All language subtitles for ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

the Acts of the Apostles Acts One

Theophilus, I first wrote to you about

all that Jesus did and taught from the

very first until he was taken up to

heaven but before he was taken up he

gave orders to the apostles he had

chosen with the help of the Holy Spirit

for 40 days after Jesus had suffered and

died he proved in many ways that he had

been raised from death he appeared to

his apostles and spoke to them about

God's kingdom while he was still with

them he said don't leave Jerusalem yet

wait here for the father to give you the

Holy Spirit just as I told you he has

promised to do John baptized with water

but in a few days you will be baptized

with the Holy Spirit while the apostles

were still with Jesus they asked him

Lord are you now going to give Israel

its own king again Jesus said to them

you don't need to know the time of those

events that only the father controls but

the Holy Spirit will come upon you and

give you power then you will tell

everyone about me in Jerusalem in all

Judea in Samaria and everywhere in the

world after Jesus had said this and

while they were watching he was taken up

into a cloud they could not see him but

as he went up they kept looking up into

the sky suddenly two men dressed in

white clothes were standing there beside

them they said why are you men from

Galilee standing here and looking up

into the sky Jesus has been taken to

heaven but he will come back in the same

way that you have seen him go the Mount

of Olives was about half a mile from

Jerusalem the apostles who had gone

there were Peter John, James, Andrew, Philip,

Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James

the son of Alphaeus, Simon known as the

Eager One, and Judas the son of James.

after the apostles returned to the city

they went upstairs to the room where

they had been staying the Apostles often

met together and prayed with a single

purpose in mind the women and Mary the

mother of Jesus would meet with them and

so would his brothers one day there were

about a hundred and twenty of the Lord's

followers meeting together and Peter

stood up to speak to them he said my

friends long ago by the power of the

Holy Spirit David said something about

Judas and what he said has now happened

Judas was one of us and had worked with

us but he brought the mob to arrest

Jesus then Judas bought some land with

the money he was given for doing that

evil thing he fell headfirst into the

field his body burst open and all his

insides came out when the people of

Jerusalem found out about this they

called the place Akeldama, which in the

local language means field of blood. in

the Book of Psalms David said leave his

house empty and don't let anyone live

there

it also says let someone else have his

job so we need someone else to help us

tell others that Jesus has been raised

from death he must also be one of the

men who was with us from the very

beginning he must have been with us from

the time the Lord Jesus was baptized by

John until the day he was taken to

heaven two men were suggested one of

them was Joseph Barsabbas,

known as justice, and the other was Matthias.

then they all pray Lord you

know what everyone is like show us the

one you have chosen to be an apostle and

to serve in place of Judas who got what

he deserved

they drew names and Matthias was chosen

to join the group of the eleven apostles

Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost all the

Lord's followers were together in one

place suddenly there was a noise from

heaven like the sound of a mighty wind

that filled the house where they were

meeting then they saw what looked like

fiery tongues moving in all directions

and a tongue came and settled on each

person there

the Holy Spirit took control of everyone

and they began speaking whatever

languages the spirit let them speak many

religious Jews from every country in the

world were living in Jerusalem and when

they heard this noise a crowd gathered

but they were surprised because they

were hearing everything in their own

languages they were excited and amazed

and said don't always who are speaking

come from Galilee then why do we hear

them speaking our very own languages

some of us are from Parthia, Media, and Elam.

others are from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia,

Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt,

parts of Libya near Cyrene, Rome,

Crete and Arabia. some of us were born

Jews and others of us have chosen to be

Jews. yet we all hear them using our old

languages to tell the wonderful things

God has done everyone was excited and

confused

some of them even kept asking each other

what does all this mean others made fun

of the Lord's followers and said they

are drunk Peter stood with the eleven

apostles and spoke in a loud and clear

voice to the crowd friends and everyone

else living in Jerusalem listen

carefully to what I have to say you are

wrong to think that these people are

drunk after all it is only nine o'clock

in the morning but this is what God had

the Prophet Joel say when the last days

come I will give my spirit to everyone

your sons and daughters will prophesy

your young men will see visions and your

old men will have dreams in those days I

will give my spirit to my servants both

men and women and they will prophesy I

will work miracles in the sky above and

wonders on the earth below there will be

blood and fire and clouds of smoke the

Sun will turn dark and the moon will be

as red as blood before the great and

wonderful day of the Lord appears then

the Lord will save everyone who asked

for his help

now listen to what I have to say about

Jesus from Nazareth God proved that he

sent Jesus to you by having him work

miracles wonders and signs all of you

know this God had already planned and

decided that Jesus would be handed over

to you so you took him and had evil men

put him to death on a cross

but God set him free from death and

raised him to life death could not hold

him in its power what David said are

really the words of Jesus I always see

the Lord near me and I will not be

afraid with him at my right side because

of this my heart will be glad my words

will be joyful and I will live in hope

the Lord won't leave me in the grave I

am his Holy One and he won't let my body

decay he has shown me the path to life

and he makes me glad by being near me my

friends it is right for me to speak to

you about our ancestor David he died and

was buried and his tomb is still here

but David was a prophet and he knew that

God had made a promise he would not

break he had told David that someone

from his own family with some day be

king David knew this would happen and so

he told us that Christ would be raised

to life he said that God would not leave

him in the grave or let his body decay

all of us can tell you that God has

raised Jesus to life

Jesus was taking up to sit at the right

side of God and he was given the Holy

Spirit just as the father had promised

Jesus is also the one who has given the

spirit to us and that is what you are

now seeing and hearing David didn't go

up to heaven so he wasn't talking about

himself when he said the Lord told my

Lord to sit at his right side until he

made my Lords enemies into a footstool

for him everyone in Israel should then

know for certain

that God has made Jesus both Lord and

Christ even though you put him to death

on a cross when the people heard this

they were very upset they asked Peter

and the other apostles friends what

shall we do

Peter said turn back to God be baptized

in the name of Jesus Christ so that your

sins will be forgiven then you will be

given the Holy Spirit this promise is

for you and your children it is for

everyone our Lord God will choose no

matter where they live

Peter told them many other things as

well then he said I beg you to save

yourselves from what will happen to all

these evil people on that day about

three thousand believed his message and

were baptized they spent their time

learning from the Apostles and they were

like family to each other they also

broke bread and prayed together everyone

was amazed by the many miracles and

wonders that the Apostles worked all the

Lord's followers often met together and

they shared everything they had they

would sell their property and

possessions and give the money to

whoever needed it day after day they met

together in the temple they broke bread

together in different homes and shared

their food happily and freely while

praising God everyone liked them and

each day the Lord added to their group

others who were being saved.

Acts 3. the time of prayer was about 3 o'clock

in the afternoon and Peter and

John were going into the temple a man

who had been born lame was being carried

to the temple door each day he was

placed beside this door known as the

beautiful gate he sat there and begged

from the people who were going in the

man saw Peter and John entering the

temple and he asked them for money but

they looked straight at him and said

look up at us the man stared at them and

thought he was going to get something

but Peter said I don't have any silver

or gold but I will give you what I do

have in the name of Jesus Christ from

Nazareth get up and start walking Peter

then took him by the right hand and

helped him up at once the man's feet and

ankles became strong and he jumped up

and started walking

he went with Peter and John into the

temple walking and jumping and praising

God everyone saw him walking around and

praising God they knew that he was the

beggar who had been lying decide the

beautiful gate and they were completely

surprised they could not imagine what

had happened to the man

while the man kept holding on to Peter

and John the whole crowd ran to them in

amazement at the place known as

Solomon's porch Peter saw that a crowd

had gathered and he said friends why are

you surprised at what has happened why

are you staring at us do you think we

have some power of our own do you think

we were able to make this man walk

because we are so religious the God that

Abraham Isaac Jacob and our other

ancestors worshipped has brought honor

to his servant Jesus he is the one you

betrayed you turned against him when he

was being tried by Pilate even though

Pilate wanted to set him free you

rejected Jesus who was holy and good you

asked for a murderer to be set free and

you killed the one who leads people to

life but God raised him from death and

all of us can tell you what he has done

you see this man and you know him he put

his faith in the name of Jesus and was

made strong faith in Jesus made this man

completely well while everyone was

watching my friends I am sure that you

and your leaders didn't know what you

were doing but God had his prophets tell

that his Messiah would suffer and now he

has kept that promise

so turn to God give up your sins and you

will be forgiven then that time will

come when the Lord will give you fresh

strength he will send you Jesus his

chosen Messiah but Jesus must stay in

heaven until God makes all things new

just as his holy prophets promised long

ago Moses said the Lord your God will

choose one of your own people to be a

prophet just as he chose me listen to

everything he tells you no one who

disobeys that prophet will be one of

God's people any longer

Samuel and all the other prophets who

came later also spoke about what is now

happening you are really the ones God

told his prophets to speak to and you

were given the promise that God made to

your ancestors he said to Abraham all

nations on earth will be blessed because

of someone from your family God sent His

chosen son to you first because God

wanted to bless you and make each one of

you turn away from your sins. Acts 4 the

apostles were still talking to the

people when some priests, the captain of the

the temple guard, and some Sadducees

arrived.

these men were angry because the

Apostles were teaching the people that

the dead would be raised from death just

as Jesus had been raised from death by

now it was already late in the afternoon

they arrested Peter and John and put

them in jail for the night. but a lot of

people who had heard the message

believed it, so by now there were about

5000 followers of the Lord the next

morning. the leaders the elders and the

teachers of Law of Moses met in Jerusalem.

The high priest Annas was there,

as well as Caiaphas, John, Alexander and

other members of the high priests family.

they brought in Peter and John and made

them stand in the middle while they

questioned them, they asked by what power

and in whose name have you done this.

Peter was filled with the holy spirit

and told the nation's leaders in the

elders you are questioning us today

about a kind deed in which a crippled

man was healed but there is something we

must tell you and everyone else in

Israel this man is standing here

completely well, because of the power of

Jesus Christ from Nazareth. you put Jesus

to death on a cross but God raised him

to life. he is the stone that you

builders thought was worthless and now

he is the most important stone of all

only Jesus has the power

save his name is the only one in all the

world that can save anyone

the officials were amazed to see how

brave Peter and John were and they knew

that these two apostles were only

ordinary men and not well educated the

officials were certain that these men

had been with Jesus but they could not

deny what had happened the man who had

been healed was standing there with the

apostles the officials commanded them to

leave the council room then the

officials said to each other what can we

do with these men

everyone in Jerusalem knows about this

- miracle and we cannot say it didn't
- happen but to keep this thing from

spreading

we will warn them never again to speak

to anyone about the name of Jesus so

they called the two apostles back in and

told them that they must never for any

reason teach anything about the name of

Jesus Peter and John answered do you

think God wants us to obey you or to

obey Him we cannot keep quiet about what

we have seen and heard the officials

could not find any reason to punish

Peter and John so they threatened them

and let them go

the man who was healed by this miracle

was more than forty years old and

everyone was praising God for what had

happened as soon as Peter and John had

been set free they went back and told

the others everything that the chief

priests and the leaders had said to them

when the rest of the Lord's followers

heard this they prayed together and said

master you created heaven and earth the

sea and everything in them and by the

Holy Spirit you spoke to our ancestor

David he was your servant and you told

him to say why are all the Gentiles so

furious why do people make foolish plans

the kings of Earth prepare for war and

the rulers joined together against the

Lord and his Messiah

here in Jerusalem Herod and Pontius

Pilate got together with the Gentiles

and the people of Israel then they

turned against your holy servant Jesus

your chosen Messiah they did what you in

your power and wisdom had already

decided would happen Lord listen to

their threats we are your servants so

make us brave enough to speak your

message show your mighty power as we

heal people and work miracles and

wonders in the name of your holy servant

Jesus after they had prayed the meeting

place shook they were all filled with

the Holy Spirit and bravely spoke God's

message the group of followers all felt

the same way about everything

none of them claimed that their

belongings were their own and they

shared everything they had with each

other in a powerful way the Apostles

told everyone that the Lord Jesus was

now alive God greatly blessed his

followers and no one went in need of

anything everyone who owned land or

houses would sell them and bring the

money to the Apostles then they would

give the money to anyone who needed it

Joseph was one of the followers who had

sold a piece of property and brought the

money to the Apostles he was a Levite

from Cyprus and the Apostles called him Barnabas

which means one who encourages others.

