The news about this reached the church in Jerusalem, so they sent Barnabas to Antioch.

Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and many people were brought to the Lord.

and from there they sailed back to Antioch, the place where they had been commended to the care of God's grace for the work they had now completed.

When they arrived in Antioch, they gathered the people of the church together and told them about all that God had done with them and how he had opened the way for the Gentiles to believe.

Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul.

About that time some prophets went from Jerusalem to Antioch.

Paul and Barnabas spent some time in Antioch, and together with many others they taught and preached the word of the Lord.

So we are to use our different gifts in accordance with the grace that God has given us. If our gift is to speak God's message, we should do it according to the faith that we have;

if it is to serve, we should serve; if it is to teach, we should teach;

In the church God has put all in place: in the first place apostles, in the second place prophets, and in the third place teachers; then those who perform miracles, followed by those who are given the power to heal or to help others or to direct them or to speak in strange tongues.

They are not all apostles or prophets or teachers. Not everyone has the power to work miracles

But if everyone is proclaiming God's message when some unbelievers or ordinary people come in, they will be convinced of their sin by what they hear. They will be judged by all they hear,

their secret thoughts will be brought into the open, and they will bow down and worship God, confessing, "Truly God is here among you!"

It was he who "gave gifts to people"; he appointed some to be apostles, others to be prophets, others to be evangelists, others to be pastors and teachers.

do not despise inspired messages.

And so it was that Joseph, a Levite born in Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means "One who Encourages"),

The news about this reached the church in Jerusalem, so they sent Barnabas to Antioch.

Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and many people were brought to the Lord.

When he found him, he took him to Antioch, and for a whole year the two met with the people of the church and taught a large group. It was at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians.

Barnabas and Saul finished their mission and returned from Jerusalem, taking John Mark with them.

Or are Barnabas and I the only ones who have to work for our living?

James, Peter, and John, who seemed to be the leaders, recognized that God had given me this special task; so they shook hands with Barnabas and me, as a sign that we were all partners. We agreed that Barnabas and I would work among the Gentiles and they among the Jews.

The other Jewish believers also started acting like cowards along with Peter; and even Barnabas was swept along by their cowardly action.

But other believers, who were from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and proclaimed the message to Gentiles also, telling them the Good News about the Lord Jesus.

Timothy, my fellow worker, sends you his greetings; and so do Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, fellow Jews.

At that time Herod, the ruler of Galilee, heard about Jesus.

For Herod had earlier ordered John's arrest, and he had him tied up and put in prison. He had done this because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife.

Herod wanted to kill him, but he was afraid of the Jewish people, because they considered John to be a prophet.

that he promised her, "I swear that I will give you anything you ask for!"

The king was sad, but because of the promise he had made in front of all his guests he gave orders that her wish be granted.

It was the fifteenth year of the rule of Emperor Tiberius; Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip was ruler of the territory of Iturea and Trachonitis; Lysanias was ruler of Abilene,

But John reprimanded Governor Herod, because he had married Herodias, his brother's wife, and had done many other evil things.

Then Herod did an even worse thing by putting John in prison.

At that same time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, "You must get out of here and go somewhere else, because Herod wants to kill you."

Jesus answered them, "Go and tell that fox: 'I am driving out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I shall finish my work.'

When he learned that Jesus was from the region ruled by Herod, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.

So Herod asked Jesus many questions, but Jesus made no answer.

Herod and his soldiers made fun of Jesus and treated him with contempt; then they put a fine robe on him and sent him back to Pilate.

All God's people here send greetings, especially those who belong to the Emperor's palace.

Then Saul---also known as Paul---was filled with the Holy Spirit; he looked straight at the magician

And Saul approved of his murder. That very day the church in Jerusalem began to suffer cruel persecution. All the believers, except the apostles, were scattered throughout the provinces of Judea and Samaria.

But Saul tried to destroy the church; going from house to house, he dragged out the believers, both men and women, and threw them into jail.

In the meantime Saul kept up his violent threats of murder against the followers of the Lord. He went to the High Priest