As Jesus walked along the shore of Lake Galilee, he saw two brothers who were fishermen, Simon (called Peter) and his brother Andrew, catching fish in the lake with a net.

These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James and his brother John, the sons of Zebedee;

At once he found his brother Simon and told him, "We have found the Messiah." (This word means "Christ.")

Then he took Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "Your name is Simon son of John, but you will be called Cephas." (This is the same as Peter and means "a rock.")

After they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these others do?" "Yes, Lord," he answered, "you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Take care of my lambs."

A third time Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter became sad because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" and so he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you!" Jesus said to him, "Take care of my sheep.

I appeal to you, my friends, as strangers and refugees in this world! Do not give in to bodily passions, which are always at war against the soul.

There were Jews living in Jerusalem, religious people who had come from every country in the world.

In amazement and wonder they exclaimed, "These people who are talking like this are Galileans!

We are from Parthia, Media, and Elam; from Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia; from Pontus and Asia,

both Jews and Gentiles converted to Judaism, and some of us are from Crete and Arabia---yet all of us hear them speaking in our own languages about the great things that God has done!"

At that time you were apart from Christ. You were foreigners and did not belong to God's chosen people. You had no part in the covenants, which were based on God's promises to his people, and you lived in this world without hope and without God.

So then, you Gentiles are not foreigners or strangers any longer; you are now citizens together with God's people and members of the family of God.

It was in faith that all these persons died. They did not receive the things God had promised, but from a long way off they saw them and welcomed them, and admitted openly that they were foreigners and refugees on earth.

I will bring war on you and scatter you in foreign lands. Your land will be deserted, and your cities left in ruins.

The LORD will scatter you among other nations, where only a few of you will survive.

"The LORD will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will serve gods made of wood and stone, gods that neither you nor your ancestors have ever worshiped before.

I would have destroyed them completely, so that no one would remember them.

So Haman told the king, "There is a certain race of people scattered all over your empire and found in every province. They observe customs that are not like those of any other people. Moreover, they do not obey the laws of the empire, so it is not in your best interests to tolerate them.

You allowed us to be slaughtered like sheep; you scattered us in foreign countries.

"I will let some escape the slaughter and be scattered among the nations,

The Jewish authorities said among themselves, "Where is he about to go so that we shall not find him? Will he go to the Greek cities where our people live, and teach the Greeks?

and not only for them, but also to bring together into one body all the scattered people of God.

The believers who were scattered went everywhere, preaching the message.

From James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ: Greetings to all God's people scattered over the whole world.

There were Jews living in Jerusalem, religious people who had come from every country in the world.

We are from Parthia, Media, and Elam; from Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia; from Pontus and Asia,

from Phrygia and Pamphylia, from Egypt and the regions of Libya near Cyrene. Some of us are from Rome,

There he met a Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, for Emperor Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them,

They traveled through the region of Phrygia and Galatia because the Holy Spirit did not let them preach the message in the province of Asia.

After spending some time there, he left and went through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the believers.

All the believers who are here join me in sending greetings to the churches of Galatia:

We are from Parthia, Media, and Elam; from Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia; from Pontus and Asia,

But he was opposed by some men who were members of the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), which had Jews from Cyrene and Alexandria. They and other Jews from the provinces of Cilicia and Asia started arguing with Stephen.

They traveled through the region of Phrygia and Galatia because the Holy Spirit did not let them preach the message in the province of Asia.

This went on for two years, so that all the people who lived in the province of Asia, both Jews and Gentiles, heard the word of the Lord.

Paul had decided to sail on by Ephesus, so as not to lose any time in the province of Asia. He was in a hurry to arrive in Jerusalem by the day of Pentecost, if at all possible.

When they arrived, he said to them, "You know how I spent the whole time I was with you, from the first day I arrived in the province of Asia.

The churches in the province of Asia send you their greetings; Aquila and Priscilla and the church that meets in their house send warm Christian greetings.

We want to remind you, friends, of the trouble we had in the province of Asia. The burdens laid upon us were so great and so heavy that we gave up all hope of staying alive.

You know that everyone in the province of Asia, including Phygelus and Hermogenes, has deserted me.

It said, "Write down what you see, and send the book to the churches in these seven cities: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea."

When they reached the border of Mysia, they tried to go into the province of Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.