Changes from Forest Deal to Acts quotation and some edits.

45-ACT.usfm

@@ -844,7 +844,7 @@
 \v 35 Instead, from every people group he accepts everyone who honors him and who does what pleases him.
 
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-\v 36 You know the message that God sent to us Israelites. He proclaimed to us the good news that he would cause people to have peace with him because of what Jesus Christ has done. This Jesus is not Lord only over us Israelites. He is also the Lord who rules over all people.
+\v 36 You know the message that God sent to us Israelites. He proclaimed to us the good news that he would cause people to have peace with him because of what Jesus Christ has done. This Jesus is Lord not only over us Israelites. He is also the Lord who rules over all people.
 \v 37 You know what he did throughout the land of Judea, beginning in Galilee. He began to do those things after John had been proclaiming to people that they should turn away from their sinful behavior before he baptized them.
 \v 38 You know that God gave his Holy Spirit to Jesus, the man from the town of Nazareth, and gave him the power to do miracles. You also know how Jesus went to many places, always doing good deeds and healing people. He was healing all the people whom the devil was causing to suffer. Jesus was able to do those things because God was always helping him."
 
@@ -902,19 +902,15 @@
 
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 \v 17 God gave those non-Jews the same Holy Spirit that he had given to us after we had believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. So I could not possibly tell God that he did wrong when he gave them the Holy Spirit!"
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-
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 \v 18 After those Jewish believers heard what Peter said, they stopped criticizing him. Instead, they praised God, saying, "Then it is clear to us that God has also accepted the non-Jews so that they will have eternal life, if they turn from their sinful behavior."
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 \v 19 After Stephen died, many of the believers left Jerusalem and went to other places because they were suffering there in Jerusalem. Some of them went to Phoenicia, some went to the Island of Cyprus, and others went to Antioch, a city in Syria. In those places they were continually telling people the message about Jesus, but they told only other Jewish people.
 \v 20 Some of the believers were men from the Island of Cyprus and Cyrene city in north Africa. They went to Antioch and were also telling non-Jewish people about the Lord Jesus.
 \v 21 The Lord God was powerfully enabling those believers to preach effectively. As a result, very many non-Jewish people believed their message and trusted in the Lord.
 
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 \v 22 The group of believers in Jerusalem heard people say that many people in Antioch were believing in Jesus. So the leaders of the believers in Jerusalem sent Barnabas to Antioch.
@@ -961,7 +957,7 @@
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 \v 11 Then Peter finally realized that what had happened to him was not a vision, but that it had really happened. So he thought, "Now I really know that the Lord God sent an angel to help me. He rescued me from what Herod planned to do to me and also from all the things that the Jewish leaders expected would happen."
 \p
-\v 12 When Peter realized that God had rescued him, he went to Mary's house. She was the mother of John whose other name was Mark. Many believers had assembled there, and they were praying that God would help Peter somehow.
+\v 12 When Peter realized that God had rescued him, he went to Mary's house. She was the mother of John (her son was also called Mark). Many believers had assembled there, and they were praying that God would help Peter somehow.
 
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 \v 13 When Peter knocked at the outer entrance, a servant girl named Rhoda came to find out who was outside the door.
@@ -983,7 +979,7 @@
 \v 21 On the day that Herod had planned to meet with them, he put on very expensive clothes that showed that he was king. Then he sat on his throne and formally addressed all the people who had gathered there.
 
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-\v 22 Those who were listening to him shouted repeatedly, "This man who is speaking is a god, not a man!"
+\v 22 Those who were listening to him shouted repeatedly, "The one who is speaking is a god, and not a man!"
 \v 23 So, because Herod let the people praise him instead of praising God, immediately an angel from the Lord God caused Herod to become seriously ill. Many worms ate his intestines, and soon he died very painfully.
 
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@@ -1037,13 +1033,13 @@
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 \p "After that, God chose people to serve as judges and as leaders to rule the Israelite people. 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 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 one of them, Jesus, to us Israelite people to save us, just as he had promised David and our other ancestors that he would do.
+\v 23 From among David's descendants, God brought one of them, Jesus, to us Israelite people to save us, just as he had promised David and our other ancestors that he would do.
 \v 24 Before Jesus began his work, John the Baptizer preached to all of our Israelite people 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.'"
+\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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@@ -1056,11 +1052,10 @@
 
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 \v 30 However, God raised him from the dead.
-\v 31 For many days he repeatedly appeared to his followers who had come along with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. Those who saw him are telling the people about him now."
+\v 31 For many days he repeatedly appeared to his followers who had come along with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. Those who saw him are telling the people about him now.
 
