Acts Chapter 1

Acts 1:1 (NASB)

¹ The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach,

Acts 1:2 (NASB)

² until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen.

Acts 1:3 (NIV)

³ After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.

Acts 1:4 (NIV)

⁴ On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.

Acts 1:5 (NIV)

⁵ For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 1:6 (NIV)

⁶ So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

Acts 1:7 (CJB)

⁷ He answered, “You don’t need to know the dates or the times; the Father has kept these under his own authority.

Acts 1:8 (NASB)

⁸ but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

Acts 1:9 (NKJV)

⁹ Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.

Acts 1:10 (NKJV)

¹⁰ And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel,

Acts 1:11 (AMP)

¹¹ Who said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing into heaven? This same Jesus, Who was caught away and lifted up from among you into heaven, will return in [just] the same way in which you saw Him go into heaven.

Acts 1:12 (AMP)

¹² Then [the disciples] went back to Jerusalem from the hill called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, [only] a Sabbath day’s journey (three-quarters of a mile) away.

Acts 1:13 (NASB)

¹³ When they had entered the city, they went up to the upper room where they were staying; that is, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.

Acts 1:14 (AMP)

¹⁴ All of these with their minds in full agreement devoted themselves steadfastly to prayer, [waiting together] with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

Acts 1:15 (NIV)

¹⁵ In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty)

Acts 1:16 (NIV)

¹⁶ and said, “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus-

Acts 1:17 (NIV)

¹⁷ he was one of our number and shared in this ministry.”

Acts 1:18 (NIV)

¹⁸ (With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out.

Acts 1:19 (NASB)

¹⁹ And it became known to all who were living in Jerusalem; so that in their own language that field was called Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)

Acts 1:20 (NKJV)

²⁰ “For it is written in the book of Psalms: ‘Let his dwelling place be desolate, And let no one live in it’; and, ‘Let another take his office.’

Acts 1:21 (NIV)

²¹ Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,

Acts 1:22 (NIV)

²² beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”

Acts 1:23 (NIV)

²³ So they proposed two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias.

Acts 1:24 (NIV)

²⁴ Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen

Acts 1:25 (NIV)

²⁵ to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.”

Acts 1:26 (NIV)

²⁶ Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.

Acts Chapter 2

Acts 2:1 (NKJV)

¹ When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

Acts 2:2 (NKJV)

² And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.

Acts 2:3 (CJB)

³ Then they saw what looked like tongues of fire, which separated and came to rest on each one of them.

Acts 2:4 (NASB)

⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.

Acts 2:5 (NIV)

⁵ Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.

Acts 2:6 (AMP)

⁶ And when this sound was heard, the multitude came together and they were astonished and bewildered, because each one heard them [the apostles] speaking in his own [particular] dialect.

Acts 2:7 (NIV)

⁷ Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans?

Acts 2:8 (NIV)

⁸ Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?

Acts 2:9 (NIV)

⁹ Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,

Acts 2:10 (CJB)

¹⁰ Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome;

Acts 2:11 (CJB)

¹¹ Jews by birth and proselytes; Jews from Crete and from Arabia…! How is it that we hear them speaking in our own languages about the great things God has done?”

Acts 2:12 (AMP)

¹² And all were beside themselves with amazement and were puzzled and bewildered, saying one to another, What can this mean?

Acts 2:13 (NKJV)

¹³ Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.”

Acts 2:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say.

Acts 2:15 (NIV)

¹⁵ These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning!

Acts 2:16 (NIV)

¹⁶ No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

Acts 2:17 (NIV)

¹⁷ “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.

Acts 2:18 (NIV)

¹⁸ Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.

Acts 2:19 (NIV)

¹⁹ I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke.

Acts 2:20 (NIV)

²⁰ The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.

Acts 2:21 (NIV)

²¹ And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

Acts 2:22 (NIV)

²² “Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.

Acts 2:23 (NASB)

²³ this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.

Acts 2:24 (NIV)

²⁴ But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

Acts 2:25 (NKJV)

²⁵ For David says concerning Him: ‘I foresaw the LORD always before my face, For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken.

Acts 2:26 (CJB)

²⁶ For this reason, my heart was glad; and my tongue rejoiced; and now my body too will live on in the certain hope

Acts 2:27 (KJV)-M

²⁷ Because You will not leave my soul in hell, neither will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.

Acts 2:28 (NIV)

²⁸ You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.’

Acts 2:29 (NASB)

²⁹ “Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.

Acts 2:30 (CJB)

³⁰ Therefore, since he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn an oath to him that one of his descendants would sit on his throne,

Acts 2:31 (CJB)-M

³¹ he was speaking in advance about the resurrection of the Messiah, that it was he who was not abandoned in hell and whose flesh did not see decay.

Acts 2:32 (NIV)

³² God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact.

Acts 2:33 (CJB)-M

³³ “Moreover, he has been exalted to the right hand of God; has received from the Father what he promised, namely, the Holy Spirit; and has poured out this gift, which you are both seeing and hearing.

Acts 2:34 (NIV)

³⁴ For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand

Acts 2:35 (NIV)

³⁵ until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”‘

Acts 2:36 (AMP)

³⁶ Therefore let the whole house of Israel recognize beyond all doubt and acknowledge assuredly that God has made Him both Lord and Christ (the Messiah)—this Jesus Whom you crucified.

Acts 2:37 (NKJV)

³⁷ Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”

Acts 2:38 (NASB)

³⁸ Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:39 (NASB)

³⁹ “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”

Acts 2:40 (NASB)

⁴⁰ And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!”

Acts 2:41 (AMP)

⁴¹ Therefore those who accepted and welcomed his message were baptized, and there were added that day about 3,000 souls.

Acts 2:42 (NASB)

⁴² They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Acts 2:43 (NIV)

⁴³ Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.

Acts 2:44 (NKJV)

⁴⁴ Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common,

Acts 2:45 (CJB)

⁴⁵ in fact, they sold their property and possessions and distributed the proceeds to all who were in need.

Acts 2:46 (NKJV)

⁴⁶ So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,

Acts 2:47 (NIV)

⁴⁷ praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Acts Chapter 3

Acts 3:1 (NIV)

¹ One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer–at three in the afternoon.

Acts 3:2 (NASB)

² And a man who had been lame from his mother’s womb was being carried along, whom they used to set down every day at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, in order to beg alms of those who were entering the temple.

Acts 3:3 (NASB)

³ When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms.

Acts 3:4 (AMP)

⁴ And Peter directed his gaze intently at him, and so did John, and said, Look at us!

Acts 3:5 (NASB)

⁵ And he began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.

Acts 3:6 (NKJV)

⁶ Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”

Acts 3:7 (NKJV)

⁷ And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.

Acts 3:8 (NLT2)

⁸ He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them.

Acts 3:9 (NASB)

⁹ And all the people saw him walking and praising God;

Acts 3:10 (NASB)

¹⁰ and they were taking note of him as being the one who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg alms, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Acts 3:11 (NIV)

¹¹ While the beggar held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade.

Acts 3:12 (NIV)

¹² When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?

Acts 3:13 (NASB)

¹³ “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus, the one whom you delivered and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him.

Acts 3:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.

Acts 3:15 (NIV)

¹⁵ You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.

Acts 3:16 (NASB)

¹⁶ “And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.

Acts 3:17 (AMP)

¹⁷ And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance [not aware of what you were doing], as did your rulers also.

Acts 3:18 (NIV)

¹⁸ But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer.

Acts 3:19 (NKJV)

¹⁹ Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,

Acts 3:20 (AMP)

²⁰ And that He may send [to you] the Christ (the Messiah), Who before was designated and appointed for you—even Jesus,

Acts 3:21 (CJB)

²¹ He has to remain in heaven until the time comes for restoring everything, as God said long ago, when he spoke through the holy prophets.

Acts 3:22 (NKJV)

²² For Moses truly said to the fathers, ‘The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you.

Acts 3:23 (NKJV)

²³ And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’

Acts 3:24 (NASB)

²⁴ “And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also announced these days.

Acts 3:25 (NIV)

²⁵ And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’

Acts 3:26 (AMP)

²⁶ It was to you first that God sent His Servant and Son Jesus, when He raised Him up [provided and gave Him for us], to bless you in turning every one of you from your wickedness and evil ways.

Acts Chapter 4

Acts 4:1 (NIV)

¹ The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people.

Acts 4:2 (NIV)

² They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.

Acts 4:3 (CJB)

³ The Temple police arrested them; and since it was already evening, they put them in custody overnight.

Acts 4:4 (NIV)

⁴ But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.

Acts 4:5 (NASB)

⁵ On the next day, their rulers and elders and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem;

Acts 4:6 (NASB)

⁶ and Annas the high priest was there, and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of high-priestly descent.

Acts 4:7 (NIV)

⁷ They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”

Acts 4:8 (NASB)

⁸ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people,

Acts 4:9 (CJB)

⁹ If we are being examined today about a good deed done for a disabled person, if you want to know how he was restored to health,

Acts 4:10 (NASB)

¹⁰ let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health.

Acts 4:11 (NLT2)

¹¹ For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, ‘The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’

Acts 4:12 (NIV)

¹² Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

Acts 4:13 (NASB)

¹³ Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.

Acts 4:14 (CJB)

¹⁴ Moreover, since they could see the man who had been healed standing right there beside them, there was nothing they could say to discredit the healing.

Acts 4:15 (NIV)

¹⁵ So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together.

Acts 4:16 (NIV)

¹⁶ “What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everybody living in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle, and we cannot deny it.

Acts 4:17 (CJB)

¹⁷ But to prevent it from spreading any further among the people, let’s warn them not to speak any more to anyone in this name.”

Acts 4:18 (NIV)

¹⁸ Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

Acts 4:19 (NIV)

¹⁹ But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God.

Acts 4:20 (NIV)

²⁰ For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

Acts 4:21 (NIV)

²¹ After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened.

Acts 4:22 (AMP)

²² For the man on whom this sign (miracle) of healing was performed was more than forty years old.

Acts 4:23 (NIV)

²³ On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them.

Acts 4:24 (NKJV)

²⁴ So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them,

Acts 4:25 (NIV)

²⁵ You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: “‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?

Acts 4:26 (NIV)

²⁶ The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.

Acts 4:27 (NLT2)

²⁷ “In fact, this has happened here in this very city! For Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate the governor, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were all united against Jesus, your holy servant, whom you anointed.

Acts 4:28 (AMP)

²⁸ To carry out all that Your hand and Your will and purpose had predestined (predetermined) should occur.

Acts 4:29 (NIV)

²⁹ Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.

Acts 4:30 (HCSB)

³⁰ while You stretch out Your hand for healing, signs, and wonders to be performed through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.”

Acts 4:31 (NASB)

³¹ And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.

Acts 4:32 (NIV)

³² All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.

Acts 4:33 (NKJV)

³³ And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.

Acts 4:34 (CJB)

³⁴ No one among them was poor, since those who owned lands or houses sold them and turned over the proceeds

Acts 4:35 (NIV)

³⁵ and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.

Acts 4:36 (AMP)

³⁶ Now Joseph, a Levite and native of Cyprus who was surnamed Barnabas by the apostles, which interpreted means Son of Encouragement,

Acts 4:37 (NKJV)

³⁷ having land, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

Acts Chapter 5

Acts 5:1 (NIV)

¹ Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property.

Acts 5:2 (NIV)

² With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.

Acts 5:3 (NIV)

³ Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?

Acts 5:4 (NIV)

⁴ Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.”

Acts 5:5 (NIV)

⁵ When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened.

Acts 5:6 (NIV)

⁶ Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.

Acts 5:7 (NASB)

⁷ Now there elapsed an interval of about three hours, and his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

Acts 5:8 (NASB)

⁸ And Peter responded to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for such and such a price?” And she said, “Yes, that was the price.”

Acts 5:9 (NASB)

⁹ Then Peter said to her, “Why is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out as well.“

Acts 5:10 (NASB)

¹⁰ And immediately she fell at his feet and breathed her last, and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

Acts 5:11 (NASB)

¹¹ And great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard of these things.

Acts 5:12 (NIV)

¹² The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade.

Acts 5:13 (NIV)

¹³ No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people.

Acts 5:14 (NKJV)

¹⁴ And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,

Acts 5:15 (NKJV)

¹⁵ so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them.

Acts 5:16 (NASB)

¹⁶ Also the people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick or afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed.

Acts 5:17 (AMP)

¹⁷ But the high priest rose up and all who were his supporters, that is, the party of the Sadducees, and being filled with jealousy and indignation and rage,

Acts 5:18 (NIV)

¹⁸ They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.

Acts 5:19 (NASB)

¹⁹ But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the gates of the prison, and taking them out he said,

Acts 5:20 (CJB)

²⁰ “Go, stand in the Temple court and keep telling the people all about this new life!”

Acts 5:21 (NIV)

²¹ At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people. When the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin–the full assembly of the elders of Israel–and sent to the jail for the apostles.

Acts 5:22 (NIV)

²² But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there. So they went back and reported,

Acts 5:23 (NIV)

²³ “We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.”

Acts 5:24 (NIV)

²⁴ On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were puzzled, wondering what would come of this.

Acts 5:25 (NASB)

²⁵ But someone came and reported to them, “The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!”

Acts 5:26 (CJB)

²⁶ The captain and his officers went and brought them, but not with force; because they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

Acts 5:27 (AMP)

²⁷ So they brought them and set them before the council (Sanhedrin). And the high priest examined them by questioning,

Acts 5:28 (NIV)

²⁸ “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”

Acts 5:29 (NIV)

²⁹ Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than men!

Acts 5:30 (NASB)

³⁰ “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross.

Acts 5:31 (NASB)

³¹ “He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.

Acts 5:32 (AMP)

³² And we are witnesses of these things, and the Holy Spirit is also, Whom God has bestowed on those who obey Him.

Acts 5:33 (AMP)

³³ Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and infuriated and wanted to kill the disciples.

Acts 5:34 (AMP)

³⁴ But a certain Pharisee in the council (Sanhedrin) named Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law, highly esteemed by all the people, standing up, ordered that the apostles be taken outside for a little while.

Acts 5:35 (NIV)

³⁵ Then he addressed them: “Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men.

Acts 5:36 (NIV)

³⁶ Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing.

Acts 5:37 (NIV)

³⁷ After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered.

Acts 5:38 (NIV)

³⁸ Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail.

Acts 5:39 (NIV)

³⁹ But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”

Acts 5:40 (AMP)

⁴⁰ So, convinced by him, they took his advice; and summoning the apostles, they flogged them and sternly forbade them to speak in or about the name of Jesus, and allowed them to go.

Acts 5:41 (NASB)

⁴¹ So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.

Acts 5:42 (NASB)

⁴² And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.

Acts Chapter 6

Acts 6:1 (CJB)-M

¹ Around this time, when the number of disciples was growing, the Greek-speaking Jews began complaining against those who spoke Hebrew that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution.

Acts 6:2 (NASB)-M

² So the twelve (Apostles) summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables.

Acts 6:3 (NIV)

³ Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them

Acts 6:4 (NASB)

⁴ “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

Acts 6:5 (NIV)

⁵ This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism.

Acts 6:6 (AMP)

⁶ These they presented to the apostles, who after prayer laid their hands on them.

Acts 6:7 (AMP)

⁷ And the message of God kept on spreading, and the number of disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem; and [besides] a large number of the priests were obedient to the faith [in Jesus as the Messiah, through whom is obtained eternal salvation in the kingdom of God].

Acts 6:8 (NASB)

⁸ And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people.

Acts 6:9 (NIV)

⁹ Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)–Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia. These men began to argue with Stephen,

Acts 6:10 (NASB)

¹⁰ But they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.

Acts 6:11 (AMP)

¹¹ So they [secretly] instigated and instructed men to say, We have heard this man speak, using slanderous and abusive and blasphemous language against Moses and God.

Acts 6:12 (AMP)

¹² [Thus] they incited the people as well as the elders and the scribes, and they came upon Stephen and arrested him and took him before the council (Sanhedrin).

Acts 6:13 (AMP)

¹³ And they brought forward false witnesses who asserted, This man never stops making statements against this sacred place and the Law [of Moses];

Acts 6:14 (NASB)

¹⁴ for we have heard him say that this Nazarene, Jesus, will destroy this place and alter the customs which Moses handed down to us.”

Acts 6:15 (CJB)

¹⁵ Everyone sitting in the Sanhedrin stared at Stephen and saw that his face looked like the face of an angel.

Acts Chapter 7

Acts 7:1 (AMP)

¹ And the high priest asked [Stephen], Are these charges true?

Acts 7:2 (AMP)

² And he answered, Brethren and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our forefather Abraham when he was still in Mesopotamia, before he [went to] live in Haran,

Acts 7:3 (AMP)

³ And He said to him, Leave your own country and your relatives and come into the land (region) that I will point out to you.

Acts 7:4 (AMP)

⁴ So then he went forth from the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. And from there, after his father died, [God] transferred him to this country in which you are now dwelling.

Acts 7:5 (NIV)

⁵ He gave him no inheritance here, not even a foot of ground. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child.

Acts 7:6 (CJB)

⁶ What God said to him was, ‘Your descendants will be aliens in a foreign land, where they will be in slavery and oppressed for four hundred years.

Acts 7:7 (CJB)

⁷ But I will judge the nation that enslaves them,’ God said, ‘and afterwards they will leave and worship me in this place.’

Acts 7:8 (NIV)

⁸ Then he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth. Later Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.

Acts 7:9 (NASB)

⁹ “The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt. Yet God was with him,

Acts 7:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt; so he made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.

Acts 7:11 (NIV)

¹¹ “Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our fathers could not find food.

Acts 7:12 (AMP)

¹² But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent forth our forefathers [to go there on their] first trip.

Acts 7:13 (AMP)

¹³ And on their second visit Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, and the family of Joseph became known to Pharaoh and his origin and race.

Acts 7:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five in all.

Acts 7:15 (AMP)

¹⁵ And Jacob went down into Egypt, where he himself died, as did [also] our forefathers;

Acts 7:16 (AMP)

¹⁶ And their bodies [Jacob’s and Joseph’s] were taken back to Shechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of [silver] money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

Acts 7:17 (AMP)

¹⁷ But as the time for the fulfillment of the promise drew near which God had made to Abraham, the [Hebrew] people increased and multiplied in Egypt,

Acts 7:18 (AMP)

¹⁸ Until [the time when] there arose over Egypt another and a different king who did not know Joseph [neither knowing his history and services nor recognizing his merits].

Acts 7:19 (NIV)

¹⁹ He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our forefathers by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die.

Acts 7:20 (AMP)

²⁰ At this juncture Moses was born, and was exceedingly beautiful in God’s sight. For three months he was nurtured in his father’s house;

Acts 7:21 (AMP)

²¹ Then when he was exposed [to perish], the daughter of Pharaoh rescued him and took him and reared him as her own son.

Acts 7:22 (AMP)

²² So Moses was educated in all the wisdom and culture of the Egyptians, and he was mighty (powerful) in his speech and deeds.

Acts 7:23 (AMP)

²³ And when he was in his fortieth year, it came into his heart to visit his kinsmen the children of Israel [to help them and to care for them].

Acts 7:24 (NIV)

²⁴ He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian.

Acts 7:25 (NASB)

²⁵ “And he supposed that his brethren understood that God was granting them deliverance through him, but they did not understand.

Acts 7:26 (NKJV)

²⁶ And the next day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brethren; why do you wrong one another?’

Acts 7:27 (NKJV)

²⁷ But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?

Acts 7:28 (NKJV)

²⁸ Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?’

Acts 7:29 (NIV)

²⁹ When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.

Acts 7:30 (NIV)

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

Acts 7:31 (AMP)

³¹ When Moses saw it, he was astonished and marveled at the sight; but when he went close to investigate, there came to him the voice of the Lord, saying,

Acts 7:32 (NIV)

³² ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.

Acts 7:33 (NIV)

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

Acts 7:34 (AMP)

³⁴ Because I have most assuredly seen the abuse and oppression of My people in Egypt and have heard their sighing and groaning, I have come down to rescue them. So, now come! I will send you back to Egypt [as My messenger].

Acts 7:35 (NIV)

³⁵ “This is the same Moses whom they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush.

Acts 7:36 (CJB)

³⁶ This man led them out, performing miracles and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years.

Acts 7:37 (AMP)

³⁷ It was this [very] Moses who said to the children of Israel, God will raise up for you a Prophet from among your brethren as He raised me up.

Acts 7:38 (NASB)

³⁸ “This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness together with the angel who was speaking to him on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received living oracles to pass on to you.

Acts 7:39 (NIV)

³⁹ “But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.

Acts 7:40 (NIV)

⁴⁰ They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt–we don’t know what has happened to him!’

Acts 7:41 (NIV)

⁴¹ That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and held a celebration in honor of what their hands had made.

Acts 7:42 (CJB)-M

⁴² So God turned away from them and gave them over to worship the stars — as has been written in the book of the prophets, ‘People of Israel, it was not to me that you offered slaughtered animals and sacrifices for forty years in the wilderness!

Acts 7:43 (NIV)

⁴³ You have lifted up the shrine of Molech and the star of your god Rephan, the idols you made to worship. Therefore I will send you into exile’ beyond Babylon.

Acts 7:44 (NIV)

⁴⁴ “Our forefathers had the tabernacle of the Testimony with them in the desert. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen.

Acts 7:45 (NIV)

⁴⁵ Having received the tabernacle, our fathers under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land until the time of David,

Acts 7:46 (NIV)

⁴⁶ who enjoyed God’s favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.

Acts 7:47 (NIV)

⁴⁷ But it was Solomon who built the house for him.

Acts 7:48 (NASB)

⁴⁸ “However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet says:

Acts 7:49 (AMP)

⁴⁹ Heaven [is] My throne, and earth the footstool for My feet. What [kind of] house can you build for Me, says the Lord, or what is the place in which I can rest?

Acts 7:50 (NIV)

⁵⁰ Has not my hand made all these things?’

Acts 7:51 (AMP)

⁵¹ You stubborn and stiff-necked people, still heathen and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are always actively resisting the Holy Spirit. As your forefathers [were], so you [are and so you do]!

Acts 7:52 (AMP)

⁵² Which of the prophets did your forefathers not persecute? And they slew those who proclaimed beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, Whom you now have betrayed and murdered—

Acts 7:53 (AMP)

⁵³ You who received the Law as it was ordained and set in order and delivered by angels, and [yet] you did not obey it!

Acts 7:54 (AMP)

⁵⁴ Now upon hearing these things, they [the Jews] were cut to the heart and infuriated, and they ground their teeth against [Stephen].

Acts 7:55 (NASB)

⁵⁵ But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God;

Acts 7:56 (NASB)

⁵⁶ and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

Acts 7:57 (CJB)

⁵⁷ At this, they began yelling at the top of their voices, so that they wouldn’t have to hear him; and with one accord, they rushed at him,

Acts 7:58 (NIV)

⁵⁸ dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.

Acts 7:59 (NASB)

⁵⁹ They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”

Acts 7:60 (NASB)

⁶⁰ Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he fell asleep.

Acts Chapter 8

Acts 8:1 (NIV)-M

¹ And Saul was there, giving approval to his death. On that day a great persecution broke out against the Messianic Community at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.

Acts 8:2 (NIV)

² Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him.

Acts 8:3 (CJB)-M

³ But Saul set out to destroy the Messianic Community — entering house after house, he dragged off both men and women and handed them over to be put in prison.

Acts 8:4 (CJB)

⁴ However, those who were scattered announced the Good News of the Word wherever they went.

Acts 8:5 (CJB)-M

⁵ Now Philip went down to a city in Samaria and was proclaiming the Messiah to them;

Acts 8:6 (NIV)

⁶ When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said.

Acts 8:7 (NASB)

⁷ For in the case of many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed.

Acts 8:8 (AMP)

⁸ And there was great rejoicing in that city.

Acts 8:9 (NIV)

⁹ Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great,

Acts 8:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is the divine power known as the Great Power.”

Acts 8:11 (NIV)

¹¹ They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic.

Acts 8:12 (HCSB)

¹² But when they believed Philip, as he preached the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized.

Acts 8:13 (NIV)

¹³ Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.

Acts 8:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.

Acts 8:15 (NIV)

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

Acts 8:16 (NIV)

¹⁶ because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.

Acts 8:17 (NIV)

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

Acts 8:18 (NASB)

¹⁸ Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money,

Acts 8:19 (NASB)

¹⁹ saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 8:20 (NKJV)

²⁰ But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money!

Acts 8:21 (NKJV)

²¹ You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God.

Acts 8:22 (NASB)

²² “Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you.

Acts 8:23 (NKJV)

²³ For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.”

Acts 8:24 (NKJV)

²⁴ Then Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me.”

Acts 8:25 (NASB)

²⁵ So, when they had solemnly testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.

Acts 8:26 (NASB)

²⁶ But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.)

Acts 8:27 (AMP)

²⁷ So he got up and went. And behold, an Ethiopian, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure, had come to Jerusalem to worship.

