<t /><p class="bodytext">Now there were these prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch:<n id="1" /> Barnabas, Simeon called Niger,<n id="2" /> Lucius the Cyrenian,<n id="3" /> Manaen (a close friend of Herod<n id="4" /> the tetrarch<n id="5" /> from childhood<n id="6" />) and Saul.

After the reading from the law and the prophets,<n id="1" /> the leaders of the synagogue<n id="2" /> sent them a message,<n id="3" /> saying, &#8220;Brothers,<n id="4" /> if you have any message<n id="5" /> of exhortation<n id="6" /> for the people, speak it.&#8221;<n id="7" />

I answered them<n id="1" /> that it was not the custom of the Romans to hand over anyone<n id="2" /> before the accused had met his accusers face to face<n id="3" /> and had been given<n id="4" /> an opportunity to make a defense against the accusation.<n id="5" />

to open their eyes so that they turn<n id="1" /> from darkness to light and from the power<n id="2" /> of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share<n id="3" /> among those who are sanctified by faith in me.&#8217;p>

yet he did not leave himself without a witness by doing good,<n id="1" /> by giving you rain from heaven<n id="2" /> and fruitful seasons, satisfying you<n id="3" /> with food and your hearts with joy.&#8221;<n id="4" />

To the same apostles<n id="1" /> also, after his suffering,<n id="2" /> he presented himself alive with many convincing proofs. He was seen by them over a forty-day period<n id="3" /> and spoke about matters concerning the kingdom of God.

Then he said, &#8216;The God of our ancestors<n id="1" /> has already chosen<n id="2" /> you to know his will, to see<n id="3" /> the Righteous One,<n id="4" /> and to hear a command<n id="5" /> from his mouth,

On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate to the side of the river, where we thought there would be a place of prayer, and we sat down<n id="1" /> and began to speak<n id="2" /> to the women<n id="3" /> who had assembled there.<n id="4" />

After she and her household were baptized, she urged us,<n id="1" /> &#8220;If<n id="2" /> you consider me to be a believer in the Lord,<n id="3" /> come and stay in my house.&#8221; And she persuaded<n id="4" /> us.p>

Because the harbor was not suitable to spend the winter in, the majority decided<n id="1" /> to put out to sea<n id="2" /> from there. They hoped that<n id="3" /> somehow they could reach<n id="4" /> Phoenix,<n id="5" /> a harbor of Crete facing<n id="6" /> southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.

But the Jews became jealous,<n id="1" /> and gathering together some worthless men from the rabble in the marketplace,<n id="2" /> they formed a mob<n id="3" /> and set the city in an uproar.<n id="4" /> They attacked Jason&#8217;s house,<n id="5" /> trying to find Paul and Silas<n id="6" /> to bring them out to the assembly.<n id="7" />

But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this reason, to designate you in advance<n id="1" /> as a servant and witness<n id="2" /> to the things<n id="3" /> you have seen<n id="4" /> and to the things in which I will appear to you.

He<n id="1" /> did not give any of it to him for an inheritance,<n id="2" /> not even a foot of ground,<n id="3" /> yet God<n id="4" /> promised <i>to give it to him as his possession, and to his descendants after himi>,<n id="5" /> even though Abraham<n id="6" /> as yet had no child.

<p class="bodytext">They set<n id="1" /> a day to meet with him,<n id="2" /> and they came to him where he was staying<n id="3" /> in even greater numbers.<n id="4" /> From morning until evening he explained things<n id="5" /> to them,<n id="6" /> testifying<n id="7" /> about the kingdom of God<n id="8" /> and trying to convince<n id="9" /> them about Jesus from both the law of Moses and the prophets.

When Paul<n id="1" /> had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him,<n id="2" /> saying, &#8220;We have experienced a lengthy time<n id="3" /> of peace through your rule,<n id="4" /> and reforms<n id="5" /> are being made in this nation<n id="6" /> through your foresight.<n id="7" />

Also some of the Epicurean<n id="1" /> and Stoic<n id="2" /> philosophers were conversing<n id="3" /> with him, and some were asking,<n id="4" /> &#8220;What does this foolish babbler<n id="5" /> want to say?&#8221; Others said, &#8220;He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods.&#8221;<n id="6" /> (They said this because he was proclaiming the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.)<n id="7" />

but that we should write them a letter<n id="1" /> telling them to abstain<n id="2" /> from things defiled<n id="3" /> by idols and from sexual immorality and from what has been strangled<n id="4" /> and from blood.

But regarding the fact that he has raised Jesus<n id="1" /> from the dead, never<n id="2" /> again to be<n id="3" /> in a state of decay, God<n id="4" /> has spoken in this way: &#8216;<b><i>I will give youi>b><n id="5" /> <b><i>the holy and trustworthy promisesi>b><n id="6" /> <b><i>made to Davidi>b>.&#8217;<n id="7" />

And you see and hear that this Paul has persuaded<n id="1" /> and turned away<n id="2" /> a large crowd,<n id="3" /> not only in Ephesus<n id="4" /> but in practically all of the province of Asia,<n id="5" /> by saying<n id="6" /> that gods made by hands are not gods at all.<n id="7" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">After three days<n id="1" /> Paul<n id="2" /> called the local Jewish leaders<n id="3" /> together. When they had assembled, he said to them, &#8220;Brothers,<n id="4" /> although I had done<n id="5" /> nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors,<n id="6" /> from Jerusalem<n id="7" /> I was handed over as a prisoner to the Romans.<n id="8" />