When day came, there was no little consternation among the soldiers over what had become of Peter. And Herod, having searched for him and not found him, interrogated the guards and ordered them to be taken away and executed, and then went down from Judaea to Cae- sarea and stayed there. He was furious with the Tyrians and Sidonians; but they came to him in a body, after persuading Blastus, the king's ch^berlain, and sued for peace, because their country was supported from the royal territory. And on an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes and sat on the platform and made a speech to them; and the people cried aloud: The voice of God, not of man. And suddenly an angel of the Lord struck him down because he had not given the glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died.
And the word of the Lord grew and increased.
And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem after fulfilling their mission, taking along with them John, who was surnamed Mark.
1 At the church which was in Antioch, there were prophets and teachers, Barnabas and Simeon surnamed Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, a close friend of Herod the Tetrarch, and Saul. And while they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said to them: Appoint Barnabas and Saul to do for me the work I have called them to. Then after fasting and prayer and laying their hands upon them they sent them on their way.
So these men, sent forth by the Holy Spirit, arrived at Seleucia, and from there sailed to Cyprus, and in Salamis preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John with them as a helper. And after traveling through the entire island as far as Paphos they found there a certain man, a magician and false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Barjesus, who was in the company of the proconsul Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man invited Barnabas and Saul in and desired to hear the word of God. But the magician Elymas, for this is how his name is translated, opposed them, trying to tum the proconsul away from the faith. But Saul, who is also Paul, was filled with the Holy Spirit and stared at him and said: О full of every trick and every deception, son of the devil, enemy of everything righteous, will you not stop trying to twist the straight ways of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind and not see the sunlight for a while. And immediately a mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about looking for people to lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul, seeing what had happened and struck by the teaching of the Lord, believed.
Sailing from Paphos, Paul and his party c^e to Perge in Pamphylia, but John left them and returned to Jerusalem. And traveling from Perge, they arrived at the Pis- idian Antioch, and entered the synagogue on the day of the sabbath and sat do^. After the reading of the law and the prophets, the heads of the synagogue sent them a message saying: Men and brothers, if you have any word of exhortation before the people, speak. Then Paul stood up and gestured with his hand and said: Men of Israel, and all who fear God, listen. The God of this people, Israel, chose our fathers, and exalted their people in their stay in Egypt, and with his mighty ^m he brought them out of there; and when for a period of forty years he had nursed them in the desert, then by overcoming seven nations in the land of Canaan he made that land their heritage for some four hundred and fifty years. And after that he gave them judges, until Samuel the prophet; and after that they asked for a Kin& and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man from the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. Then putting him aside he raised up David to be their Kin& to whom he bore witness and said: I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will carry out all my wishes.
It was from his seed, according to his promise, that he brought Israel its savior, Jesus, before the coming of whose presence John had preached the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John ran his course, he would say: What do you suppose I am? I am not he. But behold, there is one coming after me, and I am not fit to take his shoes off his feet.
Men and brothers, sons of the stock of Abraham, and all among you who fear God, the word of this salvation was sent to us. For the dwellers in Jerusalem and their chiefs did not recognize him, and by judging him they fulfilled the utterances of the prophets which are read aloud on every sabbath; and without finding any true cause for his death they demanded that Pilate should have him killed. And when they had fulfilled everything that was written about him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead; and he appeared for some days to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses before the people. And we bring you the gospel of the promise that was made to our fathers, that God has fulfilled this for us their children by resurrecting Jesus, as it is written in the Second Psalm: You are my son, this day I begot you.
And that he raised him from the dead to be one who would never more return to corruption, this he has said, thus: I will give you the sacraments of David, which are to be believed. Since in another place he says: You shall grant your holy one that he shall not know corruption. For David, after serving the will of God, in his own lifetime died and was laid beside his fathers and knew corruption, but he whom God raised did not know corruption.
Therefore let it be understood by you, men and brothers, that remission of sins through him is promised to you, and for all those matters where you could not be justified by the law of Moses, everyone who believes is justified by him. Look to it then that what was spoken of by the prophets may not come upon you: Look, you scoffers, and marvel and be brought to nothing, because in your days I will do a deed, a deed which you would not believe if someone described it to you.