Acts 8:28 (NIV)

²⁸ and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet.

Acts 8:29 (AMP)

²⁹ Then the [Holy] Spirit said to Philip, Go forward and join yourself to this chariot.

Acts 8:30 (NASB)

³⁰ Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

Acts 8:31 (AMP)

³¹ And he said, How is it possible for me to do so unless someone explains it to me and guides me [in the right way]? And he earnestly requested Philip to come up and sit beside him.

Acts 8:32 (AMP)

³² Now this was the passage of Scripture which he was reading: Like a sheep He was led to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is dumb, so He opens not His mouth.

Acts 8:33 (NKJV)

³³ In His humiliation His justice was taken away, And who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth.”

Acts 8:34 (NIV)

³⁴ The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?”

Acts 8:35 (HCSB)

³⁵ So Philip proceeded to tell him the good news about Jesus, beginning from that Scripture.

Acts 8:36 (AMP)

³⁶ And as they continued along on the way, they came to some water, and the eunuch exclaimed, See, [here is] water! What is to hinder my being baptized?

Acts 8:37 (AMP)

³⁷ And Philip said, If you believe with all your heart [if you have a conviction, full of joyful trust, that Jesus is the Messiah and accept Him as the Author of your salvation in the kingdom of God, giving Him your obedience, then] you may. And he replied, I do believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

Acts 8:38 (NIV)

³⁸ And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.

Acts 8:39 (NKJV)

³⁹ Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.

Acts 8:40 (NASB)

⁴⁰ But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea.

Acts Chapter 9

Acts 9:1 (NIV)

¹ Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest

Acts 9:2 (NIV)

² and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

Acts 9:3 (NIV)

³ As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.

Acts 9:4 (NASB)

⁴ and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”

Acts 9:5 (NASB)

⁵ And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting,

Acts 9:6 (CJB)

⁶ But get up, and go into the city, and you will be told what you have to do.”

Acts 9:7 (AMP)

⁷ The men who were accompanying him were unable to speak [for terror], hearing the voice but seeing no one.

Acts 9:8 (AMP)

⁸ Then Saul got up from the ground, but though his eyes were opened, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.

Acts 9:9 (NIV)

⁹ For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

Acts 9:10 (AMP)

¹⁰ Now there was in Damascus a disciple named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, Ananias. And he answered, Here am I, Lord.

Acts 9:11 (AMP)

¹¹ And the Lord said to him, Get up and go to the street called Straight and ask at the house of Judas for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying [there].

Acts 9:12 (AMP)

¹² And he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias enter and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.

Acts 9:13 (NIV)

¹³ “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem.

Acts 9:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”

Acts 9:15 (NIV)

¹⁵ But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel.

Acts 9:16 (CJB)

¹⁶ For I myself will show him how much he will have to suffer on account of my name.”

Acts 9:17 (NASB)

¹⁷ So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 9:18 (NASB)

¹⁸ And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized;

Acts 9:19 (NIV)

¹⁹ and after taking some food, he regained his strength. Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus.

Acts 9:20 (HCSB)

²⁰ Immediately he began proclaiming Jesus in the synagogues: “He is the Son of God.”

Acts 9:21 (NIV)

²¹ All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?”

Acts 9:22 (NLT2)

²² Saul’s preaching became more and more powerful, and the Jews in Damascus couldn’t refute his proofs that Jesus was indeed the Messiah.

Acts 9:23 (CJB)

²³ Quite some time later, the non-believing Jews gathered together and made plans to kill him;

Acts 9:24 (NASB)

²⁴ but their plot became known to Saul. They were also watching the gates day and night so that they might put him to death;

Acts 9:25 (NASB)

²⁵ but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a large basket.

Acts 9:26 (NIV)

²⁶ When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple.

Acts 9:27 (NASB)

²⁷ But Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had talked to him, and how at Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus.

Acts 9:28 (NIV)

²⁸ So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.

Acts 9:29 (CJB)

²⁹ He talked and debated with the Greek-speaking Jews, but they began making attempts to kill him.

Acts 9:30 (NIV)

³⁰ When the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

Acts 9:31 (NKJV)

³¹ Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.

Acts 9:32 (NASB)

³² Now as Peter was traveling through all those regions, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda.

Acts 9:33 (CJB)

³³ There he found a man named Aeneas who had lain bedridden for eight years, because he was paralyzed.

Acts 9:34 (AMP)

³⁴ And Peter said to him, Aeneas, Jesus Christ (the Messiah) [now] makes you whole. Get up and make your bed! And immediately [Aeneas] stood up.

Acts 9:35 (NASB)

³⁵ And all who lived at Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.

Acts 9:36 (NASB)

³⁶ Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which translated in Greek is called Dorcas); this woman was abounding with deeds of kindness and charity which she continually did.

Acts 9:37 (NASB)

³⁷ And it happened at that time that she fell sick and died; and when they had washed her body, they laid it in an upper room.

Acts 9:38 (AMP)

³⁸ Since Lydda was near Joppa [however], the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him begging him, Do come to us without delay.

Acts 9:39 (NIV)

³⁹ Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

Acts 9:40 (NASB)

⁴⁰ But Peter sent them all out and knelt down and prayed, and turning to the body, he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up.

Acts 9:41 (NIV)

⁴¹ He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called the believers and the widows and presented her to them alive.

Acts 9:42 (NIV)

⁴² This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord.

Acts 9:43 (AMP)

⁴³ And Peter remained in Joppa for considerable time with a certain Simon a tanner.

Acts Chapter 10

Acts 10:1 (CJB)

¹ There was a man in Caesarea named Cornelius, a Roman army officer in what was called the Italian Regiment.

Acts 10:2 (CJB)

² He was a devout man, a “God-fearer,” as was his whole household; he gave generously to help the Jewish poor and prayed regularly to God.

Acts 10:3 (NIV)

³ One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”

Acts 10:4 (NASB)

⁴ And fixing his gaze on him and being much alarmed, he said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God.

Acts 10:5 (NIV)

⁵ Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter.

Acts 10:6 (NIV)

⁶ He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.”

Acts 10:7 (CJB)

⁷ As the angel that had spoken to him went away, Cornelius called two of his household slaves and one of his military aides, who was a godly man;

Acts 10:8 (NIV)

⁸ He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa.

Acts 10:9 (NIV)

⁹ About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray.

Acts 10:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance.

Acts 10:11 (NIV)

¹¹ He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners.

Acts 10:12 (NIV)

¹² It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air.

Acts 10:13 (NKJV)

¹³ And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.”

Acts 10:14 (AMP)

¹⁴ But Peter said, No, by no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common and unhallowed or [ceremonially] unclean.

Acts 10:15 (NIV)

¹⁵ The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

Acts 10:16 (NIV)

¹⁶ This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.

Acts 10:17 (NIV)

¹⁷ While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate.

Acts 10:18 (NIV)

¹⁸ They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.

Acts 10:19 (NIV)

¹⁹ While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three men are looking for you.

Acts 10:20 (NIV)

²⁰ So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.”

Acts 10:21 (AMP)

²¹ Then Peter went down to the men and said, I am the man you seek; what is the purpose of your coming?

Acts 10:22 (CJB)

²² They answered, “Cornelius. He’s a Roman army officer, an upright man and a God-fearer, a man highly regarded by the whole Jewish nation; and he was told by a holy angel to have you come to his house and listen to what you have to say.”

Acts 10:23 (AMP)

²³ So Peter invited them in to be his guests [for the night]. The next day he arose and went away with them, and some of the brethren from Joppa accompanied him.

Acts 10:24 (NIV)

²⁴ The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends.

Acts 10:25 (NASB)

²⁵ When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell at his feet and worshiped him.

Acts 10:26 (NIV)

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

Acts 10:27 (NASB)

²⁷ As he talked with him, he entered and *found many people assembled.

Acts 10:28 (NIV)

²⁸ He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean.

Acts 10:29 (NIV)

²⁹ So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?”

Acts 10:30 (NIV)

³⁰ Cornelius answered: “Four days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me

Acts 10:31 (NASB)

³¹ and he *said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God.

Acts 10:32 (NIV)

³² Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea.’

Acts 10:33 (NIV)

³³ So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.”

Acts 10:34 (AMP)

³⁴ And Peter opened his mouth and said: Most certainly and thoroughly I now perceive and understand that God shows no partiality and is no respecter of persons,

Acts 10:35 (NIV)

³⁵ but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.

Acts 10:36 (NLT2)

³⁶ This is the message of Good News for the people of Israel—that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.

Acts 10:37 (AMP)

³⁷ The [same] message which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee after the baptism preached by John—

Acts 10:38 (NASB)

³⁸ “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

Acts 10:39 (NASB)

³⁹ “We are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross.

Acts 10:40 (NIV)

⁴⁰ but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen.

Acts 10:41 (NIV)

⁴¹ He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen–by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

Acts 10:42 (NIV)

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

Acts 10:43 (NIV)

⁴³ All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Acts 10:44 (NASB)

⁴⁴ While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message.

Acts 10:45 (NASB)

⁴⁵ All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.

Acts 10:46 (NASB)

⁴⁶ For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter answered,

Acts 10:47 (AMP)

⁴⁷ Can anyone forbid or refuse water for baptizing these people, seeing that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?

Acts 10:48 (AMP)

⁴⁸ And he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (the Messiah). Then they begged him to stay on there for some days.

Acts Chapter 11

Acts 11:1 (NASB)

¹ Now the apostles and the brethren who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.

Acts 11:2 (NIV)

² So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him

Acts 11:3 (NIV)

³ and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

Acts 11:4 (NIV)

⁴ Peter began and explained everything to them precisely as it had happened:

Acts 11:5 (NIV)

⁵ “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was.

Acts 11:6 (NASB)

⁶ and when I had fixed my gaze on it and was observing it I saw the four-footed animals of the earth and the wild beasts and the crawling creatures and the birds of the air.

Acts 11:7 (NKJV)

⁷ And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’

Acts 11:8 (NIV)

⁸ “I replied, ‘Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’

Acts 11:9 (NIV)

⁹ “The voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’

Acts 11:10 (AMP)

¹⁰ This occurred three times, and then all was drawn up again into heaven.

Acts 11:11 (NIV)

¹¹ “Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying.

Acts 11:12 (CJB)

¹² and the Spirit told me to have no misgivings about going back with them. These six brothers also came with me, and we went into the man’s house.

Acts 11:13 (NIV)

¹³ He told us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter.

Acts 11:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.’

Acts 11:15 (NIV)

¹⁵ “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning.

Acts 11:16 (NIV)

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

Acts 11:17 (NASB)

¹⁷ “Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?”

Acts 11:18 (NASB)

¹⁸ When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.”

Acts 11:19 (NIV)

¹⁹ Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews.

Acts 11:20 (CJB)

²⁰ However, some of these, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, when they arrived at Antioch, began speaking to the Greeks too, proclaiming the Good News of the Lord Yeshua.

Acts 11:21 (NIV)

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

Acts 11:22 (NIV)

²² News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.

Acts 11:22 (CJB)-M

²² News of this reached the ears of the Messianic community in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.

Acts 11:23 (CJB)

²³ On arriving and seeing for himself the grace of God at work, he was glad; and he encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with their whole hearts;

Acts 11:24 (NIV)

²⁴ He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

Acts 11:25 (NIV)

²⁵ Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul,

Acts 11:26 (NIV)

²⁶ and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.

Acts 11:27 (NIV)

²⁷ During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.

Acts 11:28 (NIV)

²⁸ One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.)

Acts 11:29 (NASB)

²⁹ And in the proportion that any of the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the relief of the brethren living in Judea.

Acts 11:30 (NIV)

³⁰ This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.

Acts Chapter 12

Acts 12:1 (CJB)

¹ It was around this time that King Herod began arresting and persecuting certain members of the Messianic community;

Acts 12:2 (NIV)

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

Acts 12:3 (NIV)

³ When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Acts 12:4 (NIV)

⁴ After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.

Acts 12:5 (NIV)

⁵ So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.

Acts 12:6 (NIV)

⁶ The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance.

Acts 12:7 (NASB)

⁷ And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter’s side and woke him up, saying, “Get up quickly.” And his chains fell off his hands.

Acts 12:8 (NIV)

⁸ Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him.

Acts 12:9 (AMP)

⁹ And [Peter] went out [along] following him, and he was not conscious that what was apparently being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.

Acts 12:10 (CJB)

¹⁰ Having passed a first guard and a second, they arrived at the iron gate leading to the city. This opened to them by itself, and they made their exit. They went down the length of one street, and suddenly the angel left him.

