| Acts 2:
|
|
|
16 but this is what was spoken of through the
prophet Joel:
|
|
17 ' And it shall be in the last days,' God says,
' That I will pour forth of My Spirit upon all mankind; And your sons and your
daughters shall prophesy, And your young men shall see visions, And your old men
shall dream dreams;
|
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18 Even upon My bond slaves, both men and women, I
will in those days pour forth of My Spirit And they shall prophesy.
|
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19 ' And I will grant wonders in the sky above,
And signs on the earth beneath, Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke.
|
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20 ' The sun shall be turned into darkness, And
the moon into blood, Before the great and glorious day of the Lord shall come.
|
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21 ' And it shall be, that everyone who calls on
the name of the Lord shall be saved.' |
|
22 "Men of Israel, listen to these words:
Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and
signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves
know--
|
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23 this Man, delivered up by the predetermined
plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men
and put Him to death.
|
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24 "And God raised Him up again, putting an
end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its
power.
|
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25 "For David says of Him, ' I was always
beholding the Lord in my presence; For He is at my right hand, that I may not be
shaken.
|
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26 ' Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue
exulted; Moreover my flesh also will abide in hope;
|
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27 Because Thou wilt not abandon my soul to
Hades, Nor allow Thy Holy One to undergo decay.
|
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28 ' Thou hast made known to me the ways of life;
Thou wilt make me full of gladness with Thy presence.'
|
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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.
|
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30 "And so, because he was a prophet, and
knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants upon
his throne,
|
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31 he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection
of the Christ, that He was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh suffer
decay.
|
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32 "This Jesus God raised up again, to which
we are all witnesses. |
|
33 "Therefore having been exalted to the
right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy
Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear.
|
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34 "For it was not David who ascended into
heaven, but he himself says: ' The Lord said to my Lord," Sit at My right
hand,
|
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35 Until I make Thine enemies a footstool for Thy
feet. " ' |
|
36 "Therefore let all the house of Israel
know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ-- this Jesus whom
you crucified."
|
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37 Now when they heard this, they were pierced to
the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what
shall we do?"
|
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38 And Peter said to them, "Repent, and let
each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your
sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
|
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39 "For the promise is for you and your
children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God shall call to
Himself."
|
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40 And with many other words he solemnly
testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse
generation!"
|
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41 So then, those who had received his word were
baptized; and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
|
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42 And they were continually devoting themselves
to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to
prayer.
|
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43 And everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and
many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.
|
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44 And all those who had believed were together,
and had all things in common;
|
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45 and they began selling their property and
possessions, and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need.
|
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46 And day by day continuing with one mind in the
temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals
together with gladness and sincerity of heart,
|
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47 praising God, and having favor with all the
people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being
saved.
|
| Acts 8:
|
|
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5 And Philip went down to the city of Samaria and
began proclaiming Christ to them.
|
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6 And the multitudes with one accord were giving
attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs which he
was performing.
|
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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.
|
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8 And there was much rejoicing in that city.
|
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9 Now there was a certain man named Simon, who
formerly was practicing magic in the city, and astonishing the people of
Samaria, claiming to be someone great;
|
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10 and they all, from smallest to greatest, were
giving attention to him, saying, "This man is what is called the Great
Power of God."
|
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11 And they were giving him attention because he
had for a long time astonished them with his magic arts.
|
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12 But when they believed Philip preaching the
good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being
baptized, men and women alike.
|
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13 And even Simon himself believed; and after
being baptized, he continued on with Philip; and as he observed signs and great
miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed.
|
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14 Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that
Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John,
|
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15 who came down and prayed for them, that they
might receive the Holy Spirit.
|
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16 For He had not yet fallen upon any of them;
they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
|
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17 Then they began laying their hands on them,
and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.
|
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18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was
bestowed through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money,
|
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19 saying, "Give this authority to me as
well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit."
|
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20 But Peter said to him, "May your silver
perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with
money!
|
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21 "You have no part or portion in this
matter, for your heart is not right before God.
|
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22 "Therefore repent of this wickedness of
yours, and pray the Lord that if possible, the intention of your heart may be
forgiven you.
|
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23 "For I see that you are in the gall of
bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity."
|
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24 But Simon answered and said, "Pray to the
Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.
|
| Acts 8:
|
|
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26 But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip
saying, "Arise and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to
Gaza." (This is a desert road.)
|
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27 And he arose and went; and behold, there was
an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who
was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship.
|
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28 And he was returning and sitting in his
chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah.
|
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29 And the Spirit said to Philip, "Go up and
join this chariot."
|
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30 And when Philip had run up, he heard him
reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, "Do you understand what you are
reading?"
|
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31 And he said, "Well, how could I, unless
someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
|
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32 Now the passage of Scripture which he was
reading was this: " He was led as a sheep to slaughter; And as a lamb
before its shearer is silent, So He does not open His mouth.
|
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33 " In humiliation His judgment was taken
away; Who shall relate His generation? For His life is removed from the
earth."
|
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34 And the eunuch answered Philip and said,
"Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself, or of
someone else?"
|
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35 And Philip opened his mouth, and beginning
from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.
|
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36 And as they went along the road they came to
some water; and the eunuch said, "Look! Water! What prevents me from being
baptized?"
|
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37 [And Philip said, "If you believe with
all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God."]
|
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38 And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they
both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch; and he baptized
him.
|
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39 And when they came up out of the water, the
Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch saw him no more, but
went on his way rejoicing.
|
| Acts 9:
|
|
|
1 Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder
against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest,
|
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2 and asked for letters from him to the
synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men
and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
|
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3 And it came about that as he journeyed, he was
approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him;
|
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4 and he fell to the ground, and heard a voice
saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" |
|
5 And he said, "Who art Thou, Lord?"
And He said, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting,
|
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6 but rise, and enter the city, and it shall be
told you what you must do. "
|
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7 And the men who traveled with him stood
speechless, hearing the voice, but seeing no one.
|
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8 And Saul got up from the ground, and though his
eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought
him into Damascus.
|
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9 And he was three days without sight, and
neither ate nor drank.
|
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10 Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus,
named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." And he
said, "Behold, here am I, Lord."
|
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11 And the Lord said to him, "Arise and go
to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from
Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying,
|
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12 and he has seen in a vision a man named
Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.
"
|
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13 But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard
from many about this man, how much harm he did to Thy saints at Jerusalem;
|
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14 and here he has authority from the chief
priests to bind all who call upon Thy name. "
|
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15 But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is
a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and
the sons of Israel;
|
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16 for I will show him how much he must suffer
for My name's sake. "
|
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17 And 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."
|
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18 And immediately there fell from his eyes
something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he arose and was baptized;
|
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19 and he took food and was strengthened. ¦ Now
for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus,
|
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20 and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in
the synagogues, saying, "He is the Son of God." |
|
21 And all those hearing him continued to be
amazed, and were saying, "Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those
who called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them
bound before the chief priests?"
|
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22 But Saul kept increasing in strength and
confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the
Christ.
|
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23 And when many days had elapsed, the Jews
plotted together to do away with him,
|
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24 but their plot became known to Saul. And they
were also watching the gates day and night so that they might put him to death;
|
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25 but his disciples took him by night, and let
him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a large basket.
|
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26 And when he had come to Jerusalem, he was
trying to associate with the disciples; and they were all afraid of him, not
believing that he was a disciple.
|
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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.
|
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28 And he was with them moving about freely in
Jerusalem, speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord.
|
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29 And he was talking and arguing with the
Hellenistic Jews; but they were attempting to put him to death.
|
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30 But when the brethren learned of it, they
brought him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus.
|
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31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee
and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and, going on in the fear of the Lord
and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.
|
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32 Now it came about that as Peter was traveling
through all those parts, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda.
|
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33 And there he found a certain man named Aeneas,
who had been bedridden eight years, for he was paralyzed.
|
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34 And Peter said to him, "Aeneas, Jesus
Christ heals you; arise, and make your bed." And immediately he arose.
