the church which was in Jeru

CHAP. XII.

23 Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord.

24 For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost, and of faith; and much people was added unto the Lord. 25 Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul.

26 And, when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.

27 And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch.

28 And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit, that there should be great dearthe throughout all the world; which came to pass in the days of Claudius Cesar.

29 Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judea ;

30 Which also they did, and sent unto the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.

• Dearth, a famine.

tians: 20 his pride and miserable death.

NOW, about that time, Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church.

2 And he killed James, the brother of John, with the sword.

3 And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.)

4 And, when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions a of soldiers to keep him, intending after Easter b to bring him forth to the people.

5 Peter, therefore, was kept in prison; but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.

6 And when Herod would

have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains; and the keepers before the door kept the prison.

7 And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison; and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, say

a Quaternion means 4, and 4 quaternions 16, i. e. 16 men, consisting of 4 in a party to relieve each other by turns.

b Easter, the passover. See Matt. xxvi. 2, & 17.

inz, arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands. 8 And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals; and so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me.

9 And he went out, and followed him and wist c not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision.

10 When they were past the first and second wardd they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord; and they went out, and passed on through one street, and forthwith the angel departed from him.

41 And when Peter was come to himself he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people

of the Jews.

12 And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together, praying.

13 And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a dajasel came to hearken, named Rhoda.

14 And, when she knew Peter's voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran

Wist not, knew not. d Ward, watch.

put to death.

in, and told how Peter stood before the gate.

15 And they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, it is his angel.

16 But Peter continued knocking; and when they had opened the door, and saw him, they were astonished.

17 But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go, shew these things unto James, and to the brethAnd he departed, and went into another place.

rea.

18 Now, as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers, what was become of Peter.

19 And when Herod had sought for him, and found him not, he examined the keepers, & commanded that they should be put to death. And he went down from Judea to Cesarea and there abode.

20 ¶ And Herod was highly displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon; but they came with one accord to him; and, having made Blastus, the king's chamberlain, their friend, desired peace; because their country was nourished by the king's country.

21 And, upon a set day, Herod, arrayed in royal ap parel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them.

22 And the people gave a

shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man. 23 And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory; and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost. 24 But the word of God grew and multiplied.

25 And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem,when they had fulfilled their ministry,e and took with them John, whose surname was Mark.

CHAP. XIII.

1 Paul and Barnabas go to the Gentiles. 42 The Gentiles believe. 45 The Jews blaspheme.

NOW, there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, a and Saul.

2 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.

3 And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

4 So they, being sent forth

e Fulfilled their ministry, when they had performed the duty of charity for which they went to Jerusalem. See chap. xi. 29, 30.

a Tetrarch, a Roman governor of a fourth part of a province.

by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Selucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus.

5 And when they were at Salamis,b they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews; and they had al

so John to their minister.

6 And, when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos,c they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar-je

sus:

7 Which was with the deputyd of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabus and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God.

8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation,) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith.

9 Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him,

10 And said, O full of all subtilty, and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness! wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord ?

11 And now, behold, the Fand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season.

be Salamis and Paphos. See chap. iv. 36.

d Deputy, one who transacts business for another: here it means a governor.

Elymas the sorcerer.

And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; & he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.

12 Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord.

13 Now, when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Panphylia; and John, departing from them, returned to Jerusalem.

14 But when they departed from Perga they came to Antioch Pisidia, e and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath-day, and sat down.

15 And after the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagoue sent unto them, saying, Te men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.

16 Then Paul stood up, and, beckoning with his hand, said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience.

17 The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people, when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an high arm brought he them out of it.

18 And about the time of

e Pisidia, an interior province of Asia Minor north of Pamphylia. Antioch was the capital; but it must be remembered, there was another place of the same name, which was the capital of Syria.

19 And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Chanaan, he divided their land to them by lot.

20 And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet.

24 And afterward they desired a king; and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis,f a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years.

22 And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.

23 Of this man's seed hath God, according to his promise, raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus;

24 When John had first preached, before his coming, the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

25 And as John fulfilled his course,g he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. But, behold, there, cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose.

26 Men and brethren, chil

f Cis, in the Old Testament Kish. g Fulfillea bis course, discharged the duties of his office.

that Jesus is Christ.

dren of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent.

27 For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices h of the prophets which are read every sabbath-day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him.

28 And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain.

29 And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre.

30 But God raised him from the dead.

31 And he was seen many days of them, which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people.

32 And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise, which was made unto the fathers,

33 God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.

34 And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this

b Voices, sayings or writings.

The Gentiles believe.

wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David.

35 Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

36 For David, after he had served his own generation, by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption :

37 But he whom God raised again saw no corruption.

38 ¶ Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins;

39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.

40 Beware, therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets;

41 Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.

42 And, when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought, that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath.

43 Now, when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselites followed Faul and Barnabas; who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.