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-\p
-\v 32 "Right now we are proclaiming to you this good message. We want to tell you that God has fulfilled what he promised to our Jewish ancestors!
+\v 32 Right now we are proclaiming to you this good message. We want to tell you that God has fulfilled what he promised to our Jewish ancestors!
 \v 33 Now he has done this for us who are their descendants, and also for you who are not Jews, by making Jesus alive again. That is just like what David wrote in the second Psalm, when God was speaking about sending his Son,
 \q 'You are my Son,
 \q today I have become your Father.'
@@ -1070,7 +1065,7 @@
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 \v 35 In another Psalm of David, he also says about the Christ: 'You will never let the body of your Holy One decay in the grave.'
 \v 36 While David was living, he did what God wanted him to do. And when he died, his body was buried, as his ancestors' bodies had been buried, and David's body decayed. So he could not have been speaking about himself in this Psalm.
-\v 37 But Jesus was the one God raised from the dead, and his body did not decay."
+\v 37 But Jesus was the one God raised from the dead, and his body did not decay.
 
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@@ -1083,8 +1078,8 @@
 
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-\v 42 After Paul finished speaking and were going away, many of the people there asked them to return on the next Sabbath and say these things to them again.
-\v 43 When the meeting was over, many of them began to follow Paul and Barnabas. These people were both Jews and non-Jews who worshiped God. Paul and Barnabas continued talking to them, and were urging them to continue to trust that God kindly forgives people's sins because of what Jesus did.
+\v 42 As Paul and Barnabas started to leave that place, many of the people there asked them to return on the next Sabbath and say these things to them again.
+\v 43 When the meeting was over, many of them began to follow Paul and Barnabas. The  people in this crowd had both Jews and non-Jews who both worshiped God. Paul and Barnabas continued talking to them, and were urging them to continue to trust that God kindly forgives people's sins because of what Jesus did.
 
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@@ -1196,7 +1191,7 @@
 \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 non-Jewish believers 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 Jews today have ever been able to keep! So then, stop making God angry by doing that!
+\v 10 Why do you want to force the non-Jewish believers 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 Jews today have never been able to keep! So then, stop making God angry by doing that!
 \v 11 We know that God saves us Jews from our sins because of what the Lord Jesus did for us. God saves us Jews exactly like he saves those non-Jews who believe in the Lord Jesus."
 
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@@ -1211,9 +1206,9 @@
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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:
 \q
-\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 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 might try to know me, the Lord God. This will include even the non-Israelites whom I have called to belong to me. You can be certain that this will happen because I the Lord God have spoken these words.
-\v 18 I have done these things, and I have made my people know about them since long ago."
+\v 18 I have done these things, and I have made my people know about them since long ago.'"
 
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@@ -1303,6 +1298,7 @@
 \p
 \v 16 Another day, while we were going to the place where people gathered to pray, we met a young woman who was a slave. An evil spirit was giving her power to tell the future about people. People paid money to the men who were her owners, in return for her telling them what would happen to them.
 \v 17 This young woman followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men serve the God who is the greatest of all gods! They are telling you how God can save you."
+\p
 \v 18 She continued to do this for many days. Finally, Paul became angry, so he turned toward the young woman and spoke to the evil spirit that was in her. He said, "In the name of Jesus Christ, come out of her!" Right away the evil spirit left her.
 
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@@ -1321,7 +1317,7 @@
 \v 26 Suddenly there was a very strong earthquake that shook the jail. The earthquake caused all of the doors of the jail to open and all of the chains that fastened the prisoners to fall off.
 
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-\v 27 The jailer woke up and saw that the doors of the jail were open by the earthquake. He thought that the prisoners had left the jail, so he pulled out his sword to kill himself, because he knew that the city rulers would kill him if the prisoners became free.
+\v 27 The jailer woke up and saw that the doors of the jail had been shaken by the earthquake and now they were open. He thought that the prisoners had left the jail, so he pulled out his sword to kill himself, because he knew that the city rulers would kill him if the prisoners became free.
 \v 28 Paul saw the jailer and shouted to him, "Do not kill yourself! We prisoners are all here!"
 
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@@ -1416,12 +1412,12 @@
 
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-\v 24 He is the God who made the world and everything in it. He rules over all beings in heaven and on earth, and he does not live in temples that people have built.
-\v 25 He does not need to have anything made for him by people because he makes people live and breath, and he gives them everything they need.
+\v 24 "He is the God who made the world and everything in it. He rules over all beings in heaven and on earth, and he does not live in temples that people have built.
+\v 25 He does not need to have anything made for him by people because he makes people live and breathe, and he gives them everything they need.
 