|
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35 And all who lived at Lydda and Sharon saw him,
and they turned to the Lord.
|
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36 Now in Joppa there was a certain disciple
named Tabitha (which translated in Greek is called Dorcas); this woman was
abounding with deeds of kindness and charity, which she continually did.
|
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37 And it came about at that time that she fell
sick and died; and when they had washed her body, they laid it in an upper room.
|
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38 And since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples,
having heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him, entreating him, "Do
not delay to come to us."
|
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39 And Peter arose and went with them. And when
he had come, they brought him into the upper room; and all the widows stood
beside him weeping, and showing all the tunics and garments that Dorcas used to
make while she was with them.
|
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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.
|
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41 And he gave her his hand and raised her up;
and calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive.
|
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42 And it became known all
over Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.
|
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43 And it came about that he stayed many days in
Joppa with a certain tanner, Simon.
|
| Acts 10:
|
|
|
1 Now there was a certain man
at Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian
cohort,
|
|
2 a devout man, and one who
feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the Jewish
people, and prayed to God continually.
|
|
3 About the ninth hour of the
day he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had just come in to
him, and said to him, "Cornelius!"
|
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4 And fixing his gaze upon 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.
|
|
5 "And now dispatch some
men to Joppa, and send for a man named Simon, who is also called Peter;
|
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6 he is staying with a certain
tanner named Simon, whose house is by the sea. " |
|
7 And when the angel who was speaking to him had
departed, he summoned two of his servants and a devout soldier of those who were
in constant attendance upon him,
|
|
8 and after he had explained everything to them,
he sent them to Joppa. |
|
9 And on the next day, as they were on their way,
and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to
pray.
|
|
10 And he became hungry, and was desiring to eat;
but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance;
|
|
11 and he beheld the sky opened up, and a certain
object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground,
|
|
12 and there were in it all kinds of four-footed
animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air.
|
|
13 And a voice came to him, "Arise, Peter,
kill and eat!"
|
|
14 But Peter said, "By no means, Lord, for I
have never eaten anything unholy and unclean." |
|
15 And again a voice came to him a second time,
"What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy."
|
|
16 And this happened three times; and immediately
the object was taken up into the sky. |
|
17 Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in mind
as to what the vision which he had seen might be, behold, the men who had been
sent by Cornelius, having asked directions for Simon's house, appeared at the
gate;
|
|
18 and calling out, they were asking whether
Simon, who was also called Peter, was staying there.
19 And while Peter was reflecting on the vision,
the Spirit said to him, "Behold, three men are looking for you.
20 "But arise, go downstairs, and accompany
them without misgivings; for I have sent them Myself."
21 And Peter went down to the men and said,
"Behold, I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for which you
have come?"
22 And they said, "Cornelius, a centurion, a
righteous and God-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews,
was divinely directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and
hear a message from you."
23 And so he invited them in and gave them
lodging. ¦ And on the next day he arose and went away with them, and some of
the brethren from Joppa accompanied him.
24 And on the following day he entered Caesarea.
Now Cornelius was waiting for them, and had called together his relatives and
close friends.
25 And when it came about that Peter entered,
Cornelius met him, and fell at his feet and worshiped him.
26 But Peter raised him up, saying, "Stand
up; I too am just a man."
27 And as he talked with him, he entered, and
found many people assembled.
28 And he said to them, "You yourselves know
how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to
visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or
unclean.
29 "That is why I came without even raising
any objection when I was sent for. And so I ask for what reason you have sent
for me."
30 And Cornelius said, "Four days ago to
this hour, I was praying in my house during the ninth hour; and behold, a man
stood before me in shining garments,
31 and he said, 'Cornelius, your prayer has been
heard and your alms have been remembered before God.
32 'Send therefore to Joppa and invite Simon, who
is also called Peter, to come to you; he is staying at the house of Simon the
tanner by the sea.'
33 "And so I sent to you immediately, and
you have been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God
to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord."
