New Testament in a Year

Timothy Joins Paul in Lystra

16 Paul^[a] also went to Derbe and Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a believing Jewish wife whose husband was a Greek. ² Timothy^[b] was highly regarded by the brothers in Lystra and Iconium. ³ Paul wanted this man to go with him, so he took him and had him circumcised because of the Jews who lived in that region, since everyone knew that Timothy’s^[c] father was a Greek. ⁴ As they went from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for them to obey. ⁵ So the churches continued to be strengthened in the faith and to increase in numbers every day.

Paul Has a Vision

⁶ Because they had been prevented by the Holy Spirit from speaking the word in Asia, Paul and Timothy^[d] went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia. ⁷ They went as far as Mysia and tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them, ⁸ so they bypassed Mysia and went down to Troas. ⁹ During the night Paul had a vision. A man from Macedonia was standing there and pleading with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” ¹⁰ As soon as he had seen the vision, we immediately looked for a way to go to Macedonia, because we were convinced that God had called us to tell the people there^[e] the good news.

Paul and Silas in Philippi

¹¹ Sailing from Troas, we went straight to Samothrace, the next day to Neapolis, ¹² and from there to Philippi, an important city of the district^[f] of Macedonia and a Roman^[g] colony. We were in this city for several days. ¹³ On the Sabbath day, we went out the city gate and walked^[h] along the river, where we thought there was a place of prayer. We sat down and began talking to the women who had gathered there. ¹⁴ A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a dealer in purple goods, was listening to us. She was a worshiper of God, and the Lord opened her heart to listen carefully to what was being said by Paul. ¹⁵ When she and her family were baptized, she urged us, “If you are convinced that I am a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she continued to insist that we do so.

The Fortune Teller

¹⁶ Once, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave girl who had a spirit of fortune-telling and who had brought her owners a great deal of money by predicting the future. ¹⁷ She would follow Paul and us and shout, “These men are servants of the Most High God and are proclaiming to you^[i] a way of salvation!”

¹⁸ She kept doing this for many days until Paul became annoyed, turned to her^[j] and told the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus the Messiah^[k] to come out of her!” And it came out that very moment.^[l]

¹⁹ When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities who met together in the public square.^{[m] 20} They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are stirring up a lot of trouble in our city. They are Jews ²¹ and are advocating customs that we’re not allowed to accept or practice as Romans.”