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-\v 26 In the beginning, God created one couple, and from them God produced all the people groups that now live everywhere on the earth. He put each people group in its place for its time.
+\v 26 "In the beginning, God created one couple, and from them God produced all the people groups that now live everywhere on the earth. He put each people group in its place for its time.
 \v 27 He wanted people to realize that they need him. Then maybe they would look for him and find him. God wants us to look for him, although he is very close to each one of us.
 
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@@ -1431,13 +1427,13 @@
 
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 \v 30 During the times when people did not know what God wanted them to do, he did not punish them for what they did. But now God commands all people everywhere to turn away from their evil deeds.
-\v 31 He tells us that on a certain day that he has chosen he is going to judge all of us justly by the man he has chosen, making sure we understand this by raising this man from the dead ."
+\v 31 He tells us that on a certain day that he has chosen he is going to judge all of us justly by the man he has chosen, making sure we understand this by raising this man from the dead."
 
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 \p
 \v 32 When the men heard Paul say that a man had become alive again after he had died, some of them laughed at him. But others asked him to come back and tell them about it another day.
 \v 33 After they said that, Paul walked away.
-\v 34 However, some of the people went with Paul and believed the message about Jesus. Among those who believed in Jesus was a man named Dionysius who was a member of the council. Also, there were a woman named Damaris and some other people with them who believed.
+\v 34 However, some of the people went with Paul and believed the message about Jesus. Among those who believed in Jesus was a man named Dionysius, who was a member of the council. Also, there were a woman named Damaris and some other people with them who believed.
 
 
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@@ -1605,7 +1601,7 @@
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 \v 4 The men who were going to travel with him to Jerusalem were Sopater, the son of Pyrrhus, from the town of Berea; Aristarchus and Secundus, who were from the city of Thessalonica; Gaius, who was from the city of Derbe; Timothy, who was from the region of Galatia; and Tychicus and Trophimus, who were from the province of Asia.
 \v 5 Those seven men went ahead by ship from Macedonia, so they got to the city of Troas before we arrived.
-\v 6 But we traveled by land as far as the city of Philippi. After the Jewish Festival of Bread made without Yeast, we got on a ship that was going to the city of Troas. After five days we arrived at Troas and met the other men who had traveled ahead of us. Then we all stayed in Troas for seven days.
+\v 6 But we traveled by land as far as the city of Philippi. After the Jewish Festival of Bread that was Made without Yeast, we got on a ship that was going to the city of Troas. After five days we arrived at Troas and met the other men who had traveled ahead of us. Then we all stayed in Troas for seven days.
 
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@@ -1617,8 +1613,8 @@
 \v 10 Paul also went down. He lay down and stretched out on top of the young man and put his arms around him. Then he said to the people who were standing around, "Do not worry; he is alive again!"
 
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-\v 11 Paul went upstairs again and he prepared a meal and he ate it. Afterwards he talked with the believers until the sun came up. Then he left.
-\v 12 The other people took the young man home, and were greatly comforted because he was alive again.
+\v 11 Paul went upstairs again and shared a meal with some of them. Afterwards he talked with the believers until the sun came up. Then he left.
+\v 12 The other people took the young man home and were greatly comforted because he was alive again.
 
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@@ -1636,7 +1632,7 @@
 \v 18 When the elders came to him, Paul said to them, "From the first day when I arrived here in the province of Asia until the day I left, you know how I acted among you the entire time that I was with you.
 \v 19 You know how I kept serving the Lord Jesus very humbly and how I sometimes wept. You also know how I suffered because the Jews who were not believers often tried to harm me.
 \v 20 You also know that, when I preached God's message to you, I never left out anything that would help you. You know that I taught you God's message when many people were present, and I also went to your homes and taught you there.
-\v 21 I preached both to Jews and to non-Jews, telling them all that they must turn away from their sinful behavior and believe in our Lord Jesus."
+\v 21 I preached both to Jews and to non-Jews, telling them all that they must turn away from their sinful behavior and believe in our Lord Jesus.
 
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@@ -1650,12 +1646,12 @@
 \v 27 because I told you everything that God has planned for us.
 
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-\v 28 You leaders must continue to believe and obey God's message. You must also help all the other believers for whom the Holy Spirit has given you to care for. Watch over yourselves and the group of the Lord's believers as a shepherd watches over his sheep. God bought them with the blood that flowed from his Son's body on the cross.
+\v 28 You leaders must continue to believe and obey God's message. You must also help all the other believers whom the Holy Spirit has given you to care for. Watch over yourselves and the group of the Lord's believers as a shepherd watches over his sheep. God bought them with the blood that flowed from his Son's body on the cross.
 \v 29 I know very well that after I leave, people who teach lies will come among you and will do great harm to the believers. They will be like fierce wolves that kill the sheep.
 \v 30 Even in your own group of leaders there will be some who will lie to other believers by teaching them the wrong things. They will teach those messages so that some people will believe them and will become their followers.
 
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-\v 31 So watch out that none of you stops believing the true message about our Lord Jesus! Remember that day and night for three years I taught you that message and warned you with tears to be faithful to the Lord."
+\v 31 So watch out that none of you stops believing the true message about our Lord Jesus! Remember that day and night for three years I taught you that message and warned you with tears to be faithful to the Lord.
 \p
 \v 32 "Now as I leave you I ask God to protect you and to keep you believing the message that he saves us by doing for us what we do not deserve. If you continue believing the message that I told you, you will become strong, and God will give you forever the good things that he has promised to give to all of those who belong to him.
 
@@ -1699,8 +1695,11 @@
 \v 11 Coming over to where we were, he took off Paul's belt. Then he tied his own feet and hands with it and said, "The Holy Spirit says, 'The Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will tie up the hands and feet of the owner of this belt, like this, and they will put him in the hands of non-Jewish people as a prisoner.'"
 
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-\v 12 When the rest of us heard that, we and the other believers there asked Paul, "Please do not go up to Jerusalem!"
+\p
+\v 12 When the rest of us heard that, we and the other believers there begged Paul, "Please do not go up to Jerusalem!"
+\p
 \v 13 But Paul replied, "Please stop crying and trying to discourage me from going! Why are you crying and trying to discourage me from going? I am willing to go to prison and also to die in Jerusalem because I serve the Lord Jesus."
+\p
 \v 14 When we realized that he would go to Jerusalem, we did not try any longer to stop him. We said, "May the Lord's will be done!"
 
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@@ -1766,13 +1765,13 @@
 \v 2 When the crowd of people heard Paul speaking to them in their own Hebrew language, they became quiet and listened. Then Paul said to them,
 
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-\v 3 "I am a Jew, as are all of you. I was born in the city of Tarsus , in the province of Cilicia, but I grew up here in Jerusalem. When I was young, I learned the laws that Moses gave to our ancestors. Gamaliel was my teacher. I obeyed those laws because I have wanted to obey God, and I am sure that all of you also obey those laws.
+\v 3 "I am a Jew, as are all of you. I was born in the city of Tarsus, in the province of Cilicia, but I grew up here in Jerusalem. When I was young, I learned the laws that Moses gave to our ancestors. Gamaliel was my teacher. I obeyed those laws because I have wanted to obey God, and I am sure that all of you also obey those laws.
 \v 4 That is why I tried to arrest those who believed the message of God about Jesus. I looked for ways to kill them. Whenever I found men or women who believed the message, I had them thrown into jail.
 \v 5 The high priest knows this, and so do the other men who belong to our Jewish council. They gave me letters to take to their fellow Jews in the city of Damascus. Those letters gave me power to go there and arrest people who believed in Jesus. I was then to take them as prisoners to Jerusalem, so that they would be punished here.
 
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-\v 6 So I went to Damascus. About noon, as I got near to Damascus, suddenly a bright light from the sky flashed all around me.
+\v 6 "So I went to Damascus. About noon, as I got near to Damascus, suddenly a bright light from the sky flashed all around me.
 \v 7 The light was so bright that I fell to the ground. Then I heard the voice of someone speaking to me from up in the sky, saying, 'Saul! Saul! Why do you do things to hurt me?'
 \p
 \v 8 I answered, 'Who are you, Lord?' 
@@ -1790,9 +1789,9 @@
 \v 13 He came and stood beside me and said to me, 'My friend Saul, see again!' Instantly I could see and I saw him standing beside me.
 
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-\v 14 Then he said: 'The God of our ancestors worshiped has chosen you and will show you what he wants you to do. He has shown you the Righteous One, and you have heard him speak to you himself .
+\v 14 Then he said: 'The God of our ancestors worshiped has chosen you and will show you what he wants you to do. He has shown you the Righteous One, and you have heard him speak to you himself.
 \v 15 He wants you to tell people everywhere what you have seen and heard.
-\v 16 So now do not delay! Stand up, let me baptize you, and pray to the Lord Jesus and ask God to forgive you for your sins!'"
+\v 16 So now do not delay! Stand up, let me baptize you, and pray to the Lord Jesus and ask God to forgive you for your sins!'
 
