Beginning

Timothy is circumcised. Paul preaches at Phillipi, and there he is put in prison.

16 Then Paul went to Derbe and to Lystra. And a certain disciple was there named Timothy, the son of a woman who was a Jewess and believed, but his father was a Greek. ² The brethren of Lystra and of Iconium spoke well of Timothy. ³ Paul wanted him to go forth with him, and took and circumcised him because of the Jews that were in those quarters, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. ⁴ As they went through the towns, they delivered to them the decrees to keep, as resolved by the apostles and elders who were at Jerusalem. ⁵ And so the congregations were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily.

⁶ When they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia, ⁷ they came to the region of Mysia, and sought to go into Bithynia. But the Spirit would not permit them. ⁸ Then they went over Mysia and down to Troas. ⁹ And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: there stood a man from Macedonia who appealed to him, saying, Come into Macedonia and help us! ¹⁰ After he had seen the vision, immediately we prepared to go into Macedonia, persuaded that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them. ¹¹ Then we set sail from Troas, and with a straight course went to Samothrace, and the next day to Neapolis, ¹² and from there to Philippi, which is the chief city in the parts of Macedonia, and a Roman colony.

We were in that city for several days. ¹³ And on the Sabbath days we went out of the city, beside a river where people were accustomed to pray. And we sat down and spoke to the women who gathered there. ¹⁴ And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira who worshipped God, listened to us, and the Lord opened her heart so that she attended to the things that Paul said. ¹⁵ When she was baptized, and her household, she invited us, saying, If you think that I believe on the Lord, come into my house and stay there. And she constrained us.

¹⁶ And it happened as we went to prayer that a certain girl possessed with a spirit that prophesied met us, who brought her masters much income by prophesying. ¹⁷ She followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, who show to us the way of salvation! ¹⁸ And she did this many days. But Paul, not pleased, turned about and said to the spirit, I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her! And it came out the same hour.

¹⁹ And when her master and mistress saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas and drew them into the marketplace to the authorities, ²⁰ and brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men are troubling our city. They are Jews, and preach customs ²¹ that are not lawful for us to receive nor to observe, seeing we are Romans.

²² And the people ran on them, and the magistrates tore their clothes and ordered them to be beaten with rods. ²³ And when they had beaten them sore, they cast them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them securely. ²⁴ Which jailer, when he had received such direction, thrust them into the inner prison and made their feet fast in the stocks.

²⁵ At midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and lauding God, and the prisoners heard them. ²⁶ And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundation of the prison was shaken. And immediately all the doors opened, and every man’s bonds were loosed. ²⁷ When the keeper of the prison awoke out of his sleep and saw the prison doors open, he drew out his sword and would have killed himself, supposing the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸ But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying, Do yourself no harm, for we are all here!

²⁹ Then he called for a light and rushed in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, ³⁰ and brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? ³¹ And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, and your household. ³² And they preached the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. ³³ And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds, and was baptized with all who belonged to him straightaway. ³⁴ When he had brought Paul and Silas into his house, he set food before them, and rejoiced that he with all his household believed on God.

³⁵ And when it was day, the magistrates sent their officers, saying, Let those men go. ³⁶ The keeper of the prison told this to Paul, saying, The magistrates have sent word to release you; now therefore take your leave, and go in peace.

³⁷ Then Paul said to them, They have beaten us openly, without a trial, for all that we are Romans, and have cast us into prison. And now would they send us away quietly? No, not so, but let them come themselves and get us out.

³⁸ When the officers told these words to the magistrates, they feared, hearing that Paul and Silas were Romans, ³⁹ and came and entreated them, and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the city. ⁴⁰ And they went out of the prison and entered into the house of Lydia. And when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them and departed.

Paul goes to Thessalonica, where the Jews set the city on a roar. Paul escapes and goes to Athens, where he preaches the true and unknown God.

17 As they made their journey through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. ² And Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, ³ explaining and showing that the Christ must necessarily have suffered and risen again from death, and that this Jesus was Christ, whom (said he) I preach to you. ⁴ And some of them believed, and came and kept company with Paul and Silas; also of the honourable Greeks a great number, and of the chief women not a few.

⁵ But the Jews who did not believe, being indignant, took some evil men who were vagabonds and gathered a company, and set all the city on a roar, and attacked the house of Jason, and intended to bring Paul and Silas out to the people. ⁶ But when they did not find them, they drew Jason and certain brethren to the officials of the city, shouting, Those men that trouble the world have come here also, ⁷ and Jason took them in. And these people all go contrary to the decrees of Caesar, affirming another king, one Jesus!

⁸ And the people and the officials of the city were troubled when they heard these things. ⁹ But when they were sufficiently answered by Jason and by the others, they let them go.

¹⁰ And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night to Berea. When they arrived there, they entered into the synagogue of the Jews. ¹¹ These were the noblest of birth among those of Thessalonica, and received the word with all diligence of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. ¹² And many of them believed; also noble women who were Greek, and men not a few.

¹³ When the Jews of Thessalonica learned that the word of God was preached by Paul at Berea, they came and stirred up the people there. ¹⁴ And then immediately the brethren sent Paul away to go to the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there still. ¹⁵ And the men who guided Paul brought him to Athens, and were given a message for Silas and Timothy to come to him at once, and went their way.

¹⁶ While Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was moved in him, to see the city given to the worship of idols. ¹⁷ Then he spoke at length in the synagogue with the Jews and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with those who came to him. ¹⁸ Certain philosophers of the Epicures and of the Stoics debated with him. And there were some who said, What will this babbler say? Other said, He seems to be a preacher of new devils, because he preached Jesus and the resurrection to them. ¹⁹ And they took him and brought him into Mars Street, saying, May we not know what this new doctrine is of which you speak? ²⁰ For you bring strange tidings to our ears. We would like to know therefore what these things mean. ²¹ (For all the Athenians and foreigners who were there gave themselves to nothing else but either to tell or to hear new things.)

²² Paul stood in the middle of Mars Street and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are too superstitious. ²³ For as I passed by and saw how you worship your gods, I found an altar on which was written, to the unknown god. Him then, whom you worship without knowledge, I proclaim to you. ²⁴ God, who made the world and everything that is in it, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwells not in temples made with hands. ²⁵ Neither is he worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself gives life and breath to all people everywhere. ²⁶ And he has made from one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, determining beforehand how long, and also the bounds of their habitation, ²⁷ desiring them to seek God, if they might feel after and find him – though he is not far from any one of us. ²⁸ For in him we live and move and have our being, as certain of your own poets have said. For we are also his offspring. ²⁹ Since, then, we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the godhead is as gold, silver, or stone, graven by the craft and imagination of man.

³⁰ And God overlooked the time of this ignorance. But now he bids all people everywhere to repent, ³¹ because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world according to righteousness, by that man whom he has appointed. And he has offered faith to all peoples, after raising him from death.

³² When they heard of the resurrection from death, some mocked, but others said, We would like to hear you again concerning this matter.

³³ Leaving it there, Paul departed from the assembly. ³⁴ However, certain men joined with Paul and believed, among whom was Dionysius, a member of the aristocratic council, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.