Book of Common Prayer

⁶ They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, since the holy spirit had forbidden them to speak the word in the province of Asia. ⁷ When they came to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the spirit of Jesus didn’t allow them to do so. ⁸ So, passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. ⁹ Then a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man from Macedonia was standing there, pleading with him, and saying, “Come across to Macedonia and help us!” ¹⁰ When he saw the vision, at once we set about finding a way to get across to Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the good news to them.

Preaching and prison in Philippi

¹¹ So we sailed away from Troas and made a straight course to Samothrace, and the next day to Neapolis. ¹² From there we went on to Philippi, a Roman colony, the chief city of the district of Macedonia. We stayed in this city for some days.

¹³ On the sabbath day we went outside the gate to a place by a river where we reckoned there was a place of prayer, and there we sat down. Some women had gathered, and we spoke to them. ¹⁴ There was a woman called Lydia, a godfearer, who was a seller of purple from Thyatira. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what Paul was saying. ¹⁵ She was baptized, with all her household.

“If you have judged me faithful to the Lord,” she begged us, “please come and stay at my home.”

So she persuaded us.

Jesus enters Jerusalem

⁹ When the great crowd of Judaeans discovered that Jesus was there, they came to Bethany not just because of Jesus, but to see Lazarus, the one he had raised from the dead. ¹⁰ So the chief priests planned to kill Lazarus as well, ¹¹ because many of the Judaeans were distancing themselves on account of him, and were believing in Jesus.

¹² On the next day, the large crowd that had come up for the festival heard that Jesus had come to Jerusalem. ¹³ They took palm branches and went out to meet him.

“Hosanna!” they shouted. “Welcome in the name of the Lord! Welcome to Israel’s king!”

¹⁴ Jesus found a little donkey and sat on it. As the Bible says,

¹⁶ His disciples didn’t understand this to begin with. But when Jesus was glorified, they remembered that these things had been written about him, and that these things had been done to him. ¹⁷ The crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb, and raised him from the dead, told their story. ¹⁸ That’s why the crowd went out to meet him, because they heard that he had done this sign.

¹⁹ The Pharisees conferred.

“You see?” they said to each other. “It’s impossible. There’s nothing you can do. Look—the world has gone off after him!”