Chronological
The Jerusalem Council
15 Now some men came down from Judea[a] and began to teach the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised[b] according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 When Paul and Barnabas had a major argument and debate[c] with them, the church[d] appointed Paul and Barnabas and some others from among them to go up to meet with[e] the apostles and elders in Jerusalem about this point of disagreement.[f] 3 So they were sent on their way by the church, and as they passed through both Phoenicia[g] and Samaria, they were relating at length[h] the conversion of the Gentiles and bringing great joy[i] to all the brothers. 4 When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were received[j] by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported[k] all the things God had done with them.[l] 5 But some from the religious party of the Pharisees[m] who had believed stood up and said, “It is necessary[n] to circumcise the Gentiles[o] and to order them to observe[p] the law of Moses.”
6 Both the apostles and the elders met together to deliberate[q] about this matter. 7 After there had been much debate,[r] Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that some time ago[s] God chose[t] me to preach to the Gentiles so they would hear the message[u] of the gospel[v] and believe.[w] 8 And God, who knows the heart,[x] has testified[y] to them by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us,[z] 9 and he made no distinction[aa] between them and us, cleansing[ab] their hearts by faith. 10 So now why are you putting God to the test[ac] by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke[ad] that neither our ancestors[ae] nor we have been able to bear? 11 On the contrary, we believe that we are saved through[af] the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they are.”[ag]
12 The whole group kept quiet[ah] and listened to Barnabas and Paul while they explained all the miraculous signs[ai] and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. 13 After they stopped speaking,[aj] James replied,[ak] “Brothers, listen to me. 14 Simeon[al] has explained[am] how God first concerned himself[an] to select[ao] from among the Gentiles[ap] a people for his name. 15 The[aq] words of the prophets agree[ar] with this, as it is written,
16 ‘After this[as] I[at] will return,
and I will rebuild the fallen tent[au] of David;
I will rebuild its ruins and restore[av] it,
17 so that the rest of humanity[aw] may seek the Lord,
namely,[ax] all the Gentiles[ay] I have called to be my own,’[az] says the Lord,[ba] who makes these things 18 known[bb] from long ago.[bc]
19 “Therefore I conclude[bd] that we should not cause extra difficulty[be] for those among the Gentiles[bf] who are turning to God, 20 but that we should write them a letter[bg] telling them to abstain[bh] from things defiled[bi] by idols and from sexual immorality and from what has been strangled[bj] and from blood. 21 For Moses has had those who proclaim him in every town from ancient times,[bk] because he is read aloud[bl] in the synagogues[bm] every Sabbath.”
22 Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided[bn] to send men chosen from among them, Judas called Barsabbas and Silas,[bo] leaders among the brothers, to Antioch[bp] with Paul and Barnabas. 23 They sent this letter with them:[bq]
From the apostles[br] and elders, your brothers,[bs] to the Gentile brothers and sisters[bt] in Antioch,[bu] Syria,[bv] and Cilicia, greetings! 24 Since we have heard that some have gone out from among us with no orders from us and have confused[bw] you, upsetting[bx] your minds[by] by what they said,[bz] 25 we have unanimously[ca] decided[cb] to choose men to send to you along with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul, 26 who[cc] have risked their lives[cd] for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.[ce] 27 Therefore we are sending[cf] Judas and Silas[cg] who will tell you these things themselves in person.[ch] 28 For it seemed best to the Holy Spirit and to us[ci] not to place any greater burden on you than these necessary rules:[cj] 29 that you abstain from meat that has been sacrificed to idols[ck] and from blood and from what has been strangled[cl] and from sexual immorality.[cm] If you keep yourselves from doing these things,[cn] you will do well. Farewell.[co]
30 So when they were dismissed,[cp] they went down to Antioch,[cq] and after gathering the entire group[cr] together, they delivered the letter. 31 When they read it aloud,[cs] the people[ct] rejoiced at its encouragement.[cu] 32 Both Judas and Silas, who were prophets themselves, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with a long speech.[cv] 33 After[cw] they had spent some time there,[cx] they were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them.[cy] 35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch,[cz] teaching and proclaiming (along with many others)[da] the word of the Lord.[db]
Paul and Barnabas Part Company
36 After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s return[dc] and visit the brothers in every town where we proclaimed the word of the Lord[dd] to see how they are doing.”[de] 37 Barnabas wanted to bring John called Mark along with them too, 38 but Paul insisted[df] that they should not take along this one who had left them in Pamphylia[dg] and had not accompanied them in the work. 39 They had[dh] a sharp disagreement,[di] so that they parted company. Barnabas took along[dj] Mark and sailed away to Cyprus,[dk] 40 but Paul chose Silas and set out, commended[dl] to the grace of the Lord by the brothers and sisters.[dm] 41 He passed through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening[dn] the churches.