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@@ -1802,21 +1801,23 @@
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 \v 19 But I said to him, 'Lord, they know that I went to many of our synagogues looking for people who believe in you. I was putting in jail those whom I found who believed in you, and I was even beating them.
 \v 20 They remember that when Stephen was killed because he told people about you, I stood there watching and approving of what they were doing. I even guarded the outer clothes that those who were murdering him had thrown aside!'
-\v 21 But the Lord said to me, 'No, do not stay here! Leave Jerusalem, because I am going to send you far away from here to other people groups, the non-Jews!'"
+\v 21 But the Lord said to me, 'No, do not stay here! Leave Jerusalem, because I am going to send you far away from here to other people groups, the non-Jews!'
 
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-
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 \v 22 The people listened to what Paul was saying until he talked about the Lord sending him to other people groups. Then they began shouting, "Kill him! He does not deserve to live any longer!"
+\p
 \v 23 While they were shouting, they took off their outer garments and threw dust into the air, which showed how angry they were.
 \v 24 So the leader commanded that Paul be taken into the prison. He told the soldiers that they should whip Paul in order to make him tell what he had done that made the Jews so angry.
 
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+\p
 \v 25 Then they stretched his arms out and tied them so that they could whip him on his back. But Paul said to the soldier near him, "You will be acting unlawfully if you whip me, a Roman citizen whom no one has put on trial and condemned!"
 \p
 \v 26 When the officer heard that, he went to the commander and reported it to him. He said to the commander, "This man is a Roman citizen! Surely you would not command us to whip him!"
 
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+\p
 \v 27 The commander was surprised when he heard that. He himself went into the prison and said to Paul, "Tell me, are you really a Roman citizen?" 
 \p Paul answered, "Yes, I am."
 \p
@@ -1842,8 +1843,6 @@
 \v 5 Paul replied, "My fellow Jews, I am sorry that I said that. I did not know that the man who told one of you to hit me is the high priest. If I had known that, I would not have talked badly about our high priest, because I know that it is written in our Jewish law, 'Do not speak evil of any of your rulers!'"
 
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 \v 6 Paul knew that some of the council members were Sadducees and others were Pharisees. So he called out in the council hall, "My fellow Jews, I am a Pharisee, and all in my family were Pharisees, as well. I have been put on trial here because I am sure that one day God will cause those who have died to become alive again."
 \v 7 When he said that, the Pharisees and Sadducees started to argue with one another about whether or not people who have died will become alive again, and each of them were arguing with the other.
@@ -1855,13 +1854,10 @@
 \v 10 Then the Pharisees and Sadducees became violent with one another. So the commander was afraid that they would tear Paul to pieces. He told soldiers to go down from the prison and take Paul away from the council members and bring him up into the barracks.
 
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 \v 11 That night, Paul saw the Lord Jesus come and stand near him. The Lord said to him, "Have courage! You have told people here in Jerusalem about me, and you must tell people in Rome about me too."
 
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 \v 12 The next morning some of the Jews who hated Paul met and talked about how to kill him. They told themselves that they would not eat or drink anything until he was dead. They asked God to curse them if they did not do what they promised.
 \v 13 There were more than forty men who wanted to kill Paul.
@@ -1871,8 +1867,6 @@
 \v 15 So we request that you go to the commander and ask him, on behalf of the whole Jewish council, to bring Paul down to us. Tell the commander that you want to talk to Paul some more. We will be waiting to kill Paul while he is on the way here."
 
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 \v 16 But the son of Paul's sister heard what they were planning to do, so he went into the fortress and told Paul.
 \v 17 When Paul heard that, he called one of the officers and said to him, "Please take this young man to the commander, because he needs to tell him something."
@@ -1887,8 +1881,6 @@
 
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 \v 22 The commander said to the young man, "Do not tell anyone that you have told me about their plan." Then he sent the young man away.
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-
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 \v 23 Then the commander called two of his officers and told them, "Get a group of two hundred soldiers ready to travel. Take along seventy soldiers riding horses, and two hundred other soldiers carrying spears. All of you must be ready to leave at nine o'clock tonight, to go down to the city of Caesarea.
 \v 24 And take along horses for Paul to ride, and escort him to the palace of Governor Felix."
@@ -1910,7 +1902,10 @@
 \v 33 When they arrived in the city of Caesarea, they gave the letter to the governor, and they placed Paul before him.
 
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-\v 34 The governor read the letter and then he said to Paul, "What province are you from?" Paul answered, "I am from Cilicia."
+\p
+\v 34 The governor read the letter and then he said to Paul, "What province are you from?" 
+\p Paul answered, "I am from Cilicia."
+\p
 \v 35 Then the governor said, "When the people who have accused you arrive, I will listen to what each of you says and then I will judge your case." Then he commanded that Paul be guarded in the palace that King Herod the Great had built.
 
