22Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men out of their company, and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren: 23and they wrote thus by them, The apostles and the elders, brethren, unto the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greeting: 24Forasmuch as we have heard that certain who went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls; to whom we gave no commandment; 25it seemed good unto us, having come to one accord, to choose out men and send them unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who themselves also shall tell you the same things by word of mouth. 28For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: 29that ye abstain from things sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication; from which if ye keep yourselves, it shall be well with you. Fare ye well.

30So they, when they were dismissed, came down to Antioch; and having gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistle. 31And when they had read it, they rejoiced for the consolation. 32And Judas and Silas, being themselves also prophets, exhorted the brethren with many words, and confirmed them. 33And after they had spent some time there, they were dismissed in peace from the brethren unto those that had sent them forth. 34But it seemed good unto Silas to abide there. 35But Paul and Barnabas tarried in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.

36And after some days Paul said unto Barnabas, Let us return now and visit the brethren in every city wherein we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they fare. 37And Barnabas was minded to take with them John also, who was called Mark. 38But Paul thought not good to take with them him who withdrew from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work. 39And there arose a sharp contention, so that they parted asunder one from the other, and Barnabas took Mark with him, and sailed away unto Cyprus; 40but Paul choose Silas, and went forth, being commended by the brethren to the grace of the Lord. 41And he went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches.

16 And he came also to Derbe and to Lystra: and behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewess that believed; but his father was a Greek. 2The same was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium. 3Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and he took and circumcised him because of the Jews that were in those parts: for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4And as they went on their way through the cities, they delivered them the decrees to keep which had been ordained of the apostles and elders that were at Jerusalem. 5So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily.

6And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden of the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; 7and when they were come over against Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia; and the Spirit of Jesus suffered them not; 8and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 9And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: There was a man of Macedonia standing, beseeching him, and saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. 10And when he had seen the vision, straightway we sought to go forth into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

11Setting sail therefore from Troas, we made a straight course to Samothrace, and the day following to Neapolis; 12and from thence to Philippi, which is a city of Macedonia, the first of the district, a Roman colony: and we were in this city tarrying certain days. 13And on the sabbath day we went forth without the gate by a river side, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down, and spake unto the women that were come together. 14And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple of the city of Thyatira, one that worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened to give heed unto the things which were spoken by Paul. 15And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.

16And it came to pass, as we were going to the place of prayer, that a certain maid having a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much gain by soothsaying. 17The same following after Paul and us cried out, saying, These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim unto you the way of salvation. 18And this she did for many days. But Paul, being sore troubled, turned and said to the spirit, I charge thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And it came out that very hour.

19But when her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone, they laid hold on Paul and Silas, and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers, 20and when they had brought them unto the magistrates, they said, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, 21and set forth customs which it is not lawful for us to receive, or to observe, being Romans. 22And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent their garments off them, and commanded to beat them with rods. 23And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: 24who, having received such a charge, cast them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. 25But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns unto God, and the prisoners were listening to them; 26and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison-house were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened: and every one’s bands were loosed. 27And the jailor, being roused out of sleep and seeing the prison doors open, drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. 29And he called for lights and sprang in, and, trembling for fear, fell down before Paul and Silas, 30and brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house. 32And they spake the word of the Lord unto him, with all that were in his house. 33And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, immediately. 34And he brought them up into his house, and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, with all his house, having believed in God.

35But when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go. 36And the jailor reported the words to Paul, saying, The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore come forth, and go in peace. 37But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men that are Romans, and have cast us into prison; and do they now cast us out privily? nay verily; but let them come themselves and bring us out. 38And the serjeants reported these words unto the magistrates: and they feared when they heard that they were Romans; 39and they came and besought them; and when they had brought them out, they asked them to go away from the city. 40And they went out of the prison, and entered into the house of Lydia: and when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them, and departed.

17 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: 2and Paul, as his custom was, went in unto them, and for three sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3opening and alleging that it behooved the Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom, said he, I proclaim unto you, is the Christ. 4And some of them were persuaded, and consorted with Paul and Silas, and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few. 5But the Jews, being moved with jealousy, took unto them certain vile fellows of the rabble, and gathering a crowd, set the city on an uproar; and assaulting the house of Jason, they sought to bring them forth to the people. 6And when they found them not, they dragged Jason and certain brethren before the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also; 7whom Jason hath received: and these all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus. 8And they troubled the multitude and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things. 9And when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

10And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Beroea: who when they were come thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of the mind, examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so. 12Many of them therefore believed; also of the Greek women of honorable estate, and of men, not a few. 13But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was proclaimed of Paul at Beroea also, they came thither likewise, stirring up and troubling the multitudes. 14And then immediately the brethren sent forth Paul to go as far as to the sea: and Silas and Timothy abode there still. 15But they that conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens: and receiving a commandment unto Silas and Timothy that they should come to him with all speed, they departed.

16Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he beheld the city full of idols…