Acts 16-17 (New American Standard Bible)

Acts 16

The Macedonian Vision

 ¹Paul came also to ^(A)Derbe and to ^(B)Lystra And a disciple was there, named ^(C)Timothy, the son of a ^(D)Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek,

 ²and he was well spoken of by ^(E)the brethren who were in ^(F)Lystra and ^(G)Iconium.

 ³Paul wanted this man to go with him; and he ^(H)took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

 ⁴Now while they were passing through the cities, they were delivering ^(I)the decrees which had been decided upon by ^(J)the apostles and ^(K)elders who were in Jerusalem, for them to observe.

 ⁵So ^(L)the churches were being strengthened in the faith, and were ^(M)increasing in number daily.

 ⁶They passed through the ^(N)Phrygian and ^(O)Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in ^(P)Asia;

 ⁷and after they came to ^(Q)Mysia, they were trying to go into ^(R)Bithynia, and the ^(S)Spirit of Jesus did not permit them;

 ⁸and passing by ^(T)Mysia, they came down to ^(U)Troas.

 ^9(V)A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of ^(W)Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us."

 ¹⁰When he had seen ^(X)the vision, immediately ^(Y)we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to ^(Z)preach the gospel to them.

 ¹¹So putting out to sea from ^(AA)Troas, we ran ^(AB)a straight course to Samothrace, and on the day following to Neapolis;

 ¹²and from there to ^(AC)Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of ^(AD)Macedonia, ^(AE)a Roman colony; and we were staying in this city for some days.

 ¹³And on ^(AF)the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were supposing that there would be a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled.

First Convert in Europe

 ¹⁴A woman named Lydia, from the city of ^(AG)Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, ^(AH)a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord ^(AI)opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.

 ¹⁵And when she and ^(AJ)her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay." And she prevailed upon us.

 ¹⁶It happened that as we were going to ^(AK)the place of prayer, a slave-girl having ^(AL)a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling.

 ¹⁷Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, "These men are bond-servants of ^(AM)the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation."

 ¹⁸She continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, "I command you ^(AN)in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!" And it came out at that very moment.

 ¹⁹But when her masters saw that their hope of ^(AO)profit was gone, they seized ^(AP)Paul and Silas and ^(AQ)dragged them into the market place before the authorities,

 ²⁰and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, "These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews,

 ²¹and ^(AR)are proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being ^(AS)Romans."

Paul and Silas Imprisoned

 ²²The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be ^(AT)beaten with rods.

 ²³When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding ^(AU)the jailer to guard them securely;

 ²⁴and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in ^(AV)the stocks.

 ²⁵But about midnight ^(AW)Paul and Silas were praying and ^(AX)singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them;

 ²⁶and suddenly ^(AY)there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately ^(AZ)all the doors were opened and everyone's ^(BA)chains were unfastened.

 ²⁷When ^(BB)the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about ^(BC)to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.

 ²⁸But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!"

 ²⁹And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before ^(BD)Paul and Silas,

 ³⁰and after he brought them out, he said, "Sirs, ^(BE)what must I do to be saved?"

The Jailer Converted

 ³¹They said, "^(BF)Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and ^(BG)your household."

 ³²And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house.

 ³³And he took them ^(BH)that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household.

 ³⁴And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with ^(BI)his whole household.

 ³⁵Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their policemen, saying, "Release those men."

 ³⁶And ^(BJ)the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, "The chief magistrates have sent to release you Therefore come out now and go ^(BK)in peace."

 ³⁷But Paul said to them, "They have beaten us in public without trial, ^(BL)men who are Romans, and have thrown us into prison; and now are they sending us away secretly? No indeed! But let them come themselves and bring us out."

 ³⁸The policemen reported these words to the chief magistrates. ^(BM)They were afraid when they heard that they were Romans,

 ³⁹and they came and appealed to them, and when they had brought them out, they kept begging them ^(BN)to leave the city.

 ⁴⁰They went out of the prison and entered the house of ^(BO)Lydia, and when they saw ^(BP)the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.

