Acts 15:36-18:22

New Life Version

Paul Starts Out the Second Time

³⁶ After awhile, Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the Christians in every city where we have preached the Word of God. Let us see how they are doing.” ³⁷ Barnabas wanted to take John Mark with them. ³⁸ Paul did not think it was good to take him because he had left them while they were in Pamphylia. He had not helped them in the work. ³⁹ They argued so much that they left each other. Barnabas took John Mark with him and went by ship to the island of Cyprus. ⁴⁰ Paul chose Silas. After the Christians asked for the Lord’s favor to be on Paul and Silas, they went on their way. ⁴¹ They went through Syria and Cilicia making the churches stronger in the faith.

Timothy Starts to Work with Paul

16 Paul went down to the cities of Derbe and Lystra. There was a follower there named Timothy. His mother was a Jewish Christian and his father was a Greek. ² The Christians in the city of Lystra and Iconium respected Timothy. ³ Paul wanted Timothy to go with him as a missionary. He took him and had Timothy go through the religious act of becoming a Jew because of the Jews who were in those places. Everyone knew his father was a Greek.

⁴ They went from city to city and told the Christians what the missionaries and the church leaders in Jerusalem had written for the Christians to do. ⁵ The churches were made stronger in the faith. More people were added each day.

Paul Is Called to Macedonia in a Dream

⁶ They went through the countries of Phrygia and Galatia. The Holy Spirit kept them from preaching the Word of God in the countries of Asia. ⁷ When they came to the city of Mysia, they tried to go on to the city of Bithynia but the Holy Spirit would not let them go. ⁸ From Mysia they went down to the city of Troas.

⁹ That night Paul had a dream. A man was standing in front of him crying out, “Come over to the country of Macedonia and help us!” ¹⁰ After he had seen this, we agreed that God told us to go to Macedonia to tell them the Good News.

Lydia, the First Christian in Europe

¹¹ We took a ship from the city of Troas to the city of Samothracia. The next day we went to the city of Neapolis. ¹² From there we went to the city of Philippi. This was an important city in Macedonia. It was ruled by the leaders of the country of Rome. We stayed here for some days. ¹³ On the Day of Rest we went outside the city to a place down by the river. We thought people would be gathering there for prayer. Some women came and we sat down and talked to them. ¹⁴ One of the women who listened sold purple cloth. She was from the city of Thyatira. Her name was Lydia and she was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to hear what Paul said. ¹⁵ When she and her family had been baptized, she said to us, “If you think I am faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my house.” She kept on asking. Then we went with her.

Paul Heals a Girl with a Demon

¹⁶ One day as we were going to the place to pray, we met a servant-girl who could tell what was going to happen in the future by a demon she had. Her owner made much money from her power. ¹⁷ She followed Paul and us crying out, “These are servants of the Highest God. They are telling you how to be saved from the punishment of sin.” ¹⁸ She did this many days. Paul was troubled. Then he turned and said to the demon in her, “In the name of Jesus Christ, I speak to you. Come out of her!” At once it left her.

Paul and Silas in Jail

¹⁹ The girl’s owners saw that they could not make money with her anymore. Then they took hold of Paul and Silas and dragged them to the leaders. This happened in the center of town where people gather. ²⁰ After they brought them in front of the leaders, they said, “These men are Jews and are making a lot of trouble in our city. ²¹ They are teaching a religion that we Romans are not allowed to follow.”

²² Many people had gathered around Paul and Silas. They were calling out things against them. The leaders had the clothes of Paul and Silas taken off and had them beaten with sticks. ²³ After they had hit them many times, they put Paul and Silas in prison. The soldiers told the man who watched the prison to be sure to keep them from getting away. ²⁴ Because of this, they were put in the inside room of the prison and their feet were put in pieces of wood that held them.

²⁵ About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing songs of thanks to God. The other men in prison were listening to them. ²⁶ All at once the earth started to shake. The stones under the prison shook and the doors opened. The chains fell off from everyone.

²⁷ The man who watched the prison woke up. He saw the prison doors wide open and thought the men in prison had gotten away. At once he pulled out his sword to kill himself. ²⁸ But Paul called to him, “Do not hurt yourself. We are all here!” ²⁹ The man who watched the prison called for a light. Then he ran in and got down in front of Paul and Silas. He was shaking with fear. ³⁰ As he took them outside, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

³¹ They said, “Put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and you and your family will be saved from the punishment of sin.”

