Ch 13-15 minor edits/corrections

45-ACT.usfm

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-\v 1 Among the group of believers in Antioch in the province of Syria there were prophets and those who taught people about Jesus. They were Barnabas; Simeon, who was also called Niger; Lucius, who from Cyrene; Manaen, who had grown up with King Herod Antipas; and Saul.
+\v 1 Among the group of believers in Antioch in the province of Syria there were prophets and those who taught people about Jesus. They were Barnabas; Simeon, who was also called Niger; Lucius, who was from Cyrene; Manaen, who had grown up with King Herod Antipas; and Saul.
 \v 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said to them, "Choose Barnabas and Saul to serve me and to go and do the work that I have chosen them to do!"
 \v 3 So they continued to fast and pray. Then they put their hands on Barnabas and Saul and prayed that God would help them. Then they sent them off to do what the Holy Spirit had commanded.
 
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-\v 4 The Holy Spirit gave Barnabas and Saul instructions about where to go. So they went down from Antioch to the city of Seleucia by the sea. From there they went by ship to the city of Salamis on the Island of Cyprus.
+\v 4 The Holy Spirit gave Barnabas and Saul instructions about where to go. So they went down from Antioch to the city of Seleucia by the sea. From there they went by ship to the city of Salamis on the island of Cyprus.
 \v 5 While they were in Salamis, they went to the Jewish meeting places. There they proclaimed the message from God about Jesus. John Mark went with them and was helping them.
 
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-\v 13 After that, Paul and the men with him went by ship from Paphos to the city of Perga in the province of Pamphylia. At Perga John Mark left them and returned to his home in Jerusalem.
+\v 13 After that, Paul and the men with him went by ship from Paphos to the city of Perga in the province of Pamphylia. At Perga, John Mark left them and returned to his home in Jerusalem.
 \v 14 Then Paul and Barnabas traveled by land from Perga and arrived in the city of Antioch in the district of Pisidia in the province of Galatia. On the Sabbath they entered the synagogue and sat down.
 \v 15 Someone read aloud from what Moses had written in the books of the law. Next someone read from what the prophets had written. Then the leaders of the Jewish meeting place sent a message to Paul and Barnabas: "Fellow Jews, if one of you wants to speak to the people here to encourage them, please speak to us now."
 
@@ -998,18 +998,18 @@
 
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 \p "After that, God chose people to serve as judges and as leaders to rule the people of Israel. Those leaders continued to rule our people, and the prophet Samuel was the last judge to rule them.
-\v 21 Then, while Samuel was still their leader, the people demanded that he choose a king to rule them. So God chose Saul, the son of Kish, from the tribe of Benjamin, to be their king. He ruled them for forty years.
-\v 22 After God had rejected Saul from being king, he chose David to be their king. God said about him, 'I have seen that David, son of Jesse, is exactly the kind of man who desires what I desire. He will do everything that I want him to do.'
+\v 21 Then, while Samuel was still their leader, the people demanded that he choose a king to rule them. So God chose Saul son of Kish, from the tribe of Benjamin, to be their king. He ruled them for forty years.
+\v 22 After God had rejected Saul from being king, he chose David to be their king. God said about him, 'I have seen that David son of Jesse is exactly the kind of man who desires what I desire. He will do everything that I want him to do.'
 
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-\v 23 From among David's descendants, God brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, just as he had promised. 
+\v 23 "From among David's descendants, God brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, just as he had promised. 
 \v 24 Before Jesus began his work, John the Baptizer preached to all the people of Israel who came to him. He told them that they should turn away from their sinful behavior and ask God to forgive them. Then he would baptize them.
 \v 25 When John was about to finish the work that God gave him to do, he was saying, 'Do you think that I am the Christ? No, I am not. But listen! The Christ will soon come. He is coming after me, and I am not good enough to untie the sandals on his feet.'
 
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-\v 26 "Dear brothers, and all you who are descendants of Abraham, and you Gentiles who also worship God, please listen! It is to all of us that God has sent the message about how he saves people.
+\v 26 "Dear brothers, all you who are descendants of Abraham, and you Gentiles who also worship God, please listen! It is to all of us that God has sent the message about how he saves people.
 \v 27 The people living in Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus. They did not understand the messages of their own prophets even though the prophets were read aloud to them every Sabbath, and then what the prophets predicted long ago was made true when they condemned Jesus to death.
 
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 \v 38 "Therefore, my brothers, it is important for you to know that because of what Jesus has done, we can now proclaim the forgiveness of sins to you.
-\v 39 All people who believe in Jesus are no longer guilty of any of the things that they have done that displeased God. Those very sins that could not be forgiven through the law of Moses, are now forgiven in Jesus Christ.
+\v 39 All people who believe in Jesus are no longer guilty of any of the things that they have done that displeased God. Those very sins that could not be forgiven through the law of Moses are now forgiven in Jesus Christ.
 
