Chronological

The Jerusalem Council

15 ^(A)Some men came down from Judea and began teaching ^(B)the brothers, “Unless you are ^(C)circumcised according to ^(D)the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” ² And when Paul and Barnabas had not a little dissension and ^(E)debate with them, ^(F)the brothers determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the ^(G)apostles and elders concerning this issue. ³ Therefore, being ^(H)sent on their way by the church, they were passing through both ^(I)Phoenicia and Samaria, ^(J)recounting in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and were bringing great joy to all ^(K)the brothers. ⁴ When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the church and ^(L)the apostles and the elders, and they ^(M)reported all that God had done with them. ⁵ But some of ^(N)the sect of the ^(O)Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, “It is necessary to ^(P)circumcise them and to command them to keep the Law of Moses.”

^6 (Q)Both the apostles and the elders came together to ^[a]look into this ^[b]matter. ⁷ And after there had been much ^(R)debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that ^[c]in the early days ^(S)God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of ^(T)the gospel and believe. ⁸ And God, ^(U)who knows the heart, testified to them ^(V)giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; ⁹ and ^(W)He made no distinction between us and them, ^(X)cleansing their hearts by faith. ¹⁰ Now therefore why do you ^(Y)put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which ^(Z)neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? ¹¹ But we believe that we are saved through ^(AA)the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.”

¹² And all the multitude kept silent, and they were listening to Barnabas and Paul as they were ^(AB)relating what ^(AC)signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.

James Issues a Judgment

¹³ Now after they had stopped speaking, ^(AD)James answered, saying, “Brothers, listen to me. ^14 (AE)Simeon has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name. ¹⁵ And with this the words of ^(AF)the Prophets agree, just as it is written,

¹⁹ Therefore ^(AN)I judge that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, ²⁰ but that we write to them that they abstain from ^(AO)things contaminated by idols and from ^(AP)sexual immorality and from ^(AQ)what is strangled and from blood. ²¹ For from ancient generations, ^(AR)Moses has those who preach him in every city, since ^[i]he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

²² Then it seemed good to ^(AS)the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them—Judas called Barsabbas, and ^(AT)Silas, leading men among ^(AU)the brothers—to send to ^(AV)Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, ²³ and they ^[j]sent this letter by them,

³⁰ So when they were sent away, ^(BP)they went down to Antioch; and having gathered the ^[m]congregation together, they delivered the letter. ³¹ And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its ^[n]encouragement. ^32 (BQ)And both Judas and ^(BR)Silas, also being ^(BS)prophets themselves, ^[o]encouraged and strengthened ^(BT)the brothers with a lengthy message. ³³ And after they had spent time there, they were sent away from the brothers ^(BU)in peace to those who had ^(BV)sent them. ^34 [p][But it seemed good to Silas to remain there.] ³⁵ But ^(BW)Paul and Barnabas spent a long time in Antioch, teaching and ^[q](BX)preaching with many others also, ^(BY)the word of the Lord.

Disagreement Between Paul and Barnabas

³⁶ Now after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in ^(BZ)every city in which we proclaimed ^(CA)the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” ³⁷ And Barnabas wanted to take ^(CB)John, called Mark, along with them also. ³⁸ But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had ^(CC)deserted them ^[r]in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. ³⁹ And there was such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took ^(CD)Mark with him and sailed away to ^(CE)Cyprus. ⁴⁰ But Paul chose ^(CF)Silas and left, being ^(CG)committed by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. ⁴¹ And he was traveling through ^(CH)Syria and ^(CI)Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

Timothy Joins Paul and Silas

16 Now Paul also arrived at ^(CJ)Derbe and at ^(CK)Lystra. And behold, a disciple was there, named ^(CL)Timothy, the son of a ^(CM)Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek, ² and he was well spoken of by ^(CN)the brothers who were in ^(CO)Lystra and ^(CP)Iconium. ³ Paul wanted this man to ^[s]go with him, and he ^(CQ)took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. ⁴ Now while they were passing through the cities, they were delivering ^(CR)the decrees which had been decided upon by ^(CS)the apostles and ^(CT)elders who were in Jerusalem, for them to keep. ⁵ So ^(CU)the churches were being strengthened ^[t]in the faith, and were ^(CV)abounding in number daily.

