When Peter saw this, he declared to the people, “Men of Israel, ¹  why are you amazed at this? Why ²  do you stare at us as if we had made this man ³  walk by our own power or piety?

saying, “We gave ¹  you strict orders ²  not to teach in this name. ³  Look, ⁴  you have filled Jerusalem ⁵  with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood ⁶  on us!”

But carefully select from among you, brothers, ¹  seven ²  men who are well-attested, ³  full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge ⁴  of this necessary task. ⁵ 

saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go in front of us, for this Moses, who led us out of the land of Egypt ¹  – we do not know what has happened to him!’ ² 

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 

Both Paul and Barnabas replied courageously, ¹  “It was necessary to speak the word of God ²  to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy ³  of eternal life, we ⁴  are turning to the Gentiles. ⁵ 

So now why are you putting God to the test ¹  by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke ²  that neither our ancestors ³  nor we have been able to bear?

but that we should write them a letter ¹  telling them to abstain ²  from things defiled ³  by idols and from sexual immorality and from what has been strangled ⁴  and from blood.

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 

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 

On the first day ¹  of the week, when we met ²  to break bread, Paul began to speak ³  to the people, and because he intended ⁴  to leave the next day, he extended ⁵  his message until midnight.

We went on ahead ¹  to the ship and put out to sea ²  for Assos, ³  intending ⁴  to take Paul aboard there, for he had arranged it this way. ⁵  He ⁶  himself was intending ⁷  to go there by land. ⁸ 

By all these things, ¹  I have shown you that by working in this way we must help ²  the weak, ³  and remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” ⁴ 

When ¹  our time was over, ²  we left and went on our way. All of them, with their wives and children, accompanied ³  us outside of the city. After ⁴  kneeling down on the beach and praying, ⁵ 

Some of the disciples from Caesarea ¹  came along with us too, and brought us to the house ²  of Mnason of Cyprus, a disciple from the earliest times, ³  with whom we were to stay.

But regarding the Gentiles who have believed, we have written a letter, having decided ¹  that they should avoid ²  meat that has been sacrificed to idols ³  and blood and what has been strangled ⁴  and sexual immorality.”

There was a great commotion, ¹  and some experts in the law ²  from the party of the Pharisees stood up ³  and protested strongly, ⁴  “We find nothing wrong ⁵  with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”

When Paul ¹  had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, ²  saying, “We have experienced a lengthy time ³  of peace through your rule, ⁴  and reforms ⁵  are being made in this nation ⁶  through your foresight. ⁷ 

For we have found ¹  this man to be a troublemaker, ²  one who stirs up riots ³  among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader ⁴  of the sect of the Nazarenes. ⁵ 

When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ¹  ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? You are hurting yourself ²  by kicking against the goads.’ ³