doing.”

³⁷ Barnabas wanted to bring John Mark with them too. ³⁸ But on their first trip John Mark did not continue with them in the work. He had left them at Pamphylia. So Paul did not think it was a good idea to take him this time. ³⁹ Paul and Barnabas had a big argument about this. It was so bad that they separated and went different ways. Barnabas sailed to Cyprus and took Mark with him.

⁴⁰ Paul chose Silas to go with him. The believers in Antioch put Paul into the Lord’s care and sent him out. ⁴¹ Paul and Silas went through the countries of Syria and Cilicia, helping the churches grow stronger.

Timothy Goes With Paul and Silas

16 Paul went to the city of Derbe and then to Lystra, where a follower of Jesus named Timothy lived. Timothy’s mother was a Jewish believer, but his father was a Greek. ² The believers in the cities of Lystra and Iconium had only good things to say about him. ³ Paul wanted Timothy to travel with him, but all the Jews living in that area knew that his father was a Greek. So Paul circumcised Timothy to please the Jews.

⁴ Then Paul and those with him traveled through other cities. They gave the believers the rules and decisions from the apostles and elders in Jerusalem. They told them to obey these rules. ⁵ So the churches were becoming stronger in their faith, and the number of believers was growing every day.

Paul Is Called to Macedonia

⁶ Paul and those with him went through the areas of Phrygia and Galatia because the Holy Spirit did not allow them to tell the Good News in the province of Asia. ⁷ When they reached the border of Mysia, they tried to go on into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not let them go there. ⁸ So they passed by Mysia and went to the city of Troas.

⁹ That night Paul saw a vision. In it, a man from Macedonia came to Paul. The man stood there and begged, “Come across to Macedonia and help us.” ¹⁰ After Paul had seen the vision, we^[l] immediately prepared to leave for Macedonia. We understood that God had called us to tell the Good News to those people.

The Conversion of Lydia

¹¹ We left Troas in a ship and sailed to the island of Samothrace. The next day we sailed to the city of Neapolis. ¹² Then we went to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city in that part of Macedonia. We stayed there for a few days.

¹³ On the Sabbath day we went out the city gate to the river. There we thought we might find a special place for prayer. Some women had gathered there, so we sat down and talked with them. ¹⁴ There was a woman there named Lydia from the city of Thyatira. Her job was selling purple cloth. She was a worshiper of the true God. Lydia was listening to Paul, and the Lord opened her heart to accept what Paul was saying. ¹⁵ She and all the people living in her house were baptized. Then she invited us into her home. She said, “If you think I am a true believer in the Lord Jesus, come stay in my house.” She persuaded us to stay with her.

Paul and Silas in Jail

¹⁶ One day we were going to the place for prayer, and a servant girl met us. She had a spirit^[m] in her that gave her the power to tell what would happen in the future. By doing this she earned a lot of money for the men who owned her. ¹⁷ She started following Paul and the rest of us around. She kept shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God! They are telling you how you can be saved!” ¹⁸ She continued doing this for many days. This bothered Paul, so he turned and said to the spirit, “By the power of Jesus Christ, I command you to come out of her!” Immediately, the spirit came out.

¹⁹ When the men who owned the servant girl saw this, they realized that they could no longer use her to make money. So they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them to the public square to meet with the authorities. ²⁰ They brought Paul and Silas before the Roman officials and said, “These men are Jews, and they are making trouble in our city. ²¹ They are telling people to do things that are not right for us as Romans to do.”

²² The whole crowd turned against Paul and Silas. The officials tore the clothes off both men and ordered that they be beaten with rods. ²³ They were beaten severely and thrown into jail. The officials told the jailer, “Guard them very carefully!” ²⁴ When the jailer heard this special order, he put Paul and Silas far inside the jail and bound their feet between large blocks of wood.

²⁵ About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing songs to God. The other prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶ Suddenly there was an earthquake so strong that it shook the foundation of the jail. All the doors of the jail opened, and the chains on all the prisoners fell off. ²⁷ The jailer woke up and saw that the jail doors were open. He thought that the prisoners had already escaped, so he got his sword and was ready to kill himself.^{[n] 28} But Paul shouted, “Don’t hurt yourself! We are all here!”

²⁹ The jailer told someone to bring a light. Then he ran inside and, shaking with fear, fell down in front of Paul and Silas. ³⁰ Then he brought them outside and said, “Men, what must I do to be saved?”

³¹ They said to him, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved—you and all who live in your house.” ³² So Paul and Silas told the message of the Lord to the jailer and all the people who lived in his house. ³³ It was late at night, but the jailer took Paul and Silas and washed their wounds. Then the jailer and all his people were baptized. ³⁴ After this the jailer took Paul and Silas home and gave them some food. All the people were very happy because they now believed in God.

³⁵ The next morning the Roman officials sent some soldiers to tell the jailer, “Let these men go free.”

³⁶ The jailer said to Paul, “The officials have sent these soldiers to let you go free. You can leave now. Go in peace.”

³⁷ But Paul said to the soldiers, “Those officials did not prove that we did anything wrong, but they beat us in public and put us in jail. And we are Roman citizens.^[o] Now they want us to go away quietly. No, they must come here themselves and lead us out!”

³⁸ The soldiers told the officials what Paul said. When they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were afraid. ³⁹ So they came and told them they were sorry. They led them out of the jail and asked them to leave the city. ⁴⁰ But when Paul and Silas came out of the jail, they went to Lydia’s house. They saw some of the believers there and encouraged them. Then they left.

Paul and Silas in Thessalonica

17 Paul and Silas traveled through the cities of Amphipolis and Apollonia. They came to the city of Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. ² Paul went into the synagogue to see the Jews as he always did. The next three weeks, on each Sabbath day, he discussed the Scriptures with them. ³ He explained the Scriptures to show them that the Messiah had to die and then rise from death. He said, “This Jesus that I am telling you about is the Messiah.” ⁴ Some of the Jews there believed Paul and Silas and decided to join them. Also, a large number of Greeks who were worshipers of the true God and many important women joined them.

⁵ But the Jews who did not believe became jealous, so they got some bad men from around the city center to make trouble. They formed a mob and caused a riot in the city. They went to Jason’s house, looking for Paul and Silas. They wanted to bring them out before the people. ⁶ When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the other believers to the city leaders. The people shouted, “These men have made trouble everywhere in the world, and now they have come here too! ⁷ Jason is keeping them in his house. They all do things against the laws of Caesar. They say there is another king called Jesus.”

⁸ When the city leaders and the other people heard this, they became very upset. ⁹ They made Jason and the other believers deposit money to guarantee that there would be no more trouble. Then they let them go.

Paul and Silas Go to Berea

¹⁰ That same night the believers sent Paul and Silas to another city named Berea. When they arrived there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. ¹¹ The people in Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica. They were so glad to hear the message Paul told them. They studied the Scriptures every day to make sure that what they heard was really true. ¹² The result was that many of them believed, including many important Greek women and men.

¹³ But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was telling people God’s message in Berea, they came there too. They upset the people and made trouble. ¹⁴ So the believers immediately sent Paul away to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea. ¹⁵ Those who went with Paul took him to the city of Athens. They returned with a message for Silas and Timothy to come and join him as soon as they could.

Paul in Athens

¹⁶ While Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy in Athens, he was upset because he saw that the city was full of idols. ¹⁷ In the synagogue he talked with the Jews and with the Greeks who were worshipers of the true God. He also went to the public square every day and talked with everyone who came by. ¹⁸ Some of the Epicurean and some of the Stoic philosophers argued with him.

Some of them said, “This man doesn’t really know what he is talking about. What is he trying to say?” Paul was telling them the Good News about Jesus and the resurrection. So they said, “He seems to be telling us about some other gods.”

¹⁹ They took Paul to a meeting of the Areopagus council. They said, “Please explain to us this new idea that you have been teaching. ²⁰ The things you are saying are new to us. We have never heard this teaching before, and we want to know what it means.” ²¹ (The people of Athens and the foreigners who lived there spent all their time either telling or listening to all the latest ideas.)

²² Then Paul stood up before the meeting of the Areopagus council and said, “Men of Athens, everything I see here tells me you are very religious. ²³ I was going through your city and I saw the things you worship. I found an altar that had these words written on it: ‘ to an unknown god.’ You worship a god that you don’t know. This is the God I want to tell you about.

²⁴ “He is the God who made the whole world and everything in it. He is the Lord of the land and the sky. He does not live in temples built by human hands. ²⁵ He is the one who gives people life, breath, and everything else they need. He does not need any help from them. He has everything he needs. ²⁶ God began by making one man, and from him he made all the different people who live everywhere in the world. He decided exactly when and where they would live.

²⁷ “God wanted people to look for him, and perhaps in searching all around for him, they would find him. But he is not far from any of us. ²⁸ It is through him that we are able to live, to do what we do, and to be who we are. As your own poets have said, ‘We all come from him.’

²⁹ “That’s right. We all come from God. So you must not think that he is like something people imagine or make. He is not made of gold, silver, or stone. ³⁰ In the past people did not understand God, and he overlooked this. But now he is telling everyone in the world to change and turn to him. ³¹ He has decided on a day when he will judge all the people in the world in a way that is fair. To do this he will use a man he chose long ago. And he has proved to everyone that this is the man to do it. He proved it by raising him from death!”

³² When the people heard about Jesus being raised from death, some of them laughed. But others said, “We will hear more about this from you later.” ³³ So Paul left the council meeting. ³⁴ But some of the people joined with Paul and became believers. Among these were Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus council, a woman named Damaris, and some others.

Paul in Corinth

18 Later, Paul left Athens and went to the city of Corinth. ² There he met a Jewish man named Aquila, who was born in the country of Pontus. But he and his wife, Priscilla, had recently moved to Corinth from Italy. They left Italy because Claudius had given an order for all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to visit Aquila and Priscilla. ³ They were tentmakers, the same as Paul, so he stayed with them and worked with them.

⁴ Every Sabbath day Paul went to the synagogue and talked with both Jews and Greeks, trying to persuade them to believe in Jesus. ⁵ But after Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul spent all his time telling God’s message to the Jews, trying to convince them that Jesus is the Messiah. ⁶ But they disagreed with what Paul was teaching and started insulting him. So Paul shook the dust from his clothes.^[p] He said to them, “If you are not saved, it will be your own fault! I have done all I can do. After this I will go only to the non-Jewish people.”

⁷ Paul left the synagogue and moved into the home of Titius Justus, a man who was a worshiper of the true God. His house was next to the synagogue. ⁸ Crispus was the leader of that synagogue. He and all the people living in his house believed in the Lord Jesus. Many other people in Corinth also listened to Paul. They, too, believed and were baptized.

⁹ During the night, Paul had a vision. The Lord said to him, “Don’t be afraid, and don’t stop talking to people. ¹⁰ I am with you, and no one will be able to hurt you. Many of my people are in this city.” ¹¹ Paul stayed there for a year and a half teaching God’s message to the people.

Paul Is Brought Before Gallio

¹² During the time that Gallio was the governor of Achaia, some of the Jews came together against Paul. They took him to court. ¹³ They said to Gallio, “This man is teaching people to worship God in a way that is against our law!”

¹⁴ Paul was ready to say something, but Gallio spoke to the Jews. He said, “I would listen to you if your complaint was about a crime or other wrong. ¹⁵ But it is only about words and names—arguments about your own law. So you must solve this problem yourselves. I don’t want to be a judge of these matters.” ¹⁶ So Gallio made them leave the court.

¹⁷ Then they all grabbed Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue. They beat him before the court. But this did not bother Gallio.

Paul Returns to Antioch

¹⁸ Paul stayed with the believers for many days. Then he left and sailed for Syria. Priscilla and Aquila were also with him. At Cenchrea Paul cut off his hair,^[q] because he had made a promise to God. ¹⁹ Then they went to the city of Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. While Paul was in Ephesus, he went into the synagogue and talked with the Jews. ²⁰ They asked him to stay longer, but he refused. ²¹ He left them and said, “I will come back to you again if God wants me to.” And so he sailed away from Ephesus.

²² When Paul arrived at Caesarea, he went to Jerusalem and visited the church there. After that he went to Antioch. ²³ Paul stayed in Antioch for a while. Then he left there and went through the countries of Galatia and Phrygia. He traveled from town to town in these countries, helping all the followers of Jesus grow stronger in their faith.

Apollos in Ephesus and Corinth

²⁴ A Jew named Apollos came to Ephesus. Born in the city of Alexandria, he was an educated man who knew the Scriptures well. ²⁵ He had been taught about the Lord and was always excited^[r] to talk to people about Jesus. What he taught was right, but the only baptism he knew about was the baptism that John taught. ²⁶ Apollos began to speak very boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him speak, they took him to their home and helped him understand the way of God better.

²⁷ Apollos wanted to go to Achaia. So the believers in Ephesus helped him. They wrote a letter to the Lord’s followers in Achaia and asked them to accept Apollos. When he arrived there, he was a great help to those who had believed in Jesus because of God’s grace. ²⁸ He argued very strongly against the Jews before all the people. He clearly proved that the Jews were wrong. He used the Scriptures and showed that Jesus is the Messiah.

Paul in Ephesus

19 While Apollos was in the city of Corinth, Paul was visiting some places on his way to Ephesus. In Ephesus he found some other followers of the Lord. ² He asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”

These followers said to him, “We have never even heard of a Holy Spirit!”

³ Paul asked them, “So what kind of baptism did you have?”

They said, “It was the baptism that John taught.”

⁴ Paul said, “John told people to be baptized to show they wanted to change their lives. He told people to believe in the one who would come after him, and that one is Jesus.”

⁵ When these followers heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶ Then Paul laid his hands on them, and the Holy Spirit came on them. They began speaking different languages and prophesying. ⁷ There were about twelve men in this group.

⁸ Paul went into the synagogue and spoke very boldly. He continued doing this for three months. He talked with the Jews, trying to persuade them to accept what he was telling them about God’s kingdom. ⁹ But some of them became stubborn and refused to believe. In front of everyone, they said bad things about the Way. So Paul left these Jews and took the Lord’s followers with him. He went to a place where a man named Tyrannus had a school. There Paul talked with people every day. ¹⁰ He did this for two years. Because of this work, everyone in Asia, Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.

The Sons of Sceva

¹¹ God used Paul to do some very special miracles. ¹² Some people carried away handkerchiefs and clothes that Paul had used and put them on those who were sick. The sick people were healed, and evil spirits left them.

^13-14 Some Jews also were traveling around forcing evil spirits out of people. The seven sons of Sceva, one of the leading priests, were doing this. These Jews tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus to make the evil spirits go out of people. They all said, “By the same Jesus that Paul talks about, I order you to come out!”

¹⁵ But one time an evil spirit said to these Jews, “I know Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?”

¹⁶ Then the man who had the evil spirit inside him jumped on these Jews. He was much stronger than all of them. He beat them up and tore their clothes off. They all ran away from that house.

¹⁷ All the people in Ephesus, Jews and Greeks, learned about this. They were all filled with fear and gave great honor to the Lord Jesus. ¹⁸ Many of the believers began to confess, telling about all the evil things they had done. ¹⁹ Some of them had used magic. These believers brought their magic books and burned them before everyone. These books were worth about 50,000 silver coins.^{[s] 20} This is how the word of the Lord was spreading in a powerful way, causing more and more people to believe.

Paul Plans a Trip

²¹ After this, Paul made plans to go to Jerusalem. He planned to go through the regions of Macedonia and Achaia, and then go to Jerusalem. He thought, “After I visit Jerusalem, I must also visit Rome.” ²² Timothy and Erastus were two of his helpers. Paul sent them ahead to Macedonia. But he stayed in Asia for a while.

Trouble in Ephesus

²³ But during that time there was some trouble in Ephesus about the Way. This is how it all happened: ²⁴ There was a man named Demetrius. He worked with silver. He made little silver models that looked like the temple of the goddess Artemis. The men who did this work made a lot of money.

²⁵ Demetrius had a meeting with these men and some others who did the same kind of work. He told them, “Men, you know that we make a lot of money from our business. ²⁶ But look at what this man Paul is doing. Listen to what he is saying. He has convinced many people in Ephesus and all over Asia to change their religion. He says the gods that people make by hand are not real. ²⁷ I’m afraid this is going to turn people against our business. But there is also another problem. People will begin to think that the temple of the great goddess Artemis is not important. Her greatness will be destroyed. And Artemis is the goddess that everyone in Asia and the whole world worships.”

²⁸ When the men heard this, they became very angry. They shouted, “Great is Artemis, the goddess of Ephesus!” ²⁹ The whole city was thrown into confusion. The people grabbed Gaius and Aristarchus, men from Macedonia who were traveling with Paul, and rushed all together into the stadium. ³⁰ Paul wanted to go in and talk to the people, but the Lord’s followers did not let him go. ³¹ Also, some leaders of the country who were friends of Paul sent him a message telling him not to go into the stadium.

³² Some people were shouting one thing and others were shouting something else. The meeting was very confused. Most of the people did not know why they had come there. ³³ Some Jews made a man named Alexander stand before the crowd, and they told him what to say. Alexander waved his hand, trying to explain things to the people. ³⁴ But when the people saw that Alexander was a Jew, they all began shouting the same thing. For two hours they continued shouting, “Great is Artemis of Ephesus! Great is Artemis of Ephesus! Great is Artemis …!”

³⁵ Then the city clerk persuaded the people to be quiet. He said, “Men of Ephesus, everyone knows that Ephesus is the city that keeps the temple of the great goddess Artemis. Everyone knows that we also keep her holy rock.^{[t] 36} No one can deny this, so you should be quiet. You must stop and think before you do anything else.

³⁷ “You brought these men^[u] here, but they have not said anything bad against our goddess. They have not stolen anything from her temple. ³⁸ We have courts of law and there are judges. Do Demetrius and those men who work with him have a charge against anyone? They should go to the courts. Let them argue with each other there.

³⁹ “Is there something else you want to talk about? Then come to the regular town meeting of the people. It can be decided there. ⁴⁰ I say this because someone might see this trouble today and say we are rioting. We could not explain all this trouble, because there is no real reason for this meeting.” ⁴¹ After the city clerk said this, he told the people to go home.