Act 15:41-18:22 | ESV | STEP | And he went through Syria and Cilicia , strengthening the churches .

1 Paul ^{▼▼Greek He} came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named ^cTimothy, ^dthe son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. 2 He was well spoken of by ^ethe brothers ^{▼▼Or brothers and sisters; also verse 40} at Lystra and Iconium. 3 Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he ^gtook him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance ^hthe decisions ⁱthat had been reached by ^jthe apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. 5 ^kSo the churches were strengthened in ^lthe faith, and they increased in numbers ^mdaily.

The Macedonian Call

6 And ⁿthey went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but ^othe Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. 8 So, passing by Mysia, they went down ^pto Troas. 9 And 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.” 10 And when Paul ^{▼▼Greek he} had seen the vision, immediately ^rwe sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

The Conversion of Lydia

11 So, setting sail from Troas, we ^smade a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to ^tPhilippi, which is a leading city of the ^{▼▼Or that} district of Macedonia and ^va Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. 13 And ^won the Sabbath day we went outside the gate ^xto the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we ^ysat down and spoke to the women who had come together. 14 One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, ^zwho was a worshiper of God. The Lord ^aaopened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. 15 And after she was baptized, ^aband 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 ^acprevailed upon us.

Paul and Silas in Prison

16 As we were going to ^adthe place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had ^aea spirit of ^afdivination and ^agbrought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and us, ^ahcrying out, “These men are ^aiservants ^{▼▼Greek bondservants} of ^akthe Most High God, who proclaim to you ^althe way of salvation.” 18 And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, ^am“I command you ^anin the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And ^aoit came out that very hour.

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

The Philippian Jailer Converted

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

35 But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.” 36 And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Therefore come out now and go in peace.” 37 But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, ^bkuncondemned, 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.” 38 The police reported these words to the magistrates, and ^blthey were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. 39 So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and ^bmasked them to leave the city. 40 So they went out of the prison and visited ^bnLydia. And when they had seen ^bothe brothers, they encouraged them and departed.

Acts 17

Paul and Silas in Thessalonica

1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to ^bpThessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 And Paul went in, ^bqas was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them ^brfrom the Scriptures, 3 ^bsexplaining and proving that it was necessary for ^btthe Christ to suffer and ^buto rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” 4 And ^bvsome of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did ^bwa great many of the devout ^bxGreeks and not a few of the leading women. 5 ^byBut the Jews ^{▼▼Greek Ioudaioi probably refers here to Jewish religious leaders, and others under their influence, in that time; also verse 13} ^cawere jealous, and taking ^cbsome 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. 6 And when they could not find them, ^ccthey 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, 7 and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against ^cdthe decrees of Caesar, saying that there is ^ceanother king, Jesus.” 8 And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. 9 And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

Paul and Silas in Berea

10 ^cfThe brothers ^{▼▼Or brothers and sisters; also verse 14} immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they ^chwent into the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, ^ciexamining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. 12 ^cjMany of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek ^ckwomen of high standing as well as men. 13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, ^clagitating and stirring up the crowds. 14 Then the brothers ^cmimmediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and ^cnTimothy remained there. 15 ^coThose who conducted Paul brought him as far as ^cpAthens, and after receiving a command ^cqfor Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed.

Paul in Athens

16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was ^crprovoked within him as he saw that the city was ^csfull of idols. 17 So ^cthe reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. 18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, ^cu“What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because ^cvhe was preaching ^cwJesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to ^cxthe Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this ^cynew teaching is that you are presenting? 20 For you bring some ^czstrange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.” 21 Now 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

22 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ^da‘To the unknown god.’ ^dbWhat therefore you worship ^dcas unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 ^ddThe God who made the world and everything in it, being ^deLord of heaven and earth, ^dfdoes not live in temples made by man, ^{▼▼Greek made by hands} 25 nor is he served by human hands, ^dhas though he needed anything, since he himself ^digives to all mankind ^djlife and breath and everything. 26 And ^dkhe made from one man every nation of mankind to live ^dlon all the face of the earth, ^dmhaving determined allotted periods and ^dnthe boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 ^dothat they should seek God, ^dpand perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. ^dqYet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for

^dr“‘In him we live and move and have our being’; ^{▼▼Probably from Epimenides of Crete}
as even some of ^dtyour own poets have said,

“‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ ^{▼▼From Aratus’s poem “Phainomena”}
29 ^dvBeing then God’s offspring, ^dwwe 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. 30 ^dxThe times of ignorance ^dyGod overlooked, but ^dznow he ^eacommands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed ^eba day on which ^eche will judge the world ^edin righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and ^eeof this he has given assurance to all ^efby raising him from the dead.”

32 Now when they heard of ^egthe resurrection of the dead, ^ehsome mocked. But others said, ^ei“We will hear you again about this.” 33 So Paul went out from their midst. 34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius ^ejthe Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.

Acts 18:1-22

Paul in Corinth

1 After this Paul ^{▼▼Greek he} left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 And he found a Jew named ^elAquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife ^emPriscilla, because ^enClaudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them, 3 and ^eobecause he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. 4 And ^ephe reasoned in the synagogue ^eqevery Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks.

5 ^erWhen Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul ^eswas occupied with the word, ^ettestifying to the Jews that the Christ was ^euJesus. 6 And when they opposed and reviled him, ^evhe shook out his garments and said to them, ^ew“Your blood be on your own heads! ^exI am innocent. ^eyFrom now on I will go to the Gentiles.” 7 And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius ^ezJustus, ^faa worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue. 8 ^fbCrispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together ^fcwith his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized. 9 And the Lord said to Paul ^fdone night in ^fea vision, ^ff“Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, 10 ^fgfor I am with you, and ^fhno one will attack you to harm you, for ^fiI have many in this city who are my people.” 11 And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

12 But when Gallio was ^fjproconsul of Achaia, ^fkthe Jews ^{▼▼Greek Ioudaioi probably refers here to Jewish religious leaders, and others under their influence, in that time; also verses 14 (twice), 28} made a united attack on Paul and ^fmbrought him before the tribunal, 13 saying, “This man is persuading people to worship God contrary to ^fnthe law.” 14 But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious ^focrime, O Jews, I would have reason to accept your complaint. 15 But ^fpsince it is a matter of questions about words and names and ^fqyour own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of these things.” 16 And he drove them from the tribunal. 17 And they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to any of this.

Paul Returns to Antioch

18 After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of ^frthe brothers ^{▼▼Or brothers and sisters; also verse 27} and set sail for Syria, and with him ^ftPriscilla and Aquila. At ^fuCenchreae ^fvhe had cut his hair, for he was under a vow. 19 And they came to ^fwEphesus, and he left them there, but ^fxhe himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 20 When they asked him to stay for a longer period, he declined. 21 But on taking leave of them he said, “I will return to you ^fyif God wills,” and he set sail from Ephesus.

22 When he had landed at Caesarea, he ^fzwent up and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch.