The Enemy’s Plot

6 Now when it was reported to Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and to the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall, and that no breach was left in it, ^(A)although at that time I had not installed the doors in the gates, ² Sanballat and Geshem sent a message to me, saying, “Come, let’s meet together ^[a]at Chephirim in the plain of ^(B)Ono.” But they were plotting to ^[b]harm me. ³ So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and am unable to come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” ⁴ Then they sent messages to me four times worded in this way, and I answered them with the same wording. ⁵ Then Sanballat sent his servant to me in the same way a fifth time with an open letter in his hand. ⁶ In it was written: “It is reported among the nations, and ^[c]Gashmu says, that ^(C)you and the Jews intend to rebel; for that reason you are rebuilding the wall. And you are to be their king, according to these reports. ⁷ You have also appointed prophets to proclaim in Jerusalem concerning ^[d]you, ‘A king is in Judah!’ And now it will be reported to the king according to these reports. So come now, let’s consult together.” ⁸ Then I sent a message to him saying, “Nothing like these things that you are saying has been done, but you are ^(D)inventing them ^[e]in your own mind.” ⁹ For all of them were trying to frighten us, ^[f]thinking, “^[g]They will become discouraged with the work and it will not be done.” But now, ^(E)God, strengthen my hands.

¹⁰ When I entered the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, ^(F)who was confined at home, he said, “Let’s meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let’s close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you, and they are coming to kill you at night.” ¹¹ But I said, “^(G)Should a man like me flee? And who is there like me who would go into the temple ^[h]to save his own life? I will not go in.” ¹² Then I realized ^[i]that God certainly had not sent him, but he uttered his prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. ¹³ He was hired for this reason, ^(H)that I would become frightened and act accordingly and sin, so that they might have an evil report in order that they could taunt me. ^14 (I)Remember, my God, Tobiah and Sanballat in accordance with these works of theirs, and also Noadiah ^(J)the prophetess and the rest of the prophets, who were trying to frighten me.

The Wall Is Finished

¹⁵ So ^(K)the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. ^16 (L)When all our enemies heard about it, and all the nations surrounding us saw it, they ^[j]lost their confidence; for ^(M)they realized that this work had been accomplished ^[k]with the help of our God. ¹⁷ Also in those days many letters went from the nobles of Judah to Tobiah, and ^[l]Tobiah’s letters came to them. ¹⁸ For many in Judah were bound by oath to him because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah. ¹⁹ Moreover, they were speaking about his good deeds in my presence, and were reporting my words to him. Then Tobiah sent letters to frighten me.

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.