Acts 12:11 (NIV2011)

¹¹ Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”

Acts 12:12 (NASB)

¹² And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.

Acts 12:13 (NIV)

¹³ Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer the door.

Acts 12:14 (NASB)

¹⁴ When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her joy she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate.

Acts 12:15 (NASB)

¹⁵ They said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was so. They kept saying, “It is his angel.”

Acts 12:16 (NASB)

¹⁶ But Peter continued knocking; and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were amazed.

Acts 12:17 (NASB)

¹⁷ But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, “Report these things to James and the brethren.” Then he left and went to another place.

Acts 12:18 (NIV)

¹⁸ In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter.

Acts 12:19 (NIV)

¹⁹ After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed. Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there a while.

Acts 12:20 (NIV)

²⁰ He had been quarreling with the people of Tyre and Sidon; they now joined together and sought an audience with him. Having secured the support of Blastus, a trusted personal servant of the king, they asked for peace, because they depended on the king’s country for their food supply.

Acts 12:21 (NKJV)

²¹ So on a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave an oration to them.

Acts 12:22 (AMP)

²² And the assembled people shouted, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man!

Acts 12:23 (NASB)

²³ And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died.

Acts 12:24 (NKJV)

²⁴ But the word of God grew and multiplied.

Acts 12:25 (AMP)

²⁵ And Barnabas and Saul came back from Jerusalem when they had completed their mission, bringing with them John whose surname was Mark.

Acts Chapter 13

Acts 13:1 (NASB)

¹ Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

Acts 13:2 (NASB)

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

Acts 13:3 (NASB)

³ Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

Acts 13:4 (NASB)

⁴ So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

Acts 13:5 (NASB)

⁵ When they reached Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews; and they also had John as their helper.

Acts 13:6 (AMP)

⁶ When they had passed through the entire island of Cyprus as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain Jewish wizard or sorcerer, a false prophet named Bar-Jesus.

Acts 13:7 (AMP)

⁷ He was closely associated with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, who was an intelligent and sensible man of sound understanding; he summoned to him Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the Word of God [concerning salvation in the kingdom of God attained through Christ].

Acts 13:8 (NIV)

⁸ But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.

Acts 13:9 (NASB)

⁹ But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on him,

Acts 13:10 (NASB)

¹⁰ and said, “You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord?

Acts 13:11 (NIV)

¹¹ Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind, and for a time you will be unable to see the light of the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

Acts 13:12 (NIV)

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

Acts 13:13 (NASB)

¹³ Now Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia; but John left them and returned to Jerusalem.

Acts 13:14 (NASB)

¹⁴ But going on from Perga, they arrived at Pisidian Antioch, and on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.

Acts 13:15 (NASB)

¹⁵ After the reading of the Law and the Prophets the synagogue officials sent to them, saying, “Brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it.”

Acts 13:16 (NIV)

¹⁶ Standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and said: “Men of Israel and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me!

Acts 13:17 (NIV)

¹⁷ The God of the people of Israel chose our fathers; he made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt, with mighty power he led them out of that country,

Acts 13:18 (AMP)

¹⁸ And for about forty years like a fatherly nurse He cared for them in the wilderness and endured their behavior.

Acts 13:19 (NIV)

¹⁹ he overthrew seven nations in Canaan and gave their land to his people as their inheritance.

Acts 13:20 (NKJV)

²⁰ After that He gave them judges for about four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet.

Acts 13:21 (NASB)

²¹ “Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.

Acts 13:22 (NIV)

²² After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’

Acts 13:23 (NIV)

²³ “From this man’s descendants God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as he promised.

Acts 13:24 (NIV)

²⁴ Before the coming of Jesus, John preached repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel.

Acts 13:25 (NKJV)

²⁵ And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not He. But behold, there comes One after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to loose.’

Acts 13:26 (NIV)

²⁶ “Brothers, children of Abraham, and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent.

Acts 13:27 (NIV)

²⁷ The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath.

Acts 13:28 (NASB)

²⁸ “And though they found no ground for putting Him to death, they asked Pilate that He be executed.

Acts 13:29 (NASB)

²⁹ “When they had carried out all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb.

Acts 13:30 (NASB)

³⁰ “But God raised Him from the dead;

Acts 13:31 (NKJV)

³¹ He was seen for many days by those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses to the people.

Acts 13:32 (AMP)

³² So now we are bringing you the good news (Gospel) that what God promised to our forefathers,

Acts 13:33 (NIV)

³³ he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: “‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father’.

Acts 13:34 (NIV)

³⁴ The fact that God raised him from the dead, never to decay, is stated in these words: “‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.’

Acts 13:35 (NIV)

³⁵ So it is stated elsewhere: “‘You will not let your Holy One see decay.’

Acts 13:36 (NASB)

³⁶ “For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers and underwent decay;

Acts 13:37 (NKJV)

³⁷ but He whom God raised up saw no corruption.

Acts 13:38 (NIV)

³⁸ “Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.

Acts 13:39 (NKJV)

³⁹ and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.

Acts 13:40 (NKJV)

⁴⁰ Beware therefore, lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you:

Acts 13:41 (NIV)

⁴¹ “‘Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish, for I am going to do something in your days that you would never believe, even if someone told you.'”

Acts 13:42 (NIV)

⁴² As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath.

Acts 13:43 (NIV)

⁴³ When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.

Acts 13:44 (NIV)

⁴⁴ On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.

Acts 13:45 (NASB)

⁴⁵ But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were blaspheming.

Acts 13:46 (NKJV)

⁴⁶ Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.

Acts 13:47 (NIV)

⁴⁷ For this is what the Lord has commanded us: “‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.'”

Acts 13:48 (NIV)

⁴⁸ When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.

Acts 13:49 (NIV)

⁴⁹ The word of the Lord spread through the whole region.

Acts 13:50 (NLT2)

⁵⁰ Then the Jews stirred up the influential religious women and the leaders of the city, and they incited a mob against Paul and Barnabas and ran them out of town.

Acts 13:51 (NIV)

⁵¹ So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.

Acts 13:52 (NASB)

⁵² And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

Acts Chapter 14

Acts 14:1 (NIV)

¹ At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Gentiles believed.

Acts 14:2 (NIV)

² But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.

Acts 14:3 (NIV)

³ So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders.

Acts 14:4 (CJB)-M

⁴ However, the people of the city were divided — some sided with the unbelieving Jews, others with the Apostles.

Acts 14:5 (CJB)-M

⁵ Eventually the unbelievers, both Jews and Gentiles, together with their leaders, made a move to mistreat the Apostles, even to stone them;

Acts 14:6 (CJB)

⁶ but they learned of it and escaped to Lystra and Derbe, towns in Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country,

Acts 14:7 (CJB)

⁷ where they continued proclaiming the Good News.

Acts 14:8 (NIV)

⁸ In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked.

Acts 14:9 (NKJV)

⁹ This man heard Paul speaking. Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed,

Acts 14:10 (NASB)

¹⁰ said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he leaped up and began to walk.

Acts 14:11 (NIV)

¹¹ When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!”

Acts 14:12 (NASB)

¹² And they began calling Barnabas, Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.

Acts 14:13 (NASB)

¹³ The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds.

Acts 14:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting:

Acts 14:15 (NIV)

¹⁵ “Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them.

Acts 14:16 (AMP)

¹⁶ In generations past He permitted all the nations to walk in their own ways;

Acts 14:17 (CJB)

¹⁷ yet he did not leave himself without evidence of his nature; because he does good things, giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons, filling you with food and your hearts with happiness!”

Acts 14:18 (NASB)

¹⁸ Even saying these things, with difficulty they restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them.

Acts 14:19 (CJB)-M

¹⁹ Then some unbelieving Jews came from Antioch and Iconium. They won over the crowds, stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead.

Acts 14:20 (NIV)

²⁰ But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe.

Acts 14:21 (AMP)

²¹ When they had preached the good news (Gospel) to that town and made disciples of many of the people, they went back to Lystra and Iconium and Antioch,

Acts 14:22 (CJB)-M

²² strengthening the disciples, encouraging them to remain true to the faith, and reminding them that it is through many hardships that we must enter the Kingdom of God.

Acts 14:23 (AMP)

²³ And when they had appointed and ordained elders for them in each church with prayer and fasting, they committed them to the Lord in Whom they had come to believe [being full of joyful trust that He is the Christ, the Messiah].

Acts 14:24 (AMP)

²⁴ Then they went through Pisidia and arrived at Pamphylia.

Acts 14:25 (AMP)

²⁵ And when they had spoken the Word in Perga [the doctrine concerning the attainment through Christ of salvation in the kingdom of God], they went down to Attalia;

Acts 14:26 (NIV)

²⁶ From Attalia they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work they had now completed.

Acts 14:27 (NIV)

²⁷ On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.

Acts 14:28 (NIV)

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

Acts Chapter 15

Acts 15:1 (NIV)

¹ Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.”

Acts 15:2 (NIV)

² This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question.

Acts 15:3 (NASB)

³ Therefore, being sent on their way by the church, they were passing through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and were bringing great joy to all the brethren.

Acts 15:4 (NIV)

⁴ When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.

Acts 15:5 (NASB)

⁵ But some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.”

Acts 15:6 (AMP)

⁶ The apostles and the elders were assembled together to look into and consider this matter.

Acts 15:7 (NIV)

⁷ After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe.

Acts 15:8 (NKJV)

⁸ So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us,

Acts 15:9 (NKJV)

⁹ and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.

Acts 15:10 (AMP)

¹⁰ Now then, why do you try to test God by putting a yoke on the necks of the disciples, such as neither our forefathers nor we [ourselves] were able to endure?

Acts 15:11 (AMP)

¹¹ But we believe that we are saved through the grace (the undeserved favor and mercy) of the Lord Jesus, just as they [are].

Acts 15:12 (AMP)

¹² Then the whole assembly remained silent, and they listened [attentively] as Barnabas and Paul rehearsed what signs and wonders God had performed through them among the Gentiles.

Acts 15:13 (AMP)

¹³ When they had finished talking, James replied, Brethren, listen to me.

Acts 15:14 (AMP)

¹⁴ Simeon [Peter] has rehearsed how God first visited the Gentiles, to take out of them a people [to bear and honor] His name.

Acts 15:15 (NIV)

¹⁵ The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:

Acts 15:16 (CJB)

¹⁶ ‘“After this, I will return; and I will rebuild the fallen tent of David. I will rebuild its ruins, I will restore it,

Acts 15:17 (NKJV)

¹⁷ So that the rest of mankind may seek the LORD, Even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, Says the LORD who does all these things.’

Acts 15:18 (AMP)

¹⁸ Says the Lord, Who has been making these things known from the beginning of the world.

Acts 15:19 (AMP)

¹⁹ Therefore it is my opinion that we should not put obstacles in the way of and annoy and disturb those of the Gentiles who turn to God,

Acts 15:20 (NIV)

²⁰ Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.

Acts 15:21 (NIV)

²¹ For Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”

Acts 15:22 (NASB)

²² Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas—Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren,

Acts 15:23 (NIV)

²³ With them they sent the following letter: The apostles and elders, your brothers, To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia: Greetings.

Acts 15:24 (NIV)

²⁴ We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said.

Acts 15:25 (NIV)

²⁵ So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul–

Acts 15:26 (NIV)

²⁶ men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Acts 15:27 (NIV)

²⁷ Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing.

Acts 15:28 (NIV)

²⁸ It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements:

Acts 15:29 (NIV)

²⁹ You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell.

Acts 15:30 (NASB)

³⁰ So when they were sent away, they went down to Antioch; and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter.

Acts 15:31 (AMP)

³¹ And when they read it, the people rejoiced at the consolation and encouragement [it brought them].

Acts 15:32 (NASB)

³² Judas and Silas, also being prophets themselves, encouraged and strengthened the brethren with a lengthy message.

Acts 15:33 (NKJV)

³³ And after they had stayed there for a time, they were sent back with greetings from the brethren to the apostles.

Acts 15:34 (NASB)

³⁴ [But it seemed good to Silas to remain there.]

Acts 15:35 (NKJV)

³⁵ Paul and Barnabas also remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.

Acts 15:36 (NASB)

³⁶ After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brethren in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.”

Acts 15:37 (AMP)

³⁷ Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark [his near relative].

Acts 15:38 (AMP)

³⁸ But Paul did not think it best to have along with them the one who had quit and deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone on with them to the work.

Acts 15:39 (AMP)

³⁹ And there followed a sharp disagreement between them, so that they separated from each other, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus.