Acts 17

Paul at Thessalonica

 ¹Now when they had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to ^(BQ)Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.

 ²And ^(BR)according to Paul's custom, he went to them, and for three ^(BS)Sabbaths reasoned with them from ^(BT)the Scriptures,

 ³explaining and giving evidence that the Christ ^(BU)had to suffer and ^(BV)rise again from the dead, and saying, "^(BW)This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ."

 ^4(BX)And some of them were persuaded and joined ^(BY)Paul and Silas, along with a large number of the ^(BZ)God-fearing ^(CA)Greeks and a number of the ^(CB)leading women.

 ⁵But ^(CC)the Jews, becoming jealous and taking along some wicked men from the market place, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; and attacking the house of ^(CD)Jason, they were seeking to bring them out to the people.

 ⁶When they did not find them, they began ^(CE)dragging Jason and some brethren before the city authorities, shouting, "These men who have upset ^[a](CF)the world have come here also;

 ⁷and Jason ^(CG)has welcomed them, and they all act ^(CH)contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus."

 ⁸They stirred up the crowd and the city authorities who heard these things.

 ⁹And when they had received a pledge from ^(CI)Jason and the others, they released them.

Paul at Berea

 ^10(CJ)The brethren immediately sent ^(CK)Paul and Silas away by night to ^(CL)Berea, and when they arrived, they went into ^(CM)the synagogue of the Jews.

 ¹¹Now these were more noble-minded than those in ^(CN)Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.

 ¹²Therefore ^(CO)many of them believed, along with a number of ^(CP)prominent Greek ^(CQ)women and men.

 ¹³But when the Jews of ^(CR)Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in ^(CS)Berea also, they came there as well, agitating and stirring up the crowds.

 ¹⁴Then immediately ^(CT)the brethren sent Paul out to go as far as the sea; and ^(CU)Silas and ^(CV)Timothy remained there.

 ¹⁵Now ^(CW)those who escorted Paul brought him as far as ^(CX)Athens; and receiving a command for ^(CY)Silas and Timothy to ^(CZ)come to him as soon as possible, they left.

Paul at Athens

 ¹⁶Now while Paul was waiting for them at ^(DA)Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols.

 ¹⁷So he was reasoning ^(DB)in the synagogue with the Jews and ^(DC)the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be present.

 ¹⁸And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. Some were saying, "What would ^(DD)this idle babbler wish to say?" Others, "He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,"--because he was preaching ^(DE)Jesus and the resurrection.

 ¹⁹And they ^(DF)took him and brought him to the ^(DG)Areopagus, saying, "May we know what ^(DH)this new teaching is which you are proclaiming?

 ²⁰"For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean."

 ²¹(Now all the Athenians and the strangers ^(DI)visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)

Sermon on Mars Hill

 ²²So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, "Men of ^(DJ)Athens, I observe that you are very ^(DK)religious in all respects.

 ²³"For while I was passing through and examining the ^(DL)objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD ' Therefore what ^(DM)you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.

 ²⁴"^(DN)The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is ^(DO)Lord of heaven and earth, does not ^(DP)dwell in temples made with hands;

 ²⁵nor is He served by human hands, ^(DQ)as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things;

 ²⁶and ^(DR)He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having ^(DS)determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation,

 ²⁷that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, ^(DT)though He is not far from each one of us;

 ²⁸for ^(DU)in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His children.'

 ²⁹"Being then the children of God, we ^(DV)ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man.

 ³⁰"Therefore having ^(DW)overlooked ^(DX)the times of ignorance, God is ^(DY)now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent,

 ³¹because He has fixed ^(DZ)a day in which ^(EA)He will judge ^(EB)the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has ^(EC)appointed, having furnished proof to all men by ^(ED)raising Him from the dead."

 ³²Now when they heard of ^(EE)the resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer, but others said, "We shall hear you again concerning this."

 ³³So Paul went out of their midst.

 ³⁴But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the ^(EF)Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.