Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles

^5 (A)These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of ^(B)the Samaritans,

⁹ The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (^(A)For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)

²¹ And he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you ^(A)far away to the Gentiles.’”

Paul and the Roman Tribune

²² Up to this word they listened to him. Then they raised their voices and said, ^(B)“Away with such a fellow from the earth! For ^(C)he should not be allowed to live.” ²³ And as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air,

^22 (A)You worship what you do not know; ^(B)we worship what we know, for ^(C)salvation is ^(D)from the Jews. ²³ But ^(E)the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father ^(F)in spirit and ^(G)truth, for the Father ^(H)is seeking such people to worship him. ²⁴ God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Assyria Resettles Samaria

^24 (A)And the king of Assyria brought people from ^(B)Babylon, Cuthah, ^(C)Avva, ^(D)Hamath, and ^(E)Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the people of Israel. And they took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities. ²⁵ And at the beginning of their dwelling there, they did not fear the Lord. Therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them. ²⁶ So the king of Assyria was told, “The nations that you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the god of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them, because they do not know the law of the god of the land.” ²⁷ Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Send there one of the priests whom you carried away from there, and let him^[a] go and dwell there and teach them the law of the god of the land.” ²⁸ So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in ^(F)Bethel and taught them how they should fear the Lord.

²⁹ But every nation still made gods of its own and put them ^(G)in the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived. ³⁰ The men of ^(H)Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, ³¹ and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites ^(I)burned their children in the fire to ^(J)Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of ^(K)Sepharvaim. ^32 (L)They also feared the Lord ^(M)and appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of ^(N)the high places. ³³ So they feared the Lord but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away.

³⁴ To this day they do according to the former manner. They do not fear the Lord, and they do not follow the statutes or the rules or the law or the commandment that the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, ^(O)whom he named Israel. ³⁵ The Lord made a covenant with them and commanded them, ^(P)“You shall not fear other gods ^(Q)or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them, ³⁶ but ^(R)you shall fear the Lord, ^(S)who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and ^(T)with an outstretched arm. You shall bow yourselves to him, and to him you shall sacrifice. ³⁷ And the statutes and the rules and the law and the commandment that he wrote for you, ^(U)you shall always be careful to do. ^(V)You shall not fear other gods, ³⁸ and ^(W)you shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you. ^(X)You shall not fear other gods, ³⁹ but ^(Y)you shall fear the Lord your God, and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.” ⁴⁰ However, they would not listen, but they did according to their former manner.

^41 (Z)So these nations feared the Lord and also served their carved images. Their children did likewise, and their children's children—as their fathers did, so they do to this day.

^16 (A)by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always ^(B)to fill up the measure of their sins. But ^(C)wrath has come upon them at last!^[a]

Christ the Hope of Jews and Gentiles

⁸ For I tell you that Christ ^(A)became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order ^(B)to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, ⁹ and in order ^(C)that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,

^2 (A)and he sent them out to ^(B)proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.

⁴⁵ And the believers from among ^(A)the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because ^(B)the gift of the Holy Spirit ^(C)was poured out even on the Gentiles. ⁴⁶ For they were hearing them ^(D)speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, ^47 (E)“Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit ^(F)just as we have?” ⁴⁸ And he ^(G)commanded them ^(H)to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.

Peter Reports to the Church

11 Now the apostles and ^(I)the brothers^[a] who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. ² So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, ^(J)the circumcision party^[b] criticized him, saying, ^3 (K)“You went to uncircumcised men and ^(L)ate with them.” ⁴ But Peter began and explained it to them in order: ^5 (M)“I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to me. ⁶ Looking at it closely, I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air. ⁷ And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ ⁸ But I said, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ ⁹ But the voice answered a second time from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.’ ¹⁰ This happened three times, and all was drawn up again into heaven. ¹¹ And behold, at that very moment three men arrived at the house in which we were, sent to me from Caesarea. ¹² And the Spirit told me to go with them, ^(N)making no distinction. ^(O)These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man's house. 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; ^14 (P)he will declare to you a message by which ^(Q)you will be saved, you and all your household.’ ¹⁵ As I began to speak, ^(R)the Holy Spirit fell on them ^(S)just as on us at the beginning. ¹⁶ And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ^(T)‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷ If then ^(U)God gave ^(V)the same gift to them as he gave to us ^(W)when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, ^(X)who was I ^(Y)that I could stand in God's way?” ¹⁸ When they heard these things they fell silent. And they ^(Z)glorified God, saying, ^(AA)“Then to the Gentiles also God has ^(AB)granted ^(AC)repentance that leads to life.”