5 Thus says God, the Lord,
who created the heavens mand stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
nwho gives breath to the people on it
and spirit to those who walk in it:
6 “I am the Lord; oI have called you1 in righteousness;
I will take you by the hand and keep you;
I will give you pas a covenant for the people,
qa light for the nations,
7 rto open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
sfrom the prison those who sit in darkness.
8 I am the Lord; that is my name;
tmy glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to carved idols.
9 Behold, the former things have come to pass,
uand new things I now declare;
before they spring forth
I tell you of them.”
Sing to the Lord a New Song
10 vSing to the Lord a new song,
his praise from the end of the earth,
wyou who go down to the sea, and all that fills it,
lthe coastlands and their inhabitants.
11 Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice,
the villages that xKedar inhabits;
let the habitants of ySela sing for joy,
let them shout from the top of the mountains.
12 Let them give glory to the Lord,
and declare his praise in lthe coastlands.
The Righteous Will Never Be Moved
iBlessed is the man who fears the Lord,
who jgreatly delights in his commandments!
2 His koffspring will be mighty in the land;
lthe generation of the upright will be blessed.
3 mWealth and riches are in his house,
and his nrighteousness endures forever.
4 Light dawns in the darkness ofor the upright;
he is gracious, merciful, and prighteous.
5 It is well with the man who qdeals generously and lends;
who conducts his affairs with justice.
6 For the righteous will rnever be moved;
she will be remembered forever.
7 He is not tafraid of bad news;
his uheart is firm, vtrusting in the Lord.
8 His heart is steady;2 he will not be afraid,
until he looks in triumph on his adversaries.
9 He has wdistributed freely; he has given to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever;
his xhorn is exalted in honor.
10 The wicked man sees it and is angry;
he ygnashes his teeth and zmelts away;
athe desire of the wicked will perish!
The Church in Antioch
19 mNow those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. 20 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists1 also, npreaching the Lord Jesus. 21 And othe hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed pturned to the Lord. 22 The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he came and saw qthe grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord rwith steadfast purpose, 24 for he was a good man, sfull of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people twere added to the Lord. 25 So Barnabas went to uTarsus to look for Saul, 26 and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called vChristians.
27 Now in these days wprophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 And one of them named xAgabus stood up and foretold yby the Spirit that there would be a great zfamine over all the world (this took place in the days of aClaudius). 29 So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, bto send relief to cthe brothers2 living in Judea. 30 dAnd they did so, sending it to ethe elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.
13 And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter;
Peter Reports to the Church
1 Now the apostles and rthe brothers1 who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, sthe circumcision party2 criticized him, saying, 3 t“You went to uncircumcised men and uate with them.”
Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles
7 oAnd he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— 9 but to pwear sandals and not put on two tunics.1 10 And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. 11 And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, qshake off the dust that is on your feet ras a testimony against them.” 12 sSo they went out and tproclaimed uthat people should repent. 13 tAnd they cast out many demons and vanointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.
