Beginning
Timothy Goes With Paul and Silas
16 Paul went to the city of Derbe and then to Lystra, where a follower of Jesus named Timothy lived. Timothy’s mother was a Jewish believer, but his father was a Greek. 2 The believers in the cities of Lystra and Iconium had only good things to say about him. 3 Paul wanted Timothy to travel with him, but all the Jews living in that area knew that his father was a Greek. So Paul circumcised Timothy to please the Jews.
4 Then Paul and those with him traveled through other cities. They gave the believers the rules and decisions from the apostles and elders in Jerusalem. They told them to obey these rules. 5 So the churches were becoming stronger in their faith, and the number of believers was growing every day.
Paul Is Called to Macedonia
6 Paul and those with him went through the areas of Phrygia and Galatia because the Holy Spirit did not allow them to tell the Good News in the province of Asia. 7 When they reached the border of Mysia, they tried to go on into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not let them go there. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went to the city of Troas.
9 That night Paul saw a vision. In it, a man from Macedonia came to Paul. The man stood there and begged, “Come across to Macedonia and help us.” 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we[a] immediately prepared to leave for Macedonia. We understood that God had called us to tell the Good News to those people.
The Conversion of Lydia
11 We left Troas in a ship and sailed to the island of Samothrace. The next day we sailed to the city of Neapolis. 12 Then we went to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city in that part of Macedonia. We stayed there for a few days.
13 On the Sabbath day we went out the city gate to the river. There we thought we might find a special place for prayer. Some women had gathered there, so we sat down and talked with them. 14 There was a woman there named Lydia from the city of Thyatira. Her job was selling purple cloth. She was a worshiper of the true God. Lydia was listening to Paul, and the Lord opened her heart to accept what Paul was saying. 15 She and all the people living in her house were baptized. Then she invited us into her home. She said, “If you think I am a true believer in the Lord Jesus, come stay in my house.” She persuaded us to stay with her.
Paul and Silas in Jail
16 One day we were going to the place for prayer, and a servant girl met us. She had a spirit[b] in her that gave her the power to tell what would happen in the future. By doing this she earned a lot of money for the men who owned her. 17 She started following Paul and the rest of us around. She kept shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God! They are telling you how you can be saved!” 18 She continued doing this for many days. This bothered Paul, so he turned and said to the spirit, “By the power of Jesus Christ, I command you to come out of her!” Immediately, the spirit came out.
19 When the men who owned the servant girl saw this, they realized that they could no longer use her to make money. So they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them to the public square to meet with the authorities. 20 They brought Paul and Silas before the Roman officials and said, “These men are Jews, and they are making trouble in our city. 21 They are telling people to do things that are not right for us as Romans to do.”
22 The whole crowd turned against Paul and Silas. The officials tore the clothes off both men and ordered that they be beaten with rods. 23 They were beaten severely and thrown into jail. The officials told the jailer, “Guard them very carefully!” 24 When the jailer heard this special order, he put Paul and Silas far inside the jail and bound their feet between large blocks of wood.
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing songs to God. The other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was an earthquake so strong that it shook the foundation of the jail. All the doors of the jail opened, and the chains on all the prisoners fell off. 27 The jailer woke up and saw that the jail doors were open. He thought that the prisoners had already escaped, so he got his sword and was ready to kill himself.[c] 28 But Paul shouted, “Don’t hurt yourself! We are all here!”
29 The jailer told someone to bring a light. Then he ran inside and, shaking with fear, fell down in front of Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them outside and said, “Men, what must I do to be saved?”
31 They said to him, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved—you and all who live in your house.” 32 So Paul and Silas told the message of the Lord to the jailer and all the people who lived in his house. 33 It was late at night, but the jailer took Paul and Silas and washed their wounds. Then the jailer and all his people were baptized. 34 After this the jailer took Paul and Silas home and gave them some food. All the people were very happy because they now believed in God.
35 The next morning the Roman officials sent some soldiers to tell the jailer, “Let these men go free.”
36 The jailer said to Paul, “The officials have sent these soldiers to let you go free. You can leave now. Go in peace.”
37 But Paul said to the soldiers, “Those officials did not prove that we did anything wrong, but they beat us in public and put us in jail. And we are Roman citizens.[d] Now they want us to go away quietly. No, they must come here themselves and lead us out!”
