Then Jesus told the people another story: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. A person plants that seed in his field.
Acts 1:15 - Easy To Read Version After a few days there was a meeting of the believers. (There were about 120 of them.) Peter stood up and said, Tuilleadh leaganachaKing James Version (Oxford) 1769 And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,) Amplified Bible - Classic Edition Now on one of those days Peter arose among the brethren, the whole number of whom gathered together was about a hundred and twenty. American Standard Version (1901) And in these days Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren, and said (and there was a multitude of persons gathered together, about a hundred and twenty), Common English Bible During this time, the family of believers was a company of about one hundred twenty persons. Peter stood among them and said, Catholic Public Domain Version In those days, Peter, rising up in the midst of the brothers, said (now the crowd of men altogether was about one hundred and twenty): Douay-Rheims version of The Bible - 1752 version In those days Peter rising up in the midst of the brethren, said: (now the number of persons together was about an hundred and twenty:) |
Then Jesus told the people another story: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. A person plants that seed in his field.
I have prayed that you will not lose your faith! Help your brothers be stronger when you come back to me.”
I tell you the truth. The person that believes in me will do the same things I have done. Yes! He will do even greater things than I have done. Why? Because I am going to the Father.
So a story spread among the brothers (followers). They were saying that this follower \{that Jesus loved\} would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die. He only said, “Maybe I want him to live until I come. That should not be important to you.”
The apostles {\cf2\super [218]} and the brothers (other believers) in Judea heard that non-Jewish people had accepted God’s teaching too.
The Spirit {\cf2\super [222]} told me to go with them without doubting. These six brothers (believers) here also went with me. We went to the house of Cornelius.
When he found Saul, Barnabas brought him to Antioch. Saul and Barnabas stayed there a whole year. Every time the group of believers came together, Saul and Barnabas met with them and taught many people. In Antioch the followers \{of Jesus\} were called “Christians” for the first time.
The believers decided that they would all try to help their brothers and sisters who lived in Judea. Each believer planned to send them as much as he could.
Peter made a sign with his hand to tell them to be quiet. He explained to them how the Lord led him out of the jail. He said, “Tell James and the other brothers what happened.” Then Peter left to go to another place.
But some of the Jews did not believe. These Jews excited the non-Jewish people and made them think bad things about the brothers (believers).
Then some men came \{to Antioch\} from Judea. They began teaching the non-Jewish brothers: “You cannot be saved if you are not circumcised. {\cf2\super [296]} Moses taught us to do this.”
The church helped the men leave on the trip. These men went through the countries of Phoenicia and Samaria. In these countries they told all about how the non-Jewish people had turned to the true God. This made all the brothers very happy.
The believers in the cities of Lystra and Iconium respected Timothy. They said good things about him.
But when Paul and Silas came out of the jail, they went to Lydia’s house. They saw some of the believers there and comforted them. Then Paul and Silas left.
That same night the believers sent Paul and Silas to another city named Berea. In Berea, Paul and Silas went to the Jewish synagogue. {\cf2\super [349]}
So the believers sent Paul away quickly to the sea. But Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea.
But they did not find Paul and Silas. So the people dragged Jason and some of the other believers to the leaders of the city. The people yelled, “These men (Paul and Silas) have made trouble everywhere in the world. And now they have come here too!
Paul stayed with the brothers (believers) for many days. Then he left and sailed for Syria. Priscilla and Aquila were also with him. At Cenchrea, Paul cut off his hair. {\cf2\super [368]} \{This showed that\} he had made a promise (vow) to God.
Apollos wanted to go to the country of Achaia. So the brothers \{in Ephesus\} helped him. They wrote a letter to the followers \{of Jesus in Achaia\}. In the letter they asked these followers to accept Apollos. These followers \{in Achaia\} had believed in Jesus because of God’s grace (kindness). When Apollos went there, he helped them very much.
When the leaders heard these things, they praised God. Then they said to Paul, “Brother, you can see that thousands of Jews have become believers. But they think it is very important to obey the law of Moses.
We continued our trip from Tyre and went to the city of Ptolemais. We greeted the brothers (believers) there and stayed with them one day.
The high priest {\cf2\super [437]} and the whole council of older Jewish leaders can tell you that this is true! One time these leaders gave me some letters. The letters were to the Jewish brothers in the city of Damascus. I was going there to arrest the followers of Jesus and bring them back to Jerusalem for punishment.
We found some brothers (believers) there. They asked us to stay with them a week. Finally, we came to Rome.
After that, Christ showed himself to more than 500 of the brothers and sisters at the same time. Most of these people are still living today. But some have died.
At that same time there was a great earthquake. One tenth of the city was destroyed. And 7,000 people were killed in the earthquake. The people that did not die were very afraid. They gave glory to the God of heaven.
But you have a few people \{in your group\} there in Sardis who have kept themselves clean. Those people will walk with me. They will wear white clothes, because they are worthy.