Our<n id="1" /> ancestors<n id="2" /> received possession of it and brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our ancestors,<n id="3" /> until the time<n id="4" /> of David.

<t /><p class="bodytext">Then an angel of the Lord<n id="1" /> said to Philip,<n id="2" /> &#8220;Get up and go south<n id="3" /> on the road that goes down from Jerusalem<n id="4" /> to Gaza.&#8221; (This is a desert<n id="5" /> road.)<n id="6" />

Cornelius<n id="1" /> replied,<n id="2" /> &#8220;Four days ago at this very hour, at three o&#8217;clock in the afternoon,<n id="3" /> I was praying in my house, and suddenly<n id="4" /> a man in shining clothing stood before me

with respect to Jesus from Nazareth,<n id="1" /> that<n id="2" /> God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power. He<n id="3" /> went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil,<n id="4" /> because God was with him.<n id="5" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">Now those who had been scattered because of the persecution that took place over Stephen<n id="1" /> went as far as<n id="2" /> Phoenicia,<n id="3" /> Cyprus,<n id="4" /> and Antioch,<n id="5" /> speaking the message<n id="6" /> to no one but Jews.

When she recognized Peter&#8217;s voice, she was so overjoyed she did not open the gate, but ran back in and told<n id="1" /> them<n id="2" /> that Peter was standing at the gate.

<p class="bodytext">Now Herod<n id="1" /> was having an angry quarrel<n id="2" /> with the people of Tyre<n id="3" /> and Sidon.<n id="4" /> So they joined together<n id="5" /> and presented themselves before him. And after convincing<n id="6" /> Blastus, the king&#8217;s personal assistant,<n id="7" /> to help them,<n id="8" /> they asked for peace,<n id="9" /> because their country&#8217;s food supply was provided by the king&#8217;s country.

But the Jews incited<n id="1" /> the God-fearing women of high social standing and the prominent men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and threw them out<n id="2" /> of their region.

She continued to do this for many days. But Paul became greatly annoyed,<n id="1" /> and turned<n id="2" /> and said to the spirit, &#8220;I command you in the name of Jesus Christ<n id="3" /> to come out of her!&#8221; And it came out of her at once.<n id="4" />

But when the Jews from Thessalonica<n id="1" /> heard that Paul had also proclaimed the word of God<n id="2" /> in Berea,<n id="3" /> they came there too, inciting<n id="4" /> and disturbing<n id="5" /> the crowds.

<p class="bodytext">Now when Silas and Timothy arrived<n id="1" /> from Macedonia,<n id="2" /> Paul became wholly absorbed with proclaiming<n id="3" /> the word, testifying<n id="4" /> to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.<n id="5" />

When they opposed him<n id="1" /> and reviled him,<n id="2" /> he protested by shaking out his clothes<n id="3" /> and said to them, &#8220;Your blood<n id="4" /> be on your own heads! I am guiltless!<n id="5" /> From now on I will go to the Gentiles!&#8221;

But when<n id="1" /> some were stubborn<n id="2" /> and refused to believe, reviling<n id="3" /> the Way<n id="4" /> before the congregation, he left<n id="5" /> them and took the disciples with him,<n id="6" /> addressing<n id="7" /> them every day<n id="8" /> in the lecture hall<n id="9" /> of Tyrannus.

They have been informed about you &#8211; that you teach all the Jews now living<n id="1" /> among the Gentiles to abandon<n id="2" /> Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children<n id="3" /> or live<n id="4" /> according to our customs.

When the seven days were almost over,<n id="1" /> the Jews from the province of Asia<n id="2" /> who had seen him in the temple area<n id="3" /> stirred up the whole crowd<n id="4" /> and seized<n id="5" /> him,

<t /><p class="bodytext">The crowd<n id="1" /> was listening to him until he said this.<n id="2" /> Then<n id="3" /> they raised their voices and shouted,<n id="4" /> &#8220;Away with this man<n id="5" /> from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live!&#8221;<n id="6" />

Then those who were about to interrogate him stayed away<n id="1" /> from him, and the commanding officer<n id="2" /> was frightened when he realized that Paul<n id="3" /> was<n id="4" /> a Roman citizen<n id="5" /> and that he had had him tied up.<n id="6" />p>

Then<n id="1" /> he summoned<n id="2" /> two of the centurions<n id="3" /> and said, &#8220;Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Caesarea<n id="4" /> along with seventy horsemen<n id="5" /> and two hundred spearmen<n id="6" /> by<n id="7" /> nine o&#8217;clock tonight,<n id="8" />

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>

I have experienced<n id="1" /> help from God to this day, and so I stand testifying to both small and great, saying nothing except<n id="2" /> what the prophets and Moses said<n id="3" /> was going to happen: