Then the Lord told him, “Get up and go to the street called ‘Straight,’ ¹  and at Judas’ house look for a man from Tarsus named Saul. For he is praying,

But the Lord said to him, “Go, because this man is my chosen instrument ¹  to carry my name before Gentiles and kings and the people of Israel. ² 

But Barnabas took ¹  Saul, ²  brought ³  him to the apostles, and related to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, that ⁴  the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken out boldly ⁵  in the name of Jesus.

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.

Staring at him and becoming greatly afraid, Cornelius ¹  replied, ²  “What is it, Lord?” The angel ³  said to him, “Your prayers and your acts of charity ⁴  have gone up as a memorial ⁵  before God.

Therefore I sent for you at once, and you were kind enough to come. ¹  So now we are all here in the presence of God ²  to listen ³  to everything the Lord has commanded you to say to us.” ⁴ 

Therefore if God ¹  gave them the same gift ²  as he also gave us after believing ³  in the Lord Jesus Christ, ⁴  who was I to hinder ⁵  God?”

When ¹  Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued ²  me from the hand ³  of Herod ⁴  and from everything the Jewish people ⁵  were expecting to happen.”

He motioned to them ¹  with his hand to be quiet and then related ²  how the Lord had brought ³  him out of the prison. He said, “Tell James and the brothers these things,” and then he left and went to another place. ⁴ 

While they were serving ¹  the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart ²  for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

and said, “You who are full of all deceit and all wrongdoing, ¹  you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness – will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? ² 

Now ¹  look, the hand of the Lord is against ²  you, and you will be blind, unable to see the sun for a time!” Immediately mistiness ³  and darkness came over ⁴  him, and he went around seeking people ⁵  to lead him by the hand.

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

After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s return ¹  and visit the brothers in every town where we proclaimed the word of the Lord ²  to see how they are doing.” ³ 

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

After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, ¹  “If ²  you consider me to be a believer in the Lord, ³  come and stay in my house.” And she persuaded ⁴  us.

Now 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. ²  She ³  brought her owners ⁴  a great profit by fortune-telling. ⁵ 

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

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

But some itinerant ¹  Jewish exorcists tried to invoke the name ²  of the Lord Jesus over those who were possessed by ³  evil spirits, saying, “I sternly warn ⁴  you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.”