1: Then
came he to Derbe and Lystra and behold a certain disciple was there named
Timotheus the son of a certain woman who was a Jewess and believed but his
father was a Greek 2: Which was well reported of by the brethren who
were at Lystra and Iconium 3: Him 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 4: And 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 5: And so
were the churches established in the faith and increased in number daily 6:
Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia and were
forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia 7: After they
were come to Mysia they wanted to go into Bithynia but the Spirit permitted
them not 8: And they passing by Mysia came down to Troas 9: And 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 10: And after he had
seen the vision immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia assuredly
gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel to them 11:
Therefore loosing from Troas we came with a straight course to Samothracia and
the next day to Neapolis 12: And from there to Philippi which is the
chief city of that part of Macedonia and a colony and we were in that city
abiding certain days 13: And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a
river side, where prayer was accustomed to be made and we sat down and spoke to
the women who resorted there 14: And a certain woman named Lydia a
seller of purple of the city of Thyatira who worshipped God heard us whose
heart the Lord opened that she attended to the things which were spoken of Paul
15: And when she was baptized and her household she besought us saying
If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord come into my house and abide
there And she insisted 16: And it came to pass as we went to prayer a
certain damsel possessed[1]
with a spirit of divination met us who brought her masters much gain by
soothsaying 17: The same followed Paul and us and cried saying These men
are the servants of the most high God which show to us the way of salvation 18:
And this did she many days But Paul being grieved turned and said to the spirit
I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her And it came out
the same hour[2]
19: And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone they
caught Paul and Silas and drew them into the marketplace to the rulers 20:
And brought them to the magistrates saying These men being Jews do exceedingly
trouble our city 21: And teach customs which are not lawful for us to
receive neither to observe being Romans 22: And the multitude rose up
together against them and the magistrates rent off their clothes and commanded
to beat them 23: And when they had laid many stripes upon them they cast
them into prison charging the jailer to keep them safely 24: Who having
received such a charge thrust them into the inner prison and made their feet
fast in the stocks 25: And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang
praises to God and the prisoners heard 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 bonds were loosed 27:
And 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 28: But Paul cried with a loud voice saying
Do yourself no harm for we are all here 29: Then he called for a light
and sprang in and came trembling and fell down before Paul and Silas 30:
And brought them out and said Sirs what must I do to be saved 31: And
they said Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved and your
house 32: And they spoke to him the word of the Lord and to all that
were in his house 33: And he took them the same hour of the night and
washed their stripes and was baptized he and all his straightway[3] 34:
And when he had brought them into his house he set food before them and
rejoiced believing in God with all his house 35: And when it was day the
magistrates sent the sergeants saying Let those men go 36: And the
keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul The magistrates have sent to let
you go now because of this depart and go in peace 37: But Paul said to
them They have beaten us openly un-condemned being Romans and have cast us into
prison and now do they thrust us out privately? No! instead because of this let
them come themselves and fetch us out 38: And the sergeants told these
words to the magistrates and they feared when they heard that they were Romans 39:
And they came and besought them and brought them out and desired them to depart
out of the city 40: And 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.
[1] The same Greek word translated as
“possessed” in this verse, is applied to women in 1 Corinthians 11:10,
concerning possessing authority over their own persons. Whereas the NASB supplements
the their translation with the words, “a
symbol of…authority,” The NIV translates this verse correctly, showing that
it is the woman herself who possesses
authority over her own person, but the
clear sense is patently unacceptable, so they also muddy the waters by adding an
alternate reading in the footnotes that says, “or having a sign of authority in other words a veil on her
head. If this is indeed the case, if women are required to wear symbols or
signs of male authority on their heads, then where are the veils in today’s
churches?
[2] What the girl was saying was factually
true, but her words were inspired by the devil and meant to to distract and
hinder the gospel. Paul discerned this by the power of the Holy Spirit and used
the authority of Jesus Christ to address the unclean spirit and command it to
leave the woman. There are spirits of divination masquerading as spirits of
prophecy in the Church today.
[3] Salvation was an instantaneous matter
of faith in the gospel, as was baptism. No prerequisite theology classes
required--saved and baptized same
night.
Additional commentary pending for this
chapter. Questions and comments are welcome.
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