Acts 15:40 (NIV)

⁴⁰ but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord.

Acts 15:41 (AMP)

⁴¹ And he passed through Syria and Cilicia, establishing and strengthening the churches.

Acts Chapter 16

Acts 16:1 (NASB)

¹ Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. And a disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek,

Acts 16:2 (NASB)

² and he was well spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium.

Acts 16:3 (NIV)

³ Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

Acts 16:4 (NASB)

⁴ Now while they were passing through the cities, they were delivering the decrees which had been decided upon by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem, for them to observe.

Acts 16:5 (NASB)

⁵ So the churches were being strengthened in the faith, and were increasing in number daily.

Acts 16:6 (AMP)

⁶ And Paul and Silas passed through the territory of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Word in [the province of] Asia.

Acts 16:7 (NIV)

⁷ When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.

Acts 16:8 (AMP)

⁸ So passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.

Acts 16:9 (NKJV)

⁹ And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”

Acts 16:10 (CJB)

¹⁰ As soon as he had seen the vision, we lost no time getting ready to leave for Macedonia; for we concluded that God had called us to proclaim the Good News to them.

Acts 16:11 (NIV)

¹¹ From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day on to Neapolis.

Acts 16:12 (NIV)

¹² From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.

Acts 16:13 (NKJV)

¹³ And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there.

Acts 16:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.

Acts 16:15 (NIV)

¹⁵ When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

Acts 16:16 (NIV)

¹⁶ Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling.

Acts 16:17 (NIV)

¹⁷ This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.”

Acts 16:18 (NLT2)

¹⁸ This went on day after day until Paul got so exasperated that he turned and said to the demon within her, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And instantly it left her.

Acts 16:19 (NASB)

¹⁹ But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place before the authorities,

Acts 16:20 (AMP)

²⁰ And when they had brought them before the magistrates, they declared, These fellows are Jews and they are throwing our city into great confusion.

Acts 16:21 (NIV)

²¹ by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”

Acts 16:22 (CJB)

²² The mob joined in the attack against them, and the judges tore their clothes off them and ordered that they be flogged.

Acts 16:23 (CJB)

²³ After giving them a severe beating, they threw them in prison, charging the jailer to guard them securely.

Acts 16:24 (NASB)

²⁴ and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

Acts 16:25 (NIV)

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

Acts 16:26 (AMP)

²⁶ Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the very foundations of the prison were shaken; and at once all the doors were opened and everyone’s shackles were unfastened.

Acts 16:27 (NIV)

²⁷ The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped.

Acts 16:28 (NIV)

²⁸ But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”

Acts 16:29 (NASB)

²⁹ And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas,

Acts 16:30 (AMP)

³⁰ And he brought them out [of the dungeon] and said, Men, what is it necessary for me to do that I may be saved?

Acts 16:31 (NASB)

³¹ They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

Acts 16:32 (NASB)

³² And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house.

Acts 16:33 (NIV)

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

Acts 16:34 (NIV)

³⁴ The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God–he and his whole family.

Acts 16:35 (NIV)

³⁵ When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: “Release those men.”

Acts 16:36 (HCSB)

³⁶ The jailer reported these words to Paul: “The magistrates have sent orders for you to be released. So come out now and go in peace.”

Acts 16:37 (NIV)

³⁷ But Paul said to the officers: “They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out.”

Acts 16:38 (NKJV)

³⁸ And the officers told these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans.

Acts 16:39 (CJB)

³⁹ They came and apologized to them; then, after escorting them out, requested them to leave the city.

Acts 16:40 (NIV)

⁴⁰ After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house, where they met with the brothers and encouraged them. Then they left.

Acts Chapter 17

Acts 17:1 (AMP)

¹ Now After [Paul and Silas] had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.

Acts 17:2 (NASB)

² And according to Paul’s custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures,

Acts 17:3 (CJB)

³ explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and that “this Yeshua whom I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah.”

Acts 17:4 (NIV)

⁴ Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women.

Acts 17:5 (HCSB)

⁵ But the Jews became jealous, and they brought together some scoundrels from the marketplace, formed a mob, and started a riot in the city. Attacking Jason’s house, they searched for them to bring them out to the public assembly.

Acts 17:6 (CJB)

⁶ But when they didn’t find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city authorities and shouted, “These men who have turned the whole world upside down have come here too!

Acts 17:7 (HCSB)

⁷ and Jason has received them as guests! They are all acting contrary to Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king—Jesus!”

Acts 17:8 (AMP)

⁸ And both the crowd and the city authorities, on hearing this, were irritated (stirred up and troubled).

Acts 17:9 (AMP)

⁹ And when they had taken security [bail] from Jason and the others, they let them go.

Acts 17:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue.

Acts 17:11 (NIV2011)

¹¹ Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

Acts 17:12 (NASB)

¹² Therefore many of them believed, along with a number of prominent Greek women and men.

Acts 17:13 (HCSB)

¹³ But when the Jews from Thessalonica found out that God’s message had been proclaimed by Paul at Berea, they came there too, agitating and disturbing the crowds.

Acts 17:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ The brothers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea.

Acts 17:15 (AMP)

¹⁵ Those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and receiving instructions for Silas and Timothy that they should come to him as soon as possible, they departed.

Acts 17:16 (NASB)-M

¹⁶ Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, (his human) spirit was being provoked within him [by the Holy Spirit] as he was observing the city full of idols.

Acts 17:17 (NASB)

¹⁷ So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be present.

Acts 17:18 (NIV)

¹⁸ A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.

Acts 17:19 (AMP)

¹⁹ And they took hold of him and brought him to the Areopagus [Mars Hill meeting place], saying, May we know what this novel (unheard of and unprecedented) teaching is which you are openly declaring?

Acts 17:20 (NASB)

²⁰ “For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean.”

Acts 17:21 (NKJV)

²¹ For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.

Acts 17:22 (NASB)

²² So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects.

Acts 17:23 (NLT2)

²³ for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about.

Acts 17:24 (NIV)

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

Acts 17:25 (NASB)

²⁵ nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things;

Acts 17:26 (CJB)

²⁶ “From one man he made every nation living on the entire surface of the earth, and he fixed the limits of their territories and the periods when they would flourish.

Acts 17:27 (CJB)

²⁷ God did this so that people would look for him and perhaps reach out and find him although in fact, he is not far from each one of us,

Acts 17:28 (NIV)

²⁸ ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

Acts 17:29 (NIV)

²⁹ “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone–an image made by man’s design and skill.

Acts 17:30 (NIV)

³⁰ In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.

Acts 17:31 (NIV)

³¹ For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.”

Acts 17:32 (NIV)

³² When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.”

Acts 17:33 (NKJV)

³³ So Paul departed from among them.

Acts 17:34 (NIV)

³⁴ A few men became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.

Acts Chapter 18

Acts 18:1 (AMP)

¹ After this [Paul] departed from Athens and went to Corinth.

Acts 18:2 (NIV)

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

Acts 18:3 (CJB)

³ and because he had the same trade as they, making tents, he stayed on with them; and they worked together.

Acts 18:4 (NASB)

⁴ And he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.

Acts 18:5 (NKJV)

⁵ When Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ.

Acts 18:6 (AMP)

⁶ But since they kept opposing and abusing and reviling him, he shook out his clothing [against them] and said to them, Your blood be upon your [own] heads! I am innocent [of it]. From now on I will go to the Gentiles (the heathen).

Acts 18:7 (AMP)

⁷ He then left there and went to the house of a man named Titus Justus, who worshiped God and whose house was next door to the synagogue.

Acts 18:8 (AMP)

⁸ But Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed [that Jesus is the Messiah and acknowledged Him with joyful trust as Savior and Lord], together with his entire household; and many of the Corinthians who listened [to Paul also] believed and were baptized.

Acts 18:9 (AMP)

⁹ And one night the Lord said to Paul in a vision, Have no fear, but speak and do not keep silent;

Acts 18:10 (CJB)

¹⁰ because I am with you. No one will succeed in harming you, for I have many people in this city.”

Acts 18:11 (NIV)

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

Acts 18:12 (AMP)

¹² But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia (most of Greece), the Jews unitedly made an attack upon Paul and brought him before the judge’s seat,

Acts 18:13 (AMP)

¹³ Declaring, This fellow is advising and inducing and inciting people to worship God in violation of the Law [of Rome and of Moses].

Acts 18:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, “If you Jews were making a complaint about some misdemeanor or serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to listen to you.

Acts 18:15 (NASB)

¹⁵ but if there are questions about words and names and your own law, look after it yourselves; I am unwilling to be a judge of these matters.”

Acts 18:16 (NASB)

¹⁶ And he drove them away from the judgment seat.

Acts 18:17 (AMP)

¹⁷ Then they [the Greeks] all seized Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and beat him right in front of the judgment seat. But Gallio paid no attention to any of this.

Acts 18:18 (NASB)

¹⁸ Paul, having remained many days longer, took leave of the brethren and put out to sea for Syria, and with him were Priscilla and Aquila. In Cenchrea he had his hair cut, for he was keeping a vow.

Acts 18:19 (NIV)

¹⁹ They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.

Acts 18:20 (NIV)

²⁰ When they asked him to spend more time with them, he declined.

Acts 18:21 (NIV)

²¹ But as he left, he promised, “I will come back if it is God’s will.” Then he set sail from Ephesus.

Acts 18:22 (NIV)

²² When he landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch.

Acts 18:23 (NIV)

²³ After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out from there and traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

Acts 18:24 (NIV)

²⁴ Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures.

Acts 18:25 (NIV)

²⁵ He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John.

Acts 18:26 (NASB)

²⁶ and he began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.

Acts 18:27 (NASB)

²⁷ And when he wanted to go across to Achaia, the brethren encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him; and when he had arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace,

Acts 18:28 (AMP)

²⁸ For with great power he refuted the Jews in public [discussions], showing and proving by the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah).

Acts Chapter 19

Acts 19:1 (NIV)

¹ While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples

Acts 19:2 (AMP)

² And he asked them, Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed [on Jesus as the Christ]? And they said, No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.

Acts 19:3 (AMP)

³ And he asked, Into what [baptism] then were you baptized? They said, Into John’s baptism.

Acts 19:4 (NIV)

⁴ Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.”

Acts 19:5 (NASB)

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

Acts 19:6 (NKJV)

⁶ And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.

Acts 19:7 (NIV)

⁷ There were about twelve men in all.

Acts 19:8 (NASB)

⁸ And he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.

Acts 19:9 (NKJV)

⁹ But when some were hardened and did not believe, but spoke evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them and withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.

Acts 19:10 (NASB)

¹⁰ This took place for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

Acts 19:11 (NKJV)-M

¹¹ Now God worked unusual signs by the hands of Paul,

Acts 19:12 (NIV)

¹² so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.

Acts 19:13 (AMP)

¹³ Then some of the traveling Jewish exorcists (men who adjure evil spirits) also undertook to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, I solemnly implore and charge you by the Jesus Whom Paul preaches!

Acts 19:14 (AMP)

¹⁴ Seven sons of a certain Jewish chief priest named Sceva were doing this.

Acts 19:15 (NASB)

¹⁵ And the evil spirit answered and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?”

Acts 19:16 (NIV)

¹⁶ Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.

Acts 19:17 (NIV)

¹⁷ When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor.

Acts 19:18 (AMP)

¹⁸ Many also of those who were now believers came making full confession and thoroughly exposing their [former deceptive and evil] practices.

Acts 19:19 (NIV)-M

¹⁹ A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas (pieces of silver).

Acts 19:20 (NKJV)

²⁰ So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.

Acts 19:21 (NIV)

²¹ After all this had happened, Paul decided to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I have been there,” he said, “I must visit Rome also.”

Acts 19:22 (NIV)

²² He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed in the province of Asia a little longer.

Acts 19:23 (NIV)

²³ About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way.

Acts 19:24 (CJB)

²⁴ There was a silversmith named Demetrius who manufactured from silver, objects connected with the worship of the goddess Artemis; and he provided no small amount of work for the craftsmen.

Acts 19:25 (AMP)

²⁵ These he called together, along with the workmen of similar trades, and said, Men, you are acquainted with the facts and understand that from this business we derive our wealth and livelihood.

Acts 19:26 (NIV)

²⁶ And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all.

Acts 19:27 (AMP)

²⁷ Now there is danger not merely that this trade of ours may be discredited, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may come into disrepute and count for nothing, and that her glorious magnificence may be degraded and fall into contempt—she whom all [the province of] Asia and the wide world worship.

