the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?

11 for, we believe that we, as also they, shall be saved, Rom. iii. 22. through the grace of the Lord Jesus.

12 Then all the multitude became silent, and listened to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought by them among the Gentiles :

13 and when they had ceased speaking, James answered, saying, Brethren, hearken to me:

14 Simon hath shewn how God first visited the Gentiles, to take out from them a people for his name:

15 and with this the agree words of the prophets; as it is written,

16 "After this I will return, Amos, ix. 11. " and will build again the ta"bernacle of David which is "fallen down; and I will build again its ruins, and set it up: 17" that the residue of men, ፡፡ even the Gentiles on whom my name is called, may seek "the Lord, saith the Lord," who made these things known from the beginning.

18 Wherefore my judgment is, that we perplex not those who turn to God from among the Gentiles;

19 but that we enjoin them, by Epistle, to abstain from the pollutions of idols, both from

11.

the fornication, and from any 2 Chron. 1 thing strangled and from the Lev. xix. blood :

20 for Moses, from the earliest generations, hath in every city those that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.

21 Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, determined to send to Antioch, with Paul and Barnabas, men chosen from among themselves, namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren, writing thus by their hands:

22"The apostles and elder "brethren, to the brethren of "the Gentiles who are in An

Lev. xvii. 10-16.

32 and after they had remained there some time, they were dismissed, with peace from the brethren to those who had sent them :

33 but Paul and Barnabas continued in Antioch, teaching and preaching, with many others also, the word of the Lord.

34 And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, Let us return and see how our brethren do, in all the cities in which we have preached the word of the Lord:

35 and Barnabas wished to

take with them John, who was called Mark;

36 but Paul thought that they should not take with them him who withdrew himself from them in Pamphylia, and who c. xiii. 14. went not with them to that work :

37 and the contention became so sharp between them, that they separated from each other; and Barnabas, taking with him Mark, sailed to Cyprus :

38 but Paul, having chosen Silas, departed; being committed, by the brethren, to the grace of the Lord:

39 and he went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches.

ΑΝ

CHAPTER XVI.

ND he went down, as far as to Derbe, and to Lystra: and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewess that believed; 2 but his father was a Greek, who was well reported of by the brethren in Lystra and Iconium :

3 this disciple, Paul wished to go with him; and he took him and circumcised him, on account of the Jews which were in those places for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

4 And, as they went through the cities, they charged them

R

to keep the Decrees, which had been ordained by the apostles and the elders that were in Jerusalem;

5 and the churches were thus established in the faith, and increased daily in number.

6 And they passed through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia:

7 for, when they came to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia; but the Spirit of Jesus suffered them not: 8 and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.

9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: A man of Macedonia stood, and besought him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us :

10 and when he had seen the vision, we immediately endeavoured to go into Macedonia; being assured, that the Lord called us to preach the gospel to them;

11 sailing, .therefore, from Troas, we ran straight to Samothrace, and the next day to Neapolis;

12 and from thence to Philippi, which is the first city of that part of Macedonia, which is a colony and we passed some days in that city.

:

13 And on the sabbath day we went out of the gate by the river, where we supposed was

a prayer-house, and sat down, Luke, vi. 12. and spake to the women that resorted thither;

14 and a certain woman, named Lydia, a purple-seller of the city of Thyatira, who worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, to attend to the things spoken by Paul:

15 and when she had been baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house, and abide there; and she constrained us to do so.

16 And it came to pass, as we were going into the prayerhouse, a certain maiden, having a spirit of divination, met us, who brought much profit to her masters by fortune-telling:

17 she, following Paul and us, cried out, saying, These men are servants of the most high God, who declare to us the way of salvation :

18 and this she did for many days; but Paul, being wearied by her, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her and it came out the same hour.

19 And when her masters saw that the prospect of their profit was gone from them, they seized Paul and Silas, and dragged them into the market-place, to the rulers;

20 and bringing them to the commanders, they said, These men, who are Jews, exceedingly disturb our city;

21 and teach customs, which it is not lawful for us, who are Romans, to receive or observe:

22 and the multitude rose up together against them: and the commanders tore off their clothes, and gave order to beat them with rods:

23 and when they had laid on them many stripes, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them securely;

24 who, having received such a charge, put them into the inner prison; securing their feet in the stocks.

25 And at midnight, Paul and Silas were praying, and singing praises to God, and the prisoners were listening to them;

26 when suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken and all the doors were opened, and the bands of every one were loosed:

:

27 and the keeper of the prison, awaking from his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, drew his sword, and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped;

28 but Paul cried out with a

loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm; for we are all here: 29 then, calling for a light, he sprang in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas;

30 and brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

31 and they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou wilt be saved, and thy house:

32 and they spake the word of the Lord to him, and to all who were in his house.

33 And in the same hour of the night he took them and washed their stripes; and immediately he was baptized, and all who belonged to him:

34 and bringing them into his house, he set a table before them; and rejoiced, with all his house, believing in God.

35 And when it was day, the commanders sent the serjeants, saying, Release those men :

36 and the keeper of the prison reported those words to Paul, saying, The commanders have sent orders that you should be released: now therefore depart, and go in peace:

37 but Paul said to them, After publicly beating us uncondemned, who are Roman citizens, they have cast us into prison; and now they would turn us out secretly not so; but let them come themselves, and lead us out:

:

38 and the serjeants told these words to the commanders: and they were afraid, when they heard that they were Roman citizens;

39 and they came and besought them, and led them out; and desired them to go out of the city:

40 and when they were come out of the prison, they went to the house of Lydia : and having seen the brethren, they exhorted them, and departed.

A

CHAPTER XVII.

ND when they had journeyed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews:

2 and Paul, according to his custom, went in to them; and, for three sabbath days, reasoned with them out of the scriptures;

3 laying open and proving, that it behoved the Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead; and, that this Jesus, whom I preach to you, is the Christ:

4 and some of them believed, and took part with Paul and Silas; also a great number of the devout Greeks, and not a few of the chief women.

5 But the unbelieving Jews, moved with jealousy, took to themselves some mischievous

men of the lowest sort, and gathering a crowd, set the city in a tumult; and assailing the house of Jason, sought to bring them out to the people:

6 and when they found them. not, they dragged Jason and certain brethren to the rulers of the city, crying, The men who have put the earth in disorder, are now come hither;

7 whom Jason hath received: and they all act contrary to the decrees of Cesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus:

8 and they alarmed the people, and the rulers of the city, who heard these words:

9 but taking security from Jason and the rest, they released them.

10 And the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away, by night, to Berea; who, when they came, went into the synagogue of the Jews:

11 but, these were more ingenuous than those in Thessalonica; for, they received the word with all readiness of mind, examining the scriptures daily, whether those things

were so:

12 many of them, therefore, believed; and of the honourable Greek women and men, not a few.

13 But, as soon as the Jews of Thessalonica knew that the word of God was preached