The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament (138 page)

¹⁶
'After this
I will return,

  
and I will rebuild the dwelling of David, which has fallen;

  
I will rebuild its ruins,

  
and I will set it up,

¹⁷
that the rest of men may seek the Lord,

  
and all the Gentiles who are called by my name,

¹⁸
says the Lord, who has made these things known from of old.'

¹⁹
Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God,
²⁰
but should
write to them
to abstain from the pollutions of idols and from unchastity and from what is strangled
ⁿ
and from blood.
²¹
For from early generations Moses has had in every city those who preach him, for he is read every sabbath in the synagogues."

The Council's Letter to the Gentile Believers

22
 Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole Church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent
Judas called Barsab'bas, and Silas
, leading men among the brethren,
²³
with the following letter: "The brethren, both the apostles and the elders, to the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cili'cia, greeting.
²⁴
Since we have heard that some persons from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions,
²⁵
it has seemed good to us in assembly to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
²⁶
men who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ.
²⁷
We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth.
²⁸
For it has seemed good to
the Holy Spirit
and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things:
²⁹
that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled
ⁿ
and from unchastity. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell."

30
 So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch; and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter.
³¹
And when they read it, they rejoiced at the exhortation.
³²
And Judas and Silas, who were themselves
prophets
, exhorted the brethren with many words and strengthened them.
³³
And after they had spent some time, they were sent off in peace by the brethren to those who had sent them.
^o
35
But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.

Paul and Barnabas Separate

36
 And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, "Come,
let us return and visit
the brethren in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are."
³⁷
And Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark.
³⁸
But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphyl'ia, and had not gone with them to the work.
³⁹
And there arose
a sharp contention
, so that they separated from each other; Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus,
⁴⁰
but Paul chose Silas and departed, being commended by the brethren to the grace of the Lord.
⁴¹
And he went through Syria and Cili'cia, strengthening the churches.

Timothy Accompanies Paul and Silas

16
  
And he came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named
Timothy
, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer; but his father was a Greek.
²
He was well spoken of by the brethren at Lystra and Ico'nium.
³
Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him; and he took him and
circumcised
him because of the Jews that were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.
⁴
As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance
the decisions
which had been reached by the apostles and elders who were at Jerusalem.
⁵
So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily.

Paul's Vision of the Man of Macedonia

6
 And
they went through the region
of Phry'gia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.
⁷
And when they had come opposite My'sia, they attempted to go into Bithyn'ia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them;
⁸
so, passing by My'sia, they went down to Troas.
⁹
And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing pleading with him and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us."
¹⁰
And when he had seen the vision,
immediately we
sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. 
*

The Conversion of Lydia and Her Household

11
 Setting sail therefore from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Sam'othrace, and the following day to Ne-ap'olis,
¹²
and from there to
Philip'pi
, which is the leading city of the district
^x
of Macedonia, and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days;
¹³
and on the sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; 
*
and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together.
¹⁴
One who heard us was a woman named
Lydia
, from the city of Thyati'ra, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to listen to what was said by Paul.
¹⁵
And when she was baptized, with
her household
, she begged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay." And she prevailed upon us.

Paul and Silas Beaten and Imprisoned

16
 As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a
spirit of divination
and brought her owners much gain by soothsaying.
¹⁷
She followed Paul and us, crying, "These men are
servants of the Most High
God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation."
¹⁸
And this she did for many days. But Paul was annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, "I charge you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And it came out that very hour.

19
 But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place before the rulers;
²⁰
and when they had brought them to the
magistrates
they said, "These men are Jews and they are disturbing our city.
²¹
They advocate customs which it is not lawful for us Romans to accept or practice."
²²
The crowd joined in attacking them; and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to
beat them with rods
.
²³
And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely.
²⁴
Having received this charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

25
 But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them,
²⁶
and 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 chains were unfastened.
²⁷
When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about
to kill himself
, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.
²⁸
But Paul cried with a loud voice, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here."
²⁹
And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas,
³⁰
and brought them out and said, "Men, what must I do to be saved?"
³¹
And they said, "
Believe in the Lord Jesus
, and you will be saved, you and your household."
³²
And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all that were in his house.
³³
And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their wounds, and he was baptized at once, with all his family.
³⁴
Then he brought them up into his house, and set food before them; and he rejoiced with all his household that he had believed in God.

35
 But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, "Let those men go."
³⁶
And the jailer reported the words to Paul, saying, "The magistrates have sent to let you go; now therefore come out and go in peace."
³⁷
But Paul said to them, "They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are
Roman citizens
, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now cast us out secretly? No! let them come themselves and take us out."
³⁸
The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens;
³⁹
so they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city.
⁴⁰
So they went out of the prison, and visited Lydia; and when they had seen
the brethren
, they exhorted them and departed.

The Uproar in Thessalonica [
Map
]

17
  
Now when they had passed through Amphip'olis and Apollo'nia, they came to
Thessaloni'ca
, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.
²
And Paul went in, as was
his custom
, and for three weeks
^p
he argued with them from the Scriptures,
³
explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ."
⁴
And some of them were persuaded, and joined Paul and Silas; as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.
⁵
But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked fellows of the rabble, they gathered a crowd, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of
Jason
, seeking to bring them out to the people.
⁶
And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brethren before the city authorities, crying, "These men who have turned
the world upside down
have come here also,
⁷
and Jason has received them; and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is
another king
, Jesus."
⁸
And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard this.
⁹
And when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

Paul and Silas in Beroea

10
 The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to
Beroe'a
; and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue.
¹¹
Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessaloni'ca, for they received the word with all eagerness,
examining the Scriptures
daily to see if these things were so.
¹²
Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men.
¹³
But when the Jews of Thessaloni'ca learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Beroe'a also, they came there too, stirring up and inciting the crowds.
¹⁴
Then the brethren immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but
Silas and Timothy remained
there.
¹⁵
Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed.