Study Desk

The God of Israel chose our ancestors, and he let our people prosper while they were living in Egypt. Then with his mighty power he led them out,

Later, God removed Saul and let David rule in his place. God said about him, "David the son of Jesse is the kind of person who pleases me most! He does everything I want him to do."

Then, when John's work was almost done, he said, "Who do you people think I am? Do you think I am the Promised One? He will come later, and I am not good enough to untie his sandals."

Then for many days Jesus appeared to his followers who had gone with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. Now they are telling our people about him.

God raised Jesus from death and will never let his body decay. It is just as God said, "I will make to you the same holy promise that I made to David."

And in another psalm it says, "God will never let the body of his Holy One decay."

When David was alive, he obeyed God. Then after he died, he was buried in the family grave, and his body decayed.

But God raised Jesus from death, and his body did not decay.

Paul and Barnabas stayed there for a while, having faith in the Lord and bravely speaking his message. The Lord gave them the power to work miracles and wonders, and he showed that their message about his great kindness was true.

He knows what is in everyone's heart. And he showed that he had chosen the Gentiles, when he gave them the Holy Spirit, just as he had given his Spirit to us.

Simon Peter has told how God first came to the Gentiles and made some of them his own people.

Sometime later Paul said to Barnabas, "Let's go back and visit the Lord's followers in the cities where we preached his message. Then we will know how they are doing."

Paul and Barnabas argued, then each of them went his own way. Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus,

Paul and Silas went back to Derbe and Lystra, where there was a follower named Timothy. His mother was also a follower. She was Jewish, and his father was Greek.

Paul and his friends went through Phrygia and Galatia, but the Holy Spirit would not let them preach in Asia.

When the jailer woke up and saw that the doors were open, he thought that the prisoners had escaped. He pulled out his sword and was about to kill himself.

Then Paul and Silas told him and everyone else in his house about the Lord.

While it was still night, the jailer took them to a place where he could wash their cuts and bruises. Then he and everyone in his home were baptized.

They were very glad that they had put their faith in God. After this, the jailer took Paul and Silas to his home and gave them something to eat.

After Paul and his friends had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they went on to Thessalonica. A Jewish meeting place was in that city.