Timothy Joins Paul and Silas
16 He also came to Derbe[do] and to Lystra.[dp] A disciple[dq] named Timothy was there, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer,[dr] but whose father was a Greek.[ds] 2 The brothers in Lystra and Iconium spoke well[dt] of him.[du] 3 Paul wanted Timothy[dv] to accompany him, and he took[dw] him and circumcised[dx] him because of the Jews who were in those places,[dy] for they all knew that his father was Greek.[dz] 4 As they went through the towns,[ea] they passed on[eb] the decrees that had been decided on by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the Gentile believers[ec] to obey.[ed] 5 So the churches were being strengthened in the faith and were increasing in number every day.[ee]
Paul’s Vision of the Macedonian Man
6 They went through the region of Phrygia[ef] and Galatia,[eg] having been prevented[eh] by the Holy Spirit from speaking the message[ei] in the province of Asia.[ej] 7 When they came to[ek] Mysia,[el] they attempted to go into Bithynia,[em] but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow[en] them to do this,[eo] 8 so they passed through[ep] Mysia[eq] and went down to Troas.[er] 9 A[es] vision appeared to Paul during the night: A Macedonian man was standing there[et] urging him,[eu] “Come over[ev] to Macedonia[ew] and help us!” 10 After Paul[ex] saw the vision, we[ey] attempted[ez] immediately to go over to Macedonia,[fa] concluding that God had called[fb] us to proclaim the good news to them.
Arrival at Philippi
11 We put out to sea[fc] from Troas[fd] and sailed a straight course[fe] to Samothrace,[ff] the next day to Neapolis,[fg] 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of that district[fh] of Macedonia,[fi] a Roman colony.[fj] 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[fk] and began to speak[fl] to the women[fm] who had assembled there.[fn] 14 A[fo] woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth[fp] from the city of Thyatira,[fq] a God-fearing woman, listened to us.[fr] The Lord opened her heart to respond[fs] to what Paul was saying. 15 After she and her household were baptized, she urged us,[ft] “If[fu] you consider me to be a believer in the Lord,[fv] come and stay in my house.” And she persuaded[fw] us.
Paul and Silas Are Thrown Into Prison
16 Now[fx] 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.[fy] She[fz] brought her owners[ga] a great profit by fortune-telling.[gb] 17 She followed behind Paul and us and kept crying out,[gc] “These men are servants[gd] of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way[ge] of salvation.”[gf] 18 She continued to do this for many days. But Paul became greatly annoyed,[gg] and turned[gh] and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ[gi] to come out of her!” And it came out of her at once.[gj] 19 But when her owners[gk] saw their hope of profit[gl] was gone, they seized[gm] Paul and Silas and dragged[gn] them into the marketplace[go] before the authorities. 20 When[gp] they had brought them[gq] before the magistrates, they said, “These men are throwing our city into confusion.[gr] They are[gs] Jews 21 and are advocating[gt] customs that are not lawful for us to accept[gu] or practice,[gv] since we are[gw] Romans.”
22 The crowd joined the attack[gx] against them, and the magistrates tore the clothes[gy] off Paul and Silas[gz] and ordered them to be beaten with rods.[ha] 23 After they had beaten them severely,[hb] they threw them into prison and commanded[hc] the jailer to guard them securely. 24 Receiving such orders, he threw them in the inner cell[hd] and fastened their feet in the stocks.[he]
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying[hf] and singing hymns to God,[hg] and the rest of[hh] 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[hi] of all the prisoners came loose. 27 When the jailer woke up[hj] and saw the doors of the prison standing open,[hk] he drew his sword and was about to kill himself,[hl] because he assumed[hm] the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul called out loudly,[hn] “Do not harm yourself,[ho] for we are all here!” 29 Calling for lights, the jailer[hp] rushed in and fell down[hq] trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them outside[hr] and asked, “Sirs, what must[hs] I do to be saved?” 31 They replied,[ht] “Believe[hu] in the Lord Jesus[hv] and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 Then[hw] they spoke the word of the Lord[hx] to him, along with all those who were in his house. 33 At[hy] that hour of the night he took them[hz] and washed their wounds;[ia] then[ib] he and all his family[ic] were baptized right away.[id] 34 The jailer[ie] brought them into his house and set food[if] before them, and he rejoiced greatly[ig] that he had come to believe[ih] in God, together with his entire household.[ii] 35 At daybreak[ij] the magistrates[ik] sent their police officers,[il] saying, “Release those men.” 36 The jailer reported these words to Paul, saying,[im] “The magistrates have sent orders[in] to release you. So come out now and go in peace.”[io] 37 But Paul said to the police officers,[ip] “They had us beaten in public[iq] without a proper trial[ir]—even though we are Roman citizens[is]—and they threw us[it] in prison. And now they want to send us away[iu] secretly? Absolutely not! They[iv] themselves must come and escort us out!”[iw] 38 The police officers reported these words to the magistrates. They were frightened when they heard Paul and Silas[ix] were Roman citizens[iy] 39 and came[iz] and apologized to them. After[ja] they brought them out, they asked them repeatedly[jb] 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[jc] departed.
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