Paul

1Then came he to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek:

Paul came to the town of Derbe and then to Lystra. A follower of Jesus named Timothy lived there. His mother was Jewish and believed in Jesus. His father was Greek.

2Which was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium.

The believers in Lystra and Iconium said good things about Timothy.

3Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek.

Paul wanted Timothy to travel with him. So he had Timothy circumcised because of the Jews living in that area. They all knew his father was Greek.

4And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem.

As they went from town to town, they passed on the rules to obey. The apostles and leaders in Jerusalem had decided on them. Apostles were the men Jesus sent out to teach.

5And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.

So the groups of believers grew stronger in what they believed. More people joined them every day.

6Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia,

The Holy Spirit would not let them speak God's message in the area called Asia. So they traveled through Phrygia and Galatia instead.

7After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not.

When they came near Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia. But the Spirit of Jesus would not let them.

8And they passing by Mysia came down to Troas.

So they went past Mysia and down to the town of Troas.

9And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.

That night Paul saw a vision, like a picture God showed him. A man from Macedonia stood and begged him, "Come to Macedonia and help us."

10And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.

As soon as Paul saw this, we got ready to leave for Macedonia. We were sure God had called us to tell those people the good news.

11Therefore loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course to Samothracia, and the next day to Neapolis;

We sailed from Troas straight to the island of Samothrace. The next day we went on to Neapolis.

12And from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony: and we were in that city abiding certain days.

From there we went to Philippi. It was the main city in that part of Macedonia, and Rome ruled it. We stayed there several days.

13And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither.

On the Sabbath, the Jewish day of rest, we went outside the city to a river. People often prayed there. We sat down and talked with the women who had come.

14And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.

One woman listening was named Lydia. She came from the city of Thyatira and sold purple cloth. She worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to take in what Paul said.

15And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.

She and everyone in her house were baptized. That means they were washed with water to show they now followed Jesus. Then she said, "If you believe I really trust the Lord, come and stay at my house." She kept asking until we agreed.

16And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying:

One day we were going to the place of prayer. A slave girl met us. A spirit in her let her tell people what would happen to them. She earned a lot of money for her owners this way.

17The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.

She followed Paul and the rest of us and shouted, "These men serve the Most High God! They are telling you the way to be saved!"

18And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.

She did this for many days. At last Paul had had enough. He turned and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ, I order you to come out of her!" The spirit left her right then.

19And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers,

Her owners saw that their way of making money was gone. They grabbed Paul and Silas. They dragged them to the leaders in the market place.

20And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city,

They brought them to the city judges and said, "These men are Jews. They are making trouble all over our city."

21And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans.

"They teach ways that we Romans are not allowed to take up or follow."

22And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them.

The crowd joined in against them. The judges had their clothes torn off. Then they ordered the two men beaten with sticks.

23And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:

The men were hit many times. Then they were thrown into jail. The jailer was told to guard them carefully.

24Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.

Because of that order, the jailer put them in the deepest room of the jail. He locked their feet into heavy wooden blocks called stocks.

25And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing songs to God. The other prisoners were listening to them.

26And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.

Suddenly a strong earthquake shook the jail down to its base. All the doors flew open at once. Every prisoner's chains came loose.

27And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.

The jailer woke up and saw the jail doors standing open. He pulled out his sword to kill himself. He thought all the prisoners had run away.

28But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.

But Paul shouted in a loud voice, "Do not hurt yourself! We are all still here!"

29Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,

The jailer called for lights. He rushed in, shaking with fear, and fell down in front of Paul and Silas.

30And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

He brought them outside and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

31And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved. This is true for you and for everyone in your house."

32And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.

Then Paul and Silas told God's message to him and to all the people living in his house.

33And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.

At that same hour of the night, the jailer washed their sore places. Right away he and all his family were baptized.

34And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.

He brought them into his home and set food in front of them. He and his whole family were full of joy that they now believed in God.

35And when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go.

When morning came, the judges sent officers with this order: "Let those men go."

36And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore depart, and go in peace.

The jailer told Paul, "The judges have sent word to set you free. So you may leave now and go in peace."

37But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust us out privily? nay verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out.

But Paul said to the officers, "They beat us in front of everyone, with no trial. And we are Roman citizens! Then they threw us in jail. Now do they want to push us out in secret? No! Let them come here and lead us out themselves."

38And the serjeants told these words unto the magistrates: and they feared, when they heard that they were Romans.

The officers told the judges what Paul had said. The judges were scared when they heard the men were Roman citizens.

39And they came and besought them, and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the city.

So the judges came and spoke kindly to them. They led them out of the jail. Then they asked them to leave the city.

40And they went out of the prison, and entered into the house of Lydia: and when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them, and departed.

Paul and Silas left the jail and went to Lydia's house. They saw the believers there and cheered them up. Then they left the city.

1Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews:

Paul and his friends traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia. Then they came to the city of Thessalonica. There was a synagogue there, a place where Jewish people met to pray and learn.

2And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,

Paul went in, as he always did. For three Sabbath days he talked with the people there about the Scriptures. The Sabbath was the Jewish day of rest.

3Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.

He explained and showed them that the Christ had to suffer and then rise from the dead. Christ means God's chosen King. Paul said, "This Jesus I am telling you about is the Christ."

4And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.

Some of them believed and joined Paul and Silas. Many Greeks who worshiped God believed too. So did quite a few important women.

5But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.

But some of the Jews did not believe, and they were jealous. They gathered rough troublemakers from the market and made a mob. Soon the whole city was in an uproar. They rushed to Jason's house to drag Paul and Silas out to the crowd.

6And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;

They could not find them there. So they dragged Jason and some other believers to the city leaders. They shouted, "These men have turned the world upside down. Now they have come here too!"

7Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.

"Jason has taken them into his house. They all go against the rules of Caesar, the ruler of Rome. They say there is another king, named Jesus!"

8And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things.

The crowd and the city leaders heard this. It upset them very much.

9And when they had taken security of Jason, and of the other, they let them go.

The leaders made Jason and the others pay money as a promise to keep the peace. Then they let them go.

10And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.

As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. When they got there, they went into the synagogue.

11These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

The people in Berea were more fair-minded than the people in Thessalonica. They were glad to listen to the message. Every day they read the Scriptures to see if it was true.

12Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few.

So many of them believed. Quite a few important Greek women and men believed too.

13But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was preached of Paul at Berea, they came thither also, and stirred up the people.

Then the Jews in Thessalonica heard that Paul was teaching God's word in Berea. So they came there too and stirred up the crowds.

14And then immediately the brethren sent away Paul to go as it were to the sea: but Silas and Timotheus abode there still.

Right away the believers sent Paul off toward the sea. Silas and Timothy stayed behind in Berea.

15And they that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens: and receiving a commandment unto Silas and Timotheus for to come to him with all speed, they departed.

The men who traveled with Paul brought him all the way to Athens. Then they went back with this message for Silas and Timothy: come to Paul as fast as you can.

16Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.

Paul waited for them in Athens. He was troubled inside when he saw the city was full of idols. An idol is a statue that people worship as a god.

17Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him.

So he talked in the synagogue with the Jews and with Greeks who worshiped God. Every day he also talked in the market with anyone he met.

18Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.

Some thinkers called Epicureans and Stoics argued with him. Some of them said, "What is this babbler trying to say?" Others said, "He seems to be talking about foreign gods." They said this because Paul told about Jesus and about rising from the dead.

19And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is?

They took Paul to the Areopagus, a meeting place on a hill. They asked him, "May we know what this new teaching of yours is?"

20For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean.

"You are telling us strange new things. We want to know what they mean."

21(For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.)

The people of Athens, and the visitors living there, loved to spend their time this way. They liked telling and hearing new ideas.

22Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.

So Paul stood up in the middle of that meeting on the hill. He said, "Men of Athens, I can see that you are very religious in every way."

23For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.

"As I walked around, I looked at the things you worship. I even found an altar with these words on it: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. An altar is a table where people bring gifts to a god. You worship him without knowing him. Now I will tell you who he is."

24God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

"God made the world and everything in it. He is Lord of heaven and earth. He does not live in buildings that people build."

25Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;

"People cannot take care of him with their hands, as if he needed something. He is the one who gives everyone life and breath and everything else."

26And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

"From one man he made every nation of people. He meant for them to live all over the earth. He decided when they would live and where their lands would be."

27That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

"He did this so people would look for him. Maybe they would reach out for him and find him. He is not far from any one of us."

28For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

"We live and move and exist because of him. Some of your own poets said it too: 'We are his children.'"

29Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.

"So we are God's children. Then we should not think that God is like gold or silver or stone. Those are only shapes made by people's hands and ideas."

30And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

"Long ago people did not know these things, and God let that pass. But now he tells everyone everywhere to repent. That means to turn away from wrong and turn to God."

31Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

"He has picked a day when he will judge the world fairly. He has chosen a man to do the judging. God has shown this to everyone by raising that man from the dead."

32And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.

When they heard about people rising from the dead, some laughed at Paul. Others said, "We want to hear you talk about this again."

33So Paul departed from among them.

So Paul left the meeting and went away.

34Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

But some men joined him and believed. One was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus council. A woman named Damaris believed too, and others with them.

1After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth;

After this, Paul left the city of Athens. He went to the city of Corinth.

2And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them.

There he met a Jew named Aquila, who was born in Pontus. Aquila had just come from Italy with his wife, Priscilla. They came because Claudius, the ruler of Rome, had ordered all Jews to leave that city. Paul went to see them.

3And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers.

Paul stayed with them and worked with them. They made tents for a living, and so did Paul.

4And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.

Every Sabbath, the Jewish day of rest, Paul talked with people in the synagogue, the place where Jews met to worship. He tried to help both Jews and Greeks believe.

5And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ.

Then Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia. After that, Paul spent all his time teaching. He told the Jews that Jesus is the Christ, the King God had promised to send.

6And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.

But they argued with him and said insulting things. So Paul shook out his clothes and said to them, "What happens to you is your own fault. I have done my part. From now on I will go to the Gentiles, people who are not Jews."

7And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man’s house, named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue.

So Paul left there and went into the house of a man named Justus. Justus worshiped God. His house was right next door to the synagogue.

8And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized.

Crispus was the leader of the synagogue. He believed in the Lord, and so did everyone in his house. Many other people in Corinth heard and believed too. They were baptized, washed in water to show they now followed Jesus.

9Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace:

One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision, a picture God showed him. He said, "Do not be afraid. Keep speaking. Do not stay quiet."

10For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.

"I am with you. No one will attack you and hurt you. Many people in this city belong to me."

11And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

So Paul stayed there for a year and a half. He taught God's word to the people.

12And when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul, and brought him to the judgment seat,

Gallio was the Roman ruler of the land called Achaia. In those days the Jews joined together against Paul. They took him to the judge's seat.

13Saying, This fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law.

They said, "This man tells people to worship God in a way that goes against the law."

14And when Paul was now about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you:

Paul was just about to speak. But Gallio said to the Jews, "If this were a real crime or something truly evil, I would listen to you."

15But if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such matters.

"But this is only about words and names and your own law. Take care of it yourselves. I will not be the judge of such things."

16And he drave them from the judgment seat.

Then Gallio made them leave the judge's seat.

17Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. And Gallio cared for none of those things.

Then the Greeks grabbed Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue. They beat him in front of the judge's seat. Gallio did not care at all.