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Read (and listen!) through the amazing story of Luke and Acts!
Immerse: Luke and Acts is part of Immerse: The Reading Bible, which takes you on a new and unique journey through the books of Luke and Acts in the New Testament. This fresh arrangement of the books highlights the depth of the New Testament’s fourfold witness to Jesus the Messiah. The Son of God, who fulfills all the longings and promises of the collected Scriptures. The goal of Bible reading is to understand the sacred writings in depth so we can learn to live with them. Using the text of the New Living Translation (NLT) from Tyndale Publishing, now you can experience Luke and Acts the same way the original readers did and be fully immersed in the most amazing story of all time!
Oliver: Welcome to Immerse Luke
and Acts, Day seventeen, Week four
.
Next, Paul and Silas traveled through
the area of Phrygia and Galatia,
because the Holy Spirit had prevented
them from preaching the Word in
the province of Asia at that time.
Then, coming to the borders of Mysia, they
headed north for the province of Bithynia.
But again, the Spirit of Jesus
did not allow them to go there.
So, instead, they went on through
Mysia to the seaport of Troas.
That night, Paul had a vision.
A man from Macedonia, in northern Greece,
was standing there, pleading with him,
Come over to Macedonia and help us.
So we decided to leave for Macedonia
at once, having concluded that God was
calling us to preach the good news there.
We boarded a boat at Troas and
sailed straight across to the
island of Samothrace, and the
next day we landed at Neopolis.
From there, we reached Philippi,
a major city of that district
of Macedonia and a Roman colony,
and we stayed there several days.
On the Sabbath, we went a little way
outside the city to a riverbank, where
we thought people would be meeting for
prayer, and we sat down to speak with
some women who had gathered there.
One of them was Lydia from
Thyatira, a merchant of expensive
purple cloth, who worshiped God.
As she listened to us, the
Lord opened her heart, and she
accepted what Paul was saying.
She and her household were baptized,
and she asked us to be her guests.
If you agree that I am a true
believer in the Lord, she
said, come and stay at my home.
And she urged us until we agreed.
One day, as we were going down
to the place of prayer, we met a
slave girl who had a spirit that
enabled her to tell the future.
She earned a lot of money for
her masters by telling fortunes.
She followed Paul and the rest of
us, shouting, These men are servants
of the Most High God, and they have
come to tell you how to be saved.
This went on day after day, until Paul got
so exasperated that he turned and said to
the demon within her, I command you in the
name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.
And instantly, it left her.
Her master's hopes of wealth were
now shattered, so they grabbed Paul
and Silas and dragged them before
the authorities at the marketplace.
The whole city is in an
uproar because of these Jews.
They shouted to the city officials,
They are teaching customs that are
illegal for us Romans to practice.
A mob quickly formed against Paul and
Silas, and the city officials ordered
them stripped and beaten with wooden rods.
They were severely beaten, and
then they were thrown into prison.
The jailer was ordered to make sure
they didn't escape, so the jailer
put them into the inner dungeon and
clamped their feet in the stocks.
Around midnight, Paul and Silas were
praying and singing hymns to God, and
the other prisoners were listening.
Suddenly, there was a massive
earthquake, and the prison
was shaken to its foundations.
All the doors immediately flew open, and
the chains of every prisoner fell off.
The jailer woke up to see
the prison doors wide open.
He assumed the prisoners had escaped,
so he drew his sword to kill himself.
But Paul shouted to him, Stop!
Don't kill yourself.
We are all here.
The jailer called for lights and
ran to the dungeon and fell down
trembling before Paul and Silas.
Then he brought them out and asked,
Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
They replied, Believe in the Lord
Jesus and you will be saved along
with everyone in your household.
And they shared the word of
the Lord with him and with all
who lived in his household.
Even at that hour of the night, the jailer
cared for them and washed their wounds.
Then he and everyone in his
household were immediately baptized.
He brought them into his house
and set a meal before them.
And he and his entire household rejoiced,
because they all believed in God.
The next morning, the city
officials sent the police to tell
the jailer, let those men go.
So the jailer told Paul, the
city officials have said you
and Silas are free to leave.
Go in peace.
But Paul replied, they have
publicly beaten us without a
trial and put us in prison.
And we are Roman citizens, so now
they want us to leave secretly?
Certainly not.
Let them come themselves to release us.
When the police reported this, the city
officials were alarmed to learn that
Paul and Silas were Roman citizens.
So, they came to the jail
and apologized to them.
Then they brought them out and
begged them to leave the city.
When Paul and Silas left the prison,
they returned to the home of Lydia.
There they met with the believers
and encouraged them once more.
Then they left town.
Paul and Silas then traveled
through the towns of Amphipolis and
Apollonia and came to Thessalonica,
where there was a Jewish synagogue.
