Restoration Promised

30 “So it will be when all of these things have come upon you, ^(A)the blessing and the curse which I have placed before you, and you ^[a]call them to mind ^(B)in all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you, ² and you ^(C)return to the Lord your God and ^[b]obey Him ^(D)with all your heart and soul in accordance with everything that I am commanding you today, you and your sons, ³ then the Lord your God will ^(E)restore ^[c]you from captivity, and have compassion on you, and ^(F)will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has ^(G)scattered you. ⁴ If any of your scattered countrymen are at the ^[d]ends of the earth, ^(H)from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there He will ^[e]bring you back. ^5 (I)The Lord your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will be good to you and ^(J)make you more numerous than your fathers.

⁶ “Moreover, ^(K)the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your ^[f]descendants, ^(L)to love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul, so that you may live. ^7 (M)And the Lord your God will ^[g]inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you. ⁸ And you will again ^[h]obey the Lord, and ^[i]follow all His commandments which I am commanding you today. ^9 (N)Then the Lord your God will prosper you ^[j]abundantly in every work of your hand, in the ^[k]children of your womb, the ^[l]offspring of your cattle, and in the ^[m]produce of your ground, for ^(O)the Lord will again rejoice over you for good, just as He rejoiced over your fathers; ^10 [n]if you ^[o]obey the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which ^(P)are written in this Book of the Law, ^[p]if you turn to the Lord your God ^(Q)with all your heart and soul.

¹¹ “For this commandment which I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it far away. ¹² It is not in heaven, ^[q]that you could say, ‘^(R)Who will go up to heaven for us and get it for us, and proclaim it to us, so that we may ^[r]follow it?’ ¹³ Nor is it beyond the sea, ^[s]that you could say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us and get it for us and proclaim it to us, so that we may ^[t]follow it?’ ¹⁴ On the contrary, the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may ^[u]follow it.

Choose Life

¹⁵ “See, ^(S)I have placed before you today life and ^[v]happiness, and death and ^[w]adversity, ¹⁶ in that I am commanding you today ^(T)to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, so that you ^(U)may live and become numerous, and that the Lord your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to take possession of it. ¹⁷ But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but allow yourself to be led astray and you worship other gods and serve them, ¹⁸ I declare to you today that ^(V)you will certainly perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter ^[x]and take possession of it. ^19 (W)I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have placed before you life and death, ^(X)the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your ^[y]descendants, ^20 (Y)by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and ^(Z)by holding close to Him; ^(AA)for ^[z]this is your life and the length of your days, ^[aa]so that you may live in ^(AB)the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

The Psalmist’s Profession of Uprightness.

A Psalm of David.

The Macedonian Vision

16 Now Paul also came 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, ² and he was well spoken of by ^(E)the brothers and sisters who were in ^(F)Lystra and ^(G)Iconium. ³ Paul wanted this man to leave 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. ⁴ Now while they were passing through the cities, they were delivering ^(I)the ordinances for them to follow which had been determined by ^(J)the apostles and ^(K)elders in Jerusalem. ⁵ So ^(L)the churches were being strengthened ^[a]in the faith, and were ^(M)increasing in number daily.

⁶ They passed through the ^[b](N)Phrygian and ^(O)Galatian region, after being forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in ^[c](P)Asia; ⁷ and after they came to ^(Q)Mysia, they were trying to go into ^(R)Bithynia, and the ^(S)Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; ⁸ and passing by ^(T)Mysia, they went down to ^(U)Troas. ^9 (V)And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of ^(W)Macedonia was standing and pleading with him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” ¹⁰ When he had seen ^(X)the vision, ^(Y)we immediately sought to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to ^(Z)preach the gospel to them.

¹¹ So after setting sail from ^(AA)Troas, we ran ^(AB)a straight course to Samothrace, and on the following day to Neapolis; ¹² and from there to ^(AC)Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of ^(AD)Macedonia, ^(AE)a Roman colony; and we were spending some days in this city. ¹³ And on ^(AF)the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were thinking that there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled.

First Convert in Europe

¹⁴ A woman named Lydia was listening; she was a seller of purple fabrics from the city of ^(AG)Thyatira, and ^(AH)a worshiper of God. ^[d]The Lord ^(AI)opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. ¹⁵ Now 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.

¹⁶ It happened that as we were going to ^(AK)the place of prayer, a slave woman who had ^(AL)a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing great profit to her masters by fortune-telling. ¹⁷ She followed Paul and us and cried out repeatedly, saying, “These men are bond-servants of ^(AM)the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you a way of salvation.” ¹⁸ Now she continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and he 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 ^[e]moment.

¹⁹ But when her masters saw that their hope of ^(AO)profit was suddenly gone, they seized ^(AP)Paul and Silas and ^(AQ)dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities, ²⁰ and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, “These men, Jews as they are, are causing our city trouble, ²¹ and they ^(AR)are proclaiming customs that are not lawful for us to accept or to practice, since we are ^(AS)Romans.”

Paul and Silas Imprisoned

²² The crowd joined in an attack against them, and the chief magistrates tore their ^[f]robes off them and proceeded to order ^[g]them to be ^(AT)beaten with rods. ²³ When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding ^(AU)the jailer to guard them securely; ^24 [h]and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in ^(AV)the ^[i]stocks.

²⁵ Now about midnight ^(AW)Paul and Silas were praying and ^(AX)singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; ²⁶ and suddenly ^(AY)there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately ^(AZ)all the doors were opened, and everyone’s ^(BA)chains were unfastened. ²⁷ When ^(BB)the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about ^(BC)to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸ But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” ²⁹ And the jailer asked for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear, he fell down before ^(BD)Paul and Silas; ³⁰ and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, ^(BE)what must I do to be saved?”

The Jailer Converted

³¹ They said, “^(BF)Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and ^(BG)your household.” ³² And they spoke the word of God to him together with all who were in his house. ³³ And he took them ^(BH)that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. ³⁴ And he brought them into his house and set ^[j]food before them, and was ^[k]overjoyed, since he had become a believer in God together with ^(BI)his whole household.

³⁵ Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their officers, saying, “Release those men.” ³⁶ And ^(BJ)the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The chief magistrates have sent word that you be released. So come out now and go ^(BK)in peace.” ³⁷ But Paul said to them, “After beating us in public without due process—^(BL)men who are Romans—they threw us into prison; and now they are releasing us secretly? No indeed! On the contrary, let them come ^[l]in person and lead us out.” ³⁸ The officers reported these words to the chief magistrates. ^(BM)And they became fearful when they heard that they were Romans, ³⁹ and they came and pleaded with them, and when they had led them out, they repeatedly asked them ^(BN)to leave the city. ⁴⁰ They left the prison and entered the house of ^(BO)Lydia, and when they saw ^(BP)the brothers and sisters, they ^[m]encouraged them and departed.