The World English Bible (WEB) Part 118

14:18 Even saying these things, they hardly stopped the mult.i.tudes from making a sacrifice to them. 14:19 But some Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there, and having persuaded the mult.i.tudes, they stoned Paul, and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.

14:20 But as the disciples stood around him, he rose up, and entered into the city. On the next day he went out with Barnabas to Derbe. 14:21 When they had preached the Good News to that city, and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, 14:22 confirming the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that through many afflictions we must enter into the Kingdom of G.o.d. 14:23 When they had appointed elders for them in every a.s.sembly, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they had believed.

14:24 They pa.s.sed through Pisidia, and came to Pamphylia. 14:25 When they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. 14:26 From there they sailed to Antioch, from where they had been committed to the grace of G.o.d for the work which they had fulfilled. 14:27 When they had arrived, and had gathered the a.s.sembly together, they reported all the things that G.o.d had done with them, and that he had opened a door of faith to the nations. 14:28 They stayed there with the disciples for a long time.

15:1 Some men came down from Judea and taught the brothers, "Unless you are circ.u.mcised after the custom of Moses, you can't be saved." 15:2 Therefore when Paul and Barnabas had no small discord and discussion with them, they appointed Paul and Barnabas, and some others of them, to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders about this question. 15:3 They, being sent on their way by the a.s.sembly, pa.s.sed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles. They caused great joy to all the brothers. 15:4 When they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the a.s.sembly and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all things that G.o.d had done with them.

15:5 But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, "It is necessary to circ.u.mcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses."

15:6 The apostles and the elders were gathered together to see about this matter. 15:7 When there had been much discussion, Peter rose up and said to them, "Brothers, you know that a good while ago G.o.d made a choice among you, that by my mouth the nations should hear the word of the Good News, and believe. 15:8 G.o.d, who knows the heart, testified about them, giving them the Holy Spirit, just like he did to us. 15:9 He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. 15:10 Now therefore why do you tempt G.o.d, that you should put a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? 15:11 But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus,* just as they are."

15:12 All the mult.i.tude kept silence, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul reporting what signs and wonders G.o.d had done among the nations through them. 15:13 After they were silent, James answered, "Brothers, listen to me. 15:14 Simeon has reported how G.o.d first visited the nations, to take out of them a people for his name. 15:15 This agrees with the words of the prophets. As it is written,

15:16 'After these things I will return. I will again build the tent of David, which has fallen. I will again build its ruins. I will set it up, 15:17 That the rest of men may seek after the Lord; All the Gentiles who are called by my name, Says the Lord, who does all these things.* 15:18 All his works are known to G.o.d from eternity.' 15:19 "Therefore my judgment is that we don't trouble those from among the Gentiles who turn to G.o.d, 15:20 but that we write to them that they abstain from the pollution of idols, from s.e.xual immorality, from what is strangled, and from blood. 15:21 For Moses from generations of old has in every city those who preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath."

15:22 Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole a.s.sembly, to choose men out of their company, and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas: Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, chief men among the brothers. 15:23 They wrote these things by their hand:

"The apostles, the elders, and the brothers, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: greetings. 15:24 Because we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, 'You must be circ.u.mcised and keep the law,' to whom we gave no commandment; 15:25 it seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose out men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 15:26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15:27 We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who themselves will also tell you the same things by word of mouth. 15:28 For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay no greater burden on you than these necessary things: 15:29 that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from s.e.xual immorality, from which if you keep yourselves, it will be well with you. Farewell."

15:30 So, when they were sent off, they came to Antioch. Having gathered the mult.i.tude together, they delivered the letter. 15:31 When they had read it, they rejoiced over the encouragement. 15:32 Judas and Silas, also being prophets themselves, encouraged the brothers with many words, and strengthened them. 15:33 After they had spent some time there, they were sent back with greetings from the brothers to the apostles. 15:34 *

15:35 But Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.

15:36 After some days Paul said to Barnabas, "Let's return now and visit our brothers in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, to see how they are doing." 15:37 Barnabas planned to take John, who was called Mark, with them also. 15:38 But Paul didn't think that it was a good idea to take with them someone who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia, and didn't go with them to do the work. 15:39 Then the contention grew so sharp that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him, and sailed away to Cyprus, 15:40 but Paul chose Silas, and went out, being commended by the brothers to the grace of G.o.d. 15:41 He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the a.s.semblies.

16:1 He came to Derbe and Lystra: and behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewess who believed; but his father was a Greek. 16:2 The brothers who were at Lystra and Iconium gave a good testimony about him. 16:3 Paul wanted to have him go out with him, and he took and circ.u.mcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts; for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 16:4 As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered the decrees to them to keep which had been ordained by the apostles and elders who were at Jerusalem. 16:5 So the a.s.semblies were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily.

16:6 When they had gone through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 16:7 When they had come opposite Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit didn't allow them. 16:8 Pa.s.sing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 16:9 A vision appeared to Paul in the night. There was a man of Macedonia standing, begging him, and saying, "Come over into Macedonia and help us." 16:10 When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go out to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the Good News to them. 16:11 Setting sail therefore from Troas, we made a straight course to Samothrace, and the day following to Neapolis; 16:12 and from there to Philippi, which is a city of Macedonia, the foremost of the district, a Roman colony. We were staying some days in this city.

16:13 On the Sabbath day we went forth outside of the city by a riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down, and spoke to the women who had come together. 16:14 A certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, one who worshiped G.o.d, heard us; whose heart the Lord opened to listen to the things which were spoken by Paul. 16:15 When she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and stay." So she persuaded us.

16:16 It happened, as we were going to prayer, that a certain girl having a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much gain by fortune telling. 16:17 Following Paul and us, she cried out, "These men are servants of the Most High G.o.d, who proclaim to us the way of salvation!" 16:18 She was doing this for many days.

But Paul, becoming greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!" It came out that very hour. 16:19 But when her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas, and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. 16:20 When they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, "These men, being Jews, are agitating our city, 16:21 and set forth customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being Romans."

16:22 The mult.i.tude rose up together against them, and the magistrates tore their clothes off of them, and commanded them to be beaten with rods. 16:23 When they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely, 16:24 who, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison, and secured their feet in the stocks.

16:25 But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to G.o.d, and the prisoners were listening to them. 16:26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were loosened. 16:27 The jailer, being roused out of sleep and seeing the prison doors open, drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 16:28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, "Don't harm yourself, for we are all here!"

16:29 He called for lights and sprang in, and, fell down trembling before Paul and Silas, 16:30 and brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

16:31 They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." 16:32 They spoke the word of the Lord to him, and to all who were in his house.

16:33 He took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes, and was immediately baptized, he and all his household. 16:34 He brought them up into his house, and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, with all his household, having believed in G.o.d.

16:35 But when it was day, the magistrates sent the sergeants, saying, "Let those men go."

16:36 The jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, "The magistrates have sent to let you go; now therefore come out, and go in peace."

16:37 But Paul said to them, "They have beaten us publicly, without a trial, men who are Romans, and have cast us into prison! Do they now release us secretly? No, most certainly, but let them come themselves and bring us out!"

16:38 The sergeants reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans, 16:39 and they came and begged them. When they had brought them out, they asked them to depart from the city. 16:40 They went out of the prison, and entered into Lydia's house. When they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them, and departed.

17:1 Now when they had pa.s.sed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 17:2 Paul, as was his custom, went in to them, and for three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 17:3 explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ."

17:4 Some of them were persuaded, and joined Paul and Silas, of the devout Greeks a great mult.i.tude, and not a few of the chief women. 17:5 But the unpersuaded Jews took along some wicked men from the marketplace, and gathering a crowd, set the city in an uproar.

a.s.saulting the house of Jason, they sought to bring them out to the people. 17:6 When they didn't find them, they dragged Jason and certain brothers before the rulers of the city, crying, "These who have turned the world upside down have come here also, 17:7 whom Jason has received.

These all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus!" 17:8 The mult.i.tude and the rulers of the city were troubled when they heard these things. 17:9 When they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go. 17:10 The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Beroea. When they arrived, they went into the Jewish synagogue.

17:11 Now these were more n.o.ble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of the mind, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. 17:12 Many of them therefore believed; also of the prominent Greek women, and not a few men. 17:13 But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of G.o.d was proclaimed by Paul at Beroea also, they came there likewise, agitating the mult.i.tudes. 17:14 Then the brothers immediately sent out Paul to go as far as to the sea, and Silas and Timothy still stayed there. 17:15 But those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens.