38 The soldiers told the officials what Paul said. When they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were afraid. 39 So they came and told them they were sorry. They led them out of the jail and asked them to leave the city. 40 But when Paul and Silas came out of the jail, they went to Lydia’s house. They saw some of the believers there and encouraged them. Then they left.
Paul and Silas in Thessalonica
17 Paul and Silas traveled through the cities of Amphipolis and Apollonia. They came to the city of Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 Paul went into the synagogue to see the Jews as he always did. The next three weeks, on each Sabbath day, he discussed the Scriptures with them. 3 He explained the Scriptures to show them that the Messiah had to die and then rise from death. He said, “This Jesus that I am telling you about is the Messiah.” 4 Some of the Jews there believed Paul and Silas and decided to join them. Also, a large number of Greeks who were worshipers of the true God and many important women joined them.
5 But the Jews who did not believe became jealous, so they got some bad men from around the city center to make trouble. They formed a mob and caused a riot in the city. They went to Jason’s house, looking for Paul and Silas. They wanted to bring them out before the people. 6 When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the other believers to the city leaders. The people shouted, “These men have made trouble everywhere in the world, and now they have come here too! 7 Jason is keeping them in his house. They all do things against the laws of Caesar. They say there is another king called Jesus.”
8 When the city leaders and the other people heard this, they became very upset. 9 They made Jason and the other believers deposit money to guarantee that there would be no more trouble. Then they let them go.
Paul and Silas Go to Berea
10 That same night the believers sent Paul and Silas to another city named Berea. When they arrived there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11 The people in Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica. They were so glad to hear the message Paul told them. They studied the Scriptures every day to make sure that what they heard was really true. 12 The result was that many of them believed, including many important Greek women and men.
13 But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was telling people God’s message in Berea, they came there too. They upset the people and made trouble. 14 So the believers immediately sent Paul away to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea. 15 Those who went with Paul took him to the city of Athens. They returned with a message for Silas and Timothy to come and join him as soon as they could.
Paul in Athens
16 While Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy in Athens, he was upset because he saw that the city was full of idols. 17 In the synagogue he talked with the Jews and with the Greeks who were worshipers of the true God. He also went to the public square every day and talked with everyone who came by. 18 Some of the Epicurean and some of the Stoic philosophers argued with him.
Some of them said, “This man doesn’t really know what he is talking about. What is he trying to say?” Paul was telling them the Good News about Jesus and the resurrection. So they said, “He seems to be telling us about some other gods.”
19 They took Paul to a meeting of the Areopagus council. They said, “Please explain to us this new idea that you have been teaching. 20 The things you are saying are new to us. We have never heard this teaching before, and we want to know what it means.” 21 (The people of Athens and the foreigners who lived there spent all their time either telling or listening to all the latest ideas.)
22 Then Paul stood up before the meeting of the Areopagus council and said, “Men of Athens, everything I see here tells me you are very religious. 23 I was going through your city and I saw the things you worship. I found an altar that had these words written on it: ‘ to an unknown god.’ You worship a god that you don’t know. This is the God I want to tell you about.
24 “He is the God who made the whole world and everything in it. He is the Lord of the land and the sky. He does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 He is the one who gives people life, breath, and everything else they need. He does not need any help from them. He has everything he needs. 26 God began by making one man, and from him he made all the different people who live everywhere in the world. He decided exactly when and where they would live.
27 “God wanted people to look for him, and perhaps in searching all around for him, they would find him. But he is not far from any of us. 28 It is through him that we are able to live, to do what we do, and to be who we are. As your own poets have said, ‘We all come from him.’
29 “That’s right. We all come from God. So you must not think that he is like something people imagine or make. He is not made of gold, silver, or stone. 30 In the past people did not understand God, and he overlooked this. But now he is telling everyone in the world to change and turn to him. 31 He has decided on a day when he will judge all the people in the world in a way that is fair. To do this he will use a man he chose long ago. And he has proved to everyone that this is the man to do it. He proved it by raising him from death!”
32 When the people heard about Jesus being raised from death, some of them laughed. But others said, “We will hear more about this from you later.” 33 So Paul left the council meeting. 34 But some of the people joined with Paul and became believers. Among these were Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus council, a woman named Damaris, and some others.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International