Day 49: Acts 13 - 16

New Testament in 90 days reading for day 49.

Acts 13

40 Watch out, then, that what was spoken by the prophets does not happen to you:
41 ‘Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish! For I am doing a work in your days that you would never believe, even if someone told you.’”
42 As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people urged them to continue this message on the next Sabbath.
43 After the synagogue was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.
44 On the following Sabbath, nearly the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.
45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and they blasphemously contradicted what Paul was saying.
46 Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “It was necessary to speak the word of God to you first. But since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.
47 For this is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
48 When the Gentiles heard this, they rejoiced and glorified the word of the Lord, and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.
49 And the word of the Lord spread throughout that region.
50 The Jews, however, incited the religious women of prominence and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their district.
51 So they shook the dust off their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.
52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

Acts 14

1 At Iconium, Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue, where they spoke so well that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed.
2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.
3 So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who affirmed the message of His grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders.
4 The people of the city were divided. Some sided with the Jews, and others with the apostles.
5 But when the Gentiles and Jews, together with their rulers, set out to mistreat and stone them,
6 they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding region,
7 where they continued to preach the gospel.
8 In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked.
9 This man was listening to the words of Paul, who looked intently at him and saw that he had faith to be healed.
10 In a loud voice Paul called out, “Stand up on your feet!” And the man jumped up and began to walk.
11 When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices in the Lycaonian language: “The gods have come down to us in human form!”
12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.
13 The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates, hoping to offer a sacrifice along with the crowds.
14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul found out about this, they tore their clothes and rushed into the crowd, shouting,
15 “Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them.
16 In past generations, He let all nations go their own way.
17 Yet He has not left Himself without testimony to His goodness: He gives you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.”
18 Even with these words, Paul and Barnabas could hardly stop the crowds from sacrificing to them.
19 Then some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, presuming he was dead.
20 But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. And the next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.
21 They preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch,
22 strengthening the souls of the disciples and encouraging them to continue in the faith. “We must endure many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.
23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church, praying and fasting as they entrusted them to the Lord, in whom they had believed.
24 After passing through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia.
25 And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia.
26 From Attalia they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had just completed.
27 When they arrived, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them, and how He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
28 And they spent a long time there with the disciples.

Acts 15

1 Then some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
2 And after engaging these men in sharp debate, Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question.
3 Sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, recounting the conversion of the Gentiles and bringing great joy to all the brothers.
4 On their arrival in Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and apostles and elders, to whom they reported all that God had done through them.
5 But some believers from the party of the Pharisees stood up and declared, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses.”
6 So the apostles and elders met to look into this matter.
7 After much discussion, Peter got up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you that the Gentiles would hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe.
8 And God, who knows the heart, showed His approval by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as He did to us.
9 He made no distinction between us and them, for He cleansed their hearts by faith.
10 Now then, why do you test God by placing on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear?
11 On the contrary, we believe it is through the grace of the Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”
12 The whole assembly fell silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul describing the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them.
13 When they had finished speaking, James declared, “Brothers, listen to me!
14 Simon has told us how God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people to be His own.
15 The words of the prophets agree with this, as it is written:
16 ‘After this I will return and rebuild the fallen tent of David. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it,
17 so that the remnant of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by My name, says the Lord who does these things
18 that have been known for ages.’
19 It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not cause trouble for the Gentiles who are turning to God.
20 Instead, we should write and tell them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals, and from blood.
21 For Moses has been proclaimed in every city from ancient times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”
22 Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to select men from among them to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas called Barsabbas and Silas, two leaders among the brothers,
23 and sent them with this letter: The apostles and the elders, your brothers, To the brothers among the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings.
24 It has come to our attention that some went out from us without our authorization and unsettled you, troubling your minds by what they said.
25 So we all agreed to choose men to send to you along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
27 Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to tell you in person the same things we are writing.
28 It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond these essential requirements:
29 You must abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell.
30 So the men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they assembled the congregation and delivered the letter.
31 When the people read it, they rejoiced at its encouraging message.
32 Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers.
33 After spending some time there, they were sent off by the brothers in peace to return to those who had sent them.
35 But Paul and Barnabas remained at Antioch, along with many others, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord.
36 Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the brothers in every town where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, to see how they are doing.”
37 Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark.
38 But Paul thought it best not to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not accompanied them in the work.
39 Their disagreement was so sharp that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus,
40 but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord.
41 And he traveled through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

Acts 16

1 Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where he found a disciple named Timothy, the son of a believing Jewish woman and a Greek father.
2 The brothers in Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him.
3 Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, so he took him and circumcised him on account of the Jews in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.
4 As they went from town to town, they delivered the decisions handed down by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey.
5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.
6 After the Holy Spirit had prevented them from speaking the word in the province of Asia, they traveled through the region of Phrygia and Galatia.
7 And when they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not permit them.

Open this plan in the app