I ¹  have had great joy and encouragement because ²  of your love, for the hearts ³  of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother.

while God confirmed their witness ¹  with signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed ²  according to his will.

For we have become partners with Christ, if in fact we hold our initial confidence ¹  firm until the end.

not abandoning our own meetings, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and even more so because you see the day ¹  drawing near. ² 

We have come to know love by this: ¹  that Jesus ²  laid down ³  his life for us; thus we ought to lay down our lives for our fellow Christians.

For I tell you the truth, ¹  many prophets and righteous people longed to see ²  what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

“See that you do not disdain one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. ¹ 

Let the Christ, ¹  the king of Israel, come down from the cross now, that we may see and believe!” Those who were crucified with him also spoke abusively to him. ² 

(Now he said this about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were going to receive, for the Spirit had not yet been given, ¹  because Jesus was not yet glorified.) ² 

When they heard this, they raised their voices to God with one mind ¹  and said, “Master of all, ²  you who made the heaven, the earth, ³  the sea, and everything that is in them,

So the twelve ¹  called ²  the whole group ³  of the disciples together and said, “It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to wait on tables. ⁴ 

The word of God continued to spread, ¹  the number of disciples in Jerusalem ²  increased greatly, and a large group ³  of priests became obedient to the faith.

Then ¹  the church throughout Judea, Galilee, ²  and Samaria experienced ³  peace and thus was strengthened. ⁴  Living ⁵  in the fear of the Lord and in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, the church ⁶  increased in numbers.

Now those who had been scattered because of the persecution that took place over Stephen ¹  went as far as ²  Phoenicia, ³  Cyprus, ⁴  and Antioch, ⁵  speaking the message ⁶  to no one but Jews.

When ¹  he came and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all to remain true ²  to the Lord with devoted hearts, ³ 

and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. ¹  So ²  for a whole year Barnabas and Saul ³  met with the church and taught a significant number of people. ⁴  Now it was in Antioch ⁵  that the disciples were first called Christians. ⁶ 

The same thing happened in Iconium ¹  when Paul and Barnabas ²  went into the Jewish synagogue ³  and spoke in such a way that a large group ⁴  of both Jews and Greeks believed.

They strengthened ¹  the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue ²  in the faith, saying, “We must enter the kingdom ³  of God through many persecutions.” ⁴ 

Paul, after staying ¹  many more days in Corinth, ²  said farewell to ³  the brothers and sailed away to Syria accompanied by ⁴  Priscilla and Aquila. ⁵  He ⁶  had his hair cut off ⁷  at Cenchrea ⁸  because he had made a vow. ⁹ 

and said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” ¹  They replied, ²  “No, we have not even ³  heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”