1. Peter and the Beginnings of the Church in the Holy Land (chs. 1-12)
- Introduction (1:1-2)
- Christ's resurrection ministry (1:3-11)
- The period of waiting for the Holy Spirit (1:12-26)
- The filling with the Spirit (ch. 2)
- The healing of the lame man and the resultant arrest of Peter and John (3:1;4:31)
- The community of goods (4:32;5:11)
- The arrest of the 12 apostles (5:12-42)
- The choice of the Seven (6:1-7)
- Stephen's arrest and martyrdom (6:8;7:60)
- The scattering of the Jerusalem believers (8:1-4)
- Philip's ministry (8:5-40)
B. "As far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch" (9:32;12:25;11:19;)
I. Paul and the Expansion of the Church from Antioch to Rome (chs. 13-28)
. "Throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia" (13:1 -- 15:35; see 16:6 and note)
A. "Over to Macedonia" (15:36;21:16;16:9;)
B. "To Rome" (21:17;28:31;28:14;)
17 When we arrived, the brothers and
sisters in Jerusalem welcomed us warmly.
18 The next day Paul went with us to meet
with James, and all the elders of the Jerusalem church were present.
19 After greeting them, Paul gave a
detailed account of the things God had accomplished among the Gentiles through
his ministry.
20 After hearing this, they praised God.
And then they said, “You know, dear brother, how many thousands of Jews have
also believed, and they all follow the law of Moses very seriously.
21 But the Jewish believers here in
Jerusalem have been told that you are teaching all the Jews who live among the
Gentiles to turn their backs on the laws of Moses. They’ve heard that you teach
them not to circumcise their children or follow other Jewish customs.
22 What should we do? They will certainly
hear that you have come.
23 “Here’s what we want you to do. We have
four men here who have completed their vow.
24 Go with them to the Temple and join them
in the purification ceremony, paying for them to have their heads ritually
shaved. Then everyone will know that the rumors are all false and that you
yourself observe the Jewish laws.
25 “As for the Gentile believers, they
should do what we already told them in a letter: They should abstain from
eating food offered to idols, from consuming blood or the meat of strangled
animals, and from sexual immorality.”
26 So Paul went to the Temple the next day
with the other men. They had already started the purification ritual, so he
publicly announced the date when their vows would end and sacrifices would be
offered for each of them.
27 The seven days were almost ended when
some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul in the Temple and roused a mob
against him. They grabbed him,
28 yelling, “Men of Israel, help us! This
is the man who preaches against our people everywhere and tells everybody to
disobey the Jewish laws. He speaks against the Temple—and even defiles this
holy place by bringing in Gentiles. ”
29 (For earlier that day they had seen him
in the city with Trophimus, a Gentile from Ephesus, and they assumed Paul had
taken him into the Temple.)
30 The whole city was rocked by these
accusations, and a great riot followed. Paul was grabbed and dragged out of the
Temple, and immediately the gates were closed behind him.
31 As they were trying to kill him, word
reached the commander of the Roman regiment that all Jerusalem was in an
uproar.
32 He immediately called out his soldiers
and officers and ran down among the crowd. When the mob saw the commander and
the troops coming, they stopped beating Paul.
33 Then the commander arrested him and
ordered him bound with two chains. He asked the crowd who he was and what he
had done.
34 Some shouted one thing and some another.
Since he couldn’t find out the truth in all the uproar and confusion, he
ordered that Paul be taken to the fortress.
35 As Paul reached the stairs, the mob grew
so violent the soldiers had to lift him to their shoulders to protect
him.
36 And the crowd followed behind, shouting,
“Kill him, kill him!”
37 As Paul was about to be taken inside, he
said to the commander, “May I have a word with you?” “Do you know Greek?” the
commander asked, surprised.
38 “Aren’t you the Egyptian who led a
rebellion some time ago and took 4,000 members of the Assassins out into the
desert?”
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.”
40 The commander agreed, so Paul stood on
the stairs and motioned to the people to be quiet. Soon a deep silence
enveloped the crowd, and he addressed them in their own language, Aramaic.
ACTS 22 NLT
1 “Brothers and esteemed fathers,” Paul
said, “listen to me as I offer my defense.”
2 When they heard him speaking in their
own language, the silence was even greater.
3 Then Paul said, “I am a Jew, born in
Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, and I was brought up and educated here in Jerusalem
under Gamaliel. As his student, I was carefully trained in our Jewish laws and
customs. I became very zealous to honor God in everything I did, just like all of
you today.
4 And I persecuted the followers of the
Way, hounding some to death, arresting both men and women and throwing them in
prison.
5 The high priest and the whole council of
elders can testify that this is so. For I received letters from them to our
Jewish brothers in Damascus, authorizing me to bring the followers of the Way
from there to Jerusalem, in chains, to be punished.
6 “As I was on the road, approaching
Damascus about noon, a very bright light from heaven suddenly shone down around
me.
7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice
saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’
8“‘Who are you, lord?’ I asked. “And the voice
replied, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, the one you are persecuting.’
9 The people with me saw the light but didn’t
understand the voice speaking to me.
10 “I asked, ‘What should I do, Lord?’ “And
the Lord told me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told
everything you are to do.’
11 “I was blinded by the intense light and
had to be led by the hand to Damascus by my companions.
12 A man named Ananias lived there. He was
a godly man, deeply devoted to the law, and well regarded by all the Jews of
Damascus.
13 He came and stood beside me and said,
‘Brother Saul, regain your sight.’ And that very moment I could see him!
14 “Then he told me, ‘The God of our
ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and hear
him speak.
15For you are to be his witness, telling
everyone what you have seen and heard.
16 What are you waiting for? Get up and be
baptized. Have your sins washed away by calling on the name of the Lord.’
17 “After I returned to Jerusalem, I was
praying in the Temple and fell into a trance.
18 I saw a vision of Jesus saying to me,
‘Hurry! Leave Jerusalem, for the people here won’t accept your testimony about
me.’
19 “‘But Lord,’ I argued, ‘they certainly
know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believed in
you.
20 And I was in complete agreement when
your witness Stephen was killed. I stood by and kept the coats they took off
when they stoned him.’
21 “But the Lord said to me, ‘Go, for I
will send you far away to the Gentiles!’ ”
22 The crowd listened until Paul said that
word. Then they all began to shout, “Away with such a fellow! He isn’t fit to
live!”
23 They yelled, threw off their coats, and
tossed handfuls of dust into the air.
24 The commander brought Paul inside and
ordered him lashed with whips to make him confess his crime. He wanted to find
out why the crowd had become so furious.
25 When they tied Paul down to lash him,
Paul said to the officer standing there, “Is it legal for you to whip a Roman
citizen who hasn’t even been tried?”
26 When the officer heard this, he went to
the commander and asked, “What are you doing? This man is a Roman
citizen!”
27 So the commander went over and asked
Paul, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes, I certainly am,” Paul
replied.
28 “I am, too,” the commander muttered,
“and it cost me plenty!” Paul answered, “But I am a citizen by birth!”
29 The soldiers who were about to
interrogate Paul quickly withdrew when they heard he was a Roman citizen, and
the commander was frightened because he had ordered him bound and
whipped.
30 The next day the commander ordered the
leading priests into session with the Jewish high council. He wanted to find
out what the trouble was all about, so he released Paul to have him stand
before them.
ACTS 23 NLT
1 Gazing intently at the high council,
Paul began: “Brothers, I have always lived before God with a clear
conscience!”
2 Instantly Ananias the high priest
commanded those close to Paul to slap him on the mouth.
3 But Paul said to him, “God will slap
you, you corrupt hypocrite! What kind of judge are you to break the law
yourself by ordering me struck like that?”
4 Those standing near Paul said to him,
“Do you dare to insult God’s high priest?”
5 “I’m sorry, brothers. I didn’t realize
he was the high priest,” Paul replied, “for the Scriptures say, ‘You must not
speak evil of any of your rulers.’ ”
6 Paul realized that some members of the
high council were Sadducees and some were Pharisees, so he shouted, “Brothers,
I am a Pharisee, as were my ancestors! And I am on trial because my hope is in
the resurrection of the dead!”
7 This divided the council—the Pharisees
against the Sadducees—
8for the Sadducees say there is no resurrection
or angels or spirits, but the Pharisees believe in all of these.
9 So there was a great uproar. Some of the
teachers of religious law who were Pharisees jumped up and began to argue
forcefully. “We see nothing wrong with him,” they shouted. “Perhaps a spirit or
an angel spoke to him.”
10 As the conflict grew more violent, the
commander was afraid they would tear Paul apart. So he ordered his soldiers to
go and rescue him by force and take him back to the fortress.
11 That night the Lord appeared to Paul and
said, “Be encouraged, Paul. Just as you have been a witness to me here in
Jerusalem, you must preach the Good News in Rome as well.”
12 The next morning a group of Jews got
together and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had
killed Paul.
13There were more than forty of them in the
conspiracy.
14 They went to the leading priests and
elders and told them, “We have bound ourselves with an oath to eat nothing
until we have killed Paul.
15 So you and the high council should ask
the commander to bring Paul back to the council again. Pretend you want to
examine his case more fully. We will kill him on the way.”
16 But Paul’s nephew—his sister’s son—heard
of their plan and went to the fortress and told Paul.
17 Paul called for one of the Roman
officers and said, “Take this young man to the commander. He has something
important to tell him.”
18 So the officer did, explaining, “Paul,
the prisoner, called me over and asked me to bring this young man to you
because he has something to tell you.”
19 The commander took his hand, led him
aside, and asked, “What is it you want to tell me?”
20 Paul’s nephew told him, “Some Jews are
going to ask you to bring Paul before the high council tomorrow, pretending
they want to get some more information.
21 But don’t do it! There are more than
forty men hiding along the way ready to ambush him. They have vowed not to eat
or drink anything until they have killed him. They are ready now, just waiting
for your consent.”
22 “Don’t let anyone know you told me
this,” the commander warned the young man.
23 Then the commander called two of his
officers and ordered, “Get 200 soldiers ready to leave for Caesarea at
nine o’clock tonight. Also take 200 spearmen and 70 mounted
troops.
24 Provide horses for Paul to ride, and get
him safely to Governor Felix.”
25 Then he wrote this letter to the
governor:
26 “From Claudius Lysias, to his
Excellency, Governor Felix: Greetings!
27 “This man was seized by some Jews, and
they were about to kill him when I arrived with the troops. When I learned that
he was a Roman citizen, I removed him to safety.
28 Then I took him to their high council to
try to learn the basis of the accusations against him.
29 I soon discovered the charge was
something regarding their religious law—certainly nothing worthy of
imprisonment or death.
30 But when I was informed of a plot to
kill him, I immediately sent him on to you. I have told his accusers to bring
their charges before you.”
31 So that night, as ordered, the soldiers
took Paul as far as Antipatris.
32 They returned to the fortress the next
morning, while the mounted troops took him on to Caesarea.
33 When they arrived in Caesarea, they presented
Paul and the letter to Governor Felix.
34He read it and then asked Paul what province
he was from. “Cilicia,” Paul answered.
35 “I will hear your case myself when your
accusers arrive,” the governor told him. Then the governor ordered him kept in
the prison at Herod’s headquarters.