When Paul and Barnabas went out, they requested that these matters should be spoken of on the next sabbath. And when the meeting broke up, many Jews and faithful proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas; and they talked to them and urged them to remain true to the grace of God. And on the next sabbath almost the entire city was gathered together to listen to the word of God. But the Jews, when they saw the crowds, were filled with envy and attacked the speeches of Paul, reviling him. But Paul and B^nabas spoke out boldly and said: It was necessary that the word of God should be told first to you; but since you reject it and judge yourselves to be unworthy of everlasting life, we are turning to the Gentiles. For thus the Lord has commanded us: I have appointed you to be the light of the Gentiles, and for you to bring salvation as far as the end of the earth. When the Gentiles heard this they were joyful and glorified the word of God, and all those who were destined to life everlasting believed; and the word of the Lord was spread through the entire country. But the Jews stirred up the prominent women who were worshippers and the foremost men of the city, and they started a persecution of Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their territory. And they shook the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium, and their disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.
fIn the same way it happened in Iconium that they went into the synagogue of the Jews and spoke in such a way that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed. But the Jews who would not believe stirred up the minds of the Gentiles and poisoned them against the brothers. They spent some time there, speaking boldly, trusting in the Lord, who testified to the word of his grace by granting that miracles and portentous things should be brought about at their hands. But the population of the city was split, and some were with the Jews and some were with the apostles. But when there was a movement among the Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to use violence and stone them, they got wind of it and fled to the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra and Derbe and their vicinity; and there they went on bringing the gospel.
Now there was a certain man, crippled in his feet, who sat in Lystra. He was lame from his mother's womb and had never walked. This man was listening to Paul as he spoke; and Paul gazed at him, and seeing that he had faith that he could be saved, he said in a great voice; Get on your feet and s
tand upright. And he sprang up and walked. And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they cried aloud in their own Lycaonian language, saying: The gods have made themselves like men and come down to us. And they called Barnabas Zeus and Paul Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. And the priest of the Zeus whose temple was before the city brought bulls and garlands into the courtyard and, together with the crowds, wanted to sacrifice to them. When the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their robes and leaped into the crowd, crying out and saying: Men, why are you doing this? We also are men who feel and suffer as you do, who are bringing you the gospel to t^m you away from these idiocies, to the living God, who made the sky and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. In past ages he let all nations go their own ways; and yet he has not let himself be without proof for his good works, giving you rains from the sky and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with sustenance and good cheer. And by saying these things they finally managed to stop the crowds from sacrificing to them.
But Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium, and won over the masses, and stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, believing that he was dead. But his disciples made a circle around him and he got up and went into the city. And on the next day he set out with Barnabas for Derbe. And after bringing the gospel to that city and making a number of converts they returned to Lystra and Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the spirits of the disciples, urging them to endure in their faith, and telling them that it is only through much suffering that we can enter the Kingdom of God. And they selected elders for them, church by church, and with prayer and fasting committed them to the Lord in whom they had put their faith.
Then, passing through Pisidia, they came to Pamphy- lia, and after preaching the word in Perga they came to the sea at Attalia and sailed from there to Antioch; from which place they had by the grace of God been appointed to the work which they had now completed. And arriving there and convening the church they reported all that God had done through them, and that he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. And they spent a considerable amount of time with the disciples there.
1 Then certain men came down from Judaea and began to teach the brothers, saying: Unless you are circumcised by the rite of Moses, you cannot be saved. And when considerable dissension and debate arose between Paul and Barnabas and these men, they decreed that Paul and Barnabas and some others of their number should go up to see the apostles and elders in Jerusalem to discuss this question. So those who were sent by the church passed through Phoenicia and Samaria describing the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers. And arriving in Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done through them. But some believers from the sect of the Pharisees rose up, saying that they must circumcise them in order to keep the law of Moses.
The apostles and the elders assembled to look into this question. And after much discussion Peter stood up and said to them: Men and brothers, you know well that in our early days God made his choice among us that from my lips the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe; and God, who knows the heart, proved it to them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, as he did to us, and did not discriminate between us and them, purifying their hearts through faith. Why then do you make trial of God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither our fathers nor ourselves were strong enough to bear? Rather through the grace of the Lord Jesus we believe that we are saved in the same way as they. Then all the congregation fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul describing all the portentous acts and miracles that God had worked through them among the Gentiles.
And when they had fallen silent, James answered, saying: Men and brothers, listen to me. Simon has told how the Lord was first concerned to accept a people in his name from among the Gentiles. And the words of the prophets accord with this; as it is written: After this I will return, and I will rebuild the fallen tabernacle of David and restore its ruins and raise it up again, so that the rest of mankind may seek out the Lord, and all the nations to whom my name has been spoken. Thus says the Lord, making all this known, since eternity.
Therefore I believe we should not make difficulties for those of the Gentiles who t^ra to God, but instruct them to abstain from the pollution of idols, and from lechery, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. For Moses has had since ancient generations those who preach him in every city, and he is read in the synagogues every sabbath.
Then the apostles and elders, together with the whole church, resolved to send men picked from among them to Antioch along with Paul and Barnabas. They were Judas, surnamed Barsabbas, and Silas, prominent men among the brothers. And they wrote a letter, for them to deliver by hand, saying: The apostles and elders, brothers, to the Gentile brothers in Antioch and Syria and Cil- icia; greetings. Since we have heard that some of us have disturbed and distracted your minds by their words, without instructions from us, we have unanimously resolved to select two men and send them to you together with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have sent, then, Judas and Silas, who will give you the same message by word of mouth. It seemed best to the Holy Spirit, and to us, not to burden you with any commandments except these, which are fundamental: to abstain from idol offerings, and blood, and what has been strangled, and lechery. If you keep yourselves from these, you will be acceptable. Farewell.
So they were sent on their way and went down to Antioch, and they assembled the congregation and delivered the letter; and when they read it they rejoiced over the advice. And Judas and Silas, who were themselves also prophets, talked much with them and advised and strengthened the brothers; and after staying some time they went in peace from these brothers to those who had sent them. But Paul and Barnabas stayed on in Antioch, teaching and, with many others, carrying the gospel of the word of the Lord.
Then after some days Paul said to Barnabas: Let us return and visit our brothers in every city in which we preached the word of the Lord, to see how they are faring. Barnabas wished to take John Mark along; but Paul thought it would be wrong to take that man who had deserted them in Pamphylia and not gone on with them to their work. And some bitterness arose, so that they separated from each other, and Barnabas sailed for Cyprus, taking Mark with him. But Paul chose Silas and left, commended to the grace of the Lord by the brothers, and journeyed through Syria and Cilicia strengthening the churches.
1 He also visited Derbe and Lystra. And behold, there was a disciple there named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman believer and a Greek father, and he was recommended by the brothers in Lystra and Iconium. And Paul wished to have him travel with him, and he took him and circumcised him, on account of the Jews who were in those parts, since all knew that his father was a Greek. And as they journeyed through the cities, they delivered to the people the commandments decreed by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem, for them to obey. And the churches were strengthened in their faith and grew in number day by day.
They passed through Phrygia and the Galatian territory, being prevented by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in Asia; and going by Mysia they tried to go on to Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not let them; and passing by Mysia they landed at Troas. And a vision appeared in the night to Paul; a Macedonian man was standing there inviting him and saying: Cross over into Macedonia and come to our aid. And when he had seen the vision, we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that God had invited us to bring the gospel to those people.
So sailing from Troas we ran a straight course to Sa- mothrace, and on the next day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is the first city in the district of Macedonia, a colony. We spent some days in this city. And on the day of the sabbath we went outside the gate beside the river where we thought there was a place of prayer, and we sa
t down and talked to the women who gathered there. And one woman named Lydia, a seller of purple cloth, from the city of Thyatira, one who worshipped God, listened, and the Lord opened her heart to receive what was said by Paul. And when she and her household had been baptized, she invited us, saying: If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay with me. And she made us do so.
And it happened that as we were on our way to the place of prayer, we encountered a maidservant who possessed a spirit of prophecy; she made a great deal of money for her masters by her divining; and she followed Paul and the rest of us and cried aloud, saying: These people are slaves of the highest God, and they announce to you the way of salvation. She did this for many days. But Paul was annoyed and turned on the spirit and said: I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to go forth from her. And it went forth in that same hour. But when her masters saw that their hope for profit was gone, they seized on Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place before the authorities, and led them up to the chief magistrates and said: These people, who are Jews, are upsetting our city and preaching usages which we, who are Romans, cannot accept. And the mob joined in the attack against them, and the chief magistrates tore the men's clothing to pieces and ordered them to be beaten, and after inflicting many blows they threw them in prison, ordering the warden to keep them under close guard; and he on receiving such an order threw them into the innermost part of the prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But in the middle of the night Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and all the doors came open, and the chains fell off all of them. The warden woke up, and when he saw that the doors of the prison were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, believing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul called out in a great voice, saying: Do not do yourself an injury, for we are all here. And the man called for a light and leaped inside, and threw himself down trembling before Paul and Silas, then led them outside and said: Lords, what must I do to be saved? And they said: Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved.
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