acts 5 Ananias and his wife Sapphira

also sold a piece of property

but they agreed to cheat and keep some

of the money for themselves. so when

Ananias took the rest of the money to

the Apostles Peter said why has Satan

made you keep back some of the money

from the sale of the property why have

you lied to the Holy Spirit the property

was yours before you sold it and even

after you sold it the money was still

yours what made you do such a thing you

didn't lie to people

you lied to God as soon as Ananias heard

this he dropped dead and everyone who

heard about it was

some young men came in and wrapped up

his body then they took it out and

buried it three hours later

Sapphira came in but she did not know

what had happened to her husband Peter

asked her tell me did you sell the

property for this amount yes she

answered that's the amount then Peter

said why did the two of you agree to

test the Lord's spirit the men who

buried Ananias are by the door and they

will carry you out at once she fell at

peter's feet and died when the young men

came back in they found Sapphira lying

there dead so they carried her out and

buried her beside her husband all the

church members were afraid and so was

everyone else who heard what had

happened the Apostles worked many

miracles and wonders among the people

all of the Lord's followers often met in

the part of the temple known as

Solomon's porch no one outside their

group dared join them even though

everyone liked them very much many men

and women started having faith in the

Lord

then sick people were brought out to the

road and placed on cots and mats it was

hoped that Peter would walk by and his

shadow would fall on them and heal them

a lot of people living in the towns near

Jerusalem brought those who were sick or

troubled by evil spirits and they were

all healed the high priest and all the

other Sadducee who were with him became

jealous they arrested the Apostles and

put them in the city jail but that night

an angel from the Lord opened the doors

of the jail and led the Apostles out the

angel said go to the temple and tell the

people everything about this new life so

they went into the temple before sunrise

and started teaching the high priest and

his men called together their counsel

which included all of Israel's leaders

then they ordered the Apostles to be

brought to them from the jail the

servants who were sent to the jail did

not find the Apostles they returned and

said

we found the jail locked tight and the

guard standing at the doors but when we

open the doors and went in we didn't

find anyone there the captain of the

temple guard and the chief priest

listened to their report but they did

not know what to think about it just

then someone came in and said right now

those men you put in jail are in the

temple teaching the people the captain

of the temple police went with some of

his servants and brought the Apostles

back but they did not use force they

were afraid that the people might start

throwing stones at them when the

apostles were brought before the council

the high priest said to them we told you

plainly not to teach in the name of

Jesus but look what you have done you've

been teaching all over Jerusalem and you

are trying to blame us for his death

Peter and the Apostles replied we don't

obey people we obey God you killed Jesus

by nailing him to a cross but the God

our ancestors worshipped raised him to

life and made him our leader and Savior

then God gave him a place at his right

side so that the people of Israel would

turn back to him and be forgiven we are

here to tell you about all this and so

is the Holy Spirit who is God's gift to

everyone who obeys God when the council

members heard this they became so angry

that they wanted to kill the Apostles

but one of them was the Pharisee

Gamaliel a highly respected teacher he

ordered the Apostles to be taken out of

the room for a little while then he said

to the council men of Israel be careful

what you do with these two men not long

ago through this claim to be someone

important and about four hundred men

joined him but he was killed all his

followers were scattered and that was

the end of that later when the people of

our nation were being counted

Judas from Galilee showed up a lot of

people followed him but he was killed

and all his followers were scattered so

I advise you to stay away from these men

leave them alone if what they are

planning is something of their own doing

it will fail but if God is behind it you

not stop it anyway unless you want to

fight against God the councilmembers

agreed with what he said and they called

the Apostles back in they had them

beaten with a whip and warned them not

to speak in the name of Jesus then they

let them go the Apostles left the

council and were happy because God had

considered them worthy to suffer for the

sake of Jesus every day they spent time

in the temple and in one home after

another they never stopped teaching and

telling the good news that Jesus is the

Messiah acts 6 a lot of people were now

becoming followers of the Lord but some

of the ones who spoke Greek

started complaining about the ones who

spoke Aramaic they complained that the

Greek speaking middles were not given

their share when the food supplies were

handed out each day the Twelve Apostles

called the whole group of followers

together and said we should not give up

preaching God's message in order to

serve at tables my friends choose seven

men who are respected and wise and

filled with God's Spirit we will put

them in charge of these things we can

spend our time praying and serving God

by preaching this suggestion pleased

everyone and they began by choosing Stephen.

He had great faith and was filled with

the Holy Spirit then they

chose Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon,

Parmenas, and also Nicolaus, who worshiped with the

with the Jewish people in Antioch. these

men were brought to the Apostles then

the Apostles prayed and placed their

hands on the men to show that they had

been chosen to do this work God's

message spread and many more people in

Jerusalem became followers even a large

number of priests put their faith in the

Lord. God gave Stephen the power to work

great miracles and wonders among the

people but some Jews from the Cyrene

and Alexandria were members of a group

who called themselves “Free Men.”

they started arguing with Stephen some

others from Cilicia and Asia also argued

with him. but they were no match for

Stephen who spoke with the great wisdom

that the spirit gave him. so they talked

some men into saying we heard Stephen

say terrible things against Moses and

God. they turned the people and their

leaders and the teachers of the law of

Moses against Stephen then they all

grabbed Stephen and dragged him in front

of the council some men agreed to tell

lies about Stephen and they said this

man keeps on saying terrible things

about this holy temple and the law of

Moses we have heard him claim that Jesus

from Nazareth will destroy this place

and change the customs that Moses gave

us then all the council members stared

at Stephen they saw that his face looked

like the face of an angel acts 7 the

high priest asked Stephen are they

telling the truth about you Stephen

answered friends listen to me our

glorious God appeared to our ancestor

Abraham while he was still in

Mesopotamia before he had moved to Haran.

God told him leave your country and your

relatives and go to a land that I will

show you then Abraham left the land of

the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. after

his father died Abraham came and settled

in this land where you now live God

didn't give him any part of it not even

a square foot. but God did promise to

give it to him and his family forever

even though Abraham didn't have any

children God said that Abraham's

descendants would live for a while in a

foreign land there they would be slaves

and would be mistreated for hundred

years but he also said I will punish the

nation that makes them slaves then later

they will come and worship me in this

place

God said to Abraham every son in each

family must be circumcised to show that

you have kept your agreement with me

so when Isaac was eight days old Abraham

circumcised him later

Isaac circumcised his son Jacob and

Jacobs circumcised his twelve sons

these men were our ancestors Joseph was

also one of our famous ancestors his

brothers were jealous of him and sold

him as a slave to be taken to Egypt but

God was with him and rescued him from

all his troubles God made him so wise

that the Egyptian King Pharaoh thought

highly of him Pharaoh even made Joseph

governor over Egypt and put him in

charge of everything he owned everywhere

in Egypt and Canaan the grain crops

failed there was terrible suffering and

our ancestors could not find enough to

eat but when Jacob heard that there was

grain in Egypt he sent our ancestors

there for the first time it was on their

second trip that Joseph told his

brothers who he was and Pharaoh learned

about Joseph's family Joseph sent for

his father and his relatives in all

there were 75 of them his father went to

Egypt and died there just as our

ancestors did later their bodies were

taken back to Shechem. and placed in the

tomb that Abraham had bought from the

sons of Hamor. finally the time came for

God to do what he had promised Abraham

by then the number of our people in

Egypt had greatly increased another king

was ruling Egypt and he didn't know

anything about Joseph he tricked our

ancestors and was cruel to them he even

made them leave their babies outside so

they would die during this time Moses

was born he was a very beautiful child

and for three months his parents took

care of him in their home then when they

were forced to leave him outside the

king's daughter found him and raised him

as her own son Moses was given the best

education in Egypt he was a strong man

and a powerful speaker when Moses was 40

years old he wanted to help the

Israelites because they were his own

people

one day he saw an Egyptian mistreating

one of them so he rescued the man and

killed the Egyptian Moses thought the

rest of his people would realize that

God was going to use him to set them

free but they didn't understand the next

day Moses saw two of his own people

fighting and he tried to make them stop

he said men

you are both Israelites why are you so

cruel to each other but the man who had

started the fight pushed Moses aside and

asked who made you our ruler and judge

are you going to kill me

just as you kill that Egyptian yesterday

when Moses heard this he ran away to

country of Midian. His two sons

sons were born there. forty years later

an angel appeared to Moses from a

burning bush in the desert near Mount

Sinai Moses was surprised by what he saw

he went closer to get a better look and

the Lord said I am the God who was

worshiped by your ancestors Abraham

Isaac and Jacob Moses started shaking

all over and didn't dare to look at the

bush the Lord said to him take off your

sandals the place where you are standing

is holy with my own eyes I have seen the

suffering of my people in Egypt I have

heard their groans and have come down to

rescue them now I am sending you back to

Egypt this was the same Moses that the

people rejected by saying who made you

our leader and judge God's angel had

spoken to Moses from the bush and God

had even sent the angel to help Moses

rescue the people and be their leader in

Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the

desert Moses rescued the people by

working miracles and wonders for 40

years Moses is the one who told the

people of Israel God will choose one of

your people to be a prophet just as he

chose me Moses brought our people

together in the desert and the angel

spoke to him on Mount Sinai there he was

given these life-giving words to pass on

to us but our ancestors refuse to obey

Moses they

checked in him and wanted to go back to

Egypt the people said to Aaron make some

gods to lead us Moses led us out of

Egypt but we don't know what's happened

to him now then they made an idol in the

shape of a calf they offered sacrifices

to the idol and were pleased with what

they had done God turned his back on his

people and left them then they worshiped

the stars in the sky just as it says in

the book of the prophets people of

Israel you didn't offer sacrifices and

offerings to me during those 40 years in

the desert

instead you carried the tent where the

Molech is worshiped, and you took

along the star of your god Rephan. and you

made those idols and worshipped them so

now I will have you carried off beyond

Babylonia the tent where our ancestors

worshiped God was with them in the

desert this was the same tent that God

had commanded Moses to make and it was

made like the model that Moses had seen

later it was given to our ancestors and

they took it with them when they went

with Joshua they carried the tent along

as they took over the land from those

people that God had chased out for them

our ancestors used this tent until the

time of King David he pleased God and

asked him if he could build a house of

worship for the people of Israel and it

was finally King Solomon who built a

house for God but the Most High God does

not live in houses made by humans it is

just as a prophet said when he spoke for

the Lord heaven is my throne and the

earth is my footstool

what kind of house will you build for me

in what place will I rest I have made

everything you've stubborn and

hard-headed people you are always

fighting against the holy spirit just as

your ancestors did is there one prophet

that your ancestors didn't mistreat they

killed the prophets who told about the

coming of the one who obeys God and now

you have turned against him and killed

him

angels gave you God's law but you still

don't obey it when the council members

heard Stephens speech they were angry

and furious but Stephen was filled with

the Holy Spirit he looked toward heaven

where he saw our glorious God and Jesus

standing at his right side then Stephen

said I see heaven open and the Son of

man standing at the right side of God

the council members shouted and covered

their ears at once they all attacked

Stephen and dragged him out of the city

then they started throwing stones at him

the men who had brought charges against

him put their coats at the feet of a

young man named Saul as Stephen was

being stoned to death he called out Lord

Jesus please welcome me he kneeled down

and shouted Lord don't blame them for

what they have done then he died.

acts 8 Saul approved the stoning of Stephen

some faithful followers of the Lord

buried Stephen and mourned very much for him.

at that time the church in Jerusalem

suffered terribly. all of the Lord's

followers except the apostles were

scattered everywhere in Judea and

Samaria. Saul started making a lot of

trouble for the church he went from

house to house arresting men and women

and putting them in jail. the Lord's

followers who had been scattered went

from place to place telling the good

news Phillip went to the town of Samaria

and told the people about Christ they

crowded around Phillip because they were

eager to hear what he was saying and to

see him work miracles

many people with evil spirits were

healed and the spirits went out of them

with a shout a lot of crippled and lame

people were also healed everyone in that

city was very glad because of what was

happening for some time

a man named Simon had lived in the city

of Samaria and had amazed the people he

practiced witchcraft and claimed to be

somebody great everyone rich in

poor crowded around him they said this

man is the power of God called the great

power for a long time Simon had used

witchcraft to amaze the people and they

kept crowding around him but when they

believed what Philip was saying about

God's kingdom and about the name of

Jesus Christ they were all baptized even

Simon believed and was baptized he

stayed close to Philip because he

marveled at all the miracles and wonders

when the Apostles in Jerusalem heard

that some people in Samaria had accepted

God's message they sent Peter and John

when the two apostles arrived they

prayed that the people would be given

the Holy Spirit before this the Holy

Spirit had not been given to anyone in

Samaria though some of them had been

baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus

Peter and John then placed their hands

on everyone who had faith in the Lord

and they were given the Holy Spirit

Simon noticed that the Spirit was given

only when the Apostles placed their

hands on the people so he brought money

and said to Peter in John let me have

this power to than anyone I placed my

hands on will also be given the Holy

Spirit Peter said to him you and your

money will both end up in hell if you

think you can by God's gift you don't

have any part in this and God sees that

your heart is not right get rid of these

evil thoughts and ask God to forgive you

I can see that you are jealous and bound

by your evil ways Simon said please pray

to the Lord so that what you said won't

happen to me after Peter and John had

preached about the Lord they returned to

Jerusalem on their way they told the

good news in many villages of Samaria

the Lord's angel said to Philip go south

along the desert road that leads from

Jerusalem to Gaza. so Philip left.

