Beginning
16 Now Paul came to Derbe and Lystra. There was a disciple there named Timothy, son of a woman who was a Jewish believer and a Greek father, 2 who was well-spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium. 3 Paul wanted this man to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him for the sake of the Jewish people in those places—for they all knew that his father was Greek.
4 As they were traveling through the cities, they were handing down the rulings that had been decided upon by the emissaries and elders in Jerusalem, for them to keep. 5 So Messiah’s communities were strengthened in the faith and kept increasing daily in number.
Going West to Macedonia
6 They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Ruach ha-Kodesh to speak the word in Asia. [a] 7 When they came to Mysia, they were trying to proceed into Bithynia, but the Ruach of Yeshua would not allow them. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.
9 Now a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man from Macedonia was standing and pleading with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” 10 As soon as he had seen the vision, immediately we tried to go to Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to proclaim the Good News to them.
11 So we put out to sea from Troas and made a straight course for Samothrace, the next day on to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi—which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia as well as a Roman colony. We stayed in this city for several days.
13 On Yom Shabbat, we went outside the gate to the river, where we expected a place of prayer to be. We sat down and began speaking with the women who had gathered. 14 A woman named Lydia—a seller of purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, a God-fearer—was listening. The Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying.
15 When she was immersed, along with her household, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my house.” And she insisted.[b]
16 It so happened that as we were going to prayer, we met a slave girl who had a spirit of divination, who was bringing her masters much profit from her fortune-telling. [c] 17 Following after Paul and us, she kept shouting, saying, “These men are servants of El Elyon, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.” 18 She kept doing this for many days. But Paul was irritated and turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Messiah Yeshua to come out of her!” And it came out of her that very moment.
19 But when her masters saw that the hope of profit was gone, they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities. 20 And when they brought them to the chief authorities, they said, “These men are throwing our city into an uproar! Being Jewish, 21 they advocate customs which are not permitted for us to accept or practice,[d] being Romans.”
22 Then the crowd joined in the attack on them. So the chief authorities ripped their clothes off them and commanded them to be beaten with rods. 23 After inflicting many blows on them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to guard them securely. 24 Having received this charge, he threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.[e]
Salvation for a Jailer’s Household
25 But about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a great earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. Immediately all the doors were unlocked, and everyone’s chains came loose.
27 When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Don’t harm yourself! We’re all here!”
29 The jailer called for lights and rushed in; and trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas. 30 After he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 They said, “Put your trust in the Lord Yeshua[f] and you will be saved—you and your household!”
32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him, along with everyone in his household. 33 He took them that very hour and washed their wounds, and at once he was immersed—he and all his household. 34 The jailer brought them to his house and set food before them, and he was overjoyed that he with his entire household had put their trust in God.
35 When day came, the chief authorities sent their police officers, saying, “Release those men.”
36 But the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The chief authorities have sent orders to release you. So come out now, and go in shalom.”
37 But Paul said to the officers, “They have beaten us publicly without a trial—men who are Roman citizens—and have thrown us into prison. And now they are sending us away secretly? No! Let them come themselves and lead us out!”
38 The police officers reported these words to the chief authorities. They became afraid when they heard they were Romans, 39 so they came and apologized to them. After they escorted them out, they kept begging them to leave the city. 40 When Paul and Silas went out of the prison, they visited Lydia’s house. And when they saw the brothers, they encouraged them and then departed.
Synagogue Responses Vary
17 After passing through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 As was his custom, Paul went to the Jewish people; and for three Shabbatot, he debated the Scriptures with them. 3 He opened them and gave evidence that Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead, saying, “This Yeshua, whom I declare to you, is the Messiah.” 4 Some of them were convinced and became attached to Paul and Silas, as were a large number of the God-fearing Greeks and no small number of the leading women.
5 But some of the Jewish people became jealous. Taking some wicked fellows of the marketplace and gathering a crowd, they stirred the city into an uproar. They attacked Jason’s house, trying to bring Paul and Silas out to the mob. 6 When they did not find them, they instead began dragging Jason and some of the brethren before the city officials, shouting, “These men who have upset the world have come here too, 7 and Jason has welcomed them! They are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king, Yeshua.” 8 Hearing these things, the crowd and the city officials were confused. 9 But after receiving bail from Jason and the rest, they released them.
10 As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas to Berea. Upon arrival, they made their way to the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, because they received the message with goodwill, searching the Scriptures each day to see whether these things were true. 12 Therefore many of them believed, as well as quite a few prominent Greek women and men.
13 But when the Jewish people of Thessalonica learned that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Berea, they came there too, agitating and inciting the people. 14 Then the brothers immediately sent Paul away to the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there. 15 Those escorting Paul brought him as far as Athens. After receiving an order for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they left.
An Unknown God in Athens
16 Now while Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was aroused within him when he saw that the city was full of idols. 17 So he was debating in the synagogue with the Jewish people and the God-fearers, as well as in the marketplace every day with all who happened to be there. 18 Also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. Some were saying, “What’s this babbler trying to say?” while others, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign deities”—because he was proclaiming the Good News of Yeshua and the resurrection. 19 So they took Paul to the Aereopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are talking about? 20 For you are bringing some strange things to our ears, so we want to know what these things mean.” 21 Now all the Athenians and foreigners visiting there used to pass their time doing nothing but telling or hearing something new.
22 So Paul stood in the middle of the Aereopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I see that in all ways you are very religious. 23 For while I was passing through and observing the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: ‘To an Unknown God.’ Therefore what you worship without knowing, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth,[g] does not live in temples made by hands. [h] 25 Nor is He served by human hands, as if He needed anything,[i] since He Himself gives to everyone life and breath and all things. [j] 26 From one He made every nation of men to live on the face of the earth, having set appointed times and the boundaries of their territory. [k] 27 They were to search for Him, and perhaps grope around for Him and find Him. Yet He is not far from each one of us, [l] 28 for ‘In Him we live and move and have our being.’
As some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His offspring.’ [m] 29 Since we are His offspring, we ought not to suppose the Deity is like gold or silver or stone, an engraved image of human art and imagination. [n] 30 Although God overlooked the periods of ignorance, now He commands everyone everywhere to repent. 31 For He has set a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness, through a Man whom He has appointed.[o] He has brought forth evidence of this to all men, by raising Him from the dead.” 32 Now when they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some began scoffing. But others said, “We will hear from you again about this.” 33 So Paul left from their midst. 34 But some men joined with him and believed—among them Dionysius (a member of the council of the Aereopagus), a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.