Paul

Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked directly at Elymas

After setting sail from Paphos, Paul and his companions came to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem.

Paul stood up, motioned with his hand, and began to speak: “Men of Israel and you Gentiles who fear God, listen to me!

As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people urged them to continue this message on the next Sabbath.

After the synagogue was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.

But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and they blasphemously contradicted what Paul was saying.

Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “It was necessary to speak the word of God to you first. But since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.

The Jews, however, incited the religious women of prominence and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their district.

At Iconium, Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue, where they spoke so well that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed.

So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who affirmed the message of His grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders.

This man was listening to the words of Paul, who looked intently at him and saw that he had faith to be healed.

In a loud voice Paul called out, “Stand up on your feet!” And the man jumped up and began to walk.

When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices in the Lycaonian language: “The gods have come down to us in human form!”

Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.

But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul found out about this, they tore their clothes and rushed into the crowd, shouting,

Even with these words, Paul and Barnabas could hardly stop the crowds from sacrificing to them.

Then some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, presuming he was dead.

Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church, praying and fasting as they entrusted them to the Lord, in whom they had believed.

And after engaging these men in sharp debate, Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question.

The whole assembly fell silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul describing the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them.

Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to select men from among them to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas called Barsabbas and Silas, two leaders among the brothers,

So we all agreed to choose men to send to you along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,

But Paul and Barnabas remained at Antioch, along with many others, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord.

Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the brothers in every town where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, to see how they are doing.”

But Paul thought it best not to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not accompanied them in the work.

…but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord.

Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where he found a disciple named Timothy, the son of a believing Jewish woman and a Greek father.

Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, so he took him and circumcised him on account of the Jews in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

During the night, Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and pleading with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”

As soon as Paul had seen the vision, we got ready to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation!”

She continued this for many days. Eventually Paul grew so aggravated that he turned and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” And the spirit left her at that very moment.

When the girl’s owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities in the marketplace.

The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered that they be stripped and beaten with rods.

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

But Paul called out in a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself! We are all here!”

Calling for lights, the jailer rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.

Then Paul and Silas spoke the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house.

The jailer informed Paul: “The magistrates have sent orders to release you. Now you may go on your way in peace.”

But Paul said to the officers, “They beat us publicly without a trial and threw us into prison, even though we are Roman citizens. And now do they want to send us away secretly? Absolutely not! Let them come themselves and escort us out!”

So the officers relayed this message to the magistrates, who were alarmed to hear that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens.

After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house to see the brothers and encourage them. Then they left the city.

As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbaths he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,

Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few leading women.

The Jews, however, became jealous. So they brought in some troublemakers from the marketplace, formed a mob, and sent the city into an uproar. They raided Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas, hoping to bring them out to the people.

As soon as night had fallen, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went into the Jewish synagogue.

But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that Paul was also proclaiming the word of God in Berea, they went there themselves to incite and agitate the crowds.

The brothers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy remained in Berea.

Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then returned with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.

While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply disturbed in his spirit to see that the city was full of idols.

Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others said, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was proclaiming the good news of Jesus and the resurrection.

So they took Paul and brought him to the Areopagus, where they asked him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?

Then Paul stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I see that in every way you are very religious.

At that, Paul left the Areopagus.

After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.

There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to visit them,

And when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself fully to the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ.

So Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titus Justus, a worshiper of God.

One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking; do not be silent.

So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching the word of God among the Corinthians.

While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews coordinated an attack on Paul and brought him before the judgment seat.

But just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio told the Jews, “If this matter involved a wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, it would be reasonable for me to hear your complaint.

Paul remained in Corinth for quite some time before saying goodbye to the brothers. He had his head shaved in Cenchrea to keep a vow he had made, and then he sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila.

When they reached Ephesus, Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue there and reasoned with the Jews.

When Paul had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church at Jerusalem. Then he went down to Antioch.

After Paul had spent some time in Antioch, he traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the interior and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples

“Into what, then, were you baptized?” Paul asked. “The baptism of John,” they replied.

Paul explained: “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the One coming after him, that is, in Jesus.”

And when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.

Then Paul went into the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God.

But when some of them stubbornly refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way, Paul took his disciples and left the synagogue to conduct daily discussions in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.

God did extraordinary miracles through the hands of Paul,

Now there were some itinerant Jewish exorcists who tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those with evil spirits. They would say, “I command you by Jesus, whom Paul proclaims.”

But one day the evil spirit responded, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?”

After these things had happened, Paul resolved in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I have been there,” he said, “I must see Rome as well.”

And you can see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in nearly the whole province of Asia, this Paul has persuaded a great number of people to turn away. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all.

Paul wanted to go before the assembly, but the disciples would not allow him.

When the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples. And after encouraging them, he said goodbye to them and left for Macedonia.

Paul was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia.

On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Since Paul was ready to leave the next day, he talked to them and kept on speaking until midnight.

And a certain young man named Eutychus, seated in the window, was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell from the third story and was picked up dead.

But Paul went down, threw himself on the young man, and embraced him. “Do not be alarmed!” he said. “He is still alive!”

Then Paul went back upstairs, broke bread, and ate. And after speaking until daybreak, he departed.

We went on ahead to the ship and sailed to Assos, where we were to take Paul aboard. He had arranged this because he was going there on foot.

Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, because he was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost.

From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church.

When Paul had said this, he knelt down with all of them and prayed.

They all wept openly as they embraced Paul and kissed him.

We sought out the disciples in Tyre and stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit they kept telling Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.

When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.

Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

The next day Paul went in with us to see James, and all the elders were present.

Paul greeted them and recounted one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

When they heard this, they glorified God. Then they said to Paul, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law.

So the next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. Then he entered the temple to give notice of the date when their purification would be complete and the offering would be made for each of them.

When the seven days were almost over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him,

For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple.

The whole city was stirred up, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut.

Immediately he took some soldiers and centurions and ran down to the crowd. When the people saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.