After ¹  he had said this, while they were watching, he was lifted up and a cloud hid him from their sight.

They incited the people, the ¹  elders, and the experts in the law; ²  then they approached Stephen, ³  seized him, and brought him before the council. ⁴ 

But Jews came from Antioch ¹  and Iconium, ²  and after winning ³  the crowds over, they stoned ⁴  Paul and dragged him out of the city, presuming him to be dead.

The ¹  city was filled with the uproar, ²  and the crowd ³  rushed to the theater ⁴  together, ⁵  dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, the Macedonians who were Paul’s traveling companions.

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

Instead I subdue my body and make it my slave, so that after preaching to others I myself will not be disqualified.

These things happened as examples for us, so that we will not crave evil things as they did.

And they did this not just as we had hoped, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and to us by the will of God.

And he must be well thought of by ¹  those outside the faith, ²  so that he may not fall into disgrace and be caught by the devil’s trap. ³ 

By professing it, some have strayed from the faith. ¹  Grace be with you all. ² 

No one in military service gets entangled in matters of everyday life; otherwise he will not please ¹  the one who recruited him.

and they will come to their senses and escape the devil’s trap where they are held captive ¹  to do his will. ² 

Then ¹  I looked, and a white cloud appeared, ²  and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man! ³  He had ⁴  a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.

The dove could not find a resting place for its feet because water still covered ¹  the surface of the entire earth, and so it returned to Noah ²  in the ark. He stretched out his hand, took the dove, ³  and brought it back into the ark. ⁴ 

When Abram heard that his nephew ¹  had been taken captive, he mobilized ²  his 318 trained men who had been born in his household, and he pursued the invaders ³  as far as Dan. ⁴ 

So now, send instructions ¹  to gather ²  your livestock and all your possessions in the fields to a safe place. Every person ³  or animal caught ⁴  in the field and not brought into the house – the hail will come down on them, and they will die!”’”

Then Samuel got up early to meet Saul the next morning. But Samuel was informed, “Saul has gone to Carmel where ¹  he is setting up a monument for himself. Then Samuel left ²  and went down to Gilgal.” ³ 

¹ All your leaders ran away together – they fled to a distant place; all your refugees ²  were captured together – they were captured without a single arrow being shot. ³ 

So the Lord’s word to them will sound like meaningless gibberish, senseless babbling, a syllable here, a syllable there. ¹  As a result, they will fall on their backsides when they try to walk, ²  and be injured, ensnared, and captured. ³ 

Then I said, ¹  “O Lord, intervene for the honor of your name ²  even though our sins speak out against us. ³  Indeed, ⁴  we have turned away from you many times. We have sinned against you.