Acts 15-18

Amplified Bible

The Council at Jerusalem

15 Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised in accordance with the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”^{(A) 2} Paul and Barnabas disagreed greatly and debated with them, so it was determined that Paul and Barnabas and some of the others from their group would go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders [and confer with them] concerning this issue. ³ So, after being supplied and sent on their way by the church, they went through both Phoenicia and Samaria telling in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and they brought great joy to all the ^[a]believers. ⁴ When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were received warmly by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported to them all the things that God had accomplished through them. ⁵ But some from the sect of the Pharisees who had believed [in Jesus as the Messiah] stood up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise the Gentile converts and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.”

⁶ The apostles and the elders came together to consider this matter. ⁷ After a long debate, Peter got up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the message of the gospel and believe. ⁸ And God, who knows and understands the heart, testified to them, giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; ⁹ and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith [in Jesus]. ¹⁰ Now then, why are you testing God by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we have been able to endure? ¹¹ But we believe that we are saved through the [precious, undeserved] grace of the Lord Jesus [which makes us free of the guilt of sin and grants us eternal life], in just the same way as they are.”

¹² All the people remained silent, and they listened [attentively] to Barnabas and Paul as they described all the signs and wonders (attesting miracles) that God had done through them among the Gentiles.

James’ Judgment

¹³ When they had finished speaking, ^[b]James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. ^14 [c]Simeon (Simon Peter) has described how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name [to honor Him and be identified with Him]. ¹⁵ The words of the Prophets agree with this, just as it is written [in Scripture],

¹⁹ Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble and make it difficult for those who are turning to God among the Gentiles [by putting obstacles in their way], ²⁰ but that we write to them that they are to abstain from ^[d]anything that has been contaminated by [being offered to] idols and from sexual impurity and from [eating the meat of] what has been strangled and from [the consumption of] ^[e]blood. ²¹ For from ancient generations [the writing of] Moses has been preached in every city, since ^[f]he is read aloud in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

²² Then the apostles and the elders, together with the whole church, decided to select some of their men to go to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas—Judas, who was called Barsabbas, and Silas [also called Silvanus, both], leading men among the brothers. ²³ With them they sent the following letter:

³⁰ So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch; and after assembling the congregation, they delivered the letter. ³¹ And when they had read it, the people rejoiced greatly at the encouragement and comfort [it brought them]. ³² Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets (divinely inspired spokesmen), encouraged and strengthened the ^[g]believers with many words. ³³ After spending some time there, they were sent back by the brothers with [the greeting of] peace to those who had sent them. ^34 [h][However, Silas decided to stay there.] ³⁵ But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, and with many others also continued teaching and proclaiming the good news, the word of the Lord [concerning eternal salvation through faith in Christ].

Paul’s Second Missionary Journey

³⁶ After some time Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the brothers and sisters (believers) in every city where we preached the message of the Lord, and see how they are doing.” ³⁷ Now Barnabas wanted to take [his cousin] John, who was called Mark, along with them. ³⁸ But Paul kept insisting that they should not take along with them the one who had quit and deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone on with them to the work. ³⁹ And it became such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took [John] Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. ⁴⁰ But Paul chose Silas [who was again in Antioch] and set out [on his second journey], commended by the brothers to the grace and favor of the Lord. ⁴¹ And he traveled through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

The Macedonian Vision

16 Now Paul traveled to Derbe and also to Lystra. A disciple named Timothy was there, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer [in Christ], however, his father was a Greek. ² Timothy was well spoken of by the brothers and sisters who were in Lystra and Iconium. ³ Paul wanted Timothy to go with him [as a missionary]; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, since they all knew that his father was a Greek. ⁴ As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decrees decided on by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem, for the churches to observe. ⁵ So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they continually increased in number day after day.

⁶ Now they passed through the territory of Phrygia and Galatia, after being forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in [the west coast province of] Asia [Minor]; ⁷ and after they came to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them; ⁸ so passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. ⁹ Then a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man from [the Roman province of] ^[i]Macedonia was standing and pleading with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” ¹⁰ And when he had seen the vision, ^[j]we (including Luke) tried to go on into Macedonia at once, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

¹¹ So setting sail from Troas, we ran a direct course to Samothrace, and the next day [went on] to Neapolis; ¹² and from there [we came] to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia, a Roman colony. We stayed on in this city for several days; ¹³ and on the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate to the bank of the [Gangites] river, where we thought there would be a ^[k]place of prayer, and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had come there.

First Convert in Europe

¹⁴ A woman named ^[l]Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a dealer in ^[m]purple fabrics who was [already] a worshiper of God, listened to us; and the Lord opened her heart to pay attention and to respond to the things said by Paul. ¹⁵ And when she was baptized, along with her household, she pleaded with us, saying, “If you have judged me and decided that I am faithful to the Lord [a true believer], come to my house and stay.” And she persuaded us.