An important Ethiopian official happened to

be going along that road in his chariot

He was the chief treasurer for Candace,

the Queen of Ethiopia. the official had

gone to Jerusalem to worship and was now

on his way home. he was sitting in his

chariot reading the book

the prophet Isaiah. the spirit told

Philip to catch up with the chariot,

Philip ran up closed and heard the man

reading aloud from the Book of Isaiah.

Philip asked him do you understand what

you were reading? the official answered

how can I understand unless someone

helps me? he then invited Philip to come

up and sit beside him. the man was

reading the passage that said "he was led

like a sheep on its way to be killed". "he

was silent as a lamb whose wool is being

cut off" and he did not say a word. he was

treated like a nobody and did not

receive a fair trial. how can he have

children if his life is snatched away?

the official said to Philip tell me was

the prophet talking about himself or

about someone else? so Philip began at

this place in the scriptures and

explained the good news about Jesus. as

they were going along the road they came

to a place where there was some water

the official said

look here's some water why can't I be

baptized ?he ordered the chariot to stop

then. they both went down into the water

and Philip baptized him. after they had

come out of the water the Lord's spirit

took Philip away the official never saw

him again, but he was very happy as he

went on his way.

Philip later appeared in Azotus. he went

from town to town all the way to

Caesarea, telling people about Jesus.

Acts 9 Saul kept on threatening to kill the

Lord's followers he even went to the

high priest and asked for letters to the

Jewish leaders in Damascus, he did this

because he wanted to arrest and take to

Jerusalem any man or woman who had

accepted the Lord's way. when Saul had

almost reached Damascus a bright light

from heaven suddenly flashed around him

he fell to the ground and heard a voice

that said "Saul, Saul, why are you so cruel

to me? who are you? Saul asked

"I am Jesus the Lord answered" I am the One

you are so cruel, to now get up and go

into the city where you will be told

what to do"

the men with Saul's stood there

speechless they had heard the voice but

they had not seen anyone. Saul got up

from the ground and when he opened his

eyes he could not see a thing

someone then led him by the hand to

Damascus and for three days he was blind

and did not eat or drink. a follower

named Ananias lived in Damascus and the

Lord spoke to him in a vision Ananias

answered Lord Here I am the Lord said to

him get up and go to the house of Judas

on straight street when you get there

you will find a man named Saul from the

city of Tarsus Saul is praying and he

has seen a vision he saw a man named

Ananias coming to him and putting his

hands on him so that he could see again

Ananias replied Lord a lot of people

have told me about the terrible things

this man has done to your followers in

Jerusalem. now the chief priests have

given him the power to come here and

arrest anyone who worships in your name.

the Lord said to Ananias "Go, I have

chosen him to tell foreigners, kings, and

the people of Israel about me. I will

show him how much he must suffer for

worshiping in my name Ananias left and

went into the house where Saul was

staying

Ananias placed his hands on him and said

Saul the Lord Jesus has sent me he is

the same one who appeared to you along

the road he wants you to be able to see

and to be filled with the Holy Spirit

suddenly something like fish scales fell

from Saul's eyes and he could see he got

up and was baptized then he ate and felt

much better for several days Saul stayed

with the Lord's followers in Damascus

soon he went to the Jewish meeting

places and started telling people that

is the son of God everyone who heard saw

was amazed and said isn't this the man

who caused so much trouble for those

people in Jerusalem who worship in the

name of Jesus didn't he come here to

arrest them and take them to the chief

priests Saul preached with such power

that he completely confused the Jewish

people in Damascus as he tried to show

them that Jesus is the Messiah later

some of them made plans to kill Saul but

he found out about it he learned that

they were guarding the gates of the city

day and night in order to kill him

then one night his followers let him

down over the city wall in a large

basket when Saul arrived in Jerusalem he

tried to join the followers but they

were all afraid of him because they did

not believe he was a true follower then

Barnabas helped him by taking him to the

apostles he explained how on the road to

Damascus Saul had seen the Lord and how

the Lord had spoken to saw Barnabas also

said that when Saul was in Damascus he

had spoken bravely in the name of Jesus

saw moved about freely with the

followers in Jerusalem and told everyone

about the Lord he was always arguing

with the Jews who spoke Greek and so

they tried to kill him but the followers

found out about this and took Saul to

Caesarea from there they sent him to the

city of Tarsus the church in Judea

Galilee in Samaria now had a time of

peace and kept on worshipping the Lord

the church became stronger as the Holy

Spirit encouraged it and helped it grow

while Peter was traveling from place to

place he visited the Lord's followers

who lived in the town of of Lydda. there he

met a man named Aeneas, who for eight

years had been sick in bed and could not

move. Peter said to Aeneas Jesus Christ

has healed you, get up and make up your

bed right away.

he stood up many people in the towns of

Lydda and Sharon saw Aeneas and became

followers of the Lord.

In Joppa there was a follower named Tabitha.

her Greek name was Dorcas, which means “deer.”

she was always doing good

things for people and had given much to

the poor but she got sick and died and

her body was washed and placed in an

upstairs room. Joppa was not far from Lydda,

and the followers heard that Peter

was there they sent two men to say to

him please come with us as quickly as

you can.

right away Peter went with them the men

took Peter upstairs into the room many

widows were there crying. they showed him

the coats and clothes that Dorcas had

made while she was still alive. after

Peter had sent everyone out of the room

he kneeled down and prayed then he

turned to the body of Dorcas and said

Tabitha get up the woman opened her eyes

and when she saw Peter she sat up. he

took her by the hand and helped her to her feet.