Acts 19:28 (CJB)

²⁸ Hearing this, they were filled with rage and began bellowing, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

Acts 19:29 (NIV)

²⁹ Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia, and rushed as one man into the theater.

Acts 19:30 (NKJV)

³⁰ And when Paul wanted to go in to the people, the disciples would not allow him.

Acts 19:31 (NIV)

³¹ Even some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theater.

Acts 19:32 (CJB)

³² Meanwhile, some were shouting one thing and others something else, because the assembly was in complete confusion, and the great majority didn’t even know why they were there.

Acts 19:33 (NASB)

³³ Some of the crowd concluded it was Alexander, since the Jews had put him forward; and having motioned with his hand, Alexander was intending to make a defense to the assembly.

Acts 19:34 (CJB)

³⁴ But as soon as they recognized that he was a Jew, they began bellowing in unison, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” and they kept it up for about two hours.

Acts 19:35 (NIV)

³⁵ The city clerk quieted the crowd and said: “Men of Ephesus, doesn’t all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven?

Acts 19:36 (AMP)

³⁶ Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet (keep yourselves in check) and do nothing rashly.

Acts 19:37 (CJB)

³⁷ For you have brought these men here who have neither robbed the temple nor insulted your goddess.

Acts 19:38 (AMP)

³⁸ Now then, if Demetrius and his fellow tradesmen who are with him have a grievance against anyone, the courts are open and proconsuls are [available]; let them bring charges against one another [legally].

Acts 19:39 (CJB)

³⁹ But if there is something more you want, it will have to be settled in a lawful assembly.

Acts 19:40 (NASB)

⁴⁰ “For indeed we are in danger of being accused of a riot in connection with today’s events, since there is no real cause for it, and in this connection we will be unable to account for this disorderly gathering.”

Acts 19:41 (NASB)

⁴¹ After saying this he dismissed the assembly.

Acts Chapter 20

Acts 20:1 (NIV)

¹ When the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples and, after encouraging them, said good-by and set out for Macedonia.

Acts 20:2 (NASB)

² When he had gone through those districts and had given them much exhortation, he came to Greece.

Acts 20:3 (CJB)

³ where he spent three months. As he was preparing to set sail for Syria, he discovered a plot against him by the unbelieving Jews; so he changed his mind and decided to return by way of Macedonia.

Acts 20:4 (NIV)

⁴ He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy also, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia.

Acts 20:5 (NIV)

⁵ These men went on ahead and waited for us at Troas.

Acts 20:6 (AMP)

⁶ But we [ourselves] sailed from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread [the Passover week], and in five days we joined them at Troas, where we remained for seven days.

Acts 20:7 (AMP)

⁷ And on the first day of the week, when we were assembled together to break bread [the Lord’s Supper], Paul discoursed with them, intending to leave the next morning; and he kept on with his message until midnight.

Acts 20:8 (CJB)

⁸ Now there were many oil lamps burning in the upstairs room where we were meeting,

Acts 20:9 (NASB)

⁹ And there was a young man named Eutychus sitting on the window sill, sinking into a deep sleep; and as Paul kept on talking, he was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third floor and was picked up dead.

Acts 20:10 (NKJV)

¹⁰ But Paul went down, fell on him, and embracing him said, “Do not trouble yourselves, for his life is in him.”

Acts 20:11 (NASB)

¹¹ When he had gone back up and had broken the bread and eaten, he talked with them a long while until daybreak, and then left.

Acts 20:12 (CJB)

¹² So, greatly relieved, they brought the boy home alive.

Acts 20:13 (NASB)

¹³ But we, going ahead to the ship, set sail for Assos, intending from there to take Paul on board; for so he had arranged it, intending himself to go by land.

Acts 20:14 (NASB)

¹⁴ And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and came to Mitylene.

Acts 20:15 (NASB)

¹⁵ Sailing from there, we arrived the following day opposite Chios; and the next day we crossed over to Samos; and the day following we came to Miletus.

Acts 20:16 (AMP)

¹⁶ For Paul had determined to sail on past Ephesus, lest he might have to spend time [unnecessarily] in [the province of] Asia; for he was hastening on so that he might reach Jerusalem, if at all possible, by the day of Pentecost.

Acts 20:17 (AMP)

¹⁷ However, from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and summoned the elders of the church [to come to him there].

Acts 20:18 (AMP)

¹⁸ And when they arrived he said to them: You yourselves are well acquainted with my manner of living among you from the first day that I set foot in [the province of] Asia, and how I continued afterward,

Acts 20:19 (CJB)

¹⁹ serving the Lord with much humility and with tears, in spite of the tests I had to undergo because of the plots of the unbelieving Jews.

Acts 20:20 (CJB)

²⁰ You know that I held back nothing that could be helpful to you, and that I taught you both in public and from house to house,

Acts 20:21 (NLT2)

²¹ I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike—the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus.

Acts 20:22 (AMP-M)

²² And now, you see, I am going to Jerusalem, compelled by the [convictions of my own] human spirit, not knowing what will befall me there—

Acts 20:23 (AMP-M)

²³ Except that the Holy Spirit clearly and emphatically affirms to me in city after city (by fellow believers and prophets -speaking by the Spirit of God) testifying to me that imprisonment and suffering await me in Jerusalem.

Acts 20:24 (NLT2)

²⁴ But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.

Acts 20:25 (AMP)

²⁵ And now, observe, I perceive that all of you, among whom I have gone in and out proclaiming the kingdom, will see my face no more.

Acts 20:26 (AMP)

²⁶ Therefore I testify and protest to you on this [our parting] day that I am clean and innocent and not responsible for the blood of any of you.

Acts 20:27 (AMP)

²⁷ For I never shrank or kept back or fell short from declaring to you the whole purpose and plan and counsel of God.

Acts 20:28 (NASB)

²⁸ “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

Acts 20:29 (NASB)

²⁹ “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;

Acts 20:30 (NIV)

³⁰ Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.

Acts 20:31 (CJB)

³¹ So stay alert! Remember that for three years, night and day, with tears in my eyes, I never stopped warning you!

Acts 20:32 (NIV)

³² “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

Acts 20:33 (NIV)

³³ I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing.

Acts 20:34 (CJB)

³⁴ You yourselves know that these hands of mine have provided not only for my own needs, but for the needs of my co-workers as well.

Acts 20:35 (NLT2)

³⁵ And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Acts 20:36 (NIV)

³⁶ When he had said this, he knelt down with all of them and prayed.

Acts 20:37 (AMP)

³⁷ And they all wept freely and threw their arms around Paul’s neck and kissed him fervently and repeatedly,

Acts 20:38 (AMP)

³⁸ Being especially distressed and sorrowful because he had stated that they were about to see his face no more. And they accompanied him to the ship.

Acts Chapter 21

Acts 21:1 (CJB)

¹ After we had torn ourselves away from the Ephesian elders, we set sail and made a straight run to Cos. The next day we went to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.

Acts 21:2 (CJB)

² On finding a ship that was crossing over to Phoenicia, we embarked and set sail.

Acts 21:3 (NKJV)

³ When we had sighted Cyprus, we passed it on the left, sailed to Syria, and landed at Tyre; for there the ship was to unload her cargo.

Acts 21:4 (AMP)

⁴ And having looked up the disciples there, we remained with them for seven days. Prompted by the [Holy] Spirit, they kept telling Paul not to set foot in Jerusalem.

Acts 21:5 (NIV)

⁵ But when our time was up, we left and continued on our way. All the disciples and their wives and children accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt to pray.

Acts 21:6 (NIV)

⁶ After saying good-by to each other, we went aboard the ship, and they returned home.

Acts 21:7 (NASB)

⁷ When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and after greeting the brethren, we stayed with them for a day.

Acts 21:8 (AMP)

⁸ On the morrow we left there and came to Caesarea; and we went into the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the Seven [first deacons], and stayed with him.

Acts 21:9 (NKJV)

⁹ Now this man had four virgin daughters who prophesied.

Acts 21:10 (AMP)

¹⁰ While we were remaining there for some time, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.

Acts 21:11 (NKJV)

¹¹ When he had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’ “

Acts 21:12 (NKJV)

¹² Now when we heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem.

Acts 21:13 (NIV)

¹³ Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

Acts 21:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”

Acts 21:15 (NIV)

¹⁵ After this, we got ready and went up to Jerusalem.

Acts 21:16 (AMP)

¹⁶ And some of the disciples from Caesarea came with us, conducting us to the house of Mnason, a man from Cyprus, one of the disciples of long standing, with whom we were to lodge.

Acts 21:17 (AMP)

¹⁷ When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brethren received and welcomed us gladly.

Acts 21:18 (NIV)

¹⁸ The next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James, and all the elders were present.

Acts 21:19 (NKJV)

¹⁹ When he had greeted them, he told in detail those things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

Acts 21:20 (NIV)

²⁰ When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law.

Acts 21:21 (NIV)

²¹ They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs.

Acts 21:22 (NIV)

²² What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come,

Acts 21:23 (NIV)

²³ so do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow.

Acts 21:24 (AMP)

²⁴ Take these men and purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses [for the temple offering], so that they may have their heads shaved. Thus everybody will know that there is no truth in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself walk in observance of the Law.

Acts 21:25 (NIV)

²⁵ As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.”

Acts 21:26 (AMP)

²⁶ Then Paul took the [four] men with him and the following day [he went through the rites of] purifying himself along with them. And they entered the temple to give notice when the days of purification (the ending of each vow) would be fulfilled and the usual offering could be presented on behalf of each of them.

Acts 21:27 (NIV)

²⁷ When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him,

Acts 21:28 (NASB)

²⁸ crying out, “Men of Israel, come to our aid! This is the man who preaches to all men everywhere against our people and the Law and this place; and besides he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.”

Acts 21:29 (AMP)

²⁹ For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul and they supposed that he had brought the man into the temple [into the inner court forbidden to Gentiles].

Acts 21:30 (AMP)

³⁰ Then the whole city was aroused and thrown into confusion, and the people rushed together; they laid hands on Paul and dragged him outside the temple, and immediately the gates were closed.

Acts 21:31 (NIV)

³¹ While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar.

Acts 21:32 (NIV)

³² He at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd. When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

Acts 21:33 (NIV)

³³ The commander came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done.

Acts 21:34 (NIV)

³⁴ Some in the crowd shouted one thing and some another, and since the commander could not get at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks.

Acts 21:35 (NIV)

³⁵ When Paul reached the steps, the violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers.

Acts 21:36 (AMP)

³⁶ For the mass of the people kept following them, shouting, Away with him! [Kill him!]

Acts 21:37 (NKJV)

³⁷ Then as Paul was about to be led into the barracks, he said to the commander, “May I speak to you?” He replied, “Can you speak Greek?

Acts 21:38 (NIV)

³⁸ “Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the desert some time ago?”

Acts 21:39 (NLT2)

³⁹ “No,” Paul replied, “I am a Jew and a citizen of Tarsus in Cilicia, which is an important city. Please, let me talk to these people.”

Acts 21:40 (HCSB)

⁴⁰ After he had given permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned with his hand to the people. When there was a great hush, he addressed them in the Hebrew language:

Acts Chapter 22

Acts 22:1 (AMP)

¹ Brethren and fathers, listen to the defense which I now make in your presence.

Acts 22:2 (NKJV)

² And when they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, they kept all the more silent. Then he said:

Acts 22:3 (CJB)-M

³ “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city and trained at the feet of Gamaliel in every detail of the Torah of our forefathers. I was a zealot for God, as all of you are today.

Acts 22:4 (NIV)

⁴ I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison,

Acts 22:5 (NIV)

⁵ as also the high priest and all the Council can testify. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.

Acts 22:6 (AMP)

⁶ But as I was on my journey and approached Damascus, about noon a great blaze of light flashed suddenly from heaven and shone about me.

Acts 22:7 (AMP)

⁷ And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me [harass and trouble and molest Me]?

Acts 22:8 (NKJV)

⁸ So I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’

Acts 22:9 (NKJV)

⁹ And those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me.

Acts 22:10 (NASB)

¹⁰ “And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told of all that has been appointed for you to do.’

Acts 22:11 (NASB)

¹¹ “But since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me and came into Damascus.

Acts 22:12 (NIV)

¹² “A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there.

Acts 22:13 (AMP)

¹³ Came to see me, and standing by my side said to me, Brother Saul, look up and receive back your sight. And in that very instant I [recovered my sight and] looking up saw him.

Acts 22:14 (NASB)

¹⁴ “And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear an utterance from His mouth.

Acts 22:15 (AMP)

¹⁵ For you will be His witness unto all men of everything that you have seen and heard.

Acts 22:16 (AMP)

¹⁶ And now, why do you delay? Rise and be baptized, and by calling upon His name, wash away your sins.

Acts 22:17 (NASB)

¹⁷ “It happened when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I fell into a trance,

Acts 22:18 (NASB)

¹⁸ and I saw Him saying to me, ‘Make haste, and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.’

Acts 22:19 (NASB)

¹⁹ “And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another I used to imprison and beat those who believed in You.

Acts 22:20 (NASB)

²⁰ ~’And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing by approving, and watching out for the coats of those who were slaying him.’

Acts 22:21 (NIV)

²¹ “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.'”

Acts 22:22 (AMP)

²² Up to the moment that Paul made this last statement, the people listened to him; but now they raised their voices and shouted, Away with such a fellow from the earth! He is not fit to live!

Acts 22:23 (NASB)

²³ And as they were crying out and throwing off their cloaks and tossing dust into the air,

Acts 22:24 (AMP)

²⁴ The commandant ordered that Paul be brought into the barracks, and that he be examined by scourging in order that [the commandant] might learn why the people cried out thus against him.

Acts 22:25 (AMP)

²⁵ But when they had stretched him out with the thongs (leather straps), Paul asked the centurion who was standing by, Is it legal for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned [without a trial]?

Acts 22:26 (CJB)

²⁶ When the captain heard that, he went and reported it to the commander, “Do you realize what you’re doing? This man is a Roman citizen!”

Acts 22:27 (NIV)

²⁷ The commander went to Paul and asked, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes, I am,” he answered.

Acts 22:28 (NKJV)

²⁸ The commander answered, “With a large sum I obtained this citizenship.” And Paul said, “But I was born a citizen.”

Acts 22:29 (CJB)

²⁹ At once the men who had been about to interrogate him drew back from him; and the commander was afraid too, because he realized that he had put this man who was a Roman citizen in chains.

Acts 22:30 (NIV)

³⁰ The next day, since the commander wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul and had him stand before them.

Acts Chapter 23

Acts 23:1 (NASB)

¹ Paul, looking intently at the Council, said, “Brethren, I have lived my life with a perfectly good conscience before God up to this day.”

Acts 23:2 (NIV)

² At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth.

Acts 23:3 (NIV)

³ Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!”

Acts 23:4 (NIV)

⁴ Those who were standing near Paul said, “You dare to insult God’s high priest?”

Acts 23:5 (NIV)

⁵ Paul replied, “Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest; for it is written: ‘Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.'”

Acts 23:6 (NASB)

⁶ But perceiving that one group were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, Paul began crying out in the Council, “Brethren, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead!”

Acts 23:7 (NASB)

⁷ As he said this, there occurred a dissension between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.

Acts 23:8 (NASB)

⁸ For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.

Acts 23:9 (NASB)

⁹ And there occurred a great uproar; and some of the scribes of the Pharisaic party stood up and began to argue heatedly, saying, “We find nothing wrong with this man; suppose a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”

Acts 23:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ The dispute became so violent that the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force and bring him into the barracks.

Acts 23:11 (NIV)

¹¹ The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”

Acts 23:12 (NKJV)

¹² And when it was day, some of the Jews banded together and bound themselves under an oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.

Acts 23:13 (NKJV)

¹³ Now there were more than forty who had formed this conspiracy.

Acts 23:14 (NKJV)

¹⁴ They came to the chief priests and elders, and said, “We have bound ourselves under a great oath that we will eat nothing until we have killed Paul.

Acts 23:15 (NKJV)

¹⁵ Now you, therefore, together with the council, suggest to the commander that he be brought down to you tomorrow, as though you were going to make further inquiries concerning him; but we are ready to kill him before he comes near.”

Acts 23:16 (NIV)

¹⁶ But when the son of Paul’s sister heard of this plot, he went into the barracks and told Paul.

Acts 23:17 (NKJV)

¹⁷ Then Paul called one of the centurions to him and said, “Take this young man to the commander, for he has something to tell him.”

Acts 23:18 (NIV)

¹⁸ So he took him to the commander. The centurion said, “Paul, the prisoner, sent for me and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you.”

Acts 23:19 (NKJV)

¹⁹ Then the commander took him by the hand, went aside and asked privately, “What is it that you have to tell me?”

Acts 23:20 (NKJV)

²⁰ And he said, “The Jews have agreed to ask that you bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire more fully about him.

Acts 23:21 (NKJV)

²¹ But do not yield to them, for more than forty of them lie in wait for him, men who have bound themselves by an oath that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him; and now they are ready, waiting for the promise from you.”

Acts 23:22 (NKJV)

²² So the commander let the young man depart, and commanded him, “Tell no one that you have revealed these things to me.”

Acts 23:23 (AMP)

²³ Then summoning two of the centurions, he said, Have two hundred footmen ready by the third hour of the night (about 9:00 p.m.) to go as far as Caesarea, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen.

Acts 23:24 (AMP)

²⁴ Also provide beasts for mounts for Paul to ride, and bring him in safety to Felix the governor.

Acts 23:25 (AMP)

²⁵ And he wrote a letter having this message:

Acts 23:26 (AMP)

²⁶ Claudius Lysias sends greetings to His Excellency Felix the governor.

Acts 23:27 (NASB)

²⁷ “When this man was arrested by the Jews and was about to be slain by them, I came up to them with the troops and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman.

Acts 23:28 (NKJV)

²⁸ And when I wanted to know the reason they accused him, I brought him before their council.

Acts 23:29 (NIV)

²⁹ I found that the accusation had to do with questions about their law, but there was no charge against him that deserved death or imprisonment.

Acts 23:30 (NASB)

³⁰ “When I was informed that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, also instructing his accusers to bring charges against him before you.”

Acts 23:31 (NIV)

³¹ So the soldiers, carrying out their orders, took Paul with them during the night and brought him as far as Antipatris.

Acts 23:32 (NIV)

³² The next day they let the cavalry go on with him, while they returned to the barracks.

Acts 23:33 (NIV)

³³ When the cavalry arrived in Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor and handed Paul over to him.

Acts 23:34 (AMP)

³⁴ Having read the letter, he asked to what province [Paul] belonged. When he discovered that he was from Cilicia [an imperial province],

Acts 23:35 (NIV)

³⁵ he said, “I will hear your case when your accusers get here.” Then he ordered that Paul be kept under guard in Herod’s palace.

Acts Chapter 24

Acts 24:1 (NIV)

¹ Five days later the high priest Ananias went down to Caesarea with some of the elders and a lawyer named Tertullus, and they brought their charges against Paul before the governor.

Acts 24:2 (NIV)

² When Paul was called in, Tertullus presented his case before Felix: “We have enjoyed a long period of peace under you, and your foresight has brought about reforms in this nation.

Acts 24:3 (AMP)

³ In every way and in every place, most excellent Felix, we accept and acknowledge this with deep appreciation and with all gratitude.

Acts 24:4 (NIV)

⁴ But in order not to weary you further, I would request that you be kind enough to hear us briefly.

Acts 24:5 (NIV)

⁵ “We have found this man to be a troublemaker, stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the Nazarene sect

Acts 24:6 (AMP)

⁶ He also [even] tried to desecrate and defile the temple, but we laid hands on him and would have sentenced him by our Law,

Acts 24:7 (NKJV)

⁷ But the commander Lysias came by and with great violence took him out of our hands,

Acts 24:8 (NKJV)

⁸ commanding his accusers to come to you. By examining him yourself you may ascertain all these things of which we accuse him.”

Acts 24:9 (NIV)

⁹ The Jews joined in the accusation, asserting that these things were true.

Acts 24:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ When the governor motioned for him to speak, Paul replied: “I know that for a number of years you have been a judge over this nation; so I gladly make my defense.

Acts 24:11 (NIV)

¹¹ You can easily verify that no more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship.

Acts 24:12 (AMP)

¹² And neither in the temple nor in the synagogues nor in the city did they find me disputing with anybody or bringing together a seditious crowd.

Acts 24:13 (NASB)

¹³ “Nor can they prove to you the charges of which they now accuse me.

Acts 24:14 (NASB)

¹⁴ “But this I admit to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect I do serve the God of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets;

Acts 24:15 (NIV)

¹⁵ and I have the same hope in God as these men, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.

Acts 24:16 (NIV)

¹⁶ So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.

Acts 24:17 (NIV)

¹⁷ “After an absence of several years, I came to Jerusalem to bring my people gifts for the poor and to present offerings.

Acts 24:18 (NIV)

¹⁸ I was ceremonially clean when they found me in the temple courts doing this. There was no crowd with me, nor was I involved in any disturbance.

Acts 24:19 (NIV)

¹⁹ But there are some Jews from the province of Asia, who ought to be here before you and bring charges if they have anything against me.

Acts 24:20 (AMP)

²⁰ Or else let these men themselves tell of what crime or wrongdoing they found me guilty when I appeared before the council (Sanhedrin),

Acts 24:21 (NASB)

²¹ other than for this one statement which I shouted out while standing among them, ‘For the resurrection of the dead I am on trial before you today.'”

Acts 24:22 (NASB)

²² But Felix, having a more exact knowledge about the Way, put them off, saying, “When Lysias the commander comes down, I will decide your case.”

Acts 24:23 (NIV)

²³ He ordered the centurion to keep Paul under guard but to give him some freedom and permit his friends to take care of his needs.

Acts 24:24 (HCSB)

²⁴ After some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and listened to him on the subject of faith in Christ Jesus.

Acts 24:25 (AMP)

²⁵ But as he continued to argue about uprightness, purity of life (the control of the passions), and the judgment to come, Felix became alarmed and terrified and said, Go away for the present; when I have a convenient opportunity, I will send for you.

Acts 24:26 (NIV)

²⁶ At the same time he was hoping that Paul would offer him a bribe, so he sent for him frequently and talked with him.

Acts 24:27 (AMP)

²⁷ But when two years had gone by, Felix was succeeded in office by Porcius Festus; and wishing to gain favor with the Jews, Felix left Paul still a prisoner in chains.

Acts Chapter 25

Acts 25:1 (NASB)

¹ Festus then, having arrived in the province, three days later went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea.

Acts 25:2 (NIV)

² where the chief priests and Jewish leaders appeared before him and presented the charges against Paul.

Acts 25:3 (NIV)

³ They urgently requested Festus, as a favor to them, to have Paul transferred to Jerusalem, for they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way.

Acts 25:4 (NIV)

⁴ Festus answered, “Paul is being held at Caesarea, and I myself am going there soon.

Acts 25:5 (NIV)

⁵ Let some of your leaders come with me and press charges against the man there, if he has done anything wrong.”

Acts 25:6 (NIV)

⁶ After spending eight or ten days with them, he went down to Caesarea, and the next day he convened the court and ordered that Paul be brought before him.

Acts 25:7 (NIV)

⁷ When Paul appeared, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many serious charges against him, which they could not prove.

Acts 25:8 (NIV)

⁸ Then Paul made his defense: “I have done nothing wrong against the law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar.”

Acts 25:9 (NIV)

⁹ Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges?”

Acts 25:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ Paul answered: “I am now standing before Caesar’s court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well.

Acts 25:11 (NASB)

¹¹ “If, then, I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die; but if none of those things is true of which these men accuse me, no one can hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar.”

Acts 25:12 (NIV)

¹² After Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!”

Acts 25:13 (NIV)

¹³ A few days later King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea to pay their respects to Festus.

Acts 25:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ Since they were spending many days there, Festus discussed Paul’s case with the king. He said: “There is a man here whom Felix left as a prisoner.

Acts 25:15 (NIV)

¹⁵ When I went to Jerusalem, the chief priests and elders of the Jews brought charges against him and asked that he be condemned.

Acts 25:16 (NIV)

¹⁶ “I told them that it is not the Roman custom to hand over any man before he has faced his accusers and has had an opportunity to defend himself against their charges.

Acts 25:17 (NIV)

¹⁷ When they came here with me, I did not delay the case, but convened the court the next day and ordered the man to be brought in.

Acts 25:18 (NIV)

¹⁸ When his accusers got up to speak, they did not charge him with any of the crimes I had expected.

Acts 25:19 (NIV)

¹⁹ Instead, they had some points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a dead man named Jesus who Paul claimed was alive.

Acts 25:20 (NIV)

²⁰ I was at a loss how to investigate such matters; so I asked if he would be willing to go to Jerusalem and stand trial there on these charges.

Acts 25:21 (NKJV)

²¹ But when Paul appealed to be reserved for the decision of Augustus, I commanded him to be kept till I could send him to Caesar.”