Receiving a commandment to Silas and Timothy that they should come to him very quickly, they departed.

17:16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw the city full of idols. 17:17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who met him. 17:18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also were conversing with him. Some said, "What does this babbler want to say?"

Others said, "He seems to be advocating foreign deities," because he preached Jesus and the resurrection.

17:19 They took hold of him, and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new teaching is, which is spoken by you? 17:20 For you bring certain strange things to our ears. We want to know therefore what these things mean." 17:21 Now all the Athenians and the strangers living there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing.

17:22 Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus, and said, "You men of Athens, I perceive that you are very religious in all things. 17:23 For as I pa.s.sed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: 'TO AN UNKNOWN G.o.d.' What therefore you worship in ignorance, this I announce to you. 17:24 The G.o.d who made the world and all things in it, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, doesn't dwell in temples made with hands, 17:25 neither is he served by men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself gives to all life and breath, and all things. 17:26 He made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the surface of the earth, having determined appointed seasons, and the boundaries of their dwellings, 17:27 that they should seek the Lord, if perhaps they might reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 17:28 'For in him we live, and move, and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also his offspring.' 17:29 Being then the offspring of G.o.d, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold, or silver, or stone, engraved by art and design of man. 17:30 The times of ignorance therefore G.o.d overlooked. But now he commands that all people everywhere should repent, 17:31 because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained; of which he has given a.s.surance to all men, in that he has raised him from the dead."

17:32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but others said, "We want to hear you again concerning this."

17:33 Thus Paul went out from among them. 17:34 But certain men joined with him, and believed, among whom also was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

18:1 After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth.

18:2 He found a certain Jew named Aquila, a man of Pontus by race, who had recently come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome. He came to them, 18:3 and because he practiced the same trade, he lived with them and worked, for by trade they were tent makers. 18:4 He reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded Jews and Greeks. 18:5 But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. 18:6 When they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook out his clothing and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles!"

18:7 He departed there, and went into the house of a certain man named Justus, one who worshiped G.o.d, whose house was next door to the synagogue. 18:8 Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his house. Many of the Corinthians, when they heard, believed and were baptized. 18:9 The Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, "Don't be afraid, but speak and don't be silent; 18:10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many people in this city."

18:11 He lived there a year and six months, teaching the word of G.o.d among them. 18:12 But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat, 18:13 saying, "This man persuades men to worship G.o.d contrary to the law."

18:14 But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, "If indeed it were a matter of wrong or of wicked crime, you Jews, it would be reasonable that I should bear with you; 18:15 but if they are questions about words and names and your own law, look to it yourselves. For I don't want to be a judge of these matters." 18:16 He drove them from the judgment seat.

18:17 Then all the Greeks laid hold on Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. Gallio didn't care about any of these things.

18:18 Paul, having stayed after this many more days, took his leave of the brothers, and sailed from there for Syria, together with Priscilla and Aquila. He shaved his head in Cenchreae, for he had a vow. 18:19 He came to Ephesus, and he left them there; but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews. 18:20 When they asked him to stay with them a longer time, he declined; 18:21 but taking his leave of them, and saying, "I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem, but I will return again to you if G.o.d wills," he set sail from Ephesus.

18:22 When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the a.s.sembly, and went down to Antioch. 18:23 Having spent some time there, he departed, and went through the region of Galatia, and Phrygia, in order, establishing all the disciples. 18:24 Now a certain Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by race, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus. He was mighty in the Scriptures. 18:25 This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, although he knew only the baptism of John. 18:26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside, and explained to him the way of G.o.d more accurately.

18:27 When he had determined to pa.s.s over into Achaia, the brothers encouraged him, and wrote to the disciples to receive him. When he had come, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace; 18:28 for he powerfully refuted the Jews, publicly showing by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.

19:1 It happened that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having pa.s.sed through the upper country, came to Ephesus, and found certain disciples.

19:2 He said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?"

They said to him, "No, we haven't even heard that there is a Holy Spirit."

19:3 He said, "Into what then were you baptized?"

They said, "Into John's baptism."