The Macedonian Vision

⁶ And they passed through the ^[u](CW)Phrygian and ^(CX)Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in ^[v](CY)Asia; ⁷ and after they came to ^(CZ)Mysia, they were trying to go into ^(DA)Bithynia, and the ^(DB)Spirit of Jesus did not permit them; ⁸ and passing by ^(DC)Mysia, they came down to ^(DD)Troas. ^9 (DE)And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of ^(DF)Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” ¹⁰ And when he had seen ^(DG)the vision, immediately ^(DH)we sought to ^[w]go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to ^(DI)proclaim the gospel to them.

Lydia’s Conversion in Philippi

¹¹ So setting sail from ^(DJ)Troas, we ran ^(DK)a straight course to Samothrace, and on the day following to Neapolis; ¹² and from there to ^(DL)Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of ^(DM)Macedonia, ^(DN)a Roman colony; and we were staying in this city for some days. ¹³ And on ^(DO)the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were supposing that there would be a place of prayer; and sitting down, we began speaking to the women who had assembled. ¹⁴ And a woman named Lydia, from the city of ^(DP)Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, ^(DQ)a worshiper of God, was listening, whose heart the Lord ^(DR)opened to pay attention to the things spoken by Paul. ¹⁵ And when she and ^(DS)her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.

Paul and Silas in Prison

¹⁶ Now it happened that as we were going to ^(DT)the place of prayer, a servant-girl having ^(DU)a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling. ¹⁷ Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, “These men are slaves of ^(DV)the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you ^[x]the way of salvation.” ¹⁸ And she continued doing this for many days. But being greatly annoyed, Paul turned and said to the spirit, “I command you ^(DW)in the name of Jesus Christ to leave her!” And it left at that very ^[y]moment.

¹⁹ But when her masters saw that their hope of ^(DX)profit had left, they seized ^(DY)Paul and Silas and ^(DZ)dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities, ²⁰ and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, “These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews, ²¹ and ^(EA)are proclaiming customs that are not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being ^(EB)Romans.” ²² And the crowd joined together to attack them, and the chief magistrates, tearing their garments off of them, proceeded to order them to be ^(EC)beaten with rods. ²³ And when they had inflicted them with many wounds, they threw them into prison, commanding ^(ED)the jailer to guard them securely, ²⁴ who, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in ^(EE)the ^[z]stocks.

The Philippian Jailer Converted

²⁵ But about midnight ^(EF)Paul and Silas were praying and ^(EG)singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶ And suddenly ^(EH)there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the jailhouse were shaken; and immediately ^(EI)all the doors were opened and everyone’s ^(EJ)chains were unfastened. ²⁷ And when ^(EK)the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about ^(EL)to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸ But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” ²⁹ And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before ^(EM)Paul and Silas, ³⁰ and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, ^(EN)what must I do to be saved?” ³¹ And they said, “^(EO)Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and ^(EP)your house.” ³² And they spoke the word of ^[aa]the Lord to him together with all who were in his household. ³³ And he took them ^(EQ)that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. ³⁴ And he brought them into his house and set ^[ab]food before them, and rejoiced ^[ac]greatly with ^(ER)his whole household, because he had believed in God.

³⁵ Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their policemen, saying, “Release those men.” ³⁶ And ^(ES)the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The chief magistrates have sent to release you. Therefore come out now and go ^(ET)in peace.” ³⁷ But Paul said to them, “Having beaten us in public without trial, ^(EU)men who are Romans, they have thrown us into prison. And now are they sending us away secretly? No indeed! But let them come themselves and bring us out.” ³⁸ And the policemen reported these words to the chief magistrates. ^(EV)They were afraid when they heard that they were Romans, ³⁹ and they came and appealed to them, and when they had brought them out, they kept requesting them ^(EW)to leave the city. ⁴⁰ And they went out of the prison and entered the house of ^(EX)Lydia, and when they saw ^(EY)the brothers, they ^[ad]encouraged them and left.