Holman Christian Standard Bible (326 page)

Peter Rescued

6
 On the night before Herod was to bring him out for execution, Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while the sentries in front of the door guarded the prison.
7
 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the cell. Striking Peter on the side, he woke him up and said, “Quick, get up! ” Then the chains fell off his wrists. 
8
 “Get dressed,” the angel told him, “and put on your sandals.” And he did so. “Wrap your cloak around you,” he told him, “and follow me.”
9
 So he went out and followed, and he did not know that what took place through the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. 
10
 After they passed the first and second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened to them by itself. They went outside and passed one street, and immediately the angel left him. 

11
 Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel and rescued me from Herod's grasp and from all that the Jewish people expected.” 
12
 When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many had assembled and were praying.
13
 He knocked at the door in the gateway, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer.
14
 She recognized Peter's voice, and because of her joy, she did not open the gate but ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the gateway.

15
 “You're crazy! ” they told her. But she kept insisting that it was true. Then they said, “It's his angel! ” 
16
 Peter, however, kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astounded.

17
 Motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he explained to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. “Report these things to James and the brothers,” he said. Then he departed and went to a different place.

18
 At daylight, there was a great commotion among the soldiers as to what could have become of Peter.
19
 After Herod had searched and did not find him, he interrogated the guards and ordered their execution. Then Herod went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there. 

Herod's Death

20
 He had been very angry with the Tyrians and Sidonians. Together they presented themselves before him. They won over Blastus, who was in charge of the king's bedroom, and through him they asked for peace, because their country was supplied with food from the king's country. 
21
 So on an appointed day, dressed in royal robes and seated on the throne, Herod delivered a public address to them.
22
 The assembled people began to shout, “It's the voice of a god and not of a man! ”
23
 At once an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give the glory to God, and he became infected with worms and died. 
24
 Then God's message flourished and multiplied. 
25
 After they had completed their relief mission, Barnabas and Saul returned to Jerusalem, taking along John who is called Mark. 

Acts

Preparing for the Mission Field

13
In the church that was at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen, a close friend of
•Herod
the tetrarch, and Saul.

2
 As they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work I have called them to.” 
3
 Then after they had fasted, prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them off. 

The Mission to Cyprus

4
 Being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they came down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.
5
 Arriving in Salamis, they proclaimed God's message in the Jewish
•synagogues
. They also had John as their assistant. 
6
 When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came across a sorcerer, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. 
7
 He was with the
•proconsul
, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and desired to hear God's message. 
8
 But Elymas the sorcerer (this is the meaning of his name) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 

9
 Then Saul — also called Paul — filled with the Holy Spirit, stared straight at the sorcerer
10
 and said, “You son of the Devil, full of all deceit and all fraud, enemy of all righteousness! Won't you ever stop perverting the straight paths of the Lord?
11
 Now, look! The Lord's hand is against you. You are going to be blind, and will not see the sun for a time.” Suddenly a mist and darkness fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

12
 Then the proconsul, seeing what happened, believed and was astonished at the teaching about the Lord. 

Paul's Sermon in Antioch of Pisidia

13
 Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. John, however, left them and went back to Jerusalem. 
14
 They continued their journey from Perga and reached Antioch in Pisidia. On the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. 
15
 After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any message of encouragement for the people, you can speak.” 

16
 Then Paul stood up and motioned with his hand and said: “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen! 
17
 The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors, exalted the people during their stay in the land of Egypt, and led them out of it with a mighty arm. 
18
 And for about 40 years He put up with them in the wilderness; 
19
 then after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, He gave their land to them as an inheritance.
20
 This all took about 450 years. After this, He gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. 
21
 Then they asked for a king, so God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for 40 years. 
22
 After removing him, He raised up David as their king and testified about him: ‘
I have found David
the son of Jesse,
a man loyal to Me,
who will carry out all My will.'

23
 “From this man's descendants, according to the promise, God brought the Savior, Jesus, to Israel. 
24
 Before He came to public attention, John had previously proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 
25
 Then as John was completing his life's work, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not the One. But look! Someone is coming after me, and I am not worthy to untie the sandals on His feet.' 

26
 “Brothers, sons of Abraham's race, and those among you who fear God, the message of this salvation has been sent to us. 
27
 For the residents of Jerusalem and their rulers, since they did not recognize Him or the voices of the prophets that are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled their words by condemning Him. 
28
 Though they found no grounds for the death penalty, they asked
•Pilate
to have Him killed. 
29
 When they had fulfilled all that had been written about Him, they took Him down from the tree and put Him in a tomb. 
30
 But God raised Him from the dead, 
31
 and He appeared for many days to those who came with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now His witnesses to the people. 
32
 And we ourselves proclaim to you the good news of the promise that was made to our ancestors. 
33
 God has fulfilled this for us, their children, by raising up Jesus, as it is written in the second Psalm:

34
 Since He raised Him from the dead, never to return to decay, He has spoken in this way,
I will grant you the faithful covenant blessings
 
made to David.
35
 Therefore He also says in another passage,
You will not allow Your Holy One to see decay.
36
 For David, after serving his own generation in God's plan, fell
•asleep
, was buried with his fathers, and decayed. 
37
 But the One God raised up did not decay.
38
 Therefore, let it be known to you, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is being proclaimed to you, 
39
 and everyone who believes in Him is
•justified
from everything that you could not be justified from through the law of Moses. 
40
 So beware that what is said in the prophets does not happen to you:

Paul and Barnabas in Antioch

42
 As they were leaving, the people begged that these matters be presented to them the following Sabbath.
43
 After the synagogue had been dismissed, many of the Jews and devout
•proselytes
followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking with them and persuading them to continue in the grace of God. 

44
 The following Sabbath almost the whole town assembled to hear the message of the Lord. 
45
 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to oppose what Paul was saying by insulting him. 

46
 Then Paul and Barnabas boldly said: “It was necessary that God's message be spoken to you first. But since you reject it and consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles! 
47
 For this is what the Lord has commanded us:

48
 When the Gentiles heard this, they rejoiced and glorified the message of the Lord, and all who had been appointed to eternal life believed.
49
 So the message of the Lord spread through the whole region.
50
 But the Jews incited the prominent women, who worshiped God, and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their district. 
51
 But they shook the dust off their feet against them and went to Iconium.
52
 And the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit. 

Acts

Growth and Persecution in Iconium

14
The same thing happened in Iconium; they entered the Jewish
•synagogue
and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed. 
2
 But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up and poisoned the minds of the Gentiles against the brothers. 
3
 So they stayed there for some time and spoke boldly in reliance on the Lord, who testified to the message of His grace by granting that signs and wonders be performed through them. 
4
 But the people of the city were divided, some siding with the Jews and some with the apostles. 
5
 When an attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to assault and stone them,
6
 they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian towns called Lystra and Derbe, and to the surrounding countryside. 
7
 And there they kept evangelizing. 

Mistaken for Gods in Lystra

8
 In Lystra a man without strength in his feet, lame from birth, and who had never walked, sat
9
 and heard Paul speaking. After observing him closely and seeing that he had faith to be healed,
10
 Paul said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet! ” And he jumped up and started to walk around. 

11
 When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in the form of men! ” 
12
 And they started to call Barnabas, Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the main speaker.
13
 Then the priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the town, brought oxen and garlands to the gates. He, with the crowds, intended to offer sacrifice.

14
 The apostles Barnabas and Paul tore their robes when they heard this and rushed into the crowd, shouting: 
15
 “Men! Why are you doing these things? We are men also, with the same nature as you, and we are proclaiming good news to you, that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God,
who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything in them
.
16
 In past generations He allowed all the nations to go their own way,
17
 although He did not leave Himself without a witness, since He did what is good by giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons and satisfying your hearts with food and happiness.”
18
 Even though they said these things, they barely stopped the crowds from sacrificing to them.

19
 Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and when they had won over the crowds and stoned Paul, they dragged him out of the city, thinking he was dead. 
20
 After the disciples surrounded him, he got up and went into the town. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.