³² Then Paul spoke the Word of God to him and his family. ³³ It was late at night, but the man who watched the prison took Paul and Silas in and washed the places on their bodies where they were hurt. Right then he and his family were baptized. ³⁴ He took Paul and Silas to his house and gave them food. He and all his family were full of joy for having put their trust in God.

Paul and Silas Are Allowed to Go Free

³⁵ When it was day, the leaders sent a soldier to say, “Let these men go free.” ³⁶ The man who watched the prison told this to Paul. He said, “The leaders have sent word to let you go free. Come out now and go without any trouble.”

³⁷ Paul said, “No! They have beaten us in front of many people without a trial. We are Roman citizens and they have put us in prison. Now do they think they can send us away without anyone knowing? No! They must come themselves and take us out.” ³⁸ The soldiers told this to the leaders. Then the leaders were afraid when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. ³⁹ They went themselves and told Paul and Silas they were sorry. Then they took them out and asked them to leave their city. ⁴⁰ Paul and Silas went to Lydia’s house after they left the prison. They met with the Christians and gave them comfort. Then they went away from the city.

Paul and Silas Start a Church in Thessalonica

17 After Paul and Silas had gone through the cities of Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to the city of Thessalonica. The Jews had a place of worship there. ² Paul went in as he always did. They gathered together each Day of Rest for three weeks and he taught them from the Holy Writings. ³ He showed them that Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead. He said, “I preach this Jesus to you. He is the Christ.” ⁴ Some of them put their trust in Christ and followed Paul and Silas. There were many Greek people and some leading women who honored God among those who had become Christians.

The Jews Make It Hard for Paul and Silas

⁵ The Jews who did not put their trust in Christ became jealous. They took along some sinful men from the center of town where people gather and brought them out on the street. These angry men started all the people in the city to cry out with loud voices. They went to the house of Jason hoping to find Paul and Silas there and bring them out to the people. ⁶ But they did not find them there. Then they dragged Jason and some other Christians out in front of the leaders and cried out, “These men who have been making trouble over all the world have come here also. ⁷ And Jason has taken them in. They say there is another King called Jesus. They are working against the laws made by Caesar.”

⁸ When the people and city leaders heard this, they were troubled. ⁹ Then they made Jason and the others pay some money and let them go.

Paul and Silas Go to Berea

¹⁰ At once the Christians sent Paul and Silas away at night to the city of Berea. When they got there, they went to the Jewish place of worship. ¹¹ These Jews were more willing to understand than those in the city of Thessalonica. They were very glad to hear the Word of God, and they looked into the Holy Writings to see if those things were true. ¹² Many of them became Christians. Some of them were respected Greek women and men. ¹³ The Jews of Thessalonica heard that Paul was preaching the Word of God in Berea. They went there and worked against the missionaries by talking to the people. ¹⁴ At once the Christians sent Paul away to the sea-shore. But Silas and Timothy stayed there.

Paul Preaches on Mars’ Hill in Athens

¹⁵ Those who took Paul brought him to the city of Athens. Paul sent word with them that Silas and Timothy should come to him as soon as they could. Then they left. ¹⁶ While Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy in Athens, his spirit was troubled as he saw the whole city worshiping false gods. ¹⁷ He talked to the Jews and other people who were worshiping in the Jewish place of worship. Every day he talked with people who gathered in the center of town.

¹⁸ Some men from two different groups were arguing with Paul. The one group thought that men might as well get all the fun out of life that they can. The other group thought that wisdom alone makes men happy. Some of them said, “This man has lots of little things to talk about. They are not important. What is he trying to say?” Others said, “He preaches about strange gods.” It was because he preached of Jesus and of His being raised from the dead.

¹⁹ Then they took him to Mars’ Hill and said, “We want to hear of this new teaching of yours. ²⁰ Some of the things you are telling us are strange to our ears. We want to know what these things mean.” ²¹ The people of Athens and those visiting from far countries used all their time in talking or hearing some new thing. ²² Then Paul stood up on Mars’ Hill and said, “Men of Athens, I see how very religious you are in every way. ²³ As I was walking around and looking at the things you worship, I found an altar where you worship with the words written on it, TO THE GOD WHO IS NOT KNOWN. You are worshiping Him without knowing Him. He is the One I will tell you about.

²⁴ “The God Who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth. He does not live in buildings made by hands. ²⁵ No one needs to care for Him as if He needed anything. He is the One who gives life and breath and everything to everyone. ²⁶ He made from one blood all nations who live on the earth. He set the times and places where they should live.

²⁷ “They were to look for God. Then they might feel after Him and find Him because He is not far from each one of us. ²⁸ It is in Him that we live and move and keep on living. Some of your own men have written, ‘We are God’s children.’ ²⁹ If we are God’s children, we should not think of Him as being like gold or silver or stone. Such gods made of gold or silver or stone are planned by men and are made by them.

³⁰ “God did not remember these times when people did not know better. But now He tells all men everywhere to be sorry for their sins and to turn from them. ³¹ He has set a day when He will say in the right way if the people of the world are guilty. This will be done by Jesus Christ, the One He has chosen. God has proven this to all men by raising Jesus Christ from the dead.”

³² Some people laughed and made fun when they heard Paul speak of Christ being raised from the dead. Others said, “We want to listen to you again about this.” ³³ So Paul went away from the people. ³⁴ Some people followed him and became Christians. One was Dionysius, a leader in the city. A woman named Damaris believed. And there were others also.

Paul Goes to Corinth

18 After that Paul went from the city of Athens and came to the city of Corinth. ² He met a Jew there named Aquila who was born in the country of Pontus. He had lived in the country of Italy a short time. His wife Priscilla was with him. Claudius, who was the leader of the country, had told all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see Aquila and Priscilla. ³ They made tents for a living. Paul did the same kind of work so he stayed with them and they worked together.

⁴ Every Day of Rest he would go to the Jewish place of worship and teach both Jews and Greeks. ⁵ Silas and Timothy came down from the country of Macedonia. Then Paul used all his time preaching to the Jews. He taught that Jesus was the Christ. ⁶ But they worked against Paul and said bad things about him. He shook his clothes and said, “Whatever happens to you is your own doing. I am free from your guilt. From now on I will go to the people who are not Jews.”

⁷ Paul went from there and came to the house of a man named Titus Justus who worshiped God. His house was next to the Jewish place of worship. ⁸ Crispus was the leader of the Jewish place of worship. He and his family believed in the Lord. Many of the people of Corinth who heard Paul became Christians and were baptized.

⁹ Paul saw the Lord in a dream one night. He said to Paul, “Do not be afraid. Keep speaking. Do not close your mouth. ¹⁰ I am with you. No one will hurt you. I have many people in this city who belong to Me.” ¹¹ For a year and a half Paul stayed there and taught them the Word of God.

¹² Gallio was leader of the country of Greece. All the Jews worked against Paul and brought him in front of the court. ¹³ They said, “This man is trying to get people to worship God against the Law.” ¹⁴ Paul was ready to speak, but Gallio said to the Jews, “If this were something bad or a wrong doing, I would listen to you. ¹⁵ But because it is about words and names and your own Law, you will have to take care of it yourselves. I do not want to judge who is right or wrong in things like this.” ¹⁶ And he sent them out of his court.

¹⁷ Then all the Greek people took Sosthenes, the leader of the Jewish place of worship, and beat him in front of the court. But Gallio did not let this trouble him.

Paul Goes Back to Antioch

¹⁸ Paul stayed in Corinth many days longer. Then he said good-bye and left the followers. He went by ship to the country of Syria with Priscilla and Aquila going with him. In the city of Cenchrea he had his hair cut short because of a promise he had made to God. ¹⁹ They came to the city of Ephesus. Priscilla and Aquila stayed there. Paul went to the Jewish place of worship and argued with the Jews. ²⁰ They wanted him to stay longer but he would not. ²¹ As he left them, he said, (*“I must go to the special supper at Jerusalem.) I will return again to you if God wants me to.” Then he got on a ship and left Ephesus. ²² He stopped in the city of Caesarea to greet the people in the church. Then he went down to the city of Antioch.