not by all the people, but by us, the witnesses God had already chosen,<n id="1" /> who ate and drank<n id="2" /> with him after he rose from the dead.

&#8220;I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision,<n id="1" /> an object something like a large sheet descending,<n id="2" /> being let down from heaven<n id="3" /> by its four corners, and it came to me.

One of them, named Agabus, got up<n id="1" /> and predicted<n id="2" /> by the Spirit that a severe<n id="3" /> famine<n id="4" /> was about to come over the whole inhabited world.<n id="5" /> (This<n id="6" /> took place during the reign of Claudius.)<n id="7" />

When<n id="1" /> Peter came to himself, he said, &#8220;Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued<n id="2" /> me from the hand<n id="3" /> of Herod<n id="4" /> and from everything the Jewish people<n id="5" /> were expecting to happen.&#8221;p>

He motioned to them<n id="1" /> with his hand to be quiet and then related<n id="2" /> how the Lord had brought<n id="3" /> him out of the prison. He said, &#8220;Tell James and the brothers these things,&#8221; and then he left and went to another place.<n id="4" />p>

The God of this people Israel<n id="1" /> chose our ancestors<n id="2" /> and made the people great<n id="3" /> during their stay as foreigners<n id="4" /> in the country<n id="5" /> of Egypt, and with uplifted arm<n id="6" /> he led them out of it.

When Paul and Barnabas had a major argument and debate<n id="1" /> with them, the church<n id="2" /> appointed Paul and Barnabas and some others from among them to go up to meet with<n id="3" /> the apostles and elders in Jerusalem<n id="4" /> about this point of disagreement.<n id="5" />

<p class="bodytext">Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided<n id="1" /> to send men chosen from among them, Judas called Barsabbas and Silas,<n id="2" /> leaders among the brothers, to Antioch<n id="3" /> with Paul and Barnabas.

explaining and demonstrating<n id="1" /> that the Christ<n id="2" /> had to suffer and to rise from the dead,<n id="3" /> saying,<n id="4" /> &#8220;This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.&#8221;<n id="5" />

Some of them were persuaded<n id="1" /> and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large group<n id="2" /> of God-fearing Greeks<n id="3" /> and quite a few<n id="4" /> prominent women.

because he has set<n id="1" /> a day on which he is going to judge the world<n id="2" /> in righteousness, by a man whom he designated,<n id="3" /> having provided proof to everyone by raising<n id="4" /> him from the dead.&#8221;p>

Then the man who was possessed by<n id="1" /> the evil spirit jumped on<n id="2" /> them and beat them all into submission.<n id="3" /> He prevailed<n id="4" /> against them so that they fled from that house naked and wounded.

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,

When the argument became<n id="1" /> so great the commanding officer<n id="2" /> feared that they would tear Paul to pieces,<n id="3" /> he ordered the detachment<n id="4" /> to go down, take him away from them by force,<n id="5" /> and bring him into the barracks.<n id="6" />p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">When the governor gestured for him to speak, Paul replied, &#8220;Because I know<n id="1" /> that you have been a judge over this nation for many years, I confidently make my defense.<n id="2" />

let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ<n id="1" /> the Nazarene whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, this man stands before you healthy.

Suddenly<n id="1" /> an angel of the Lord<n id="2" /> appeared, and a light shone in the prison cell. He struck<n id="3" /> Peter on the side and woke him up, saying, &#8220;Get up quickly!&#8221; And the chains fell off Peter&#8217;s<n id="4" /> wrists.<n id="5" />

So do not let them persuade you to do this,<n id="1" /> because more than forty of them<n id="2" /> are lying in ambush<n id="3" /> for him. They<n id="4" /> have bound themselves with an oath<n id="5" /> not to eat or drink anything<n id="6" /> until they have killed him, and now they are ready, waiting for you to agree to their request.&#8221;<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" />