Beginning
Timothy Joins Paul and Silas
16 He also came to Derbe[a] and to Lystra.[b] A disciple[c] named Timothy was there, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer,[d] but whose father was a Greek.[e] 2 The brothers in Lystra and Iconium spoke well[f] of him.[g] 3 Paul wanted Timothy[h] to accompany him, and he took[i] him and circumcised[j] him because of the Jews who were in those places,[k] for they all knew that his father was Greek.[l] 4 As they went through the towns,[m] they passed on[n] the decrees that had been decided on by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the Gentile believers[o] to obey.[p] 5 So the churches were being strengthened in the faith and were increasing in number every day.[q]
Paul’s Vision of the Macedonian Man
6 They went through the region of Phrygia[r] and Galatia,[s] having been prevented[t] by the Holy Spirit from speaking the message[u] in the province of Asia.[v] 7 When they came to[w] Mysia,[x] they attempted to go into Bithynia,[y] but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow[z] them to do this,[aa] 8 so they passed through[ab] Mysia[ac] and went down to Troas.[ad] 9 A[ae] vision appeared to Paul during the night: A Macedonian man was standing there[af] urging him,[ag] “Come over[ah] to Macedonia[ai] and help us!” 10 After Paul[aj] saw the vision, we[ak] attempted[al] immediately to go over to Macedonia,[am] concluding that God had called[an] us to proclaim the good news to them.
Arrival at Philippi
11 We put out to sea[ao] from Troas[ap] and sailed a straight course[aq] to Samothrace,[ar] the next day to Neapolis,[as] 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of that district[at] of Macedonia,[au] a Roman colony.[av] We stayed in this city for some days. 13 On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate to the side of the river, where we thought there would be a place of prayer, and we sat down[aw] and began to speak[ax] to the women[ay] who had assembled there.[az] 14 A[ba] woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth[bb] from the city of Thyatira,[bc] a God-fearing woman, listened to us.[bd] The Lord opened her heart to respond[be] to what Paul was saying. 15 After she and her household were baptized, she urged us,[bf] “If[bg] you consider me to be a believer in the Lord,[bh] come and stay in my house.” And she persuaded[bi] us.
Paul and Silas Are Thrown Into Prison
16 Now[bj] as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave girl met us who had a spirit that enabled her to foretell the future by supernatural means.[bk] She[bl] brought her owners[bm] a great profit by fortune-telling.[bn] 17 She followed behind Paul and us and kept crying out,[bo] “These men are servants[bp] of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way[bq] of salvation.”[br] 18 She continued to do this for many days. But Paul became greatly annoyed,[bs] and turned[bt] and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ[bu] to come out of her!” And it came out of her at once.[bv] 19 But when her owners[bw] saw their hope of profit[bx] was gone, they seized[by] Paul and Silas and dragged[bz] them into the marketplace[ca] before the authorities. 20 When[cb] they had brought them[cc] before the magistrates, they said, “These men are throwing our city into confusion.[cd] They are[ce] Jews 21 and are advocating[cf] customs that are not lawful for us to accept[cg] or practice,[ch] since we are[ci] Romans.”
22 The crowd joined the attack[cj] against them, and the magistrates tore the clothes[ck] off Paul and Silas[cl] and ordered them to be beaten with rods.[cm] 23 After they had beaten them severely,[cn] they threw them into prison and commanded[co] the jailer to guard them securely. 24 Receiving such orders, he threw them in the inner cell[cp] and fastened their feet in the stocks.[cq]
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying[cr] and singing hymns to God,[cs] and the rest of[ct] the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly a great earthquake occurred, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. Immediately all the doors flew open, and the bonds[cu] of all the prisoners came loose. 27 When the jailer woke up[cv] and saw the doors of the prison standing open,[cw] he drew his sword and was about to kill himself,[cx] because he assumed[cy] the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul called out loudly,[cz] “Do not harm yourself,[da] for we are all here!” 29 Calling for lights, the jailer[db] rushed in and fell down[dc] trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them outside[dd] and asked, “Sirs, what must[de] I do to be saved?” 31 They replied,[df] “Believe[dg] in the Lord Jesus[dh] and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 Then[di] they spoke the word of the Lord[dj] to him, along with all those who were in his house. 33 At[dk] that hour of the night he took them[dl] and washed their wounds;[dm] then[dn] he and all his family[do] were baptized right away.[dp] 34 The jailer[dq] brought them into his house and set food[dr] before them, and he rejoiced greatly[ds] that he had come to believe[dt] in God, together with his entire household.[du] 35 At daybreak[dv] the magistrates[dw] sent their police officers,[dx] saying, “Release those men.” 36 The jailer reported these words to Paul, saying,[dy] “The magistrates have sent orders[dz] to release you. So come out now and go in peace.”[ea] 37 But Paul said to the police officers,[eb] “They had us beaten in public[ec] without a proper trial[ed]—even though we are Roman citizens[ee]—and they threw us[ef] in prison. And now they want to send us away[eg] secretly? Absolutely not! They[eh] themselves must come and escort us out!”[ei] 38 The police officers reported these words to the magistrates. They were frightened when they heard Paul and Silas[ej] were Roman citizens[ek] 39 and came[el] and apologized to them. After[em] they brought them out, they asked them repeatedly[en] to leave the city. 40 When they came out of the prison, they entered Lydia’s house, and when they saw the brothers, they encouraged them and then[eo] departed.