¹⁶ It happened that as we were on our way to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave-girl who had ^[n]a spirit of divination [that is, a demonic spirit claiming to foretell the future and discover hidden knowledge], and she brought her owners a good profit by fortune-telling. ¹⁷ She followed after Paul and us and kept screaming and shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God! They are proclaiming to you the way of salvation!” ¹⁸ She continued doing this for several days. Then Paul, being greatly annoyed and worn out, turned and said to the spirit [inside her], “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ [as His representative] to come out of her!” And it came out at that very moment.

¹⁹ But when her owners saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities in the market place [where trials were held], ²⁰ and when they had brought them before the chief magistrates, they said, “These men, who are Jews, are throwing our city into confusion and causing trouble. ²¹ They are publicly teaching customs which are unlawful for us, as Romans, to accept or observe.”

Paul and Silas Imprisoned

²² The crowd also joined in the attack against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and ordered that Paul and Silas be beaten with rods.^{(C) 23} After striking them many times [with the rods], they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely. ²⁴ He, having received such a [strict] command, threw them into the inner prison (dungeon) and fastened their feet in the stocks [in an agonizing position].

²⁵ But about midnight when Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; ²⁶ suddenly there was a great earthquake, so [powerful] that the very foundations of the prison were shaken and at once all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. ²⁷ When the jailer, shaken out of sleep, saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸ But Paul shouted, saying, “Do not hurt yourself, we are all here!” ²⁹ Then the jailer called for torches and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, ³⁰ and after he brought them out [of the inner prison], he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

The Jailer Converted

³¹ And they answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus [as your personal Savior and entrust yourself to Him] and you will be saved, you and your household [if they also believe].” ³² And they spoke the word of the Lord [concerning eternal salvation through faith in Christ] to him and to all who were in his house. ³³ And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their bloody wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. ³⁴ Then he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, since he had believed in God with his entire family [accepting with joy what had been made known to them about the Christ].

³⁵ Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their officers, saying, “Release those men.” ³⁶ And the jailer repeated the words to Paul, saying, “The chief magistrates have sent word to release you; so come out now and go in peace.” ³⁷ But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us in public without a trial, men who are Romans, and have thrown us into prison; and now they are sending us out secretly? No! Let them come here themselves and bring us out!” ³⁸ The officers reported this message to the chief magistrates, and ^[o]when they heard that the prisoners were Romans, they were frightened; ³⁹ so they came [to the prison] and appealed to them [with apologies], and when they brought them out, they kept begging them to leave the city. ⁴⁰ So they left the prison and went to Lydia’s house; and when they had seen the brothers and sisters, they encouraged and comforted them, and left.

Paul at Thessalonica

17 Now after Paul and Silas had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. ² And Paul entered the synagogue, as was his ^[p]custom, and for three Sabbaths he engaged in discussion and friendly debate with them from the Scriptures, ³ explaining and pointing out [scriptural evidence] that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I am proclaiming to you, is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed).” ⁴ And some of them were persuaded to believe and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large number of the God-fearing Greeks and many of the leading women. ⁵ But the [unbelieving] Jews became jealous, and taking along some thugs from [the lowlifes in] the market place, they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; and then attacking Jason’s house tried to bring Paul and Silas out to the people. ⁶ But when they failed to find them, they dragged Jason and some brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here too; ⁷ and Jason has welcomed them [into his house and protected them]! And they all are saying things contrary to the decrees of Caesar, [actually] claiming that there is another king, Jesus.” ⁸ They stirred up the crowd and the city authorities who heard these things. ⁹ And when they had taken security (bail) from Jason and the others, they let them go.

Paul at Berea

¹⁰ The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea; and when they arrived, they entered the Jewish synagogue. ¹¹ Now these people were more noble and open-minded than those in Thessalonica, so they received the message [of salvation through faith in the Christ] with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. ¹² As a result many of them became believers, together with a number of prominent Greek women and men. ¹³ But when the Jews of Thessalonica learned that the word of God [concerning eternal salvation through faith in Christ] had also been preached by Paul at Berea, they came there too, agitating and disturbing the crowds. ¹⁴ So at that time the brothers immediately sent Paul away to go as far as the sea; but Silas and Timothy remained there [at Berea]. ¹⁵ Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens; and [after] receiving instructions [from Paul] for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible, they left.

Paul at Athens

¹⁶ Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was greatly angered when he saw that the city was full of idols. ¹⁷ So he had discussions in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place day after day with any who happened to be there. ¹⁸ And some of the ^[q]Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to engage in conversation with him. And some said, “What could this idle babbler [with his eclectic, scrap-heap learning] have in mind to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities”—because he was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. ¹⁹ They took him and brought him to the ^[r]Areopagus (Hill of Ares, the Greek god of war), saying, “May we know what this [strange] new teaching is which you are proclaiming? ²⁰ For you are bringing some startling and strange things to our ears; so we want to know what they mean.” ²¹ (Now all the Athenians and the foreigners visiting there used to spend their [leisure] time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)

Sermon on Mars Hill

²² So Paul, standing in the center of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I observe [with every turn I make throughout the city] that you are very religious and devout in all respects. ²³ Now as I was going along and carefully looking at your objects of worship, I came to an altar with this inscription: ‘TO AN ^[s]UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you already worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. ²⁴ The God who created the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; ²⁵ nor is He ^[t]served by human hands, as though He needed anything, because it is He who gives to all [people] life and breath and all things.^{(D) 26} And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands and territories. ²⁷ This was so that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grasp for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. ²⁸ For in Him we live and move and exist [that is, in Him we actually have our being], as even some of ^[u]your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’ ²⁹ So then, being God’s children, we should not think that the Divine Nature (deity) is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination or skill of man. ³⁰ Therefore God overlooked and disregarded the former ages of ignorance; but now He commands all people everywhere to repent [that is, to change their old way of thinking, to regret their past sins, and to seek God’s purpose for their lives], ³¹ because He has set a day when He will judge the inhabited world in righteousness by a Man whom He has appointed and destined for that task, and He has provided credible proof to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”^(E)

³² Now when they heard [the term] resurrection from the dead, ^[v]some mocked and sneered; but others said, “We will hear from you again about this matter.” ³³ So Paul left them. ³⁴ But some men joined him and believed; among them were Dionysius, [a judge] of the Council of Areopagus, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

Paul at Corinth

18 After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. ² There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife, Priscilla, because [the Roman Emperor] Claudius had issued an edict that all the ^[w]Jews were to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, ³ and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them; and they worked together for they were tent-makers. ⁴ And he reasoned and debated in the synagogue every Sabbath, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks;

⁵ but when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia (northern Greece), Paul began devoting himself completely to [preaching] the word, and solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed). ⁶ But since the Jews kept resisting and opposing him, and blaspheming [God], he ^[x]shook out his robe and said to them, “Your blood (damnation) be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”^{(F) 7} Then he moved on from there and went to the house of a man named ^[y]Titius Justus, who worshiped God and whose house was next door to the synagogue. ⁸ Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord together with his entire household [joyfully acknowledging Him as Messiah and Savior]; and many of the Corinthians who heard [Paul’s message] were believing and being baptized. ⁹ One night the Lord said to Paul in a vision, “Do not be afraid anymore, but go on speaking and do not be silent; ¹⁰ for I am with you, and no one will attack you in order to hurt you, because I have many people in this city.”^{(G) 11} So he settled there for a year and six months, teaching them the word of God [concerning eternal salvation through faith in Christ].

¹² But when ^[z]Gallio was proconsul of Achaia (southern Greece), the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before ^[aa]the judgment seat, ¹³ declaring, “This man is persuading people to worship God in violation of the law [of Moses].” ¹⁴ But when Paul was about to reply, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of some misdemeanor or serious crime, O Jews, I would have reason to put up with you; ¹⁵ but since it is merely a question [of doctrine within your religion] about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves; I am ^[ab]unwilling to judge these matters.” ¹⁶ And he drove them away from the judgment seat. ¹⁷ Then the Greeks all seized ^[ac]Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and began beating him right in front of the judgment seat; but Gallio paid no attention to any of this.^(H)

¹⁸ Paul stayed for a while longer, and then told the ^[ad]brothers and sisters goodbye and sailed for Syria; and he was accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchrea [the southeastern port of Corinth] he had his hair cut, because he was keeping a [Nazirite] vow [of abstention]. ¹⁹ Then they arrived in Ephesus, and he left the others there; but he entered the synagogue and reasoned and debated with the Jews. ²⁰ When they asked him to stay for a longer time, he refused; ²¹ but after telling them goodbye and saying, “I will return again if God is willing,” he set sail from Ephesus.

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

Paul’s Third Missionary Journey

²³ After spending some time there, he left and traveled through the territory of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening and encouraging all the disciples.

²⁴ Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent and cultured man, and well versed in the [Hebrew] Scriptures. ²⁵ This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and being spiritually impassioned, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things about Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John; ²⁶ and he began to speak boldly and fearlessly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained more accurately to him the way of God [and the full story of the life of Christ]. ²⁷ And when Apollos wanted to go across to Achaia (southern Greece), the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples, [urging them] to welcome him gladly. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who, through grace, had believed and had followed Jesus as Lord and Savior, ²⁸ for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public discussions, proving by the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed).