Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible



Then, throwing off all reserve, Paul and Barnabas said, "We were bound to proclaim God's Message to you first. But since you spurn it and judge yourselves to be unworthy of the Life of the Ages--well, we turn to the Gentiles.

But, as you will remember, after we had already met with suffering and outrage at Philippi, we summoned up boldness, by the help of our God, to tell you God's Good News amid much opposition.



But, as you will remember, after we had already met with suffering and outrage at Philippi, we summoned up boldness, by the help of our God, to tell you God's Good News amid much opposition.

In the morning the praetors sent their lictors with the order, "Release those men." So the jailer brought Paul word, saying, "The praetors have sent orders for you to be released. Now therefore you can go, and proceed on your way in peace." But Paul said to them, "After cruelly beating us in public, without trial, Roman citizens though we are, they have thrown us into prison, and are they now going to send us away privately? No, indeed! Let them come in person and fetch us out." read more.
This answer the lictors took back to the praetors, who were alarmed when they were told that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. Accordingly they came and apologized to them; and, bringing them out, asked them to leave the city.

Three times I have been beaten with Roman rods, once I have been stoned, three times I have been shipwrecked, once for full four and twenty hours I was floating on the open sea.


For you not only showed sympathy with those who were imprisoned, but you even submitted with joy when your property was taken from you, being well aware that you have in your own selves a more valuable possession and one which will remain.

But, as you will remember, after we had already met with suffering and outrage at Philippi, we summoned up boldness, by the help of our God, to tell you God's Good News amid much opposition.


But, as you will remember, after we had already met with suffering and outrage at Philippi, we summoned up boldness, by the help of our God, to tell you God's Good News amid much opposition.

When the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples; and, after speaking words of encouragement to them, he took his leave, and started for Macedonia. Passing through those districts he encouraged the disciples in frequent addresses, and then came into Greece, and spent three months there. The Jews having planned to waylay him whenever he might be on the point of taking ship for Syria, he decided to travel back by way of Macedonia. read more.
He was accompanied as far as the province of Asia by Sopater the Beroean, the son of Pyrrhus; by the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; by Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and by the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus. These brethren had gone on and were waiting for us in the Troad. But we ourselves sailed from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and five days later joined them in the Troad, where we remained for a week.

and thence to Philippi, which is a city in Macedonia, the first in its district, a Roman colony. And there we stayed some little time. On the Sabbath we went beyond the city gate to the riverside, where we had reason to believe that there was a place for prayer; and sitting down we talked with the women who had come together. Among our hearers was one named Lydia, a dealer in purple goods. She belonged to the city of Thyateira, and was a worshipper of the true God. The Lord opened her heart, so that she gave attention to what Paul was saying. read more.
When she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, "If in your judgement I am a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house." And she made us go there. One day, as we were on our way to the place of prayer, a slave girl met us who claimed to be inspired and was accustomed to bring her owners large profits by telling fortunes. She kept following close behind Paul and the rest of us, crying aloud, "These men are the bondservants of the Most High God, and are proclaiming to you the way of salvation." This she persisted in for a considerable time, until Paul, wearied out, turned round and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And it came out immediately. But when her owners saw that their hopes of gain were gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them off to the magistrates in the public square. Then they brought them before the praetors. "These men," they said, "are creating a great disturbance in our city. They are Jews, and are teaching customs which we, as Romans, are not permitted to adopt or practise." The crowd, too, joined in the outcry against them, till at length the praetors ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods; and, after severely flogging them, they threw them into jail and bade the jailer keep them safely. He, having received an order like that, lodged them in the inner prison, and secured their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, when suddenly there was such a violent shock of earthquake that the prison shook to its foundations. Instantly the doors all flew open, and the chains fell off from every prisoner. Starting up from sleep and seeing the doors of the jail wide open, the jailer drew his sword and was on the point of killing himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted loudly to him, saying, "Do yourself no injury: we are all here. Then, calling for lights, he sprang in and fell trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas; and, bringing them out of the prison, he exclaimed, "O sirs, what must I do to be saved?" "Believe on the Lord Jesus," they replied, "and both you and your household will be saved." And they told the Lord's Message to him as well as to all who were in his house. Then he took them, even at that time of night, washed their wounds, and he and all his household were immediately baptized; and bringing the Apostles up into his house, he spread a meal for them, and was filled with gladness, with his whole household, his faith resting on God. In the morning the praetors sent their lictors with the order, "Release those men." So the jailer brought Paul word, saying, "The praetors have sent orders for you to be released. Now therefore you can go, and proceed on your way in peace." But Paul said to them, "After cruelly beating us in public, without trial, Roman citizens though we are, they have thrown us into prison, and are they now going to send us away privately? No, indeed! Let them come in person and fetch us out." This answer the lictors took back to the praetors, who were alarmed when they were told that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. Accordingly they came and apologized to them; and, bringing them out, asked them to leave the city. Then Paul and Silas, having come out of the prison, went to Lydia's house; and, after seeing the brethren and encouraging them, they left Philippi.


But, as you will remember, after we had already met with suffering and outrage at Philippi, we summoned up boldness, by the help of our God, to tell you God's Good News amid much opposition.

therefore entreat the Owner of the Harvest to send out reapers into His fields."

Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother: To Philemon our dearly-loved fellow labourer--


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