Acts 14; Acts 15; Acts 16

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Acts 14

1 The same thing happened in Iconium. Paul and Barnabas entered the Jewish synagogue and spoke as they had before. As a result, a huge number of Jews and Greeks believed.

2 However, the Jews who rejected the faith stirred up the Gentiles, poisoning their minds against the brothers.

3 Nevertheless, Paul and Barnabas stayed there for quite some time, confidently speaking about the Lord. And the Lord confirmed the word about his grace by the signs and wonders he enabled them to perform.

4 The people of the city were divided—some siding with the Jews, others with the Lord's messengers.

5 Then some Gentiles and Jews, including their leaders, hatched a plot to mistreat and stone Paul and Barnabas.

6 When they learned of it, these two messengers fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and the surrounding area,

7 where they continued to proclaim the good news.

8 In Lystra there was a certain man who lacked strength in his legs. He had been crippled since birth and had never walked. Sitting there, he

9 heard Paul speaking. Paul stared at him and saw that he believed he could be healed.

10 Raising his voice, Paul said, "Stand up straight on your feet!" He jumped up and began to walk.

11 Seeing what Paul had done, the crowd shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have taken human form and come down to visit us!"

12 They referred to Barnabas as Zeus and to Paul as Hermes, since Paul was the main speaker.

13 The priest of Zeus, whose temple was located just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates. Along with the crowds, he wanted to offer sacrifices to them.

14 When the Lord's messengers Barnabas and Paul found out about this, they tore their clothes in protest and rushed out into the crowd. They shouted,

15 "People, what are you doing? We are humans too, just like you! We are proclaiming the good news to you: turn to the living God and away from such worthless things. He made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything in them.

16 In the past, he permitted every nation to go its own way.

17 Nevertheless, he hasn't left himself without a witness. He has blessed you by giving you rain from above as well as seasonal harvests, and satisfying you with food and happiness."

18 Even with these words, they barely kept the crowds from sacrificing to them.

19 Jews from Antioch and Iconium arrived and won the crowds over. They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing he was dead.

20 When the disciples surrounded him, he got up and entered the city again. The following day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.

21 Paul and Barnabas proclaimed the good news to the people in Derbe and made many disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, where

22 they strengthened the disciples and urged them to remain firm in the faith. They told them, "If we are to enter God's kingdom, we must pass through many troubles."

23 They appointed elders for each church. With prayer and fasting, they committed these elders to the Lord, in whom they had placed their trust.

24 After Paul and Barnabas traveled through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia.

25 They proclaimed the word in Perga, then went down to Attalia.

26 From there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been entrusted by God's grace to the work they had now completed.

27 On their arrival, they gathered the church together and reported everything that God had accomplished through their activity, and how God had opened a door of faith for the Gentiles.

28 They stayed with the disciples a long time.

Acts 15

1 Some people came down from Judea teaching the family of believers, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom we've received from Moses, you can't be saved."

2 Paul and Barnabas took sides against these Judeans and argued strongly against their position. The church at Antioch appointed Paul, Barnabas, and several others from Antioch to go up to Jerusalem to set this question before the apostles and the elders.

3 The church sent this delegation on their way. They traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, telling stories about the conversion of the Gentiles to everyone. Their reports thrilled the brothers and sisters.

4 When they arrived in Jerusalem, the church, the apostles, and the elders all welcomed them. They gave a full report of what God had accomplished through their activity.

5 Some believers from among the Pharisees stood up and claimed, "The Gentiles must be circumcised. They must be required to keep the Law from Moses."

6 The apostles and the elders gathered to consider this matter.

7 After much debate, Peter stood and addressed them, "Fellow believers, you know that, early on, God chose me from among you as the one through whom the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and come to believe.

8 God, who knows people's deepest thoughts and desires, confirmed this by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us.

9 He made no distinction between us and them, but purified their deepest thoughts and desires through faith.

10 Why then are you now challenging God by placing a burden on the shoulders of these disciples that neither we nor our ancestors could bear?

11 On the contrary, we believe that we and they are saved in the same way, by the grace of the Lord Jesus."

12 The entire assembly fell quiet as they listened to Barnabas and Paul describe all the signs and wonders God did among the Gentiles through their activity.

13 When Barnabas and Paul also fell silent, James responded, “Fellow believers, listen to me.

14 Simon reported how, in his kindness, God came to the Gentiles in the first place, to raise up from them a people of God.

15 The prophets' words agree with this; as it is written,

16 After this I will return, and I will rebuild David's fallen tent; I will rebuild what has been torn down. I will restore it

17 so that the rest of humanity will seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who belong to me. The Lord says this, the one who does these things

18 known from earliest times.

19 "Therefore, I conclude that we shouldn't create problems for Gentiles who turn to God.

20 Instead, we should write a letter, telling them to avoid the pollution associated with idols, sexual immorality, eating meat from strangled animals, and consuming blood.

21 After all, Moses has been proclaimed in every city for a long time, and is read aloud every Sabbath in every synagogue."

22 The apostles and the elders, along with the entire church, agreed to send some delegates chosen from among themselves to Antioch, together with Paul and Barnabas. They selected Judas Barsabbas and Silas, who were leaders among the brothers and sisters.

23 They were to carry this letter: The apostles and the elders, to the Gentile brothers and sisters in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. Greetings!

24 We've heard that some of our number have disturbed you with unsettling words we didn't authorize.

25 We reached a united decision to select some delegates and send them to you along with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul.

26 These people have devoted their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

27 Therefore, we are sending Judas and Silas. They will confirm what we have written.

28 The Holy Spirit has led us to the decision that no burden should be placed on you other than these essentials:

29 refuse food offered to idols, blood, the meat from strangled animals, and sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid such things. Farewell.

30 When Barnabas, Paul, and the delegates were sent on their way, they went down to Antioch. They gathered the believers and delivered the letter.

31 The people read it, delighted with its encouraging message.

32 Judas and Silas were prophets, and they said many things that encouraged and strengthened the brothers and sisters.

33 Judas and Silas stayed there awhile, then were sent back with a blessing of peace from the brothers and sisters to those who first sent them.

35 Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch, where, together with many others, they taught and proclaimed the good news of the Lord's word.

36 Some time later, Paul said to Barnabas, "Let's go back and visit all the brothers and sisters in every city where we preached the Lord's word. Let's see how they are doing."

37 Barnabas wanted to take John Mark with them.

38 Paul insisted that they shouldn't take him along, since he had deserted them in Pamphylia and hadn't continued with them in their work.

39 Their argument became so intense that they went their separate ways. Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus.

40 Paul chose Silas and left, entrusted by the brothers and sisters to the Lord's grace.

41 He traveled through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

Acts 16

1 Paul reached Derbe, and then Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy. He was the son of a believing Jewish woman and a Greek father.

2 The brothers and sisters in Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him.

3 Paul wanted to take Timothy with him, so he circumcised him. This was because of the Jews who lived in those areas, for they all knew Timothy's father was Greek.

4 As Paul and his companions traveled through the cities, they instructed Gentile believers to keep the regulations put in place by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem.

5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and every day their numbers flourished.

6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the regions of Phrygia and Galatia because the Holy Spirit kept them from speaking the word in the province of Asia.

7 When they approached the province of Mysia, they tried to enter the province of Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus wouldn't let them.

8 Passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas instead.

9 A vision of a man from Macedonia came to Paul during the night. He stood urging Paul, "Come over to Macedonia and help us!"

10 Immediately after he saw the vision, we prepared to leave for the province of Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.

11 We sailed from Troas straight for Samothrace and came to Neapolis the following day.

12 From there we went to Philippi, a city of Macedonia's first district and a Roman colony. We stayed in that city several days.

13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the riverbank, where we thought there might be a place for prayer. We sat down and began to talk with the women who had gathered.

14 One of those women was Lydia, a Gentile God-worshipper from the city of Thyatira, a dealer in purple cloth. As she listened, the Lord enabled her to embrace Paul's message.

15 Once she and her household were baptized, she urged, "Now that you have decided that I am a believer in the Lord, come and stay in my house." And she persuaded us.

16 One day, when we were on the way to the place for prayer, we met a slave woman. She had a spirit that enabled her to predict the future. She made a lot of money for her owners through fortune-telling.

17 She began following Paul and us, shouting, "These people are servants of the Most High God! They are proclaiming a way of salvation to you!"

18 She did this for many days. This annoyed Paul so much that he finally turned and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ, I command you to leave her!" It left her at that very moment.

19 Her owners realized that their hope for making money was gone. They grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the officials in the city center.

20 When her owners approached the legal authorities, they said, "These people are causing an uproar in our city. They are Jews

21 who promote customs that we Romans can't accept or practice."

22 The crowd joined in the attacks against Paul and Silas, so the authorities ordered that they be stripped of their clothes and beaten with a rod.

23 When Paul and Silas had been severely beaten, the authorities threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to secure them with great care.

24 When he received these instructions, he threw them into the innermost cell and secured their feet in stocks.

25 Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

26 All at once there was such a violent earthquake that it shook the prison's foundations. The doors flew open and everyone's chains came loose.

27 When the jailer awoke and saw the open doors of the prison, he thought the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword and was about to kill himself.

28 But Paul shouted loudly, "Don't harm yourself! We're all here!"

29 The jailer called for some lights, rushed in, and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.

30 He led them outside and asked, "Honorable masters, what must I do to be rescued?"

31 They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your entire household."

32 They spoke the Lord's word to him and everyone else in his house.

33 Right then, in the middle of the night, the jailer welcomed them and washed their wounds. He and everyone in his household were immediately baptized.

34 He brought them into his home and gave them a meal. He was overjoyed because he and everyone in his household had come to believe in God.

35 The next morning the legal authorities sent the police to the jailer with the order "Release those people."

36 So the jailer reported this to Paul, informing him, "The authorities sent word that you both are to be released. You can leave now. Go in peace."

37 Paul told the police, "Even though we are Roman citizens, they beat us publicly without first finding us guilty of a crime, and they threw us into prison. And now they want to send us away secretly? No way! They themselves will have to come and escort us out."

38 The police reported this to the legal authorities, who were alarmed to learn that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens.

39 They came and consoled Paul and Silas, escorting them out of prison and begging them to leave the city.

40 Paul and Silas left the prison and made their way to Lydia's house where they encouraged the brothers and sisters. Then they left Philippi.

Acts 14; Acts 15; Acts 16

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