 
@@ -1928,7 +1923,7 @@
 
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 \v 7 \f + \ft The best ancient copies do not have vs 7, \fqa But Lysias, the commander of the Roman fortress, came with his soldiers and took him away from us. \f*
-\v 8 \f + \ft The best ancient copies do not have the first part of vs 8, \fqa sending us to you. \f* If you question him yourself, you will be able to learn that all these things about which we are accusing him are true.
+\v 8 \f + \ft The best ancient copies do not have the first part of vs 8, \fqa sending us to you. \f* If you question him yourself, you will be able to learn that all these things about which we are accusing him are true."
 \v 9 Then the Jewish leaders there told the governor that what Tertullus had said was true.
 
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@@ -2027,11 +2022,10 @@
 
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 \c 26
-
 \p
-\v 1 Then Agrippa said to Paul, "We will now allow you to speak on your own behalf." Then Paul stretched out his hand to show that he was about to speak. He said,
+\v 1 Then Agrippa said to Paul, "We will now allow you to speak on your own behalf." \p Then Paul stretched out his hand to show that he was about to speak. He said,
 \v 2 "King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate that today that I can explain to you why the Jewish leaders are wrong when they say I have done evil things.
-\v 3 I am especially fortunate because you know all about the customs of us Jews and the questions that we argue about. So I ask you to listen patiently to me."
+\v 3 I am especially fortunate because you know all about the customs of us Jews and the questions that we argue about. So I ask you to listen patiently to me.
 
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@@ -2039,13 +2033,14 @@
 \v 5 They have known me from my very beginning, and they could tell you, if they wanted to, that since I was very young I obeyed the most rigid customs of our religion very carefully. I lived just like the other Pharisees.
 
 \s5
-\v 6 Today I am on trial because I am confidently expecting that God will do what he promised to our ancestors.
+\p
+\v 6 "Today I am on trial because I am confidently expecting that God will do what he promised to our ancestors.
 \v 7 Our twelve Jewish tribes are also confidently waiting for God to do for us what he promised, as they honor him and worship him, day and night. Honored king, I confidently expect that God will do what he promised, and they also believe that! But it is for what I expect God to do that they say I have done wrong.
 \v 8 Why would any of you think that God could not raise the dead?
 
 \s5
 \p
-\v 9 There was a time in the past when I, too, was sure that I should do everything that I could to stop people from believing in Jesus from Nazareth town.
+\v 9 "There was a time in the past when I, too, was sure that I should do everything that I could to stop people from believing in Jesus from Nazareth town.
 \v 10 So that is what I did when I lived in Jerusalem. I shut up many of the believers in prison, as the chief priests there had given me power to do. And when their people killed believers, I voted in favor of that.
 \v 11 I punished those Jewish people in every synagogue where I could find them. I would force them, with all my anger against them, to make them insult God and curse his name. I even went off to foreign cities to find them so I could do everything in my power to stop them.
 
@@ -2053,13 +2048,16 @@
 \p
 \v 12 "The chief priests gave me power to arrest believers in Damascus, and that is where I went. But while I was on my way,
 \v 13 at about noon, I saw on the road a bright light in the sky. It was even brighter than the sun! It shone all around me, and also around those who were traveling with me.
-\v 14 We all fell to the ground. Then I heard the voice of someone speaking to me in the Hebrew language. He said, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.'
+\v 14 We all fell to the ground. Then I heard the voice of someone speaking to me in the Hebrew language. 
+\p He said, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.'
 
 \s5
-\v 15 Then I said, 'Who are you, Lord?' He said, 'I am Jesus! I am the one you are fighting against.
+\p
+\v 15 "Then I said, 'Who are you, Lord?' 
+\p He said, 'I am Jesus! I am the one you are fighting against.
 \v 16 But get up and stand on your feet! I have appeared to you in order to make you into a servant and a witness both of what you have seen of what you know about me now and what I will show you later.
 \v 17 I will protect you from the people and the non-Jews to whom I will send you,
-\v 18 in order to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of the enemy to God. In this way God will forgive their sins and give to them the things that all my people will have forever, the people who belong to me by faith.
+\v 18 in order to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of the enemy to God. In this way God will forgive their sins and give to them the things that all my people will have forever, the people who belong to me by faith.'
 
