and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they did not want to come.

And He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

Now after these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and He sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to come.

Therefore Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! Just as the Father has sent Me, I also send you."

"The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles,

Therefore the Jews said among themselves, "Where does this [man] intend to go that we will not find Him? Does He intend to go into the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?

And those of the circumcision who believed were astounded, as many as had come with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.

Surely no one can forbid water, can he, that these should not be baptized who received the Holy Spirit just as we have?"

Now the apostles and the brothers who were in Judea heard that even the Gentiles had also received the word of God.

saying, "You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!"

"I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, a certain vessel coming down like a great sheet, being lowered by the four corners from heaven; and it came as far as me;

And I heard a voice saying to me, 'Arise, Peter; kill and eat.'

"But the voice answered me a second [time] from heaven, 'What God has made clean, you must not call common.'

And behold, immediately three men stood before the house in which I was, having been sent from Caesarea to me.

And he related to us how he had seen the angel in his house, standing and saying to him, 'Send men to Joppa, and send for Simon whose surname is Peter,

"And when I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, as also on us in the beginning.

"If then God has given to them the same gift as He gave to us, when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I [to be] able to hinder God?"

"Then He said to me, 'Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.'"

And as they were crying out and throwing off their clothes, and throwing dust in the air,

Now I say that Christ Jesus has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, in order to confirm the promises to the fathers,

and that the Gentiles might glorify God on behalf of His mercy, as it is written: "For this reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles, and I will sing praise to Your name."

forbidding us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved, so as always to fill up [the measure of] their sins; but the wrath [of God] has come upon them to the uttermost.

And the king of Assyria brought from Babylon the men of Cuthah, [and men] from Ava, and from Hamath and Sepharvaim, and they were settled in the cities of Samaria in the place of the children of Israel. And they inherited Samaria, and were settled in its cities.

And they spoke to the king of the Assyrians, saying, The nations whom you have removed and substituted in the cities of Samaria [for the Israelites], know not the manner of the God of the land; and He has sent the lions against them, and behold, the [lions] are killing them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land.

And they brought one of the priests whom they had removed from Samaria, and he settled in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the Lord.

And the men of Babylon made Soccoth Benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergel, and the men of Hamath made Ashima,

And they feared the Lord, yet they established their abominations in the houses of the high places which they made in Samaria, each nation in the city in which they dwelt. And they feared the Lord, and they made for themselves priests of the high places, and sacrificed for themselves in the house of the high places.

Until this day they did according to their manner: they feared [the Lord], and they did according to their customs, and according to their manner, and according to the law, and according to the commandment which the Lord commanded the sons of Jacob, whose name He made Israel.

but only to the Lord, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great strength, and with an outstretched arm: Him shall you fear, and Him shall you worship; to Him shall you sacrifice.

Neither shall you forget the covenant which He made with you; and you shall fear no other gods.

Neither shall you comply with their practice, which they follow.

and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, so they might prepare for Him.

And when they saw this, James and John His disciples said, "Lord, do You wish [that] we should call down fire from heaven and consume them, as Elijah did?"

Therefore He came to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near the piece of land which Jacob gave to his son Joseph.

Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.

Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, and you [Jews] say that in Jerusalem is the place where it is necessary to worship."

You worship what you do not know; we [Jews] worship what we know, because salvation is of the Jews.

God [is] Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

Now Saul was agreeing with them in his murder. And in that day there arose a great persecution against the church which was in Jerusalem; and they all were scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

And Philip, going down to a city of Samaria, was preaching to them the Christ.

For many of the ones having unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, [they] came out; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed.

Now a certain man named Simon was previously in the city practicing magic and astounding the people of Samaria, claiming himself to be someone great,

But they gave heed to him because of the long time that he had astonished them with the magic arts.

Then Simon himself also believed; and having been baptized, he was continuing with Philip, and observing miracles and signs occurring, he was astounded.

who, coming down, prayed concerning them in order that they might receive the Holy Spirit.

Then they laid hands upon them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

saying, "Give me this power also, that on whom ever I lay my hands he may receive the Holy Spirit."

You have neither part nor portion in this word, for your heart is not straight before God.

For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and the bond of unrighteousness."

Then solemnly bearing witness to and speaking the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, and preached the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.