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 \v 40 Be careful, so that the very things the prophets said would happen do not happen to you. God spoke through one of them, and he said:
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 \v 50 However, some leaders of the Jews talked to some important women who worshiped with them, as well as the most important men in the city. They persuaded them to try to stop Paul and Barnabas. So those men led many people against Paul and Barnabas, and they drove them out of their region.
 \v 51 As the two apostles were leaving, they shook the dust from their feet to show those leaders that God had rejected them and would punish them. Then they left the city of Antioch and went to the city of Iconium.
-\v 52 Meanwhile the believers continued to be filled with joy and with the power of the Holy Spirit.
+\v 52 Meanwhile, the believers continued to be filled with joy and with the power of the Holy Spirit.
 
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 \v 11 When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they thought that Paul and Barnabas were the gods that they worshiped. So they shouted excitedly in their own Lycaonian language, "Look! The gods have made themselves to look like people and have come down from the sky to help us!"
 \v 12 They began to say that Barnabas was probably the chief god, whose name was Zeus. And they began to say that Paul was Hermes, the messenger for the other gods. They thought that because Paul was the one who had been speaking.
-\v 13 Just outside the gates of the city there was a temple where the people worshiped Zeus. The priest who was there heard what Paul and Barnabas had done, so he came to the city gate, where many people had already gathered. He brought two bulls with wreaths of flowers around their necks. The priest and the crowd of people wanted to kill the bulls as part of a ceremony to worship Paul and Barnabas.
+\v 13 Just outside the gates of the city, there was a temple where the people worshiped Zeus. The priest who was there heard what Paul and Barnabas had done, so he came to the city gate, where many people had already gathered. He brought two bulls with wreaths of flowers around their necks. The priest and the crowd of people wanted to kill the bulls as part of a ceremony to worship Paul and Barnabas.
 
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-\v 14 But when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard about that, they were very upset, so they tore their own clothes. They rushed among the people, shouting,
+\v 14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard about that, they were very upset, so they tore their own clothes. They rushed among the people, shouting,
 \v 15 "Men, you must not kill those bulls to worship us! We are not gods! We are just human beings with the same feelings as you! We have come to tell you some good news! We have come to tell you about the God who is all-powerful. He wants you to stop worshiping other gods, because they cannot help you. This true God made the heavens, the earth, the oceans, and everything in them.
 \v 16 In the past, all of you people worshiped whatever gods that you wanted to. God let them live as they wanted to live. 
 
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-\v 17 But he has shown us that he acts kindly toward us. He is the one who causes it to rain and causes crops to grow. He is the one who gives you plenty of food, and fills your hearts with joy."
+\v 17 But he has shown us that he acts kindly toward us. He is the one who causes it to rain and causes crops to grow. He is the one who gives you plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy."
 \v 18 The people heard what Paul said, but they still thought that they should sacrifice those bulls to worship Paul and Barnabas. But finally, the people decided not to do it.
 
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 \v 19 However, some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and persuaded many of the people of Lystra that the message Paul had been telling them was not true. The people who believed what those Jews said became angry with Paul. They let the Jews throw stones at him until he fell down, unconscious. They all thought that he was dead, so they dragged him outside the city and left him lying there.
-\v 20 But some of the believers in Lystra came and stood around Paul, where he was lying on the ground. And Paul became conscious! He stood up and went back into the city with the believers.
+\v 20 But some of the believers in Lystra came and stood around Paul where he was lying on the ground. And Paul became conscious! He stood up and went back into the city with the believers.
 
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 \p The next day, Paul and Barnabas left the city of Lystra and traveled to the city of Derbe.
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 \v 5 But some of the believers who belonged to the Pharisee sect stood up among the other believers and said to them, "The Gentiles who have believed in Jesus must be circumcised, and they must be told to obey the laws that God gave to Moses."
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-\v 6 Then the apostles and the elders met together in order to talk about this matter.
+\v 6 Then the apostles and the elders met together to talk about this matter.
 
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 \v 7 After they had discussed it for a long time, Peter stood up and spoke to them. He said, "Fellow believers, you all know that a long time ago God chose me from among you other apostles, in order that I might also tell the Gentiles that God had chosen many of them, and that the Gentiles would receive the message of the Gospel and believe.
-\v 8 God knows the hearts of all people. He showed me and others that he had accepted the Gentiles to be his people by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just like he had also done for us.
+\v 8 God knows the hearts of all people. He showed me and others that he had accepted the Gentiles to be his people by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he had also done for us.
 \v 9 God made no distinction between us and them, because he made them clean inside simply as a result of their believing in the Lord Jesus. That is exactly how he has forgiven us.
 
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-\v 10 Why do you want to force the disciples and force them to obey our Jewish rituals and laws? Doing that is like putting a heavy burden on them, because it forces them to obey laws that even our ancestors broke and that we have never been able to keep!
-\v 11 We know that God saves us from our sins because of what the Lord Jesus did for us. God saves the us exactly like he saves them."
+\v 10 Why do you want to force the disciples to obey our Jewish rituals and laws? Doing that is like putting a heavy burden on them, because it forces them to obey laws that even our ancestors broke and that we have never been able to keep!
+\v 11 We know that God saves us from our sins because of what the Lord Jesus did for us. God saves us exactly like he saves them."
 
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 \v 13 When Barnabas and Paul had finished speaking, James, the leader of the group of believers in Jerusalem, spoke to them. He said, "Fellow believers, listen to me.
-\v 14 Simon Peter has told you how God had show his care for the Gentiles. God did that by choosing from among the Gentiles those who would belong to himself.
+\v 14 Simon Peter has told you how God had shown his care for the Gentiles. God did that by choosing from among the Gentiles those who would belong to himself.
 
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 \v 15 The words that God spoke long ago, words that were written by one of the prophets, agree with that:
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 \v 16 'Later on I will return and I will choose a king from the descendants of David. It will be like someone who builds a house again after it has been torn down.
-\v 17 I will do this in order that all other people may come to the Lord. This will include even the Gentiles whom I have called to belong to me. You can be certain that this will happen because I, the Lord, have spoken these words.
+\v 17 I will do this so that all other people may come to the Lord. This will include even the Gentiles whom I have called to belong to me. You can be certain that this will happen because I, the Lord, have spoken these words.
 \v 18 I have done these things, and I have made my people know about them since long ago.'"
 
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 \v 19 James continued to speak. He said, "Therefore I think that we should stop bothering the Gentiles who are turning away from their sins and are turning to God. 
 \v 20 Instead, we should write a letter to them, requiring only four things: They should not eat meat that people have offered to idols, they should not sleep with someone to whom they are not married, they should not eat meat from animals that have been killed by being strangled, and they should not eat the blood of animals.
-\v 21 In many cities, for a very long time people have been proclaiming the laws that Moses wrote, laws prohibiting those things. And every Sabbath those laws are read in the Jewish meeting places. So if the Gentiles want to know more about those laws, they can find out in our meeting houses."
+\v 21 In many cities, for a very long time, people have been proclaiming the laws that Moses wrote, laws prohibiting those things. And every Sabbath those laws are read in the Jewish meeting places. So if the Gentiles want to know more about those laws, they can find out in our meeting houses."
 
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 \v 27 We have also sent Judas and Silas to you. They will tell you the same things that we are writing.
-\v 28 It seemed right to the Holy Spirit and to us that you should not be required to obey a lot of burdensome Jewish laws. Instead, we only require you to obey the following instructions,
+\v 28 It seemed right to the Holy Spirit and to us that you should not be required to obey a lot of burdensome Jewish laws. Instead, we only require you to obey the following instructions:
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 \v 29 You should not eat food that people have sacrificed to idols.
 \q1 You should not eat blood from animals, and you should not eat meat from animals that people have killed by strangling them.
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 \v 30 The four men they selected went down from Jerusalem and came to Antioch. When all the believers there had assembled together, they gave the letter to them.
 \v 31 When the believers there read the letter, they rejoiced, because its message encouraged them.
-\v 32 Being prophets, Judas and Silas spoke a lot and encouraged the believers there, and helped them to trust more strongly in the Lord Jesus.
+\v 32 Being prophets, Judas and Silas spoke a lot and encouraged the believers there and helped them to trust more strongly in the Lord Jesus.
 
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 \v 36 After some time Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us go back and visit the fellow believers in every city where we previously proclaimed the message about the Lord Jesus. In that way, we will know how well they are continuing to believe in the Lord Jesus."
-\v 37 Barnabas agreed with Paul, and said that he wanted to take John, whose other name was Mark, along with them again.
-\v 38 However, Paul told Barnabas that he thought that it would not be good to take Mark with them, because Mark had left them when they were previously in the region of Pamphylia, and had not continued to work with them.
+\v 37 Barnabas agreed with Paul and said that he wanted to take John, whose other name was Mark, along with them again.
+\v 38 However, Paul told Barnabas that he thought that it would not be good to take Mark with them, because Mark had left them when they were previously in the region of Pamphylia and had not continued to work with them.
 
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-\v 39 Paul and Barnabas strongly disagreed with each other about this matter, so they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark along with him. They got on a ship and went to the Island of Cyprus.
+\v 39 Paul and Barnabas strongly disagreed with each other about this matter, so they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark along with him. They got on a ship and went to the island of Cyprus.
 \v 40 Paul chose Silas, who had returned to Antioch, to work with him. The believers there prayed to the Lord to ask him to graciously help Paul and Silas. Then the two of them departed from Antioch.
-\v 41 Paul continued traveling with Silas through Syria and Cilicia provinces. In those places they were helping the groups of believers to trust strongly in the Lord Jesus.
+\v 41 Paul continued traveling with Silas through Syria and Cilicia provinces. In those places they were helping the groups of believers to strongly trust in the Lord Jesus.
 
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