Acts 16–20

¹And he came to Derbe and Lystra, and lo, a certain disciple was there, by name Timotheus son of a certain woman, a believing Jewess, but of a father, a Greek, ²who was well testified to by the brethren in Lystra and Iconium; ³this one did Paul wish to go forth with him, and having taken him, he circumcised him, because of the Jews who are in those places, for they all knew his father—that he was a Greek. ⁴And as they were going on through the cities, they were delivering to them the decrees to keep, that have been judged by the apostles and the elders who are in Jerusalem, ⁵then, indeed, were the assemblies established in the faith, and were abounding in number every day.

⁶And having gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia, ⁷having gone toward Mysia, they were trying to go on toward Bithynia, and the Spirit did not suffer them, ⁸and having passed by Mysia, they came down to Troas. ⁹And a vision through the night appeared to Paul—a certain man of Macedonia was standing, calling upon him, and saying, ‘Having passed through to Macedonia, help us;’— ¹⁰and when he saw the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go forth to Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord hath called us to preach good news to them, ¹¹having set sail, therefore, from Troas, we came with a straight course to Samothracia, on the morrow also to Neapolis, ¹²thence also to Philippi, which is a principal city of the part of Macedonia—a colony. And we were in this city abiding certain days, ¹³on the sabbath-day also we went forth outside of the city, by a river, where there used to be prayer, and having sat down, we were speaking to the women who came together, ¹⁴and a certain woman, by name Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, worshipping God, was hearing, whose heart the Lord did open to attend to the things spoken by Paul; ¹⁵and when she was baptized, and her household, she did call upon us, saying, ‘If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, having entered into my house, remain;’ and she constrained us.

¹⁶And it came to pass in our going on to prayer, a certain maid, having a spirit of Python, did meet us, who brought much employment to her masters by soothsaying, ¹⁷she having followed Paul and us, was crying, saying, ‘These men are servants of the Most High God, who declare to us a way of salvation;’ ¹⁸and this she was doing for many days, but Paul having been grieved, and having turned, said to the spirit, ‘I command thee, in the name of Jesus Christ, to come forth from her;’ and it came forth the same hour. ¹⁹And her masters having seen that the hope of their employment was gone, having caught Paul and Silas, drew them to the market-place, unto the rulers, ²⁰and having brought them to the magistrates, they said, ‘These men do exceedingly trouble our city, being Jews; ²¹and they proclaim customs that are not lawful for us to receive nor to do, being Romans.’ ²²And the multitude rose up together against them, and the magistrates having torn their garments from them, were commanding to beat them with rods, ²³many blows also having laid upon them, they cast them to prison, having given charge to the jailor to keep them safely, ²⁴who such a charge having received, did put them to the inner prison, and their feet made fast in the stocks.

²⁵And at midnight Paul and Silas praying, were singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were hearing them, ²⁶and suddenly a great earthquake came, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, opened also presently were all the doors, and of all—the bands were loosed; ²⁷and the jailor having come out of sleep, and having seen the doors of the prison open, having drawn a sword, was about to kill himself, supposing the prisoners to be fled, ²⁸and Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Thou mayest not do thyself any harm, for we are all here.’ ²⁹And, having asked for a light, he sprang in, and trembling he fell down before Paul and Silas, ³⁰and having brought them forth, said, ‘Sirs, what must I do—that I may be saved?’ ³¹and they said, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved—thou and thy house;’ ³²and they spake to him the word of the Lord, and to all those in his household; ³³and having taken them, in that hour of the night, he did bathe them from the blows, and was baptized, himself and all his presently, ³⁴having brought them also into his house, he set food before them, and was glad with all the household, he having believed in God.

³⁵And day having come, the magistrates sent the rod-bearers, saying, ‘Let those men go;’ ³⁶and the jailor told these words unto Paul—‘The magistrates have sent, that ye may be let go; now, therefore, having gone forth go on in peace;’ ³⁷and Paul said to them, ‘Having beaten us publicly uncondemned—men, Romans being—they did cast us to prison, and now privately do they cast us forth! why no! but having come themselves, let them bring us forth.’ ³⁸And the rod-bearers told to the magistrates these sayings, and they were afraid, having heard that they are Romans, ³⁹and having come, they besought them, and having brought them forth, they were asking them to go forth from the city; ⁴⁰and they, having gone forth out of the prison, entered into the house of Lydia, and having seen the brethren, they comforted them, and went forth.

Chapter 17

¹And having passed through Amphipolis, and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was the synagogue of the Jews, ²and according to the custom of Paul, he went in unto them, and for three sabbaths he was reasoning with them from the Writings, ³opening and alleging, ‘That the Christ it behoved to suffer, and to rise again out of the dead, and that this is the Christ—Jesus whom I proclaim to you.’ ⁴And certain of them did believe, and attached themselves to Paul and to Silas, also of the worshipping Greeks a great multitude, of the principal women also not a few. ⁵And the unbelieving Jews, having been moved with envy, and having taken to them of the loungers certain evil men, and having made a crowd, were setting the city in an uproar; having assailed also the house of Jason, they were seeking them to bring them to the populace, ⁶and not having found them, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the city rulers, calling aloud—‘These, having put the world in commotion, are also here present, ⁷whom Jason hath received; and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying another to be king—Jesus.’ ⁸And they troubled the multitude and the city rulers, hearing these things, ⁹and having taking security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

¹⁰And the brethren immediately, through the night, sent forth both Paul and Silas to Berea, who having come, went to the synagogue of the Jews; ¹¹and these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, they received the word with all readiness of mind, every day examining the Writings whether those things were so; ¹²many, indeed, therefore, of them did believe, and of the honourable Greek women and men not a few. ¹³And when the Jews from Thessalonica knew that also in Berea was the word of God declared by Paul, they came thither also, agitating the multitudes; ¹⁴and then immediately the brethren sent forth Paul, to go on as it were to the sea, but both Silas and Timothy were remaining there. ¹⁵And those conducting Paul, brought him unto Athens, and having received a command unto Silas and Timotheus that with all speed they may come unto him, they departed.

¹⁶And Paul waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, beholding the city wholly given to idolatry, ¹⁷therefore, indeed, he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the worshipping persons, and in the market-place every day with those who met with him. ¹⁸And certain of the Epicurean and of the Stoic philosophers, were meeting together to see him, and some were saying, ‘What would this seed picker wish to say?’ and others, ‘Of strange demons he doth seem to be an announcer;’ because Jesus and the rising again he did proclaim to them as good news, ¹⁹having also taken him, unto the Areopagus they brought him, saying, ‘Are we able to know what is this new teaching that is spoken by thee, ²⁰for certain strange things thou dost bring to our ears? we wish, then, to know what these things would wish to be;’ ²¹and all Athenians, and the strangers sojourning, for nothing else were at leisure but to say something, and to hear some newer thing.

²²And Paul, having stood in the midst of the Areopagus, said, ‘Men, Athenians, in all things I perceive you as over-religious; ²³for passing through and contemplating your objects of worship, I found also an erection on which had been inscribed: To God—unknown; whom, therefore—not knowing—ye do worship, this One I announce to you.

²⁴‘God, who did make the world, and all things in it, this One, of heaven and of earth being Lord, in temples made with hands doth not dwell, ²⁵neither by the hands of men is He served—needing anything, He giving to all life, and breath, and all things; ²⁶He made also of one blood every nation of men, to dwell upon all the face of the earth—having ordained times before appointed, and the bounds of their dwellings— ²⁷to seek the Lord, if perhaps they did feel after Him and find,—though, indeed, He is not far from each one of us, ²⁸for in Him we live, and move, and are; as also certain of your poets have said: For of Him also we are offspring.

²⁹‘Being, therefore, offspring of God, we ought not to think the Godhead to be like to gold, or silver, or stone, graving of art and device of man; ³⁰the times, indeed, therefore, of the ignorance God having overlooked, doth now command all men everywhere to reform, ³¹because He did set a day in which He is about to judge the world in righteousness, by a man whom He did ordain, having given assurance to all, having raised him out of the dead.’

³²And having heard of a rising again of the dead, some, indeed, were mocking, but…