34 And opening his mouth, Peter said: ¦ "I
most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality,
35 but in every nation the man who fears Him and
does what is right, is welcome to Him.
36 "The word which He sent to the sons of
Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ (He is Lord of all)--
37 you yourselves know the thing which took place
throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John
proclaimed.
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.
39 "And we are witnesses of all the things
He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. And they also put Him to
death by hanging Him on a cross.
40 "God raised Him up on the third day, and
granted that He should become visible,
41 not to all the people, but to witnesses who
were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us, who ate and drank with Him after
He arose from the dead.
42 "And He ordered us to preach to the
people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by
God as Judge of the living and the dead.
43 "Of Him all the prophets bear witness
that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of
sins."
44 While Peter was still speaking these words,
the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message.
45 And all the circumcised believers who had come
with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out
upon the Gentiles also.
46 For they were hearing them speaking with
tongues and exalting God. Then Peter answered,
47 "Surely no one can refuse the water for
these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can
he?"
48 And he ordered them to be baptized in the name
of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.
|
| Acts 16:
|
|
|
1 And he came also to Derbe and to Lystra. And
behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman
who was a believer, but his father was a Greek,
2 and he was well spoken of by the brethren who
were in Lystra and Iconium.
3 Paul wanted this man to go with him; and he
took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for
they all knew that his father was a Greek.
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.
5 So the churches were being strengthened in the
faith, and were increasing in number daily.
6 And they passed through the Phrygian and
Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in
Asia;
7 and when they had come to Mysia, they were
trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them;
8 and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.
9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a
certain man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying,
"Come over to Macedonia and help us."
10 And when he had seen the vision, immediately
we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the
gospel to them.
11 Therefore putting out to sea from Troas, we
ran a straight course to Samothrace, and on the day following to Neapolis;
12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading
city of the district of Macedonia, a Roman colony; and we were staying in this
city for some days.
13 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the
gate to a riverside, where we were supposing that there would be a place of
prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled.
14 And a certain woman named Lydia, from the city
of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and
the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.
15 And when she and her household had been
baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to
the Lord, come into my house and stay." And she prevailed upon us.
16 And it happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a certain
slave-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters
much profit by fortune telling.
|
|
17 Following after Paul and us, she kept crying
out, saying, "These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are
proclaiming to you the way of salvation."
18 And she continued doing this for many days.
But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, "I command
you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!" And it came out at
that very moment.
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,
20 and when they had brought them to the chief
magistrates, they said, "These men are throwing our city into confusion,
being Jews,
21 and are proclaiming customs which it is not
lawful for us to accept or to observe, being Romans. "
22 And the crowd rose up together against them,
and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them, and proceeded to order them
to be beaten with rods.
23 And when they had inflicted many blows upon
them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely;
24 and he, having received such a command, threw
them into the inner prison, and fastened their feet in the stocks.
25 But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying
and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them;
26 and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so
that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the
doors were opened, and everyone's chains were unfastened.
27 And when the jailer had been roused out of
sleep and had seen the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to
kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.
28 But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying,
"Do yourself no harm, for we are all here!"
29 And he called for lights and rushed in and,
trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas,
30 and after he brought them out, he said,
"Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
31 And they said, "Believe in the Lord
Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household."
32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him
together with all who were in his house.
33 And he took them that very hour of the night
and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his
household.
34 And he brought them into his house and set
food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole
household.
|
| Acts 18: |
|
|
8 And Crispus, the leader of the synagogue,
believed in the Lord with all his household, and many of the Corinthians when
they heard were believing and being baptized.
|
| Acts 19: |
|
|
1 And it came about that while Apollos was at
Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper country came to Ephesus, and found
some disciples,
2 and he said to them, "Did you receive the
Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said to him, "No, we have not
even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit."
3 And he said, "Into what then were you
baptized?" And they said, "Into John's baptism."
4 And Paul said, "John baptized with the
baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after
him, that is, in Jesus."
5 And when they heard this, they were baptized in
the name of the Lord Jesus.
6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy
Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying.
|