Acts 25:22 (NASB)

²² Then Agrippa said to Festus, “I also would like to hear the man myself.” “Tomorrow,” he *said, “you shall hear him.”

Acts 25:23 (HCSB)

²³ So the next day, Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp and entered the auditorium with the commanders and prominent men of the city. When Festus gave the command, Paul was brought in.

Acts 25:24 (NIV)

²⁴ Festus said: “King Agrippa, and all who are present with us, you see this man! The whole Jewish community has petitioned me about him in Jerusalem and here in Caesarea, shouting that he ought not to live any longer.

Acts 25:25 (NKJV)

²⁵ But when I found that he had committed nothing deserving of death, and that he himself had appealed to Augustus, I decided to send him.

Acts 25:26 (NKJV)

²⁶ I have nothing certain to write to my lord concerning him. Therefore I have brought him out before you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the examination has taken place I may have something to write.

Acts 25:27 (NKJV)

²⁷ For it seems to me unreasonable to send a prisoner and not to specify the charges against him.”

Acts Chapter 26

Acts 26:1 (NIV)

¹ Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” So Paul motioned with his hand and began his defense:

Acts 26:2 (NIV)

² “King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today as I make my defense against all the accusations of the Jews,

Acts 26:3 (NIV)

³ and especially so because you are well acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.

Acts 26:4 (NIV)

⁴ “The Jews all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child, from the beginning of my life in my own country, and also in Jerusalem.

Acts 26:5 (NIV)

⁵ They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that according to the strictest sect of our religion, I lived as a Pharisee.

Acts 26:6 (NIV)

⁶ And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our fathers that I am on trial today.

Acts 26:7 (NIV)

⁷ This is the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. O king, it is because of this hope that the Jews are accusing me.

Acts 26:8 (CJB)

⁸ Why do you people consider it incredible that God raises the dead?

Acts 26:9 (NIV)

⁹ “I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

Acts 26:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.

Acts 26:11 (NIV)

¹¹ Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.

Acts 26:12 (NIV)

¹² “On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests.

Acts 26:13 (NIV)

¹³ About noon, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions.

Acts 26:14 (NASB)

¹⁴ “And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

Acts 26:15 (NASB)

¹⁵ “And I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.

Acts 26:16 (NKJV)

¹⁶ But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you.

Acts 26:17 (NKJV)

¹⁷ I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you,

Acts 26:18 (NKJV)

¹⁸ to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’

Acts 26:19 (NKJV)

¹⁹ “Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,

Acts 26:20 (NKJV)

²⁰ but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.

Acts 26:21 (NKJV)

²¹ For these reasons the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.

Acts 26:22 (NKJV)

²² Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come–

Acts 26:23 (NKJV)

²³ that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.”

Acts 26:24 (AMP)

²⁴ And as he thus proceeded with his defense, Festus called out loudly, Paul, you are mad! Your great learning is driving you insane!

Acts 26:25 (NIV)

²⁵ “I am not insane, most excellent Festus,” Paul replied. “What I am saying is true and reasonable.

Acts 26:26 (AMP)

²⁶ For the king understands about these things well enough, and [therefore] to him I speak with bold frankness and confidence. I am convinced that not one of these things has escaped his notice, for all this did not take place in a corner [in secret].

Acts 26:27 (NIV)

²⁷ King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.”

Acts 26:28 (NKJV)

²⁸ Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.”

Acts 26:29 (NKJV)

²⁹ And Paul said, “I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become both almost and altogether such as I am, except for these chains.”

Acts 26:30 (NKJV)

³⁰ When he had said these things, the king stood up, as well as the governor and Bernice and those who sat with them;

Acts 26:31 (NKJV)

³¹ and when they had gone aside, they talked among themselves, saying, “This man is doing nothing deserving of death or chains.”

Acts 26:32 (NKJV)

³² Then Agrippa said to Festus, “This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”

Acts Chapter 27

Acts 27:1 (AMP)

¹ Now when it was determined that we [including Luke] should sail for Italy, they turned Paul and some other prisoners over to a centurion of the imperial regiment named Julius.

Acts 27:2 (AMP)

² And going aboard a ship from Adramyttium which was about to sail for the ports along the coast of [the province of] Asia, we put out to sea; and Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, accompanied us.

Acts 27:3 (NIV)

³ The next day we landed at Sidon; and Julius, in kindness to Paul, allowed him to go to his friends so they might provide for his needs.

Acts 27:4 (AMP)

⁴ After putting to sea from there we passed to the leeward (south side) of Cyprus [for protection], for the winds were contrary to us.

Acts 27:5 (AMP)

⁵ And when we had sailed over [the whole length] of sea which lies off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we reached Myra in Lycia.

Acts 27:6 (AMP)

⁶ There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship bound for Italy, and he transferred us to it.

Acts 27:7 (AMP)

⁷ For a number of days we made slow progress and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus; then, as the wind did not permit us to proceed, we went under the lee (shelter) of Crete off Salmone,

Acts 27:8 (NIV)

⁸ We moved along the coast with difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea.

Acts 27:9 (AMP)

⁹ But as [the season was well advanced, for] much time had been lost and navigation was already dangerous, for the time for the Fast [the Day of Atonement, about the beginning of October] had already gone by, Paul warned and advised them,

Acts 27:11 (NKJV)

¹¹ Nevertheless the centurion was more persuaded by the helmsman and the owner of the ship than by the things spoken by Paul.

Acts 27:12 (NIV)

¹² Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. This was a harbor in Crete, facing both southwest and northwest.

Acts 27:13 (NIV)

¹³ When a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they had obtained what they wanted; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete.

Acts 27:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the “northeaster,” swept down from the island.

Acts 27:15 (NIV)

¹⁵ The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along.

Acts 27:16 (AMP)

¹⁶ We ran under the shelter of a small island called Cauda, where we managed with [much] difficulty to draw the [ship’s small] boat on deck and secure it.

Acts 27:17 (NIV)

¹⁷ When the men had hoisted it aboard, they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Fearing that they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and let the ship be driven along.

Acts 27:18 (NIV)

¹⁸ We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard.

Acts 27:19 (NASB)

¹⁹ and on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands.

Acts 27:20 (NASB)

²⁰ Since neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small storm was assailing us, from then on all hope of our being saved was gradually abandoned.

Acts 27:21 (NASB)

²¹ When they had gone a long time without food, then Paul stood up in their midst and said, “Men, you ought to have followed my advice and not to have set sail from Crete and incurred this damage and loss.

Acts 27:22 (NIV)

²² But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed.

Acts 27:23 (NASB)

²³ “For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me,

Acts 27:24 (NASB)

²⁴ saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you.’

Acts 27:25 (NASB)

²⁵ “Therefore, keep up your courage, men, for I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told.

Acts 27:26 (NASB)

²⁶ “But we must run aground on a certain island.”

Acts 27:27 (NIV)

²⁷ On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land.

Acts 27:28 (NASB)

²⁸ They took soundings and found it to be twenty fathoms; and a little farther on they took another sounding and found it to be fifteen fathoms.

Acts 27:29 (NASB)

²⁹ Fearing that we might run aground somewhere on the rocks, they cast four anchors from the stern and wished for daybreak.

Acts 27:30 (NKJV)

³⁰ And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, when they had let down the skiff into the sea, under pretense of putting out anchors from the prow,

Acts 27:31 (NASB)

³¹ Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, “Unless these men remain in the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved.”

Acts 27:32 (NKJV)

³² Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the skiff and let it fall off.

Acts 27:33 (NIV)

³³ Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. “For the last fourteen days,” he said, “you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food–you haven’t eaten anything.

Acts 27:34 (NASB)

³⁴ “Therefore I encourage you to take some food, for this is for your preservation, for not a hair from the head of any of you will perish.”

Acts 27:35 (NASB)

³⁵ Having said this, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of all, and he broke it and began to eat.

Acts 27:36 (NASB)

³⁶ All of them were encouraged and they themselves also took food.

Acts 27:37 (CJB)

³⁷ Altogether there were 276 of us on board the ship.

Acts 27:38 (NIV)

³⁸ When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.

Acts 27:39 (NIV)

³⁹ When daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach, where they decided to run the ship aground if they could.

Acts 27:40 (NASB)

⁴⁰ And casting off the anchors, they left them in the sea while at the same time they were loosening the ropes of the rudders; and hoisting the foresail to the wind, they were heading for the beach.

Acts 27:41 (NASB)

⁴¹ But striking a reef where two seas met, they ran the vessel aground; and the prow stuck fast and remained immovable, but the stern began to be broken up by the force of the waves.

Acts 27:42 (NIV)

⁴² The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping.

Acts 27:43 (NIV)

⁴³ But the centurion wanted to spare Paul’s life and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land.

Acts 27:44 (NASB)

⁴⁴ and the rest should follow, some on planks, and others on various things from the ship. And so it happened that they all were brought safely to land.

Acts Chapter 28

Acts 28:1 (NIV)

¹ Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta.

Acts 28:2 (NIV)

² The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold.

Acts 28:3 (NASB)

³ But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand.

Acts 28:4 (NASB)

⁴ When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they began saying to one another, “Undoubtedly this man is a murderer, and though he has been saved from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.”

Acts 28:5 (NIV)

⁵ But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects.

Acts 28:6 (NIV)

⁶ The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead, but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.

Acts 28:7 (NIV)

⁷ There was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us to his home and for three days entertained us hospitably.

Acts 28:8 (NIV)

⁸ His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him.

Acts 28:9 (AMP)

⁹ After this had occurred, the other people on the island who had diseases also kept coming and were cured.

Acts 28:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ They honored us in many ways and when we were ready to sail, they furnished us with the supplies we needed.

Acts 28:11 (AMP)

¹¹ It was after three months’ stay there that we set sail in a ship which had wintered in the island, an Alexandrian ship with the Twin Brothers [Castor and Pollux] as its figurehead.

Acts 28:12 (AMP)

¹² We landed at Syracuse and remained there three days,

Acts 28:13 (AMP)

¹³ And from there we made a circuit [following the coast] and reached Rhegium; and one day later a south wind sprang up, and the next day we arrived at Puteoli.

Acts 28:14 (AMP)

¹⁴ There we found some [Christian] brethren and were entreated to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to Rome.

Acts 28:15 (NASB)

¹⁵ And the brethren, when they heard about us, came from there as far as the Market of Appius and Three Inns to meet us; and when Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.

Acts 28:16 (AMP)

¹⁶ When we arrived at Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard, but Paul was permitted to live by himself with the soldier who guarded him.

Acts 28:17 (AMP)

¹⁷ Three days after [our arrival], he called together the leading local Jews; and when they had gathered, he said to them, Brethren, though I have done nothing against the people or against the customs of our forefathers, yet I was turned over as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.

Acts 28:18 (AMP)

¹⁸ After they had examined me, they were ready to release me because I was innocent of any offense deserving the death penalty.

Acts 28:19 (AMP)

¹⁹ But when the Jews protested, I was forced to appeal to Caesar, though it was not because I had any charge to make against my nation.

Acts 28:20 (AMP)

²⁰ This is the reason therefore why I have begged to see you and to talk with you, since it is because of the Hope of Israel (the Messiah) that I am bound with this chain.

Acts 28:21 (AMP)

²¹ And they answered him, We have not received any letters about you from Judea, and none of the [Jewish] brethren coming here has reported or spoken anything evil about you.

Acts 28:22 (NIV)

²² But we want to hear what your views are, for we know that people everywhere are talking against this sect.”

Acts 28:23 (CJB)-M

²³ So they arranged a day with him and came to his quarters in large numbers. From morning until evening he explained the matter to them, giving a thorough witness about the Kingdom of God and making use of both the Torah of Moses and the Prophets to persuade them about Jesus.

Acts 28:24 (NIV)

²⁴ Some were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe.

Acts 28:25 (NIV)

²⁵ They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul had made this final statement: “The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your forefathers when he said through Isaiah the prophet:

Acts 28:26 (NIV)

²⁶ “‘Go to this people and say, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.”

Acts 28:27 (NIV)

²⁷ For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’

Acts 28:28 (AMP)

²⁸ So let it be understood by you then that [this message of] the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen [to it]!

Acts 28:29 (NASB)

²⁹ [When he had spoken these words, the Jews departed, having a great dispute among themselves.]

Acts 28:30 (AMP)

³⁰ After this Paul lived there for two entire years [at his own expense] in his own rented lodging, and he welcomed all who came to him,

Acts 28:31 (HCSB)

³¹ proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with full boldness and without hindrance.

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