Acts 16–20

Timothy Accompanies Paul and Silas

16And he came also to Derbe and to Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there named^a Timothy, the son of a believing Jewish woman but of a Greek father, ²who was well spoken of by the brothers in Lystra and Iconium. ³Paul wanted this one to go with him, and he took him^* and^* circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was Greek. ⁴And as they went through the towns, they passed on to them to observe the rules that had been decided by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. ⁵So the churches were being strengthened in the faith and were growing in number every day.

Paul’s Vision of a Man of Macedonia

⁶And they traveled through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been prevented by the Holy Spirit from speaking the message in Asia.^{b 7}And when they^* came to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them. ⁸So going through Mysia, they went down to Troas. ⁹And a vision appeared to Paul during the night: a certain Macedonian man was standing there and imploring him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and^* help us!” ¹⁰And when he had seen the vision, we wanted at once to go away to Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.

The Conversion of Lydia at Philippi

¹¹So putting out to sea from Troas, we sailed a straight course to Samothrace, and on the following day to Neapolis, ¹²and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of that district of Macedonia, a Roman colony. And we were staying in this city for some days. ¹³And on the day of the Sabbath, we went outside the city gate beside the river, where we thought there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and^* spoke to the women assembled there. ¹⁴And a certain woman named^c Lydia from the city of Thyatira, a merchant dealing in purple cloth who showed reverence for God, was listening. The Lord opened her^d heart to pay attention to what was being said by Paul. ¹⁵And after she was baptized, and her household, she urged us,^* saying, “If you consider me to be a believer in the Lord, come to my house and^* stay.” And she prevailed upon us.

Paul and Silas Imprisoned

¹⁶And it happened that as^* we were going to the place of prayer, a certain female slave who had a spirit of divination^e met us, who was bringing a large profit to her owners by^* fortune-telling. ¹⁷She followed Paul and us and^* was crying out, saying, “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation!” ¹⁸And she was doing this for many days. But Paul, becoming greatly annoyed and turning around, said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out immediately.^f

¹⁹But when^* her owners saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and^* dragged them^* into the marketplace before the rulers. ²⁰And when they^* had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, “These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews, ²¹and are proclaiming customs that are not permitted for us to accept or to practice, because we^* are Romans!” ²²And the crowd joined in attacking them, and the chief magistrates tore off their clothing and^* gave orders to beat them^* with rods. ²³And after they^* had inflicted many blows on them, they threw them^* into prison, giving orders to the jailer to guard them securely. ²⁴Having received such an order, he^g put them in the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.^h

The Conversion of the Philippian Jailer

²⁵Now about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and^* singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened and all the bondsⁱ were unfastened. ²⁷And after^* the jailer was awake and saw the doors of the prison open, he drew his^* sword and^* was about to kill himself, because he^* thought the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying, “Do no harm to yourself, for we are all here!” ²⁹And demanding lights, he rushed in and, beginning to tremble,^j fell down at the feet of Paul and Silas. ³⁰And he brought them outside and^* said, “Sirs, what must I do so that I can be saved?” ³¹And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household!” ³²And they spoke the message of the Lord to him, together with all those in his house. ³³And he took them at that very hour of the night and^* washed their^* wounds, and he himself was baptized at once, and all those of his household.^{* 34}And he brought them up into his^* house and^* set a meal before them,^* and rejoiced greatly that he had believed in God with his whole household.

Paul and Silas Receive an Official Apology

³⁵And when it^* was day, the chief magistrates sent the police officers, saying, “Release those men.” ³⁶And the jailer reported these words to Paul: “The chief magistrates have sent an order^* that you should be released. So come out now and^* go in peace!” ³⁷But Paul said to them, “They beat us in public without due process—men who are Roman citizens—and^* threw us^* into prison, and now they are wanting to release us secretly? Certainly not! Rather let them come themselves and^* bring us out!” ³⁸So the police officers reported these words to the chief magistrates, and they were afraid when they^* heard that they were Roman citizens. ³⁹And they came and^* apologized to^k them, and after they^* brought them^* out they asked them^* to depart from the city. ⁴⁰And when they^* came out of the prison, they went to Lydia and when they^* saw them,^* they encouraged the brothers and departed.

Attacked by a Mob in Thessalonica

17Now after they^* traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. ²And as was his custom,^a Paul went in to them and on three Sabbath days he discussed with them from the scriptures, ³explaining and demonstrating that it was necessary for the Christ^b to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.”^{c 4}And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, and also a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few of the prominent women.

⁵But the Jews were filled with jealousy and, taking along some worthless men from the rabble in the marketplace and forming a mob, threw the city into an uproar. And attacking Jason’s house, they were looking for them to bring them^* out to the popular assembly. ⁶And when they^* did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brothers before the city officials, shouting, “These people who have stirred up trouble throughout the world^d have come here also, ⁷whom Jason has entertained as guests! And these people are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king, Jesus!” ⁸And they threw the crowd into confusion, and the city officials who heard these things. ⁹And after^* taking money as security from Jason and the rest, they released them.

Paul and Silas in Berea

¹⁰Now the brothers sent away both Paul and Silas at once, during the night, to Berea. They^e went into the synagogue of the Jews when they^* arrived. ¹¹Now these were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica. They^f accepted the message with all eagerness, examining the scriptures every day to see if these things were so. ¹²Therefore many of them believed, and not a few of the prominent Greek women and men. ¹³But when the Jews from Thessalonica found out that the message of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Berea also, they came there too, inciting and stirring up the crowds. ¹⁴So then the brothers sent Paul away at once to go to the sea, and both Silas and Timothy remained there. ¹⁵And those who conducted Paul brought him^* as far as Athens, and after^* receiving an order for Silas and Timothy that they should come to him as soon as possible, they went away.

Paul in Athens

¹⁶Now while Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he^* observed the city was full of idols. ¹⁷So he was discussing in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles,^* and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. ¹⁸And even some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him, and some were saying, “What does this babbler want to say?” But others said,^* “He appears to be a proclaimer of foreign deities,” because he was proclaiming the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. ¹⁹And they took hold of him and^* brought him^* to the Areopagus, saying, “May we learn what is this new teaching being proclaimed by you? ²⁰For you are bringing some astonishing things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean.”^{g 21}(Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who stayed there used to spend their time in nothing else than telling something or listening to something new.)

Paul Speaks to the Areopagus

²²So Paul stood there in the middle of the Areopagus and^* said, “Men of Athens, I see you are very religious in every respect.^{h 23}For as I^* was passing through and observing carefully your objects of worship, I even found an altar on which was inscribed, ‘To an unknown God.’ Therefore what you worship without knowing it,^* this I proclaim to you—²⁴the God who made the world and all the things in it. This one, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by human hands, ²⁵nor is he served by human hands as if he^* needed anything, because^* he himself gives to everyone life and breath and everything. ²⁶And he made from one man every nation of humanity to live on all the face of the earth, determining their fixed times and the fixed boundaries of their habitation, ²⁷to search for God, if perhaps indeed they might feel around for him and find him.^* And indeed he is not far away from each one of us, ^28 …