Peter called in the widows and

the other followers and showed them that

Dorcas had been raised from death

everyone in Joppa heard what had

happened and many of them put their

faith in the Lord. Peter stayed on for a

while in Joppa in the house of a man

named Simon who made leather. acts 10 in

Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius

who was the captain of a group of

soldiers called the Italian unit

Cornelius was a very religious man he

worshiped God and so did everyone else

who lived in his house he had given a

lot of money to the poor and was always

praying to God one afternoon at about

3 o'clock,

Cornelius had a vision he saw an angel

from God coming to him and calling him

by name Cornelius was surprised and

stared of the angel then he asked what

is this all about the angel answered God

has heard your prayers and knows about

your gifts to the poor now send some men

to Joppa for a man named Simon Peter he

is visiting with

in the leather maker who lives in a

house near the sea after saying this the

angel left cornelius called in two of

his servants and one of his soldiers who

worshipped God he explained everything

to them and sent them off to Joppa the

next day about noon

these men were coming near to Joppa

Peter went up on the roof of the house

to pray and became very hungry while the

food was being prepared he fell sound

asleep and had a vision he saw heaven

open and something came down like a huge

sheet held up by its four corners in it

were all kinds of animals snakes and

birds a voice said to him Peter get up

kill these and to eat them but Peter

said Lord I can't do that I've never

eaten anything that is unclean and not

fit to eat the voice spoke to him again

when God says that something can be used

for food don't say it isn't fit to eat

this happened three times before the

sheet was suddenly taken back to heaven

Peter was still wondering what all of

this meant when the men sent by

Cornelius came and stood at the gate

they had found their way to Simon's

house and were asking if Simon Peter was

staying there while Peter was still

thinking about the vision the Holy

Spirit said to him three men are here

looking for you hurry down and go with

them don't worry

I sent them Peter went down and said to

the men I am the one you were looking

for why have you come they answered

captain Cornelius sent us he is a good

man and worships God all the Jewish

people like him one of God's holy angels

told Cornelius to send for you so he

could hear what you have to say Peter

invited them to spend the night the next

morning Peter and some of the Lord's

followers in Joppa left with the men who

had come from Cornelius the next day

they all arrived in Caesarea where

Cornelius was waiting for them

he had also invited his relatives and

close friends

when Peter arrived Cornelius greeted him

then he kneeled at Peter's feet and

started worshipping him but Peter took

hold of him and said stand up

I am nothing more than a human as Peter

entered the house he was still talking

with Cornelius many people were there

and Peter said to them you know that we

Jews are not allowed to have anything to

do with other people but God has shown

me that he doesn't think anyone is

unclean or unfit I agreed to come here

but I want to know why you sent for me

Cornelius answered four days ago at

about three o'clock in the afternoon I

was praying at home suddenly a man in

bright clothes stood in front of me he

said Cornelius God has heard your

prayers that he knows about your gifts

to the poor now send to Joppa for Simon

Peter he is visiting in the home of

Simon the leather maker who lives near

the sea I sent for you right away and

you have been good enough to come all of

us are here in the presence of the Lord

God so that we could hear what he has to

say

Peter then said now I am certain that

God treats all people alike God is

pleased with everyone who worships him

and does right no matter what nation

they come from this is the same message

that God gave to the people of Israel

when he sent Jesus Christ the Lord of

all to offer peace to them you surely

know what happened everywhere in Judea

it all began in Galilee after John had

told everyone to be baptized God gave

the Holy Spirit and power to Jesus from

Nazareth he was with Jesus as he went

around doing good and healing everyone

who was under the power of the devil we

all saw what Jesus did both in Israel

and in the city of Jerusalem Jesus was

put to death on a cross but three days

later God raised him to life and let him

be seen not everyone saw him he was seen

only by us who ate and drank with him

after he was raised from death we were

the ones God chose to tell others about

him

God told us to announce clearly to the

people that Jesus is the one he has

chosen to judge the living and the dead

every one of the prophets has said that

all who have faith in Jesus will have

their sins forgiven in his name while

Peter was still speaking the Holy Spirit

took control of everyone who was

listening some Jewish followers of the

Lord had come with Peter and they were

surprised that the Holy Spirit had been

given to Gentiles now they were hearing

Gentiles speaking unknown languages and

praising God

Peter said these Gentiles have been

given the Holy Spirit just as we have I

am certain that no one would dare stop

us from baptizing them

Peter ordered them to be baptized in the

name of Jesus Christ and they asked him

to stay on for a few days acts 11 the

Apostles and the followers in Judea

heard that Gentiles had accepted God's

message so when Peter came to Jerusalem

some of the Jewish leaders started

arguing with him

they wanted Gentile followers to be

circumcised and they said you stayed in

the homes of Gentiles when you even ate

with them then Peter told them exactly

what had happened I was in the town of

Joppa and was praying when I fell sound

asleep and had a vision I saw heaven

open and something like a huge sheet

held by it's four corners came down to

me when I looked in it I saw animals

wild beasts snakes and birds I heard a

voice saying to me Peter get up kill

these and eat them but I said Lord I

can't do that I've never taken a bite of

anything that is unclean and not fit to

eat the voice from heaven spoke to me

again when God says that something can

be used for food

don't say it isn't fit to eat this

happened three times before it was all

taken back into heaven

suddenly three men from Caesarea stood

in front of the house where I was

staying the Holy Spirit told me to go

with them and not to worry then six of

the Lord's followers went with me to the

home of a man who told us that an angel

had appeared to

him the angel had ordered him to send to

Joppa for someone named Simon Peter then

Peter would tell him how he and everyone

in his house could be saved after I

started speaking the Holy Spirit was

given to them just as the Spirit had

been given to us at the beginning I

remember that the Lord had said John

baptized with water but you will be

baptized with the Holy Spirit God gave

those Gentiles the same gift that he

gave us when we put our faith in the

Lord Jesus Christ so how could I have

gone against God when the Jewish leaders

heard Peter say this they stopped

arguing and started praising God they

said God has now let Gentiles turned to

him and he has given life to them some

of the Lord's followers had been

scattered because of the terrible

trouble that started when Stephen was

killed they went as far as Phoenicia

Cyprus and Antioch but they told the

message only to the Jews some of the

followers from Cyprus and Cyrene II went

to Antioch and started telling Gentiles

the good news about the Lord Jesus the

Lord's power was with them and many

people turned to the Lord and put their

faith in Him news of what was happening

reached the church in Jerusalem then

they sent Barnabas to Antioch when

Barnabas got there and saw what God had

been kind enough to do for them he was

very glad so he begged them to remain

faithful to the Lord with all their

hearts Barnabas was a good man of great

faith and he was filled with the Holy

Spirit many more people turned to the

Lord

Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul

he found Saul and brought him to Antioch

where they met with the church for a

whole year and taught many of its people

there in Antioch the Lord's followers

were first called Christians during this

time some prophets from Jerusalem came

to Antioch one of them was Agabus. then

with the help of the Spirit he told that

there would be a terrible famine

everywhere in the world and it happened

when Claudius was Emperor the followers

in Antioch decided to send whatever help

they could to the followers in Judea. so

they had Barnabas and Saul take their

gifts to the church leaders in Jerusalem

acts 12 at that time King Herod caused

terrible suffering for some members of

the church he ordered soldiers to cut

off the head of James the brother of

John when Herod saw that this pleased

the Jewish people he had Peter arrested

during the feast of thin bread he put

Peter in jail and ordered four squads of

soldiers to guard him

Herod planned to put him on trial in

public after the feast while Peter was

being kept in jail the church never

stopped praying to God for him the night

before Peter was to be put on trial he

was asleep and bound by two chains a

soldier was guarding him on each side

and two other soldiers were guarding the

entrance to the jail suddenly an angel

from the Lord appeared and light flashed

around in the cell the angel poked Peter

in the side and woke him up then he said

quick get up the chains fell off his

hands and the angel said get dressed and

put on your sandals Peter did what he

was told then the angel said now put on

your coat and follow me Peter left with

the angel but he thought everything was

only a dream they went past the two

groups of soldiers and when they came to

the iron gate to the city it opened by

itself they went out and were going

along the street when all at once the

angel disappeared Peter now realized

what had happened and he said I am

certain that the Lord sent his angel to

rescue me from Herod and from everything

that Jewish leaders planned to do to me

then Peter went to the house of Mary the

mother of John whose other name was mark

many of the Lord's followers had come

together there and were praying

Peter knocked on the gate and a servant

named Rhoda came to the door

when she heard Peters voice she was too

excited to open the gate she ran back

into the house and said that Peter was

standing there. everyone told her you are

crazy but she kept saying that it was

Peter then they said it was because

angel but Peter kept on knocking until

finally they opened the gate. they saw

him and were completely amazed

Peter motion for them to keep quiet then

he told how the Lord had led him out of

jail

he also said tell James and the others

what has happened after that he left and

went somewhere else the next morning the

soldiers who had been on guard were

terribly worried and wondered what had

happened to Peter Herod ordered his own

soldiers to search for him but they

could not find him then he questioned

the guards and had them put to death

after this Herod left Judea to stay in

Caesarea for a while Herod and the people of

Tyre and Sidon were very angry

with each other but their country got

its food supply from the region that he

ruled so a group of them went to see

Blastus, who was one of Herod's high

officials they convinced Blastus, that

they wanted to make peace between their

cities and Herod and a day was set for

them to meet with him Herod came dressed

in his royal robes. he sat down on his

throne and made a speech the people

shouted you speak more like a God than a

man at once an angel from the Lord

struck him down because he took the

honor that belonged to God, later Herod

was eaten by worms and died.

God's message kept spreading and after

Barnabas and Saul had done the work they

were sent to do they went back to

Jerusalem with John whose other name was Mark.

Acts 13 the church at Antioch had

several prophets and teachers they were

Barnabas, Simeon, also called Niger,

Lucius from Cyrene,

Manaen, who was Herod's close friend and

saw while they were worshiping the Lord

and going without eating.

holy spirit told them “Appoint Barnabas

and Saul to do the work for which I have

chosen them everyone prayed and went

without eating for a while longer.

next they placed their hands on Barnabas

and Saul to show that they had been

appointed to do this work

then everyone sent them on their way

after Barnabas and Saul had been sent by

the Holy Spirit they went to Seleucia.

from there they sailed to the island of

Cyprus they arrived at Salamis and began

to preach God's message. in the Jewish

meeting places they also had John as a

helper they went all the way to the city

of Paphos on the other end of the island

where they met a Jewish man named Bar-Jesus.

he practiced witchcraft and was a

false prophet. he also worked for Sergius Paulus,

who was very smart and was the

governor of the island. Sergius Paulus

wanted to hear God's message and he sent

for Barnabas and Saul. but Bar-Jesus

whose other name was Elymas was against

them even tried to keep the governor

from having faith in the Lord. then Saul

better known as Paul was filled with the

Holy Spirit, he looked straight at Elymas

and said you, son of the devil,

You are a liar, a crook, and an enemy of

everything that is right. When will you

stop speaking against the true ways of

the Lord?

the Lord is going to punish you by

making you completely blind for a while.

suddenly the man's eyes were covered by

a dark mist and he went around trying to

get someone to lead him by the hand when

the governor saw what had happened he

was amazed at this teaching about the

Lord so he put his faith in the Lord

Paul and the others left a fuss and

sailed to Perga in Pamphylia. But John

left them and went back to Jerusalem. the

rest of them went on from

Perga to Antioch in Pisidia.

then on the Sabbath they went to the

Jewish meeting place and sat down

after the reading of the law and the

prophets the leaders sent someone over

to tell Paul and Barnabas, "friends if you

have anything to say that will help the

people please say it". Paul got up he

motioned with his hand and said people

of Israel and everyone else who worships

God listen the God of Israel chose our

ancestors and he let our people prosper

while they were living in Egypt then

with his mighty power he led them out

and for about forty years he took care

of them in the desert he destroyed seven

nations in the land of Canaan and gave

their land to our people all this

happened in about 450 years then God

gave our people judges until the time of

the prophet Samuel but the people

demanded a king so for forty years God

gave them King Saul the son of Kish from

the tribe of Benjamin. later God removed

Saul and let David rule in his place. God

said about him David the son of Jesse is

the kind of person who pleases me most

he does everything I want him to do God

promised that someone from David's

family would come to save the people of

Israel and Jesus is that one but before

Jesus came John was telling everyone in

Israel to turn back to God and be

baptized then when John's work was

almost done he said who do you people

think I am do you think I am the

Promised One

he will come later and I am not good

enough to untie his sandals now listen

you descendants of Abraham pay attention

all you Gentiles who are here to worship

God listen to this message about how to

be saved because it is for everyone the

people of Jerusalem and their leaders

didn't realize who Jesus was and they

didn't understand the words of the

prophets that they read each Sabbath so

they condemned Jesus just as the

prophets

said they did exactly what the

scriptures said they would even though

they couldn't find any reason to put

Jesus to death

they still asked Pilate to have him

killed after Jesus had been put to death

he was taken down from the cross and put

in a tomb but God raised him from death

then for many days Jesus appeared to his

followers who had gone with him from

Galilee to Jerusalem now they are

telling our people about him God made a

promise to our ancestors and we are here

to tell you the good news that he has

kept this promise to us it is just as

the second Psalm says about Jesus you

are my son because today I have become

your father God raised Jesus from death

and will never let his body decay it is

just as God said I will make to you the

same holy promise that I made to David

and in another Psalm it says God will

never let the body of his Holy One decay

when David was alive he obeyed God then

after he died he was buried in the

family grave and his body decayed but

God raised Jesus from death and his body

did not decay my friends the message is

that Jesus can forgive your sins the law

of Moses could not set you free from all

your sins but everyone who has faith in

Jesus is set free make sure that what

the prophets have said doesn't happen to

you they said look you people who make

fun of God be amazed and disappear I

will do something today that you won't

believe even if someone tells you about

it as Paul and Barnabas were leaving the

meeting the people begged them to say

more about these same things on the next

Sabbath after the service many Jews and

a lot of Gentiles who worshipped God

went with them Paul and Barnabas begged

them all to remain faithful to God who

had been so kind to them then

Sabbath almost everyone in town came to

hear the message about the Lord when the

Jewish people saw the crowds that were

very jealous they insulted Paul and

spoke against everything he said but

Paul and Barnabas bravely said we had to

tell God's message to you before we told

it to anyone else but you rejected the

message this proves that you don't

deserve eternal life now we are going to

the Gentiles the Lord has given us this

command I have placed you here as a

light for the Gentiles you are to take

the saving power of God to people

everywhere on earth this message made

the Gentiles glad and they praised what

they had heard about the Lord everyone

who had been chosen for eternal life

then put their faith in the Lord the

message about the Lord spread all over

that region but the Jewish leaders went

to some of the important men in the town

and to some respected women who were

religious they turned them against Paul

and Barnabas and started making trouble

for them they even chased them out of

that part of the country Paul and Barnabas

shook the dust from that place off their feet

and went on to the city of Iconium.

but the Lord's followers in

Antioch were very happy and were filled

with the Holy Spirit. Acts 14. Paul and

Barnabas spoken the Jewish meeting place

in Iconium just as they had done at

Antioch and many Jews and Gentiles put

their faith in the Lord but the Jews who

did not have faith in him made the other

Gentiles angry and turned them against

the Lord's followers Paul and Barnabas

stay there for a while having faith in

the Lord and bravely speaking his

message the Lord gave them the power to

work miracles and wonders and he showed

that their message about his great

kindness was true the people of Iconium

did not know what to think

some of them believed the Jewish group

and others believed the Apostles finally

some Gentiles and Jews together with

their leaders decided to make trouble

for

Paul and Barnabus and to kill them by

throwing stones at them but when the two

apostles found out what was happening

they escaped to the region of Laconia

they preached the good news there. in the

towns of Lystra and Derbe and in the

nearby countryside in Lystra there was a

man who had been born with crippled feet

and had never been able to walk. the man

was listening to Paul speak when Paul

saw that he had faith in Jesus and could

be healed. so he looked straight at the

man and shouted stand up! the man jumped

up and started walking around, when the

crowd saw what Paul had done they yelled

out in the language of like only they

gave Barnabas the name Zeus and they

gave Paul the name Hermes because he did

the talking the Temple of Zeus was near

the entrance to the city its priests and

the crowds wanted to offer a sacrifice

to Barnabas and Paul so the priest

brought some bulls and flowers to the

city gates when the two apostles found

out about this they tore their clothes

in horror and ran to the crowd shouting

why are you doing this we are humans

just like you please give up all this

foolishness turn to the Living God who

made the sky the earth the sea and

everything in them in times past God led

each nation go its own way but he showed

that he was there by the good things he

did God sends rain from heaven and makes

your crops grow

he gives food to you and makes your

hearts glad even after Paul and Barnabas

had said all this they could hardly keep

the people from offering a sacrifice to

them some Jewish leaders from Antioch

and Iconium came and turned the crowds

against Paul they hit him with stones

and dragged him out of the city thinking

he was dead but when the Lord's

followers gathered around Paul he stood

up and went back into the city. the next day

he and Barnabas went to Derbe.

Paul and Barnabas preached the good news in

Derby won some

people to the Lord. then

they went back to Lystra, Iconium, and

Antioch in Pisidia. they encouraged the

followers and begged them to remain

faithful they told them we have to

suffer a lot before we get into God's

kingdom. Paul and Barnabas chose some of

those who had faith in the Lord to be

leaders for each of the churches then

they went without eating and prayed that

the Lord would take good care of these

leaders Paul and Barnabas went on

through presidio to Pamphylia where

they preached in the town of Perga. they

went down to Attalia and sailed to

Antioch, in Syria. it was there that they

had been placed in God's care for the

work. they had now completed after

arriving in Antioch. they called the

church together they told the people

what God had helped them do and how he

had made it possible for the Gentiles to

believe then they stayed there with the

followers for a long time

acts 15 some people came from Judea and

started teaching the Lord's followers

that they could not be saved unless they

were circumcised as Moses had taught

this caused trouble and Paul and

Barnabas argued with them about this

teaching so it was decided to send Paul

and Barnabas and a few others to

Jerusalem to discuss this problem with

the Apostles and the church leaders the

men who were sent by the church went

through Phoenicia and Samaria and told

how the Gentiles had turned to God this

news may the Lord's followers very happy

when the men arrived in Jerusalem they

were welcomed by all the church

including the Apostles and the leaders

they told them everything that God had

helped them do but some Pharisees had

become followers of the Lord they stood

up and said Gentiles who have faith in

the Lord must be circumcised and told to

obey the law of Moses the Apostles and

church leaders met to discuss this

problem about Gentiles they had talked

it over for a long time when Peter got

up and said my friends you know that God

decided long ago to let me be the one

from your group to preach the good news

to the Gentiles God did this so that

they would hear and obey him he knows

what is in everyone's heart and he'd

showed that he had chosen the Gentiles

when he gave them the Holy Spirit just

as he had given his spirit to us God

treated them in the same way that he

treated us they put their faith in him

and he made their hearts pure now why

are you trying to make God angry by

placing a heavy burden on these

followers this burden was too heavy for

us or our ancestors but our Lord Jesus

was kind to us Jews and we are saved by

faith in Him just as the Gentiles are

everyone kept quiet and listened as

Barnabas and Paul told how God had given

them the power to work a lot of miracles

and wonders for the Gentiles after they

had finished speaking James said

my friends listen to me Simon Peter has

told how God first came to the Gentiles

and made some of them his own people

this agrees with what the prophets wrote

I the Lord will return and rebuild

David's fallen house I will build it

from its ruins and set it up again then

other nations will turn to me and be my

chosen ones I the Lord's say this I

promised it long ago and so my friends I

don't think we should place burdens on

the Gentiles who are turning to God we

should simply write and tell them not to

eat anything that has been offered to

idols they should be told not to eat the

meat of any animal that has been

strangled or that still has blood in it

they must also not commit any terrible

sexual sins we must remember that the

law of Moses has been preached in City

after City for many years and every

Sabbath it is read when we Jews meet the

apostles the leaders and all the church

members decided to send some men to

Antioch, along with Paul and Barnabas

They chose Silas and Judas Barsabbas, who

were two leaders of the Lord's followers.

they wrote a letter that said we

apostles and leaders sent friendly

greetings to all you Gentiles who are

followers of the Lord in Antioch Syria

and Cilicia we have heard that some

people from here have terribly upset you

by what they said but we did not send

them so we met together and decided to

choose some men and to send them to you

along with our good friends Barnabas and

Paul these men have risked their lives

for our Lord Jesus Christ. we are also

sending Judas and Silas, who will tell

you in person the same things that we

are writing the Holy Spirit has shown us

that we should not place any extra

burden on you but you should not eat

anything offered to idols you should not

eat any meat that still has the blood in

it or any meat of any animal that has

been strangled we must also not commit

any terrible sexual sins if you follow

these instructions you will do well

we send our best wishes the four men

left Jerusalem and went to Antioch then

they called all the church members

together and gave them the letter when

the letter was read it made everyone

glad and gave them lots of encouragement

Judas and Silas were prophets and they

spoke a long time encouraging and

helping the Lord's followers the men

from Jerusalem stayed on in Antioch for

a while and when they left to return to

the ones who had sent them the followers

wished them well but Silas Paul and

Barnabas stayed on in Antioch where they

and many others taught and preached

about the Lord

some time later Paul said to Barnabas

let's go back and visit the Lord's

followers in all the cities where we

preached his message then we will know

how they are doing Barnabas wanted to

take along John whose other name was

Mark but Paul did not want to because

Mark had left them in Pamphylia and had

stopped working with them Paul and

Barnabas argued then each of them went

his own way Barnabas took mark and

sailed to Cyprus but Paul took Silas and

left after the followers had placed them

in God's care they traveled through

Syria and Cilicia encouraging the churches.

Acts 16. Paul and Silas went

back to Derbe and Lystra, where there was

a follower named Timothy.

his mother was also a follower

she was Jewish and his father was Greek

the Lord's followers in Lystra and

Iconium said good things about Timothy.

and Paul wanted him to go with them but

Paul first had him circumcised because

all the Jewish people around there knew

that Timothy's father was Greek as Paul

and the others went from city to city

they told the followers what the

Apostles and leaders in Jerusalem had

decided and they urged them to follow

these instructions the churches became

stronger in their faith and each day

more people put their faith in the Lord

Paul and his friends went through

Phrygia and Galatia, but the holy spirit

would not let them preach in Asia. after

they arrived in Mysia, they tried to go

into Bithynia, but the spirit of Jesus

would not let them. so they went on

Mysia until they came to Troas.

during the night Paul had a vision of

someone from Macedonia who was standing

there and begging him "come over to

Macedonia and help us". after Paul had

seen the vision, we began looking for a

way to go to Macedonia. we were sure that

God had called us to preach the good

news there. we sailed from Troas

to Samothrace, the next day

we arrived in Neapolis. we went

to Philippi which is a Roman colony in

the first district of Macedonia we spent

several days in Philippi then on the

Sabbath we went outside the city gate to

a place by the river where we thought

there would be a Jewish meeting place

for prayer we sat down and talked with

the women, who came. One of them was Lydia,

who was from the city of Thyatira and

sold expensive purple cloth. she was a

worshiper of the Lord God. and he made

her willing to accept what Paul was

saying then after she and her family

were baptized, she kept on begging us if

you think I really do have faith in the

Lord come stay in my home finally we

accepted her invitation one day on our

way to the place of Prayer we were met

by a slave girl she had a spirit in her

that gave her the power to tell the

future by doing this she made a lot of

money for her owners the girl followed

Paul and the rest of us and kept yelling

[Music]

this went on for several days finally

Paul got so upset that he turned and

said to the spirit in the name of Jesus

Christ I order you to leave this girl

alone at once the evil spirits left her

when the girls owners realized that they

had lost all chances for making more

money they grabbed Paul and Silas and

dragged them into court they told the

officials these Jews are upsetting our

city they are telling us to do things we

Romans are not allowed to do the crowd

joined in the attack on Paul and Silas

then the officials tore the clothes off

the two men and ordered them to be

beaten with a whip after they had been

badly beaten they were put in jail and

the jailer was told to guard them

carefully the jailer did as he was told

he put them deep inside the jail and

chained their feet to heavy blocks of

wood about midnight Paul and Silas were

praying and singing praises to God while

the other prisoners listened suddenly a

strong earthquake shook the jail to its

foundations the doors opened and the

chains fell from all the prisoners when

the jailer woke up and saw that the

doors were open he thought that the

prisoners had escaped he pulled out his

sword and was about to kill himself but

Paul shouted don't harm yourself no one

has escaped the jailer asked for a torch

and went into the jail he was shaking

all over

as he kneeled down in front of Paul and

Silas after he had led them out of the

jail he asked what must I do to be saved

they replied have faith in the Lord

Jesus and you will be saved this is also

true for everyone who lives in your home

then Paul and Silas told him and

everyone else in his house about the

Lord while it was still night the jailer

took them to a place where he could wash

their cuts and bruises then he and

everyone in his home were baptized

they were very glad that they had put

their faith in God

after this the jailer took Paul and

Silas to his home and gave them

something to eat

the next morning the officials sent some

police with orders for the jailer to let

Paul and Silas go

the jailer told Paul the officials have

ordered me to set you free

now you can leave in peace but Paul told

the police

we are Roman citizens and the Roman

officials had us beaten in public

without giving us a trial they threw us

into jail now do they think they can

secretly send us away no they cannot

they will have to come here themselves

and let us out when the police told the

officials that Paul and Silas were Roman

citizens the officials were afraid so

they came and apologized

they led them out of the jail and asked

them to please leave town but Paul and

Silas went straight to the home of Lydia

where they saw the Lord's followers and

encouraged them then they left

Acts 17 After Paul and his friends had

traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia,

they went on to Thessalonica a

Jewish meeting place was in that city so

as usual

Paul went there to worship and on three

Sabbath's he spoke to the people he used

the scriptures to show them that the

Messiah had to suffer but that he would

rise from death Paul also told them that

Jesus is the Messiah he was preaching

about some of the Jews believed what

Paul had said and they became followers

with Paul and Silas some Gentiles and

many important women also believes the

message the Jewish leaders were jealous

and got some worthless bums who hung

around the marketplace to start a riot

in the city. they wanted to drag Paul and

Silas out to the mob and so they went

straight to Jason's home but when they

did not find them there, they dragged out

Jason and some of the Lord's followers

they took them to the city authorities

and shouted Paul and Silas have been

upsetting things everywhere now they

have come here and Jason has welcomed

them into his home

all of them break the laws

the Roman Emperor by claiming that

someone named Jesus is king the

officials and all the people were upset

when they heard this so they made Jason

and the other followers pay bail before

they would let them go that same night

the Lord's followers sent Paul and Silas

on to Berea and after they arrived they

went to the Jewish meeting place the

people in Berea were much nicer than

those in Thessalonica and they gladly

accepted the message day after day they

studied the scriptures to see if these

things were true many of them put their

faith in the Lord

including some important Greek women in

several men when the Jewish leaders in

Thessalonica heard that Paul had been

preaching God's message in Berea they

went there and caused trouble by turning

the crowds against Paul right away the

followers sent Paul down to the coast

but Silas and Timothy stayed in

Thessalonica some men went with Paul as

far as Athens they returned with

instructions for Silas and Timothy to

join them as soon as possible while Paul

was waiting in Athens he was upset to

see all the idols in the city he went to

the Jewish meeting place to speak to the

Jews and to anyone who worshiped with

them day after day he also spoke to

everyone he met in the market some of

them were Epicureans and some were

strikes and they started arguing with

him people are asking what is this

know-it-all trying to say some even said

Paul must be preaching about foreign

gods that's what he means when he talks

about Jesus and about people rising from

death. they brought Paul before a council

called the Areopagus, and said tell us

what your new teaching is all about

we've heard you say some strange things

we want to know what it means more than

anything else the people of Athens and

the foreigners living there loved to

hear and to talk about anything new so

Paul stood up in front of the council

and said people of Athens, I see that you

are very religious as I was going

through your City and looking at the

things you worship

I found an altar with

the words to an unknown God. you worship

this God but you don't really know him.

so I want to tell you about him this God

made the world and everything in it he

is Lord of Heaven and Earth and he

doesn't live in temples built by human

hands he doesn't need help from anyone

he gives life breath and everything else

to all people from one person God made

all nations who live on earth and he

decided when and where every nation

would be God has done all this so that

we will look for him and reach out and

find him he is not far from any of us

and he gives us the power to live to

move and to be who we are we are his

children just as some of your poets have

said since we are God's children we must

not think that he is like an idol made

out of gold or silver or stone he is not

like anything that humans have thought

up and made in the past God forgave all

this because people did not know what

they were doing but now he says that

everyone everywhere must turn to him he

has set a day when he will judge all the

world's people with fairness and he has

chosen the man Jesus to do the judging

for him God has given proof of this to

all of us by raising Jesus from death as

soon as the people heard Paul say that a

man had been raised from death some of

them started laughing others said we'll

hear you talk about this some other time

when Paul left the council meeting some

of the men put their faith in the Lord

and went with Paul one of them was a

council member named Dionysius. a woman

named Damaris and several others also

put their faith in the Lord. Acts 18

Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. where he

met Aquila, a Jewish man from Pontus. not

long before this Aquila had come from

Italy with his wife Priscilla because

Emperor Claudius had ordered all the

Jewish to leave Rome.

