1 Gr. from early days.

the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia; and 26 thence they sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been committed to the grace of God for the work which they had fulfilled. And when they 27 were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all things that God had done with them, and how that he had opened a door of faith unto the Gentiles. And they tarried no little time 28 with the disciples.

And certain men came down from Judæa and 15 taught the brethren, saying, Except ye be circumcised after the custom of Moses, ye cannot be saved. And when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissen- 2 sion and questioning with them, the brethren appointed that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question. They therefore, being 3 brought on their way by the church, passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they caused great joy unto all the brethren. And when they were come to Jc- 4 rusalem, they were received of the church and the apostles and the elders, and they rehearsed all things that God had done with them. But there rose up 5 certain of the sect of the Pharisees who believed, saying, It is needful to circumcise them, and to charge them to keep the law of Moses.

And the apostles and the elders were gathered to- 6 gether to consider of this matter. And when there 7 had been much questioning, Peter rose up, and said unto them,

Brethren, ye know how that 'a good while ago God made choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. And God, which knoweth the heart, bare 8 them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; and he made no distinction between 9 us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. Now 10 therefore why tempt ye God, that ye should put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we be-11 lieve that we shall be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in like manner as they.

And all the multitude kept silence; and they 12 hearkened unto Barnabas and Paul rehearsing what signs and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them. And after they had held their peace, 13 James answered, saying,

14 Brethren, hearken unto me: Symeon hath rehearsed how first God did visit the Gentiles, to take 15 out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After these things I will return,

16

17

18

And I will build again the tabernacle of David,
which is fallen;

And I will build again the ruins thereof,
And I will set it up:

That the residue of men may seek after the
Lord,

And all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is

called,

1 Or, who doeth these

known

Saith the Lord, 'who maketh these things known things which were from the beginning of the world*.

19 Wherefore my judgement is, that we trouble not them which from among the Gentiles turn to God; 20 but that we write unto them, that they abstain from 2 Or, enjoin them the pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and 21 from what is strangled, and from blood. For Moses from generations of old hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath.

22

Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men out of their company, and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas called Barsabbas, and 23 Silas, chief men among the brethren: and they wrote thus by them, The apostles and the elder brethrent unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in An24 tioch and Syria and Cilicia, greeting: Forasmuch as we have heard that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your 25 souls; to whom we gave no commandment; it seemed good unto us, having come to one accord, to choose out men and send them unto you with 26 our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus 27 Christ. We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who themselves also shall tell you the same things 28 by word of mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy

Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden 29 than these necessary things; that ye abstain from

*For "from the beginning of the world" read "from of old "— Am. Com.

† For "The apostles and the elder brethren" read "The apostles and the elders, brethren," and put the present text into the marg. -Am. Com.

3 Some ancient authorities omit which went out.

2 Or, comforted

things sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication; from which if ye keep yourselves, it shall be well with you. Fare ye well.

So they, when they were dismissed, came down 30 to Antioch; and having gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistle. And when they 31 1 Or, exhortation. had read it, they rejoiced for the 'consolation. And 32 Judas and Silas, being themselves also prophets, 'exhorted the brethren with many words, and confirmed 3 Some ancient au- them. And after they had spent some time there, 33 thorities insert, they were dismissed in peace from the brethren unto ver. 34 But it those that had sent them forth". But Paul and Bar- 35 seemed good unto nabas tarried in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.

with variations,

Silas to abide there.

And after some days Paul said unto Barnabas, 36 Let us return now and visit the brethren in every city wherein we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they fare. to take with them John also, who was called Mark. But Paul thought not good to take with them him 38 who withdrew from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work. And there arose a sharp 39 contention, so that they parted asunder one from the other, and Barnabas took Mark with him, and sailed away unto Cyprus; but Paul chose Silas, and went 40 forth, being commended by the brethren to the grace of the Lord. And he went through Syria and Ci- 41 licia, confirming the churches.

And Barnabas was minded 37

And he came also to Derbe and to Lystra: and 16 behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewess which believed; but his father was a Greek. The same was well reported of by the 2 brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium. Him 3 would Paul have to go forth with him; and he took and circumcised him because of the Jews that were in those parts: for they all knew that his father was a Greek. And as they went on their way through 4 the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, which had been ordained of the apostles and elders that were at Jerusalem. So the churches 5 were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily.

And they went through the region of Phrygia 6 and Galatia, having been forbidden of the Holy Ghost to speak the word in Asia; and when they 7 were come over against Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia; and the Spirit of Jesus suffered them

8 not; and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There was a man of Macedonia standing, beseeching him, and saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. 10 And when he had seen the vision, straightway we sought to go forth into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.

11

Setting sail therefore from Troas, we made a straight course to Samothrace, and the day follow12 ing to Neapolis; and from thence to Philippi, which is a city of Macedonia, the first of the district, a Roman colony: and we were in this city tarrying 13 certain days. And on the sabbath day we went forth without the gate by a river side, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which were come 14 together. And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, one that worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, to give heed unto the things which were 15 spoken by Paul. And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.

16

1

Python.

And it came to pass, as we were going to the place of prayer, that a certain maid having a spirit of a spirit, a divination met us, which brought her masters much 17 gain by soothsaying. The same following after Paul

and us cried out, saying, These men are servants of 2 Gr. bondservants. the Most High God, which proclaim unto you the 3 Or, a way 18 way of salvation. And this she did for many days. But Paul, being sore troubled, turned and said to the spirit, I charge thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And it came out that very hour. 19

But when her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone, they laid hold on Paul and Silas, and 4 Gr. come out. dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers, 20 and when they had brought them unto the "magis- 5 Gr. prætore. trates, they said, These men, being Jews, do exceed21 ingly trouble our city, and set forth customs which

it is not lawful for us to receive, or to observe, being 22 Romans. And the multitude rose up together against them: and the "magistrates rent their garments off 23 them, and commanded to beat them with rods. And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep 24 them safely: who, having received such a charge,

cast them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. But about midnight Paul and 25 Silas were praying and singing hymns unto God, and the prisoners were listening to them; and sud-26 denly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison-house were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened; and every one's bands were loosed. And the jailor being roused out 27 of sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, drew his sword, and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a 28 loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. And he called for lights, and sprang in, 29 and, trembling for fear, fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said, Sirs, what 30 must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on 31 the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved, thou and read thy house. And they spake the word of 'the Lord 32 unto him, with all that were in his house. And he 33 took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, immediately. And he brought them up into his house, 34 and set 'meat before them, and rejoiced greatly, with 3 Or, having be- all his house, having believed in God.

1 Some ancient au-
thorities
God.

2 Gr. a table.

lieved God.

4 Gr. prætors.

5 Gr. lictors.

But when it was day, the 'magistrates sent the 35 'serjeants, saying, Let those men go. And the jailor 36 reported the words to Paul, saying, The 'magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore come forth, and go in peace. But Paul said unto them, They 37 have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men that are Romans, and have cast us into prison; and do they now cast us out privily? nay verily; but let them come themselves and bring us out. And the "serjeants re- 38 ported these words unto the magistrates: and they feared, when they heard that they were Romans; and they came and besought them; and when they 39 had brought them out, they asked them to go away from the city. And they went out of the prison, and 40 entered into the house of Lydia: and when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them, and departed.

Now when they had passed through Amphipolis 17 and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: and Paul, as his cus- 2 tom was, went in unto them, and for three 'sabbath days reasoned with them from the scriptures, open- 3 ing and alleging, that it behoved the Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead; and that this Jesus,