As was Paul's custom, he went
to the synagogue service.
And for three Sabbaths in a row, he used
the scriptures to reason with the people.
He explained the prophecies and
proved that the Messiah must
suffer and rise from the dead.
He said, this Jesus I'm telling
you about is the Messiah.
Some of the Jews who listened were
persuaded and joined Paul and Silas,
along with many God fearing Greek
men and quite a few prominent women.
But some of the Jews were jealous.
So they gathered some troublemakers
from the marketplace to
form a mob and start a riot.
They attacked the home of Jason,
searching for Paul and Silas, so they
could drag them out to the crowd.
Not finding them there, they
dragged out Jason and some of
the other believers instead.
And took them before the city council.
Paul and Silas have caused trouble
all over the world, they shouted.
And now they are here
disturbing our city too.
And Jason has welcomed them into his home.
They are all guilty of
treason against Caesar.
For they profess allegiance
to another king named Jesus.
The people of the city, as well
as the city council, were thrown
into turmoil by these reports.
So the officials forced Jason
and the other believers to post
bond, and then they released them.
That very night, the believers
sent Paul and Silas to Berea.
When they arrived there, they
went to the Jewish synagogue.
And the people of Berea were more open
minded than those in Thessalonica, and
they listened eagerly to Paul's message.
They searched the scriptures
day after day to see if Paul and
Silas were teaching the truth.
As a result, many Jews believed, as did
many of the prominent Greek women and men.
But when some Jews in Thessalonica
learned that Paul was preaching
the word of God in Berea, they
went there and stirred up trouble.
The believers acted at once,
sending Paul onto the coast, while
Silas and Timothy remained behind.
Those escorting Paul went with
him all the way to Athens.
Then they returned to Berea,
with instructions for Silas and
Timothy to hurry and join him.
While Paul was waiting for them in
Athens, he was deeply troubled by all
the idols he saw everywhere in the city.
He went to the synagogue to reason with
the Jews and the God fearing Gentiles,
and he spoke daily in the public
square to all who happened to be there.
He also had a debate with some of
the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers.
When he told them about Jesus and
his resurrection, they said, What's
this babbler trying to say with
these strange ideas he's picked up?
Others said, he seems to be
preaching about some foreign gods.
Then they took him to the
high council of the city.
Come and tell us about this
new teaching, they said.
You're saying some rather strange things,
and we want to know what it's all about.
It should be explained that all the
Athenians, as well as the foreigners
in Athens, seem to spend all their
time discussing the latest ideas.
So Paul, standing before the
council, addressed them as follows.
Men of Athens I notice that you are very
religious in every way, for as I was
walking along, I saw your many shrines.
And one of your altars had this
inscription on it, To an unknown God,
this God, whom you worship without
knowing, is the one I'm telling you about.
He is the God who made the
world and everything in it.
Since he is Lord of heaven and earth,
he doesn't live in man made temples.
And human hands can't serve
his needs, for he has no needs.
He himself gives life and breath to
everything, and he satisfies every need.
From one man he created all the
nations throughout the whole earth.
He decided beforehand when
they should rise and fall.
And he determined their boundaries.
His purpose was for the nations to
seek after God, and perhaps feel their
way toward Him and find Him, though
He is not far from any one of us.
For in Him, we live and move and exist.
As some of your own poets have
said, we are His offspring.
And since this is true, We shouldn't
think of God as an idol designed by
craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.
God overlooked people's ignorance about
these things in earlier times, but
now he commands everyone everywhere to
repent of their sins and turn to him.
For he has set a day for judging the
world with justice by the man he has
appointed, and he proved to everyone who
this is by raising him from the dead.
When they heard Paul speak
about the resurrection of the
dead, some laughed in contempt.
But others said, We want to
hear more about this later.
That ended Paul's discussion with them,
but some joined him and became believers.
Among them were Dionysius, a member
of the council, a woman named
Damaris, and others with them.
Then Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.
There he became acquainted with a
Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus,
who had recently arrived from
Italy with his wife Priscilla.
They had left Italy when Claudius
Caesar deported all Jews from Rome.
Paul lived and worked with them, for
they were tentmakers, just as he was.
Each Sabbath found Paul at the
synagogue, trying to convince
the Jews and Greeks alike.
And after Silas and Timothy came
down from Macedonia, Paul spent
all his time preaching the word.
He testified to the Jews
that Jesus was the Messiah.
But when they opposed and insulted him,
Paul shook the dust from his clothes and
said, Your blood is upon your own heads.
I am innocent.
From now on, I will go
preach to the Gentiles.
Then he left and went to the home of
Titius Justus, a Gentile who worshipped
God and lived next door to the synagogue.
Crispus, the leader of the
synagogue, and everyone in his
household believed in the Lord.
Many others in Corinth also heard Paul,
became believers, and were baptized.
One night, the Lord spoke to Paul in a
vision and told him, Don't be afraid,
speak out, don't be silent, for I am with
you, and no one will attack and harm you,
for many people in this city belong to me.
So Paul stayed there for the next year
and a half, teaching the word of God.
But when Galio became governor of
Achaia, Some Jews rose up together
against Paul and brought him
before the governor for judgment.
They accused Paul of persuading
people to worship God in ways
that are contrary to our law.
But just as Paul started to make
his defense, Galio turned to Paul's
accusers and said, Listen, you Jews,
if this were a case involving some
wrongdoing or a serious crime, I would
have a reason to accept your case.
But since it is merely a question
of words and names and your Jewish
law, take care of it yourselves.
I refuse to judge such matters.
And he threw them out of the courtroom.
The crowd then grabbed Sassanese,
the leader of the synagogue, and beat
him right there in the courtroom.
But Galio paid no attention.
Paul stayed in Corinth
for some time after that.
Then he said goodbye to the brothers and
sisters, and went to nearby Senchria.
There he shaved his head according to
Jewish custom, marking the end of a vow.
Then he set sail for Syria, taking
Priscilla and Aquila with him.
They stopped first at the port of Ephesus,
where Paul left the others behind.
While he was there, he went to the
synagogue to reason with the Jews.
They asked him to stay
longer, but he declined.
As he left, however, he said, I
will come back later, God willing.
Then he set sail from Ephesus.
The next stop was at the port of Caesarea.
From there, he went up and
visited the church at Jerusalem,
and then went back to Antioch.
After spending some time in
Antioch, Paul went back through
Galatia and Phrygia, visiting and
strengthening all the believers.
meanwhile, a Jew named Apollos,
an eloquent speaker who knew the
scriptures well, had arrived in
Ephesus from Alexandria in Egypt.
He had been taught the way of the Lord,
and he taught others about Jesus with an
enthusiastic spirit and with accuracy.
However, he knew only
about John's baptism.
When Priscilla and Aquila heard him
preaching boldly in the synagogue,
they took him aside and explained
the way of God even more accurately.
Apollos had been thinking about going
to Achaia, and the brothers and sisters
in Ephesus encouraged him to go.
They wrote to the believers in
Achaia, asking them to welcome him.
When he arrived there, he proved
to be of great benefit to those
who, by God's grace, had believed.
He refuted the Jews with powerful
arguments in public debate.
Using the scriptures, he explained
to them that Jesus was the Messiah.
While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul
traveled through the interior regions
until he reached Ephesus, on the coast,
where he found several believers.
Did you receive the Holy
Spirit when you believed?
he asked them.
No, they replied.
We haven't even heard that
there is a Holy Spirit.
Then what baptism did you experience?
he asked.
And they replied, the baptism of John.
Paul said, John's baptism
called for repentance from sin.
But John himself told the people
to believe in the one who would
come later, meaning Jesus.
As soon as they heard this, they were
baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Then, when Paul laid his hands on them,
the Holy Spirit came on them, and they
spoke in other tongues and prophesied.
There were about twelve men in all.
Then Paul went to the synagogue and
preached boldly for the next three months.
Arguing persuasively
about the kingdom of God.
But some became stubborn,
rejecting his message and
publicly speaking against the way.
So Paul left the synagogue and
took the believers with him.
Then he held daily discussions
at the lecture hall of Tyrannus.
This went on for the next two
years, so that people throughout
the province of Asia, both Jews and
Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.
God gave Paul the power to
perform unusual miracles.
When handkerchiefs or aprons that had
merely touched his skin were placed on
sick people, they were healed of their
diseases, and evil spirits were expelled.
A group of Jews was traveling from
town to town, casting out evil spirits.
They tried to use the name of the
Lord Jesus in their incantation,
saying, I command you in the name of
Jesus, Whom Paul preaches to come out.
Seven sons of Siva, a leading priest
were doing this, but one time when they
tried it, the evil spirit replied, I know
Jesus and I know Paul, but who are you?
Then the man with the evil spirit
leaped on them, overpowered them,
and attacked them with such violence
that they fled from the house.
Naked and battered the story of
what happened, spread quickly.
All through Ephesus to Jews and Greeks
alike, a solemn fear descended on
the city and the name of the Lord.
Jesus was greatly honored.
Many who became believers
confessed their sinful practices.
A number of them who had been practicing
sorcery brought their incantation books
and burned them at a public bonfire.
The value of the books was
several million dollars.
So the message about the Lord spread
widely and had a powerful effect.
This concludes today's
immerse reading experience.
Thank you for joining us.