⁹ And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” ¹⁰ And when Paul^[a] had seen the vision, immediately ^(A)we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

The Conversion of Lydia

¹¹ So, setting sail from Troas, we ^(B)made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, ¹² and from there to ^(C)Philippi, which is a leading city of the^[b] district of Macedonia and ^(D)a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. ¹³ And ^(E)on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate ^(F)to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we ^(G)sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. ¹⁴ One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, ^(H)who was a worshiper of God. The Lord ^(I)opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. ¹⁵ And after she was baptized, ^(J)and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she ^(K)prevailed upon us.

⁴⁴ Then he said to them, ^(A)“These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, ^(B)that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” ⁴⁵ Then ^(C)he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, ⁴⁶ and said to them, “Thus ^(D)it is written, ^(E)that the Christ should suffer and on the third day ^(F)rise from the dead, ⁴⁷ and that ^(G)repentance for^[a] the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed ^(H)in his name ^(I)to all nations, ^(J)beginning from Jerusalem. ^48 (K)You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹ And behold, I am sending ^(L)the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you ^(M)are clothed with ^(N)power ^(O)from on high.”

The Ascension

⁵⁰ And ^(P)he led them out as far as ^(Q)Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. ⁵¹ While he blessed them, ^(R)he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. ⁵² And they ^(S)worshiped him and ^(T)returned to Jerusalem ^(U)with great joy, ⁵³ and ^(V)were continually in the temple ^(W)blessing God.

That You May Know

¹³ I write ^(A)these things to you who ^(B)believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. ¹⁴ And this is ^(C)the confidence that we have toward him, that ^(D)if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.