Bible Study Group

  1  “Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense.” 2  When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet. Then Paul said:   3  “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today.   4  I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison,   5  as the high priest and all the Council can themselves testify. I even obtained letters from them to their associates in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished. 6  “About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me.   7  I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me,  ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you per...

  On to Jerusalem 21  After we had torn ourselves away from them, we put out to sea and sailed straight to Kos. The next day we went to Rhodes and from there to Patara.   2  We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, went on board and set sail.   3  After sighting Cyprus and passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria. We landed at Tyre, where our ship was to unload its cargo.   4  We sought out the disciples there and stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.   5  When it was time to leave, we left and continued on our way. All of them, including wives and children, accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt to pray.   6  After saying goodbye to each other, we went aboard the ship, and they returned home. 7  We continued our voyage from Tyre and landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and ...

  Through Macedonia and Greece 20  When the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples and, after encouraging them, said goodbye and set out for Macedonia.   2  He traveled through that area, speaking many words of encouragement to the people, and finally arrived in Greece,   3  where he stayed three months. Because some Jews had plotted against him just as he was about to sail for Syria, he decided to go back through Macedonia.   4  He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy also, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia.   5  These men went on ahead and waited for us at Troas.   6  But we sailed from Philippi after the Festival of Unleavened Bread, and five days later joined the others at Troas, where we stayed seven days. Eutychus Raised From the Dead at Troas 7  ...

  Paul in Ephesus 19  While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples   2  and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when [ a ]  you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3  So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied. 4  Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.”   5  On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.   6  When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues [ b ]  and prophesied.   7  There were about twelve men in all. 8  Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God.   9...

  In Corinth 18  After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.   2  There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them,   3  and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them.   4  Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. 5  When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah.   6  But when they opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” 7  Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God.   ...

In Thessalonica 17  When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2  As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,  3  explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said.   4  Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women. 5  But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. [ a ]   6  But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the cit...