 
 \s5
@@ -2067,7 +2065,7 @@
 \v 19 "So, King Agrippa, I did what God told me in a vision to do.
 \v 20 First, I spoke to the Jews in Damascus and those in Jerusalem, and in all the countryside of Judea, and to the non-Jews there also. I told them that they should stop sinning and ask God for help. I told them also that they should do those things that show that they have stopped sinning.
 \p
-\v 21 It is because I preached this message that some Jews seized me when I was in the temple courtyard and tried to kill me.
+\v 21 "It is because I preached this message that some Jews seized me when I was in the temple courtyard and tried to kill me.
 
 \s5
 \v 22 However, God has been helping me, so I have continued to proclaim these things to this very day. I have continued to tell both ordinary people and important people exactly what the prophets and Moses said would happen.
@@ -2096,7 +2094,7 @@
 \s5
 \c 27
 \p
-\v 1 When the Governor decided that we should sail for Italy, he put Paul and some other prisoners into the control of an army captain whose name was Julius. He held the rank of centurion and was part of a large number of soldiers who were under the direct command of the emperor.
+\v 1 When the Governor decided that we should sail for Italy, he put Paul and some other prisoners under the control of an army captain whose name was Julius. He held the rank of centurion and was part of a large number of soldiers who were under the direct command of the emperor.
 \v 2 We boarded a ship from the city of Adramyttium in Asia. The ship was about to sail to places on the coast of Asia. In this way we went to sea. Aristarchus, from Thessalonica in Macedonia, went with us.
 
 \s5
@@ -2106,23 +2104,23 @@
 \v 6 In Myra, Julius found a ship that had come from Alexandria and would soon sail to Italy. So he arranged for us to go aboard that ship, and we left.
 
 \s5
-\v 7 We sailed slowly for many days and came near to Cnidus, but we got there with difficulty, because the winds were against us. After that, the wind was very strong and did not allow the ship to move straight ahead westward. Instead, we sailed along the coast of the Island of Crete, where the wind was not blowing strongly, and we passed near Salmone, a piece of land sticking out into the water.
+\v 7 We sailed slowly for many days and came near to Cnidus, but we got there with difficulty because the winds were against us. After that, the wind was very strong and did not allow the ship to move straight ahead westward. Instead, we sailed along the coast of the Island of Crete, where the wind was not blowing strongly, and we passed near Salmone, a piece of land sticking out into the water.
 \v 8 The wind was still strong, and it prevented the ship from moving ahead fast. So we moved slowly along the coast of Crete, and we arrived at a town that was called Fair Havens, near Lasea.
 
 \s5
 \p
-\v 9 Much time passed, and it had now become dangerous to sail, because the Jewish fasting period had already passed and the sea would become very stormy. So Paul said to the men on the ship,
+\v 9 Much time had passed. Most sailors would not set sail after the Jewish fasting period because at that time the sea would become very dangerous. So Paul said to the men on the ship,
 \v 10 "Men, I see that if we sail now, it will be disastrous for us with much injury and loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives."
 \v 11 But the Roman captain did not believe Paul. Instead, he believed what the pilot and the owner of the ship said, and he decided to do what they advised.
 
 \s5
-\v 12 The harbor was not a good place to remain during the winter, so most of the sailors advised going to sea from there. They hoped that they could reach Phoenix and spend the winter there. Phoenix is a town in Crete. On it blow winds both from the southwest and northwest. 
+\v 12 The harbor was not a good place to remain during the winter, so most of the sailors advised going to sea from there. They hoped that they could reach Phoenix and spend the winter there. Phoenix is a town in Crete. The harbor faced both the southwest and the northwest. 
 \v 13 Because there was only a gentle wind blowing from the south, the ship's crew thought that they could travel like they wanted to. So they lifted the anchor up out of the sea, and the ship sailed close along the coastline of the island of Crete.
 
 \s5
 \v 14 After a short time, however, a stormy wind blew down from the shore. It blew across the island from the north side and hit the ship. That wind is called Euroclydon, "the Northeast Wind."
 \v 15 It blew strongly against the front of the ship, and we could not sail against it. So the sailors let the wind move the ship in the direction that the wind was blowing.
-\v 16 The ship then sailed along the coast line of a small island named Cauda. We were able, with difficulty, to fasten the lifeboat securely to the ship.
+\v 16 The ship then sailed along the coastline of a small island named Cauda. We were able, with difficulty, to fasten the lifeboat securely to the ship.
 
