Acts 16–20

Timothy Joins Paul and Silas

16Paul¹ came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named ^zTimothy, ^athe son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. ²He was well spoken of by ^bthe brothers² at Lystra and Iconium. ³Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he ^ctook him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. ⁴As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance ^dthe decisions ^ethat had been reached by ^fthe apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. ^5gSo the churches were strengthened in ^hthe faith, and they increased in numbers ⁱdaily.

The Macedonian Call

⁶And ^jthey went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. ⁷And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but ^kthe Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. ⁸So, passing by Mysia, they went down ^lto Troas. ⁹And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” ¹⁰And when Paul³ had seen the vision, immediately ^mwe sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

The Conversion of Lydia

¹¹So, setting sail from Troas, we ⁿmade a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, ¹²and from there to ^oPhilippi, which is a leading city of the⁴ district of Macedonia and ^pa Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. ¹³And ^qon the Sabbath day we went outside the gate ^rto the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we ^ssat down and spoke to the women who had come together. ¹⁴One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, ^twho was a worshiper of God. The Lord ^uopened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. ¹⁵And after she was baptized, ^vand her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she ^wprevailed upon us.

Paul and Silas in Prison

¹⁶As we were going to ^xthe place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had ^ya spirit of ^zdivination and ^abrought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. ¹⁷She followed Paul and us, ^bcrying out, “These men are ^cservants of ^dthe Most High God, who proclaim to you ^ethe way of salvation.” ¹⁸And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, ^f“I command you ^gin the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And ^hit came out that very hour.

¹⁹But ⁱwhen her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and ^jdragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. ²⁰And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. ²¹They ^kadvocate customs that are not lawful for us ^las Romans to accept or practice.” ²²The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders ^mto beat them with rods. ²³And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. ²⁴Having received this order, he put them into the inner ⁿprison and fastened their feet in ^othe stocks.

The Philippian Jailer Converted

^25pAbout midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, ²⁶and suddenly ^qthere was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately ^rall the doors were opened, and ^severyone’s bonds were unfastened. ²⁷When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and ^twas about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” ²⁹And the jailer⁶ called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he ^ufell down before Paul and Silas. ³⁰Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, ^vwhat must I do to be ^wsaved?” ³¹And they said, ^x“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you ^yand your household.” ³²And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. ³³And he took them ^zthe same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he ^awas baptized at once, he and all his family. ³⁴Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he ^brejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.

³⁵But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.” ³⁶And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Therefore come out now and go in peace.” ³⁷But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, ^cuncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out.” ³⁸The police reported these words to the magistrates, and ^cthey were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. ³⁹So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and ^dasked them to leave the city. ⁴⁰So they went out of the prison and visited ^eLydia. And when they had seen ^fthe brothers, they encouraged them and departed.

Paul and Silas in Thessalonica

17Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to ^gThessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. ²And Paul went in, ^has was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them ⁱfrom the Scriptures, ^3jexplaining and proving that it was necessary for ^kthe Christ to suffer and ^lto rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” ⁴And ^msome of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did ⁿa great many of the devout ^oGreeks and not a few of the leading women. ^5pBut the Jews^{1 q}were jealous, and taking ^rsome wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. ⁶And when they could not find them, ^sthey dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, ⁷and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against ^tthe decrees of Caesar, saying that there is ^uanother king, Jesus.” ⁸And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. ⁹And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

Paul and Silas in Berea

^10vThe brothers² immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they ^wwent into the Jewish synagogue. ¹¹Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, ^xexamining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. ^12yMany of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek ^zwomen of high standing as well as men. ¹³But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, ^aagitating and stirring up the crowds. ¹⁴Then the brothers ^bimmediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and ^cTimothy remained there. ^15dThose who conducted Paul brought him as far as ^eAthens, and after receiving a command ^ffor Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed.

Paul in Athens

¹⁶Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was ^gprovoked within him as he saw that the city was ^hfull of idols. ¹⁷So ⁱhe reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. ¹⁸Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, ^j“What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because ^khe was preaching ^lJesus and the resurrection. ¹⁹And they took him and brought him to ^mthe Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this ⁿnew teaching is that you are presenting? ²⁰For you bring some ^ostrange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.” ²¹Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.

Paul Addresses the Areopagus

²²So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. ²³For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ^p‘To the unknown god.’ ^pWhat therefore you worship ^qas unknown, this I proclaim to you. ^24rThe God who made the world and everything in it, being ^sLord of heaven and earth, ^tdoes not live in temples made by man,^{3 25}nor is he served by human hands, ^uas though he needed anything, since he himself ^vgives to all mankind ^wlife and breath and everything. ²⁶And ^xhe made from one man every nation of mankind to live ^yon all the face of the earth, ^zhaving determined allotted periods and ^athe boundaries of their dwelling place, ^27bthat they should seek God, ^cand perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. ^dYet he is actually not far from each one of us, ²⁸for

^e“ ‘In him we live and move and have our being’;⁴

as even some of ^fyour own poets have said,

“ ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’⁵

^29gBeing then God’s offspring, ^hwe ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. ³⁰ⁱThe times of ignorance ^jGod overlooked, but ^know he ^lcommands all people everywhere to repent, ³¹because he has fixed ^ma day on which ⁿhe will judge the world ^oin righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and ^pof this he has given assurance to all ^qby raising him from the dead.”

³²Now when they heard of ^rthe resurrection of the dead, ^ssome mocked. But others said,…