Paul and Silas at Thessalonica
17 After they traveled through[ep] Amphipolis[eq] and Apollonia,[er] they came to Thessalonica,[es] where there was a Jewish synagogue.[et] 2 Paul went to the Jews in the synagogue,[eu] as he customarily did, and on three Sabbath days he addressed[ev] them from the scriptures, 3 explaining and demonstrating[ew] that the Christ[ex] had to suffer and to rise from the dead,[ey] saying,[ez] “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.”[fa] 4 Some of them were persuaded[fb] and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large group[fc] of God-fearing Greeks[fd] and quite a few[fe] prominent women. 5 But the Jews became jealous,[ff] and gathering together some worthless men from the rabble in the marketplace,[fg] they formed a mob[fh] and set the city in an uproar.[fi] They attacked Jason’s house,[fj] trying to find Paul and Silas[fk] to bring them out to the assembly.[fl] 6 When they did not find them, they dragged[fm] Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials,[fn] screaming, “These people who have stirred up trouble[fo] throughout the world[fp] have come here too, 7 and[fq] Jason has welcomed them as guests! They[fr] are all acting against Caesar’s[fs] decrees, saying there is another king named[ft] Jesus!”[fu] 8 They caused confusion among[fv] the crowd and the city officials[fw] who heard these things. 9 After[fx] the city officials[fy] had received bail[fz] from Jason and the others, they released them.
Paul and Silas at Berea
10 The brothers sent Paul and Silas off to Berea[ga] at once, during the night. When they arrived,[gb] they went to the Jewish synagogue.[gc] 11 These Jews[gd] were more open-minded[ge] than those in Thessalonica,[gf] for they eagerly[gg] received[gh] the message, examining[gi] the scriptures carefully every day[gj] to see if these things were so. 12 Therefore many of them believed, along with quite a few[gk] prominent[gl] Greek women and men. 13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica[gm] heard that Paul had also proclaimed the word of God[gn] in Berea, they came there too, inciting[go] and disturbing[gp] the crowds. 14 Then the brothers sent Paul away to the coast[gq] at once, but Silas and Timothy remained in Berea.[gr] 15 Those who accompanied Paul escorted him as far as Athens, and after receiving an order for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they left.[gs]
Paul at Athens
16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was greatly upset[gt] because he saw[gu] the city was full of idols. 17 So he was addressing[gv] the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles[gw] in the synagogue,[gx] and in the marketplace[gy] every day[gz] those who happened to be there. 18 Also some of the Epicurean[ha] and Stoic[hb] philosophers were conversing[hc] with him, and some were asking,[hd] “What does this foolish babbler[he] want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods.”[hf] (They said this because he was proclaiming the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.)[hg] 19 So they took Paul and[hh] brought him to the Areopagus,[hi] saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are proclaiming? 20 For you are bringing some surprising things[hj] to our ears, so we want to know what they[hk] mean.” 21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there used to spend their time[hl] in nothing else than telling[hm] or listening to something new.)[hn]
22 So Paul stood[ho] before the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I see that you are very religious[hp] in all respects.[hq] 23 For as I went around and observed closely your objects of worship,[hr] I even found an altar with this inscription:[hs] ‘To an unknown god.’ Therefore what you worship without knowing it,[ht] this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it,[hu] who is[hv] Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by human hands,[hw] 25 nor is he served by human hands, as if he needed anything,[hx] because he himself gives life and breath and everything to everyone.[hy] 26 From one man[hz] he made every nation of the human race[ia] to inhabit the entire earth,[ib] determining their set times[ic] and the fixed limits of the places where they would live,[id] 27 so that they would search for God and perhaps grope around[ie] for him and find him,[if] though he is[ig] not far from each one of us. 28 For in him we live and move about[ih] and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.’[ii] 29 So since we are God’s offspring, we should not think the deity[ij] is like gold or silver or stone, an image[ik] made by human[il] skill[im] and imagination.[in] 30 Therefore, although God has overlooked[io] such times of ignorance,[ip] he now commands all people[iq] everywhere to repent,[ir] 31 because he has set[is] a day on which he is going to judge the world[it] in righteousness, by a man whom he designated,[iu] having provided proof to everyone by raising[iv] him from the dead.”
32 Now when they heard about[iw] the resurrection from the dead, some began to scoff,[ix] but others said, “We will hear you again about this.” 33 So Paul left the Areopagus.[iy] 34 But some people[iz] joined him[ja] and believed. Among them[jb] were Dionysius, who was a member of the Areopagus,[jc] a woman[jd] named Damaris, and others with them.
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