Acts 2:14–41; Acts 8:26–40; Acts 13:13–48; Acts 14:1; Acts 16:25–34; Acts 17:22–34

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Acts 2:14–41

Peter’s Sermon at Pentecost

14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, usince it is only the third hour of the day.1 16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:

17  vAnd in the last days it shall be, God declares,

wthat I will pour out my Spirit xon all flesh,

and your sons and yyour daughters shall prophesy,

and your young men shall see visions,

and your old men shall dream dreams;

18  even on my male servants and female servants

in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and zthey shall prophesy.

19  And I will show wonders in the heavens above

and signs on the earth below,

blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;

20  athe sun shall be turned to darkness

and the moon to blood,

before bthe day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.

21  And it shall come to pass that ceveryone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

22 Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, da man attested to you by God ewith fmighty works and wonders and signs that gGod did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know 23 this Jesus,2 hdelivered up according to ithe definite plan and jforeknowledge of God, kyou crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 lGod raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because mit was not possible for him to be held by it. 25 For David says concerning him,

nI saw the Lord always before me,

for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken;

26  therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;

my flesh also will dwell oin hope.

27  For you will not abandon my soul to pHades,

qor let your rHoly One ssee corruption.

28  You have made known to me the paths of life;

you will make me full of gladness with your presence.

29 Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about tthe patriarch David uthat he both died and vwas buried, and whis tomb is with us to this day. 30 xBeing therefore a prophet, and knowing that yGod had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, 31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that zhe was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus aGod raised up, band of that we all are witnesses. 33 cBeing therefore dexalted at the right hand of God, and having received from ethe Father fthe promise of the Holy Spirit, ghe has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. 34 For hDavid did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,

iThe Lord said to my Lord,

Sit at my right hand,

35  until I make your enemies your footstool.

36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that jGod has made him kboth Lord and Christ, this Jesus lwhom you crucified.

37 Now when mthey heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Brothers, nwhat shall we do? 38 And Peter said to them, oRepent and pbe baptized every one of you qin the name of Jesus Christ rfor the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive sthe gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For tthe promise is for you and ufor your children and for all vwho are far off, everyone wwhom the Lord our God calls to himself. 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, xSave yourselves from this ycrooked generation. 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and zthere were added that day about three thousand souls.


Acts 8:26–40

Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

26 Now man angel of the Lord said to Philip, Rise and go toward the south1 to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert place. 27 And he rose and went. And there was an nEthiopian, a oeunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, pwho was in charge of all her treasure. qHe had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, Go over and join this chariot. 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, Do you understand what you are reading? 31 And he said, rHow can I, unless someone sguides me? And the invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:

uLike a sheep he was led to the slaughter

and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,

so he opens not his mouth.

33  In his vhumiliation justice was denied him.

Who can describe his generation?

For his life is taken away from the earth.

34 And the eunuch said to Philip, About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else? 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and wbeginning with this Scripture xhe told him the good news about Jesus. 36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, See, here is water! yWhat prevents me from being baptized?2 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, zthe Spirit of the Lord acarried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.


Acts 13:13–48

Paul and Barnabas at Antioch in Pisidia

13 Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And mJohn left them and returned nto Jerusalem, 14 but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And oon the Sabbath day pthey went into the synagogue and sat down. 15 After qthe reading from rthe Law and the Prophets, sthe rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, Brothers, if you have any tword of encouragement for the people, say it. 16 So Paul stood up, and umotioning with his hand said:

Men of Israel and vyou who fear God, listen. 17 wThe God of this people Israel xchose our fathers and ymade the people great zduring their stay in the land of Egypt, and awith uplifted arm he led them out of it. 18 And for about bforty years che put up with1 them in the wilderness. 19 And dafter destroying eseven nations in the land of Canaan, fhe gave them their land as an inheritance. 20 All this took about 450 years. And after that ghe gave them judges until hSamuel the prophet. 21 Then ithey asked for a king, and God gave them Saul jthe son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 And kwhen he had removed him, lhe raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, mI have found in David the son of Jesse na man after my heart, owho will do all my will. 23 pOf this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel qa Savior, Jesus, ras he promised. 24 Before his coming, sJohn had proclaimed ta baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 And as John was finishing his course, uhe said, What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.

26 Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you vwho fear God, to us has been sent wthe message of xthis salvation. 27 For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because ythey did not recognize him nor understand zthe utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, afulfilled them by condemning him. 28 And bthough they found in him no guilt worthy of death, cthey asked Pilate to have him executed. 29 And when dthey had carried out all that was written of him, ethey took him down from fthe tree and laid him in a tomb. 30 But gGod raised him from the dead, 31 and for many days hhe appeared to those iwho had come up with him jfrom Galilee to Jerusalem, kwho are now lhis witnesses to the people. 32 And we bring you the good news mthat what God promised to the fathers, 33 nthis he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm,

oYou are my Son,

today I have begotten you.

34 And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, pqno more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way,

I will give you rthe holy and sure blessings of David.

35 Therefore he says also in another psalm,

sYou will not let your Holy One see corruption.

36 For David, after he had tserved the purpose of God in his own generation, ufell asleep and vwas laid with his fathers and saw corruption, 37 but he whom wGod raised up did not see corruption. 38 Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, xthat through this man yforgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and by him zeveryone who believes is freed2 from everything afrom which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. 40 Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about:

41  bLook, you scoffers,

be astounded and perish;

for I am doing a work in your days,

a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.

42 As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath. 43 And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and cdevout dconverts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them eto continue in fthe grace of God.

44 The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45 gBut hwhen the Jews3 saw the crowds, they were filled with ijealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, jreviling him. 46 And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, It was necessary that the word of God kbe spoken first to you. lSince you thrust it aside and judge yourselves munworthy of eternal life, behold, we nare turning to the Gentiles. 47 oFor so the Lord has commanded us, saying,

pI have made you qa light for the Gentiles,

that you may rbring salvation to the ends of the earth.

48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and sglorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.


Acts 14:1

Paul and Barnabas at Iconium

Now at Iconium athey entered together into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed.


Acts 16:25–34

The Philippian Jailer Converted

25 pAbout midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 26 and suddenly qthere was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately rall the doors were opened, and severyone’s bonds were unfastened. 27 When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and twas about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, Do not harm yourself, for we are all here. 29 And the jailer1 called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he ufell down before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and said, Sirs, vwhat must I do to be wsaved? 31 And they said, xBelieve in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you yand your household. 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them zthe same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he awas baptized at once, he and all his family. 34 Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he brejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.


Acts 17:22–34

Paul Addresses the Areopagus

22 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: pTo the unknown god. pWhat therefore you worship qas unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 rThe God who made the world and everything in it, being sLord of heaven and earth, tdoes not live in temples made by man,1 25 nor is he served by human hands, uas though he needed anything, since he himself vgives to all mankind wlife and breath and everything. 26 And xhe made from one man every nation of mankind to live yon all the face of the earth, zhaving determined allotted periods and athe boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 bthat they should seek God, cand perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. dYet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for

eIn him we live and move and have our being;2

as even some of fyour own poets have said,

For we are indeed his offspring.3

29 gBeing then God’s offspring, hwe ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. 30 iThe times of ignorance jGod overlooked, but know he lcommands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed ma day on which nhe will judge the world oin righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and pof this he has given assurance to all qby raising him from the dead.

32 Now when they heard of rthe resurrection of the dead, ssome mocked. But others said, tWe will hear you again about this. 33 So Paul went out from their midst. 34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius uthe Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.