¹⁵ “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”^(A)

¹⁷ Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood,^(B) but by my Father in heaven.^{(C) 18} And I tell you that you are Peter,^[a](D) and on this rock I will build my church,^(E) and the gates of Hades^[b] will not overcome it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys^(F) of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be^[c] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be^[d] loosed in heaven.”^(G)

Dealing With Sin in the Church

¹⁵ “If your brother or sister^[a] sins,^[b] go and point out their fault,^(A) just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. ¹⁶ But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’^{[c](B) 17} If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church;^(C) and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.^(D)

¹⁸ “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be^[d] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be^[e] loosed in heaven.^(E)

¹⁹ “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them^(F) by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”^(G)

⁴¹ Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number^(A) that day.

The Fellowship of the Believers

⁴² They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching^(B) and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread^(C) and to prayer.^(D)

⁴⁷ praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.^(A) And the Lord added to their number^(B) daily those who were being saved.

¹¹ Great fear^(A) seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.

The Apostles Heal Many

¹² The apostles performed many signs and wonders^(B) among the people. And all the believers used to meet together^(C) in Solomon’s Colonnade.^{(D) 13} No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people.^{(E) 14} Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.^(F)

³ Brothers and sisters,^(A) choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit^(B) and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them^{(C) 4} and will give our attention to prayer^(D) and the ministry of the word.”

⁵ This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen,^(E) a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit;^(F) also Philip,^(G) Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. ⁶ They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed^(H) and laid their hands on them.^(I)

13 ¹ Now in the church at Antioch^(A) there were prophets^(B) and teachers:^(C) Barnabas,^(D) Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene,^(E) Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod^(F) the tetrarch) and Saul. ² While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said,^(G) “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work^(H) to which I have called them.”^{(I) 3} So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them^(J) and sent them off.^(K)

²³ Paul and Barnabas appointed elders^[a](A) for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting,^(B) committed them to the Lord,^(C) in whom they had put their trust.

²⁷ On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them^(A) and how he had opened a door^(B) of faith to the Gentiles.