While they were serving<n id="1" /> the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, &#8220;Set apart<n id="2" /> for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.&#8221;

and said, &#8220;You who are full of all deceit and all wrongdoing,<n id="1" /> you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness &#8211; will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?<n id="2" />

Now<n id="1" /> look, the hand of the Lord is against<n id="2" /> you, and you will be blind, unable to see the sun for a time!&#8221; Immediately mistiness<n id="3" /> and darkness came over<n id="4" /> him, and he went around seeking people<n id="5" /> to lead him by the hand.

So they stayed there<n id="1" /> for a considerable time, speaking out courageously for the Lord, who testified<n id="2" /> to the message<n id="3" /> of his grace, granting miraculous signs<n id="4" /> and wonders to be performed through their hands.

<t /><p class="bodytext">After some days Paul said to Barnabas, &#8220;Let&#8217;s return<n id="1" /> and visit the brothers in every town where we proclaimed the word of the Lord<n id="2" /> to see how they are doing.&#8221;<n id="3" />

A<n id="1" /> woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth<n id="2" /> from the city of Thyatira,<n id="3" /> a God-fearing woman, listened to us.<n id="4" /> The Lord opened her heart to respond<n id="5" /> to what Paul was saying.

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>

<t /><p class="bodytext">Now<n id="1" /> as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave girl met us who had a spirit that enabled her to foretell the future by supernatural means.<n id="2" /> She<n id="3" /> brought her owners<n id="4" /> a great profit by fortune-telling.<n id="5" />

But when her owners<n id="1" /> saw their hope of profit<n id="2" /> was gone, they seized<n id="3" /> Paul and Silas and dragged<n id="4" /> them into the marketplace before the authorities.

He had been instructed in<n id="1" /> the way of the Lord, and with great enthusiasm<n id="2" /> he spoke and taught accurately the facts<n id="3" /> about Jesus, although he knew<n id="4" /> only the baptism of John.

But some itinerant<n id="1" /> Jewish exorcists tried to invoke the name<n id="2" /> of the Lord Jesus over those who were possessed by<n id="3" /> evil spirits, saying, &#8220;I sternly warn<n id="4" /> you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.&#8221;

This became known to all who lived in Ephesus,<n id="1" /> both Jews and Greeks; fear came over<n id="2" /> them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was praised.<n id="3" />

But I do not consider my life<n id="1" /> worth anything<n id="2" /> to myself, so that<n id="3" /> I may finish my task<n id="4" /> and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news<n id="5" /> of God&#8217;s grace.p>

And now I entrust<n id="1" /> you to God and to the message<n id="2" /> of his grace. This message<n id="3" /> is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

By all these things,<n id="1" /> I have shown you that by working in this way we must help<n id="2" /> the weak,<n id="3" /> and remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he himself said, &#8216;It is more blessed to give than to receive.&#8217;&#8221;<n id="4" />p>

Then Paul replied, &#8220;What are you doing, weeping and breaking<n id="1" /> my heart? For I am ready not only to be tied up,<n id="2" /> but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.&#8221;

<p class="bodytext">The following night the Lord<n id="1" /> stood near<n id="2" /> Paul<n id="3" /> and said, &#8220;Have courage,<n id="4" /> for just as you have testified about me in Jerusalem,<n id="5" /> so you must also testify in Rome.&#8221;<n id="6" />p>

But I have nothing definite<n id="1" /> to write to my lord<n id="2" /> about him.<n id="3" /> Therefore I have brought him before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa,<n id="4" /> so that after this preliminary hearing<n id="5" /> I may have something to write.

So Ananias departed and entered the house, placed<n id="1" /> his hands on Saul<n id="2" /> and said, &#8220;Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came here,<n id="3" /> has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.&#8221;<n id="4" />

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" />