Paul went to see Aquila

and Priscilla and found out that they

were tent makers Paul was a tent maker

too so he stayed with them and they

worked together every Sabbath Paul went

to the Jewish meeting place he spoke to

Jews and Gentiles and tried to win them

over

but after Silas and Timothy came from

Macedonia he spent all his time

preaching to the Jews about Jesus the

Messiah.

finally they turned against him and

insulted him. so he shook the dust from

his clothes and told them whatever

happens to you will be your own fault,

I am not to blame from now on I am going

to preach to the Gentiles. Paul then

- moved into the house of a man named
- Titius Justus, who worshiped God and

lived next door to the Jewish meeting

place. Crispus was the leader of the

meeting place he and everyone in his

family put their faith in the Lord, many

others in Corinth also heard the message

and all the people who had faith in the

Lord were baptized. one night Paul had a

vision and in it the Lord said don't be

afraid to keep on preaching, don't stop, I

am with you and you won't be harmed many

people in this city belong to me Paul

stayed on in Corinth for a year and a

half

teaching God's message to the people

While Gallio was governor of Achaia,

some of the Jewish leaders got together

and grabbed Paul they brought him into

court and said this man is trying to

make our people worship God in a way

that is against our law even before Paul

could speak Gallio said if you were

charging this man with a crime or some

other wrong I would have to listen to

you but since this concerns only words

names and your own law you will have to

take care of it

I refuse to judge such matters then he

sent them all out of the court the crowd

grabbed Sosthenes, the Jewish leader

and beat him up in front of the court

but none of this mattered to Gallio.

after Paul had stayed for a while with

the Lord's followers in Corinth he told

them goodbye and sail down to Syria with

Aquila and Priscilla but before he left

he had his head shaved at Cenchreae

because he had made a promise to God.

the 3 of them arrived in Ephesus where

Paul left Priscilla and Aquila he then

went into the Jewish meeting place to

talk with the people there they asked

him to stay longer but he refused he

told them goodbye. and said if God lets

me I will come back Paul sailed to

Caesarea where he greeted the church

then he went on to Antioch after staying

there for a while he left and visited

several places in Galatia and Phrygia. he

helped all the followers there to become

stronger in their faith a Jewish man

named Apollos came to Ephesus. Apollos

had been born in the city of Alexandria

he was a very good speaker, he knew a lot

about the scriptures he also knew much

about the Lord's way. and he spoke about

it with great excitement what he talked

about Jesus was right but all he knew

was John's message about baptism.

Apollos started speaking bravely in the Jewish

meeting place but when Priscilla and

Aquila heard him, they took him to their

home and helped him understand God's Way.

even better.

Apollo's decided to travel through Achaia.

so the Lord's followers wrote letters

encouraging the followers there

welcome him. After Apollos arrived in Achaia,

he was a great help to everyone

who had put their faith in the Lord

Jesus because of God's kindness he got

into fierce arguments with the Jewish

people and in public he used the

scriptures to prove that Jesus is the Messiah.

Acts 19 while Apollos was in

Corinth Paul traveled across the hill

country to Ephesus where he met some of

the Lord's followers. he asked them "when

you put your faith in Jesus were you

given the Holy Spirit?" no, they answered.

we have never even heard of the Holy

Spirit.

then why were you baptized? Paul asked

they answered because of what John

taught. Paul replied John baptized people

so that they would turn to God but he

also told them that someone else was

coming and that they should put their

faith in him. Jesus is the one that John

was talking about. after the people heard

Paul say this they were baptized in the

name of the Lord Jesus.

then Paul placed his hands on them. the

Holy Spirit was given to them. and they

spoke unknown languages and prophesied

there were about 12 men in this

group, for three months Paul went to the

Jewish meeting place and talked bravely

with the Jewish people about God's

kingdom. he tried to win them over but

some of them were stubborn and refused

to believe in front of everyone

they said terrible things about God's

Way. Paul left and took the followers

with him to the lecture hall of Tyrannus.

he spoke there every day for 2 years

until every Jew and Gentile in Asia had

heard the Lord's message. God gave Paul

the power to work great miracles. people

even took handkerchiefs and aprons that

had touched Paul's body and they carried

them to everyone who was sick all of the

sick people were healed and the evil

spirits went out some Jewish men started

going around trying to force out evil

spirits by using the name of the Lord

Jesus they said to the spirits come out

in the name of the same Jesus that Paul

preaches about seven sons of a Jewish

high priest named Sceva were doing this

when an evil spirit said to them

“I know Jesus! And I have

heard about Paul. But who are you?”

then the man with the evil spirit jumped

on them and beat them up. they ran out of

the house naked and bruised. When the Jews

and Gentiles and Ephesus heard about

this they were so frightened that they

praise the name of the Lord Jesus many

who were followers now started telling

everyone about the evil things they had

been doing some who had been practicing

witchcraft even brought their books and

burned them in public these books were

worth about 50,000 silver coins.

so the Lord's message spread and became

even more powerful after all this had

happened Paul decided to visit Macedonia

and Achaia on his way to Jerusalem Paul

has said from there I will go on to Rome

so he sent his 2 helpers Timothy and

Erastus to Macedonia but he stayed on in

Asia for a while at that time there was

serious trouble because of the Lord's

way a silversmith named Demetrius had a

business that made silver models of the

temple of the goddess Artemis those who

worked for him earned a lot of money

Demetrius brought together everyone who

was in the same business and said

friends you know that we make a good

living at this but you have surely seen

and heard of this man Paul is upsetting

a lot of people not only in Ephesus but

almost everywhere in Asia he claims that

the gods we humans make are not really

gods at all everyone will start saying

terrible things about our business they

will stop respecting the temple of the

goddess Artemis who is worshipped in

Asia and all over the world our Great

Goddess will be forgotten when the

workers heard this they got angry and

started shouting great is Artemis the

goddess of the Ephesians

soon the whole city was in a riot in

some men grabbed Gaius and Aristarchus

who had come from Macedonia with Paul

then everyone in the crowd rushed to the

place where the town meetings were held

Paul wanted to go out and speak to the

people but the Lord's followers would

not let him a few of the local officials

were friendly to Paul and they sent

someone to warn him not to go some of

the people in the meeting were shouting

one thing and others were shouting

something else everyone was completely

confused and most of them did not even

know why they were there

several of the Jewish leaders pushed a

man named Alexander to the front of the

crowd and started telling him what to

say he motioned with his hand and tried

to explain what was going on but when

the crowd saw that he was Jewish they

all shouted for two hours

finally the town official made the crowd

be quiet then he said people of Ephesus

who in the world does not know that

our city is the center for worshiping the

great goddess Artemis who does not know

that her image which fell from heaven is

right here no one can deny this and so

you should calm down and not do anything

foolish

you have brought men in here who have

not robbed temples or spoken against our

goddess if Demetrius and his workers

have a case against these men we have

courts and judges let them take their

complaints there but if you want to do

more than that the matter will have to

be brought before the City Council we

could easily be accused of starting a

riot today there is no excuse for it we

cannot even give a reason for this

uproar after saying this he told the

people to leave

acts 20 when the riot was over Paul sent

for the followers and encouraged them he

then told them goodbye and left for

Macedonia as he traveled from place to

place he encouraged the followers with

many messages finally he went to Greece

and stayed there for three months

Paul was about to sail to Syria but some

of the Jewish leaders plotted against

him so he decided to return by way of

Macedonia with him were Sopater,

son of Pyrrhus, from Berea, and Aristarchus

and Secundus from Thessalonica. Gaius from

Derby was also with him and so were

Timothy in the 2 Asians Tychicus and

Trophimus. they went on ahead to Troas

and waited for us there. after the Festival

of Thin Bread, we sailed from Philippi.

five days later we met them in Troas,

and stay there for a week. on the first

day of the week we met to worship and to

break bread together Paul spoke to the

people until midnight because he was

leaving the next morning in the upstairs

room where we were meeting there were a

lot of lamps a young man by the name of

Eutychus was sitting on a window sill

while Paul was speaking the young man

got very sleepy finally he went to sleep

and fell three floors all the way down

to the ground when they picked him up he

was dead. Paul went down and bent over

Eutychus he took him in his arms and

said don't worry he's alive after Paul

had gone back upstairs, he broke bread

and ate with us he then spoke until dawn

and left then the followers took the

young man home alive and were very happy

Paul decided to travel by land to Assos.

the rest of us went on ahead by ship and

we were to take him aboard there when he

met us in Assos he came aboard and we

sailed on to Mitylene. the next day we

came to a place near Chios, and the

following day we reached Samos. the day

after that we sailed to Miletus.

Paul had decided to sail on past Ephesus,

because he did not want to spend too

much time in Asia, he was in a hurry, he

wanted to be in Jerusalem in time for

Pentecost. from Miletus, Paul sent a

message for the church leaders at

Ephesus to come and meet with him when

they got there, he said you know

everything I did during the time I was

with you when I first came to Asia some

of the Jews plotted against me and

caused me a lot of sorrow and trouble

but I served the Lord and was humble

when I preached in public or taught in

your homes. I didn't hold back from

telling anything that would help you

I told Jews and Gentiles to turn to God

and have faith in our Lord Jesus I don't

know what will happen to me in Jerusalem

but I must obey God's Spirit and go

there in every city that I visit the

Holy Spirit tells me I will be put in

jail and will be in trouble in Jerusalem

but I don't care what happens to me as

long as I finish the work that the Lord

Jesus gave me to do and that work is to

tell the good news about God's great

kindness I have gone from place to place

preaching to you about God's kingdom but

now I know that none of you will ever

see me again I tell you today that I am

no longer responsible for any of you I

have told you everything that God wants

you to know look after yourselves and

everyone the Holy Spirit has placed in

your care

be like Shepherds to God's church it is

the flock that he bought with the blood

of his own son I know that after I am

gone others will come like fierce wolves

to attack you some of your own people

will tell lives to win over the Lord's

followers be on your guard

remember how day and night for three

years I kept warning you with tears in

my eyes

I now place you in God's care remember

the message about his great kindness

this message can help you and give you

what belongs to you as God's people I

have never wanted anyone's money or

clothes you know how I have worked with

my own hands to make a living for myself

and my friends by everything I did I

showed how you should work to help

everyone who is weak remember that our

Lord Jesus said more blessings come from

giving than from receiving after Paul

had finished speaking he kneeled down

with all of them and prayed everyone

cried and hugged and kissed him they

were especially sad because Paul had

told them you will never see me again

then they went with him to the ship.

Acts 21. After saying goodbye we sailed

straight to Cos. The next day we

reached Rhodes and from there sail down

to Patara. we found a ship going to Phoenicia.

so we got on board and sailed off.

we came within sight of Cyprus and

then sailed south of it on to the port

of Tyre in Syria the ship was going to

unload its cargo there. we looked up the

Lord's followers and stayed with them

for a week the Holy Spirit had told them

to warn Paul not to go on to Jerusalem

but when the week was over we started on

our way again all the men together with

their wives and children walked with us

from the town to the seashore we kneel

down the beach and prayed then after

saying goodbye to each other we got into

the ship and they went back home we

sailed from Tyre to Ptolemais, where we

greeted the followers and stayed with

them for a day. the next day we went to

Caesarea and stayed with Phillip the

preacher. he was one of the 7 men who

helped the Apostles and he had four

unmarried daughters who prophesied.

we had been in Caesarea for several days

when the Prophet Agabus came to us from

Judea he took Paul's belt and with it he

tied up his own hands and feet then he

told us the Holy Spirit says that some

of the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will

tie up the man who owns this belt

they will also hand him over to the

Gentiles

after Agabus said this we in the

followers living there begged Paul not

to go to Jerusalem. but Paul answered why

are you crying and breaking my heart?

