The Jewish Annotated New Testament (71 page)

³⁰
So they were sent off and went down to Antioch. When they gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter.
³¹
When its members
^*
read it, they rejoiced at the exhortation.
³²
Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers.
^*
33
After they had been there for some time, they were sent off in peace by the believers
^*
to those who had sent them.
^*
35
But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, and there, with many others, they taught and proclaimed the word of the Lord.

³⁶
After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Come, let us return and visit the believers
^*
in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.”
³⁷
Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark.
³⁸
But Paul decided not to take with them one who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not accompanied them in the work.
³⁹
The disagreement became so sharp that they parted company; Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus.
⁴⁰
But Paul chose Silas and set out, the believers
^*
commending him to the grace of the Lord.
⁴¹
He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

Chs 15–18: Second missionary journey of Paul.

16
Paul
^*
went on also to Derbe and to Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer; but his father was a Greek.
²
He was well spoken of by the believers
^*
in Lystra and Iconium.
³
Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him; and he took him and had him circumcised because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.
⁴
As they went from town to town, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem.
⁵
So the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in numbers daily.

⁶
They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.
⁷
When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them;
⁸
so, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.
⁹
During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”
¹⁰
When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.

¹¹
We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis,
¹²
and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district
^*
of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days.
¹³
On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there.
¹⁴
A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul.
¹⁵
When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she prevailed upon us.

¹⁶
One day, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave-girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling.
¹⁷
While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you
^*
a way of salvation.”
¹⁸
She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.

¹⁹
But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities.
²⁰
When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, “These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews
²¹
and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe.”
²²
The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods.
²³
After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely.
²⁴
Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

²⁵
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
²⁶
Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened.
²⁷

²⁷
When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped.
²⁸
But Paul shouted in a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.”
²⁹
The jailer
^*
called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas.
³⁰
Then he brought them outside and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
³¹
They answered, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
³²
They spoke the word of the Lord
^*
to him and to all who were in his house.
³³
At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay.
³⁴
He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.

³⁵
When morning came, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.”
³⁶
And the jailer reported the message to Paul, saying, “The magistrates sent word to let you go; therefore come out now and go in peace.”
³⁷
But Paul replied, “They have beaten us in public, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and now are they going to discharge us in secret? Certainly not! Let them come and take us out themselves.”
³⁸
The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens;
³⁹
so they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city.
⁴⁰
After leaving the prison they went to Lydia’s home; and when they had seen and encouraged the brothers and sisters
^*
there, they departed.

17
After Paul and Silas
^*
had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.
²
And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three sabbath days argued with them from the scriptures,
³
explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah
^*
to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This is the Messiah,
^*
Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you.”
⁴
Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.
⁵
But the Jews became jealous, and with the help of some ruffians in the marketplaces they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar. While they were searching for Paul and Silas to bring them out to the assembly, they attacked Jason’s house.
⁶
When they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some believers
^*
before the city authorities,
^*
shouting, “These people who have been turning the world upside down have come here also,
⁷
and Jason has entertained them as guests. They are all acting contrary to the decrees of the emperor, saying that there is another king named Jesus.”
⁸
The people and the city officials were disturbed when they heard this,
⁹
and after they had taken bail from Jason and the others, they let them go.

¹⁰
That very night the believers
^*
sent Paul and Silas off to Beroea; and when they arrived, they went to the Jewish synagogue.
¹¹
These Jews were more receptive than those in Thessalonica, for they welcomed the message very eagerly and examined the scriptures every day to see whether these things were so.
¹²
Many of them therefore believed, including not a few Greek women and men of high standing.
¹³
But when the Jews of Thessalonica learned that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Beroea as well, they came there too, to stir up and incite the crowds.
¹⁴
Then the believers
^*
immediately sent Paul away to the coast, but Silas and Timothy remained behind.
¹⁵
Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and after receiving instructions to have Silas and Timothy join him as soon as possible, they left him.