New Testament
Acts
28 chapters
Start reading: Acts 1About this book
Acts is the story of how the good news about Jesus spread from a small group of frightened followers in Jerusalem to the heart of the Roman Empire. It opens with the risen Jesus promising the Holy Spirit and then shows the Spirit arriving at Pentecost, turning the disciples into bold witnesses. The church grows despite arrests, persecution and internal disagreements. Peter takes the message to Jews and then, remarkably, to Gentiles, and a council in Jerusalem recognizes that non-Jews are welcomed by grace. A former persecutor named Saul, later called Paul, becomes the great traveling missionary, planting churches across Asia Minor and Greece. The book ends with Paul under house arrest in Rome, still proclaiming the kingdom of God openly. Acts is the second volume of a two-part work that begins with the Gospel of Luke. It shows a church that depends on prayer, the Spirit and one another, and it invites readers to see themselves as part of the same unfinished story.
- Author
- Traditionally Luke, the physician and companion of Paul, who also wrote the Gospel of Luke.
- Date
- Most likely the early 60s AD, though some scholars place it in the 70s or 80s.
- Audience
- Theophilus, a person of standing, and through him the wider community of early Christians.
Themes
The Holy Spirit's powerWitness to the ends of the earthGood news for Jew and GentilePrayer and community lifeCourage under opposition
Outline
- 1:1–2:47Waiting and Pentecost
- 3:1–8:3The church in Jerusalem
- 8:4–12:25Spreading to Samaria and the Gentiles
- 13:1–15:35The first mission and the Jerusalem council
- 15:36–21:16Paul's later journeys
- 21:17–28:30Arrest, trials and Rome
Key verses
Chapters of Acts
- 1Acts 1Luke, writing to Theophilus, recalls his first book about all Jesus began to do and teach, and picks up after the resurrection.
- 2Acts 2On the day of Pentecost the believers gathered in Jerusalem are filled with the Holy Spirit and begin speaking in languages they had not learned, so pilgrims from many nations hear God's works in their own tongues.
- 3Acts 3Peter and John, going to the temple at the hour of prayer, meet a man lame from birth who begs at the gate.
- 4Acts 4Peter and John are arrested and questioned by the Jerusalem council about the healing.
- 5Acts 5Ananias and Sapphira sell property and secretly keep back part of the money while presenting the rest as the whole; both die when their deception is exposed, and great fear comes over the church.
- 6Acts 6As the church grows, Greek-speaking widows are overlooked in the daily distribution of food.
- 7Acts 7Asked whether the charges are true, Stephen answers with a long survey of Israel's story, from Abraham through Joseph, Moses and the tabernacle to Solomon's temple.
- 8Acts 8Persecution scatters the believers, and Philip carries the good news to Samaria, where many believe and are baptized, and Peter and John come to pray for them to receive the Spirit.
- 9Acts 9Saul, on his way to Damascus to arrest believers, is stopped by a blinding light and the voice of the risen Jesus, who identifies himself with the persecuted church.
- 10Acts 10Cornelius, a devout Roman centurion, is told by an angel to send for Peter.
- 11Acts 11Back in Jerusalem, Peter is questioned for eating with Gentiles and explains step by step what God did, until the critics are silenced and praise God for granting repentance to the nations.
- 12Acts 12King Herod Agrippa persecutes the church, has James the brother of John killed, and arrests Peter, planning a public trial.
- 13Acts 13While the church in Antioch worships and fasts, the Holy Spirit sets apart Barnabas and Saul for a mission, and the first journey begins in Cyprus, where the proconsul believes after the sorcerer Elymas is blinded.
- 14Acts 14In Iconium and Lystra, Paul and Barnabas preach and heal, meeting both belief and hostility.
- 15Acts 15Some teachers insist Gentile believers must be circumcised and keep the law of Moses to be saved.
- 16Acts 16Paul takes Timothy and, guided by the Spirit and a night vision, crosses into Macedonia.
- 17Acts 17In Thessalonica Paul reasons from the Scriptures that the Messiah had to suffer and rise; some believe, but jealous opponents stir up a mob.
- 18Acts 18In Corinth Paul meets Aquila and Priscilla, fellow tentmakers, and works with them while teaching in the synagogue; when opposition grows he turns to the Gentiles, and the Lord tells him in a vision not to be afraid because many in the city are his.
- 19Acts 19In Ephesus Paul meets disciples who know only John's baptism; they are baptized in Jesus' name and receive the Spirit.
- 20Acts 20Paul travels through Macedonia and Greece, and in Troas he speaks late into the night; a young man named Eutychus falls from a window and is restored to life.
- 21Acts 21Despite warnings through the Spirit and from friends about the suffering waiting in Jerusalem, Paul is determined to go, and the believers finally say, may the Lord's will be done.
- 22Acts 22Standing on the steps of the barracks, Paul speaks to the crowd in Hebrew and tells his own story: his strict training as a Pharisee, his persecution of the church, and his encounter with Jesus on the Damascus road, and how Ananias restored his sight and called him to be a witness.
- 23Acts 23Before the Jewish council Paul claims a clear conscience, is struck, and shrewdly points to the resurrection, which splits Pharisees from Sadducees and ends the hearing in uproar.
- 24Acts 24Five days later the high priest and a lawyer named Tertullus accuse Paul before Governor Felix of stirring up trouble.
- 25Acts 25Two years later Festus succeeds Felix, and the Jewish leaders press for Paul to be brought to Jerusalem, secretly planning an ambush.
- 26Acts 26Before King Agrippa, Paul gives his defense as a testimony: he lived as a strict Pharisee, opposed Jesus, then met the risen Lord and was commissioned to open eyes, turn people from darkness to light, and bring forgiveness.
- 27Acts 27Paul sails toward Rome as a prisoner under a centurion named Julius.
- 28Acts 28Shipwrecked on Malta, Paul is welcomed by the islanders and survives a viper bite, and he heals the father of the island's leading man and others.