I am not only willing to be put in jail

for the Lord Jesus, I am even willing to

die for him in Jerusalem. since we could

not get Paul to change his mind, we gave

up and said lord please make us willing

to do what you want then we got ready to

go to Jerusalem some of the followers

from Caesarea went with us and took us

to stay in the home of Jason he was from

Cyprus and had been a follower from the

beginning when we arrived in Jerusalem

the Lord's followers gladly welcomed us

Paul went with us to see James the next

day and all the church leaders were

present

Paul greeted them and told how God had

used him to help the Gentiles everyone

who heard this praised God and said to

Paul my friend you can see how many tens

of thousands of the Jewish people have

become followers and all of them are

eager to obey the law of Moses but they

have been told that you are teaching

those who live among the Gentiles to

disobey this law they claim that you are

telling them not to circumcise their

sons or to follow Jewish customs what

should we do now that our people have

heard that you are here please do what

we ask because four of our men have made

special promises to God join with them

and prepare yourself for the ceremony

that goes with the promises pay the cost

for their heads to be shaved then

everyone will learn that the reports

about you are not true

they will know that you do obey the law

of Moses some while ago we told the

Gentile followers what we think they

should do we instructed them not to eat

anything offered to idols they were told

not to eat any meat with blood still in

it or the meat of an animal that has

been strangled they were also told not

to commit any terrible sexual sins

the next day Paul took the four men with

him and got himself ready at the same

time they did then he went into the

temple and told when the final ceremony

would take place and when an offering

would be made for each of them when the

period of seven days for the ceremony

was almost over

some of the Jewish people from Asia saw

Paul in the temple they got a large

crowd together and started attacking him

they were shouting friends help us this

man goes around everywhere saying bad

things about our nation, about the law of Moses

and about this temple he has even

brought shame to this holy temple by

bringing in Gentiles some of them

thought that Paul had bought Trophimus

from Ephesus into the temple. because

they had seen them together in the city

the whole city was in an uproar, and the

people turned into a mob. they grabbed

Paul and dragged him out of the temple

then suddenly the doors were shut the

people were about to kill Paul when the

Roman army commander heard that all

Jerusalem was starting to riot so he

quickly took some soldiers and officers

and ran to where the crowd had gathered

as soon as the mob saw the commander and

soldiers they stopped beating Paul the

army commander went over and arrested

him and had him bound with two chains

then he tried to find out who Paul was

and what he had done part of the crowd

shouted one thing and part of them

shouted something else but they were

making so much noise that the commander

could not find out a thing then he

ordered Paul to be taken into the

fortress as they reached the steps the

crowd became so wild that the soldiers

had to lift Paul up and

the crowd followed and kept shouting

[Music]

when Paul was about to be taken into the

fortress he asked the commander can I

say something to you how do you know

Greek the commander asked aren't you

that Egyptian who started a riot not

long ago and led 4000 terrorists into

the desert no Paul replied I am a Jew

from Tarsus an important city in Cilicia.

please let me speak to the crowd the

commander told him he could speak so

Paul stood on the steps in motion to the

people when they were quiet he spoke to

them in Aramaic act 22 my friends and

leaders of our nation listened as I

explained what happened when the crowd

heard Paul speak to them in Aramaic they

became even quieter then Paul said I am

a Jew born and raised in the city of

Tarsus in Cilicia. I was a student of

Gamaliel and was taught to follow every

single law of our ancestors in fact I

was just as eager to obey God as any of

you are today I made trouble for

everyone who followed the Lord's way and

I even had some of them killed

I had others arrested and put in jail I

didn't care if they were men or women

the high priest and all the council

members can tell you that this is true

they even gave me letters to the Jewish

leaders in Damascus so that I could

arrest people there and bring them to

Jerusalem to be punished one day about

noon I was getting close to Damascus

when a bright light from heaven suddenly

flashed around I fell to the ground and

heard a voice asking me Saul Saul why

are you so cruel to me who are you I

answered the Lord replied I am Jesus

from Nazareth I am the one you are so

cruel to the men who were traveling

with me saw the light but did not hear

the voice I asked Lord what do you want

me to do then he told me

get up and go to Damascus when you get

there you will be told what to do the

light had been so bright that I couldn't

see and the other men had to lead me by

the hand to Damascus in that city there

was a man named Ananias who faithfully

obeyed the law of Moses and was well

liked by all the Jewish people living

there he came to me and said saw my

friend you can now see again at once I

could see then Ananias told me the God

that our ancestors worshiped has chosen

you to know what he wants done he has

chosen you to see the one who obeys God

and to hear his voice you must tell

everyone what you have seen and heard

what are you waiting for

get up be baptized and wash away your

sins by praying to the Lord after this I

returned to Jerusalem and went to the

temple to pray there I had a vision of

the Lord who said to me hurry and leave

Jerusalem the people will not listen to

what you say about me

I replied Lord they know that in many of

our meeting places I arrested and beat

people who had faith in you Stephen was

killed because he spoke for you and I

stood there and cheered them on I even

guarded the clothes of the men who

murdered him but the Lord told me to go

and he promised to send me far away to

the Gentiles the crowd listened until

Paul said this then they started

shouting they kept shouting they waved

their clothes around and threw dust into

the air the Roman commander ordered Paul

to be taken into the fortress and beaten

with a whip he did this to find out why

the people were screaming at Paul while

the soldiers were tying Paul up to be

beaten

he asked the officer standing there is

it legal to beat a Roman citizen before

he has been tried in court when the

officer heard this he went to the

commander and said what are you doing

this man is a Roman citizen the

commander went to Paul and asked

tell me are you a Roman citizen yes Paul

answered the commander then said I paid

a lot of money to become a Roman citizen

but Paul replied I was born a Roman

citizen the men who were about to beat

and question Paul quickly backed off and

the commander himself was frightened

when he realized that he had put a Roman

citizen in Chains the next day the

commander wanted to know the real reason

why the Jewish leaders had brought

charges against Paul so he had Paul's

chains removed and he ordered the chief

priests and the whole council to meet

then he had Paul led in and made him

stand in front of them acts 23 Paul

looks straight at the council members

and said my friends to this day I have

served God with a clear conscience

then Ananias the high priest ordered the

men standing beside Paul to hit him on

the mouth Paul turned to the high priest

and said you whitewashed wall God will

hit you you sit there to judge me by the

law of Moses but at the same time you

order men to break the law by hitting me

the men's standing beside Paul asked

don't you know you're insulting God's

High Priest Paul replied oh I didn't

know he was the high priest the

Scriptures do tell us not to speak evil

about a leader of our people when Paul

saw that some of the council members

were Sadducees and others were Pharisees

he shouted my friends I am a Pharisee

and the son of a Pharisee I am on trial

simply because I believe that the dead

will be raised to life as soon as Paul

said this the Pharisees and the

Sadducees got into a big argument and

the council members started taking sides

the Sadducees do not believe in angels

or spirits or that the dead will rise to

life but the Pharisees believed in all

of these and so there was a lot of

shouting some of the teachers of the law

of Moses were Pharisees

finally they became angry and said we

don't find anything wrong with this man

maybe a spirit or an angel really did

speak to him the argument became fierce

and the commander was afraid that Paul

would be pulled apart so we ordered the

soldiers to go in and rescue Paul then

they took him back into the fortress

that night the Lord stood beside Paul

and said don't worry just as you have

told others about me in Jerusalem

you must also tell about me in Rome the

next morning more than 40 Jewish men got

together and vowed that they would not

eat or drink anything until they had

killed Paul then some of them went to

the chief priests and the nation's

leaders and said we have promised God

that we would not eat a thing until we

have killed Paul you and everyone in the

council must go to the commander and

pretend that you want to find out more

about the charges against fall ask for

him to be brought before your court

meanwhile we will be waiting to kill him

before he gets there when Paul's nephew

heard about the plot he went to the

fortress and told Paul about it

so Paul said to one of the army officers

take this young man to the commander he

has something to tell him the officers

took the young man to the commander and

said the prisoner named Paul asked me to

bring this young man to you because he

has something to tell you the commander

took the young man aside and asked him

in private what do you want to tell me

he answered some men are planning to ask

you to bring Paul down to the Jewish

Council tomorrow they will claim that

they want to find out more about him but

please don't do what they say more than

40 men are going to attack Paul they've

made a vow not to eat or drink anything

until they have killed him even now they

are waiting to hear what you decide the

commander sent the young man away after

saying to him don't let anyone know that

you told me this

the commander called in two of his

offices and told them by nine o'clock

tonight have 200 soldiers ready to go to

Caesarea take along 70 men on horseback

and 200 foot soldiers with Spears get a

horse ready for Paul and make sure that

he gets safely through to Felix the

governor the commander wrote a letter

that said greetings from Claudius Lysias

to the Honorable governor Felix

some Jews grabbed this man and were

about to kill him but when I found out

that he was a Roman citizen

I took some soldiers and rescued him I

wanted to find out what they had against

him so I brought him before their

Council and learned that the charges

concerned only their Jewish laws this

man is not guilty of anything for which

he should die or even be put in jail as

soon as I learned that there was a plot

against him I sent him to you and told

their leaders to bring charges against

him in your court

the soldiers obeyed the commander's

orders and that same night they took

Paul to the city of antipathies the next

day the foot soldiers returned to the

fortress and let the soldiers on

horseback take him the rest of the way

when they came to Caesarea they gave the

letter to the governor and handed Paul

over to him the governor read the letter

then he asked Paul and found out that he

was from Cilicia. the governor said I

will listen to your case as soon as the

people come to bring their charges

against you after saying this he gave

orders for Paul to be kept as a prisoner

in Herod's palace acts 20 for five days

later

Ananias the high priest together with

the Jewish leaders in a lawyer named Tertullus,

went to the governor to present

their case against Paul. so Paul was

called in, and Tertullus stated the case

against him honorable Felix you have

brought our people a long period of

peace and because of your concern our

nation is much better off all of us are

always grateful for what you have done I

don't want to bother you but please be

patient with us and listen to me for

just a few minutes this man has been

found to be a real

Pest in trouble maker for Jews all over

the world he is also a leader of a group

called Nazarenes when he tried to

disgrace the temple we arrested him if

you question him he will find out for

yourself that all our charges are true

the Jewish crowd spoke up and agreed

with what to tell us had said the

governor motion for Paul to speak and he

began I know that you have judged the

people of our nation for many years and

I am glad to defend myself in your court

it was no more than 12 days ago that I

went to worship in Jerusalem you can

find this out easily enough never once

did the Jews find me arguing with anyone

in the temple I didn't cause trouble in

the Jewish meeting places or in the city

itself there is no way that they can

prove these charges that they are now

bringing against me I admit that the

Jewish leaders think that the Lord's way

which I follow is based on wrong beliefs

but I still worship the same God that my

ancestors worshipped and I believe

everything written in the law of Moses

and in the prophets I am just as sure as

these people are that God will raise

from death everyone who is good or evil

and because I am sure I try my best to

have a clear conscience in whatever I do

for God or for people after being away

for several years I returned here to

bring gifts for the poor people of my

nation and to offer sacrifices this is

what I was doing when I was found going

through a ceremony in the temple I was

not with a crowd and there was no uproar

some Jews from Asia were there at that

time and if they have anything to say

against me they should be here now or

ask the ones who are here they can tell

you that they didn't find me guilty of

anything when I was tried by their own

counsel the only charge they can bring

against me is what I shouted out in

court when I said I am on trial today

because I believe that the dead

be raised to life Felix knew a lot about

the Lord's way but he brought the trial

to an end and said I will make my

decision after Lysias the commander

arrives he then ordered the army officer

to keep Paul under guard but not to lock

him up or to stop his friends from

helping him

several days later Felix and his wife

Drusilla,

who was Jewish went to the place where

Paul was kept under guard. they sent for

Paul and listened while he spoke to them

about having faith in Christ Jesus.

but Felix was frightened when Paul

started talking to them about doing

right about self-control and about the

coming judgment so he said to Paul

that's enough for now,

you may go but when I have time I will

send for you after this

Felix often sent for Paul and talked

with him because he hoped that Paul

would offer him a bribe

2 years later Porcius Festus became

governor in place of Felix but since

Felix wanted to do the Jewish leaders a

favor, he kept Paul in jail.

Acts 25. three days

after Festus had become governor,

he went from Caesarea to Jerusalem.

There the chief priests and some Jewish leaders

told him about their charges against

Paul. they also asked Festus if he would

be willing to bring Paul to Jerusalem

they begged him to do this because they

were planning to attack and kill Paul on

the way. but Festus told them Paul will

be kept in Caesarea and I am soon going

there myself if he has done anything

wrong let your leaders go with me

and bring charges

against him there. Festus stayed

in Jerusalem for eight or ten more days

before going to Caesarea then the next

day he took his place as judge and had

Paul brought into court as soon as Paul

came in the Jewish leaders from

Jerusalem crowded around him and said he

was guilty of many serious crimes but

they could not prove anything

then Paul spoke in his own defense I

have not broken the

of my people and I have not done

anything against either the temple or

the Emperor

Festus wanted to please the Jewish

leaders so he asked Paul are you willing

to go to Jerusalem and be tried by me on

these charges

Paul replied I am on trial in the

Emperor's court and that's where I

should be tried you know very well that

I have not done anything to harm the

Jewish nation if I had done something

deserving death I would not ask to

escape the death penalty but I am not

guilty of any of these crimes and no one

has the right to hand me over to these

Jews I now asked to be tried by the

Emperor himself after Festus had talked

this over with members of his council he

told Paul you have asked to be tried by

the Emperor and to the Emperor you will

go a few days later King Agrippa and Bernice

came to Caesarea to visit Festus.

they had been there for several days

when Festus told the King about the

charges against Paul. he said Felix left

a man here in jail and when I went to

Jerusalem the chief priests and the

Jewish leaders came and asked me to find

him guilty, I told them that it is not

the Roman custom to hand a man over to

people who are bringing charges against

him. he must first have the chance to

meet them face to face and to defend

himself against their charges. so when

they came here with me I wasted no time

on the very next day, I took my place on

the judges bench and ordered him to be

brought in but when the men stood up to

make their charges against him they did

not accuse him of any of the crimes that

I thought they would instead they argued

with him about some of their Jewish

beliefs and about a dead man named Jesus

who Paul said was alive since I did not

know how to find out the truth about all

this I asked Paul if he would be willing

to go to Jerusalem and be put on trial

there but Paul asked to be kept in jail

until the Emperor could decide his case

so I ordered him to be kept here until I

could send him to the Emperor

then Agrippa said to Festus I would also

like to hear what this man has to say

Festus answered you can hear him

tomorrow the next day Agrippa and

Bernice made a big show as they came

into the meeting room high-ranking army

officers and leading citizens of the

town were also there

Festus then ordered Paul to be brought

in and said King Agrippa and other

guests look at this man

every Jew from Jerusalem and Caesarea

has come to me demanding for him to be

put to death I have not found him guilty

of any crime deserving death but because

he has asked to be judged by the Emperor

I have decided to send him to Rome I

have to write some facts about this man

to the Emperor so I have brought him

before all of you but especially before

you King Agrippa after we have talked

about his case I will then have

something to write it makes no sense to

send a prisoner to the Emperor without

stating the charges against him acts

20:6 Agrippa told Paul you may now speak

for yourself

Paul stretched out his hand and said

King Agrippa I am glad for this chance

to defend myself before you today on all

these charges that my own people have

brought against me you know a lot about

our Jewish customs and the beliefs that

divide us so I ask you to listen

patiently to me all the Jews have known

me since I was a child they know what

kind of life I have lived in my own

country and in Jerusalem if they were

willing they could tell you that I was a

Pharisee a member of a group that is

more strict than any other

now I am on trial because I believe the

promise that God made to our people long

ago

day and night our 12 tribes have

earnestly served God waiting for his

promised blessings King Agrippa because

of this hope the Jewish leaders have

brought charges against me why should

any of you doubt that God raises the

dead to life I once thought that I

should do everything I could to oppose

Jesus from Nazareth I did this first in

Jerusalem and with the authority of the

chief priests I put many of God's people

in jail I even voted for them to be

killed I often had them punished in our

meeting places and I tried to make them

give up their faith in fact I was so

angry with them that I went looking for

them in foreign cities King Agrippa one

day I was on my way to Damascus with the

authority and permission of the chief

priests about noon I saw a light

brighter than the Sun it flashed from

heaven on me and on everyone traveling

with me we all fell to the ground then I

heard a voice say to me in Aramaic Saul

Saul why are you so cruel to me it's

foolish to fight against me who are you

I asked then the Lord answered I am

Jesus I am the one you are so cruel to

now stand up I have appeared to you

because I have chosen you to be my

servant you are to tell others what you

have learned about me and what I will

show you later the Lord also said I will

protect you from the Jews and from the

Gentiles that I am sending you to I want

you to open their eyes so that they will

turn from darkness to light and from the

power of Satan to God then their sins

will be forgiven and by faith in me they

will become part of God's holy people

King Agrippa I obeyed this vision from

heaven first I preached to the people in

Damascus and then I went to Jerusalem

all over Judea. finally I went to

the gentiles and said "stop sinning and

turn to God then prove what you have

done by the way you live" that is why the

Jews grabbed me in the temple and tried

to kill me, but all this time God has

helped me and I have preached both to

the rich and to the poor I have told

them only what the prophets and Moses

said would happen. I told them how the

Messiah would suffer and be the first to

be raised from death so that he could

bring light to his own people and to the

Gentiles

before Paul finished defending himself

Festus shouted Paul you're crazy too

much learning has driven you out of your

mind

but Paul replied honorable Festus I am

NOT crazy what I am saying is true and

it makes sense none of these things

happened off in a corner somewhere I am

sure that King Agrippa knows what I am

talking about that's why I can speak so

plainly to him then Paul said to Agrippa

do you believe what the prophets said I

know you do

Agrippa asked Paul in such a short time

do you think you can talk me into being

a Christian Paul answered whether it

takes a short time or a long time I wish

you and everyone else who hears me today

would become just like me except of

course for these chains then King

Agrippa governor Festus Bernice and

everyone who was with them got up but

before they left they said this man is

not guilty of anything he doesn't

deserve to die or to be put in jail

Agrippa told Festus Paul could have been

set free if he had not asked to be tried

by the Roman Emperor acts 27 when it was

time for us to sail to Rome captain

Julius from the Emperor's special troops

was put in charge of Paul and the other

prisoners

we went aboard

ship from Adramyttium that was about to

sail to some ports along the coast of

Asia

Aristarchus from Thessalonica in

Macedonia sailed on the ship with us. the

next day we came to shore at Sidon

captain Julius was very kind to Paul he

even let him visit his friends so they

could give him whatever he needed when

we left Sidon the winds were blowing

against us and we sailed close to the

island of Cyprus to be safe from the

wind then, we sailed south of Cilicia and

Pamphylia until we came to the port of

Myra in Lycia. there the army kept and

found a ship from Alexandria that was

going to Italy so he ordered us to board

that ship we sailed along slowly for

several days and had a hard time

reaching Cnidus. the wind would not let us

go any farther in that direction so we

sailed past Cape Salmone, where the

island of Crete would protect us from

the wind. we went slowly along the coast

and finally reached a place called Fair

Havens not far from the town of Lasea. by

now we had already lost a lot of time

and sailing was no longer safe in fact

even the day of atonement Forgiveness, was passed

then Paul spoke to the crew of the ship

men listen to me if we sail now our ship

in its cargo will be badly damaged and

many lives will be lost

but Julius listened to the captain of

the ship and its owner rather than to

Paul the harbor at fair havens was not a

good place to spend the winter because

of this almost everyone agreed that we

should at least try to sail along the

coast of Crete as far as Phoenix. it had

a harbour that opened toward the

southwest and northwest and we could

spend the winter there when a gentle

wind from the south started blowing the

men thought it was a good time to do

what they had planned so they pulled up

the anchor and we sailed along the coast

of Crete but soon a strong wind called

the northeaster blew against us from the

island the wind struck the ship and we

could not sail again

so we let the wind carry the ship we

went along the island of Cauda on the

side that was protected from the wind we

had a hard time holding the lifeboat in

place. but finally we got it where it

belonged

then the sailors wrapped ropes around

the ship to hold it together they

lowered the sail and let the ship drift

along because they were afraid it might

hit the sand banks in the gulf of Syrtis.

the storm was so fierce that the next

day they threw some of the ships cargo

overboard then on the third day with

their bare hands they threw overboard

some of the ship's gear, for several days

we could not see either the Sun or the

Stars a strong wind kept blowing and we

finally gave up all hope of being saved

since none of us had eaten anything for

a long time. Paul stood up and told the

men you should have listened to me if

you had stayed on in Crete you would not

have had this damage and loss but now I

beg you to cheer up because you will be

safe only the ship will be lost. I belong

to God and I worship Him last night he

sent an angel to tell me Paul don't be

afraid you will stand trial before the

Emperor and because of you God will save

the lives of everyone on the ship, cheer

up, I am sure that God will do exactly

what he promised but we will first be

shipwrecked on some Island for 14 days

and nights we had been blown around over

the Mediterranean Sea but about midnight

the sailors realized that we were

getting near land they measured and

found that the water was about 120 feet

deep a little later they measured again

and found it was only about 90 feet the

sailors were afraid that we might hit

some rocks and they let down for anchors

from the back of the ship then they

prayed for daylight

the sailors wanted to escape from the

ship so they lowered the lifeboat into

the water pretending that they were

letting down an anchor from the front of

the ship but Paul said to captain Julius

and the soldiers if the sailors don't

stay on the ship you won't have any

chance to save your lives the soldiers

then cut the ropes that held the

lifeboat and let it fall into the sea

just before daylight

Paul begged the people to eat something

he told them for 14 days you have been

so worried that you haven't eaten a

thing I beg you to eat something your

lives depend on it

do this and not one of you will be hurt

after Paul had said this he took a piece

of bread and gave thanks to God then in

front of everyone he broke the bread and

ate some they all felt encouraged and

each of them ate something

there were 276 people on the ship and

after everyone had eaten they threw the

cargo of wheat into the sea to make the

ship lighter morning came and the ship's

crew saw a coast that they did not

recognize but they did see a cove with a

beach so they decided to try to run the

ship aground on the beach they cut the

anchors loose and let them sink into the

sea at the same time they untied the

ropes that were holding the rudders next

they raised the sail at the front of the

ship and let the wind carry the ship

toward the beach but it ran aground on a

sandbank the front of the ship stuck

firmly in the sand and the rear was

being smashed by the force of the waves

the soldiers decided to kill the

prisoners to keep them from swimming

away and escaping but captain Julius

wanted to save Paul's life and he did

not let the soldiers do what they had

planned instead he ordered everyone who

could swim to dive into the water and

head for Shore then he told the others

to hold onto planks of wood or parts of

the ship at last everyone safely reached

shore

[Music]

acts 28 when we came ashore we learned

that the island was called Malta the

local people were very friendly

and they welcomed us by building a fire

because it was rainy and cold after Paul

had gathered some wood and had put it on

the fire the heat caused a snake to

crawl out and it bit him on the hand

when the local people saw the snake

hanging from Paul's hand they said to

each other this man must be a murderer

he didn't drown in the sea that the

goddess of justice will kill him anyway

Paul shook the snake off into the fire

and was not harmed the people kept

thinking that Paul would either swell up

or suddenly drop dead they watched him

for a long time and when nothing

happened to him they changed their minds

and said this man is a God the governor

of the island was named Publius and he

owned some of the land around there

Publius was very friendly and welcomed

us into his home for three days his

father was in bed sick with fever and

stomach trouble and Paul went to visit

him Paul healed the man by praying and

placing his hands on him after this

happened everyone on the island brought

their sick people to Paul and they were

all healed the people were very

respectful to us and when we sailed they

gave us everything we needed

three months later we sailed in a ship

that had been docked at Malta for the

winter the ship was from Alexandria in

Egypt and was known as the twin gods

we arrived in Syracuse and stayed for

3 days from there we sailed to

Rhegium. The next day

a south wind began to blow and two days

later we arrived in Puteoli. there we

found some of the Lord's followers who

begged us to stay with them a week later

we left for the city of Rome some of the

followers in Rome heard about us and

came to meet us at the market of Appius

and at the three Inns when Paul saw them

he thanked God and was encouraged

we arrived in Rome and Paul was allowed

to live in a house by himself with a

soldier to guard him. three days after we

got there Paul called together some of

the Jewish leaders and said my friends I

have never done anything to hurt our

people and I have never gone against the

customs of our ancestors but in

Jerusalem I was handed over as a

prisoner to the Romans. they looked into

the charges against me and wanted to

release me. they found that I had not

done anything deserving death. the Jewish

leaders disagreed, so I asked to be tried

by the Emperor but I don't have anything

to say against my own nation. I am bound

by these chains because of what we

people of Israel hope for that's why I

have called you here to talk about this

hope of ours the Jewish leaders replied

no one from Judea has written us a

letter about you and not one of them has

come here to report on you or to say

anything against you. but we would like

to hear what you have to say we

understand that people everywhere are

against this new group they agreed on a

time to meet with Paul and many of them

came to his house from early morning

until late in the afternoon Paul talked

to them about God's kingdom he used the

law of Moses in the books of the

prophets to try to win them over to

Jesus

some of the Jewish leaders agreed with

what Paul said but others did not since

they could not agree among themselves

they started leaving but Paul said the

Holy Spirit said the right thing when he

sent Isaiah the prophet to tell our

ancestors go to these people and tell

them you will listen and listen but

never understand you will look and look

but never see all of you have stubborn

hearts your ears are stopped up and your

eyes are covered you cannot see or hear

or understand if you could you would

turn to me and I would heal you Paul

said you may be sure that God wants to

save the Gentiles and they will listen

for two years Paul stayed in a rented

house and welcomed everyone who came to

see him he bravely preached about God's

kingdom and taught about the Lord Jesus

Christ and no one tried to stop him

you