 \s5
 \v 17-18 After the sailors hoisted the lifeboat onto the ship, they used cables to reinforce the ship. They passed them under the ship's hull to strengthen the ship. The sailors were afraid that we would run aground on the sandbars called Syrtis, so they lowered the sea anchor and in this manner the wind drove us along. The wind and the waves continued to toss the ship about roughly, so on the next day the sailors began to throw things overboard.
@@ -2138,14 +2136,14 @@
 
 \s5
 \v 23 I know this, because last night God, the one to whom I belong and whom I serve, sent an angel who came and stood by me.
-\v 24 The angel said to me, 'Paul, do not be afraid.S You must go to Rome and stand before the emperor there so that he can judge you. I want you to know that God has granted to you that all those who are traveling by ship with you will also survive.'
-\v 25 So cheer up, my friends, because I believe that God will make this happen, exactly as the angel told me.
+\v 24 The angel said to me, 'Paul, do not be afraid. You must go to Rome and stand before the emperor there so that he can judge you. I want you to know that God has granted to you that all those who are traveling by ship with you will also survive.'
+\v 25 So cheer up, my friends, because I believe that God will make this happen exactly as the angel told me.
 \v 26 However, the ship will crash on some island, and we will go ashore there."
 
 \s5
 \p
 \v 27 On the fourteenth night after the storm had begun, the ship was still being blown across the Adriatic sea. About midnight, the sailors thought that the ship was getting close to land.
-\v 28 So they lowered a rope to measure how deep the water was. When they pulled the rope up again, they measured it and saw that the water was forty meters deep. A little later, they measured again and found thirty meters.
+\v 28 So they lowered a rope to measure how deep the water was. When they pulled the rope up, they measured it and saw that the water was forty meters deep. A little later, they measured again and found thirty meters.
 \v 29 They were afraid that the ship might go onto some rocks, so they threw out four anchors from the ship's stern. Then they prayed that it would soon be dawn so that they could see where the ship was going.
 
 \s5
@@ -2173,7 +2171,7 @@
 \s5
 \p
 \v 42 The soldiers had it in mind to kill all the prisoners so that none of them could swim away and escape.
-\v 43 But army captain wanted to save Paul, so he stopped the soldiers from doing this. Instead, he commanded that everyone who could swim should jump into the water and swim to shore.
+\v 43 But the army captain wanted to save Paul, so he stopped the soldiers from doing this. Instead, he commanded that everyone who could swim should jump into the water and swim to shore.
 \v 44 Then he told the others to hold onto planks or other pieces from the ship and go toward the shore. We did what he said, and in that way all of us arrived safely on land.
 
 
@@ -2181,11 +2179,11 @@
 \c 28
 \p
 \v 1 After we had arrived safely on the shore, we learned that it was an island called Malta.
-\v 2 The people who lived there gave to us better than the usual hospitality. They lit a fire and invited us to come and warm ourselves, because it was raining and it was cold.
+\v 2 The people who lived there gave to us better than the usual hospitality. They lit a fire and invited us to come and warm ourselves because it was raining and it was cold.
 
 \s5
 \v 3 When Paul collected some sticks of wood and put them on the fire, a poisonous snake came out from the fire to escape from the heat, and it bit Paul on his his hand and stayed there.
-\v 4 The people from the island saw the creature dangling from Paul's hand, they said to each other, "Probably this man has murdered someone. Although he has escaped from being drowned in the sea, the god of justice will cause him to die."
+\v 4 When the people from the island saw the creature dangling from Paul's hand, they said to each other, "Probably this man has murdered someone. Although he has escaped from being drowned in the sea, the goddess Justice will cause him to die."
 
 \s5
 \v 5 But Paul simply shook the snake off into the fire, and nothing happened to him.
@@ -2230,10 +2228,10 @@
 \v 24 Some of those Jews were persuaded to believe what Paul said about Jesus was true, but others did not believe that it was true.
 
 \s5
-\v 25 When they began to disagree with each other, and when they were about to leave, Paul had one more thing to say: "The Holy Spirit said the truth to your ancestors, when he spoke these words to Isaiah the prophet:
+\v 25 When they began to disagree with each other, and when they were about to leave, Paul had one more thing to say: "The Holy Spirit said the truth to your ancestors when he spoke these words to Isaiah the prophet:
 \q
-\v 26 Go to your people and say to them:
-\q 'You hear with your ears, but you never understand what God is saying.
+\v 26 'Go to your people and say to them:
+\q "You hear with your ears, but you never understand what God is saying.
 \q You see with your eyes but you never really see the things that God is doing.
 
 \s5
@@ -2243,7 +2241,7 @@
 \q They do not want to hear with their ears
 \q or understand with their hearts,
 \q for then they would come back to me
-\q and I would heal them.
+\q and I would heal them."'
 
 \s5
 \p