King James Version · Under Rome
Acts 16
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Then came he to and : and, behold, a certain was there, named , the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and ; but his was a : Which was well reported of by the brethren that were at and . Him would have to go forth with him; and took and him because of the which were in those quarters: for they knew all that his was a . And as they went through the cities, they them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of and which were at . And so were the churches established in the , and increased in number daily. Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Ghost to preach the word in , After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but suffered them not. And they passing by Mysia came down to . And a appeared to in the night; There stood a man of , and him, saying, Come over into , and help us. And after he had seen the , immediately we endeavoured to go into , assuredly gathering that had called us for to preach unto them. Therefore loosing from , we came with a straight course to Samothracia, and the next day to ; And from thence to , which is the chief city of that part of , and a colony: and we were in that city abiding certain days. And on the we went out of the city by a river side, where was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither. And a certain woman named , a seller of purple, of the city of , which , heard us: whose opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of . And when she was , and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be to , come into my house, and there. And she constrained us. And it came to pass, as we went to , a certain damsel with a of met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: The same followed and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of , which shew unto us of . And this did she many days. But , being grieved, turned and said to , I command thee in the name of to come out of her. And he came out the same hour. And when her masters saw that the of their gains was gone, they caught and , and drew them into the marketplace unto the , And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being , do exceedingly trouble our city, And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being . And rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them. And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet in the stocks. And at midnight and , and sang unto : and the prisoners heard them. 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 bands were loosed. And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his , and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. Then he called for a , and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before and , And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be ? And they said, on , and thou shalt be , and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of , and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was , he and all his, straightway. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in with all his house. And when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go. And the keeper of the prison told this saying to , The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore depart, and go in peace. But said unto them, They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being , 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. And the serjeants told these words unto the magistrates: and they feared, when they heard that they were . And they came and besought them, and brought them out, and them to depart out of the city. And they went out of the prison, and entered into the house of : and when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them, and departed.
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Under Rome, 63 BC to AD 100 ›
Judea as a client kingdom and then a province. Roads, garrisons, taxes, crucifixion, and a common Greek language that let a message travel the empire faster than any before it.
- Rome
- The republic tears itself apart in civil war and comes out as an empire under Augustus. What follows is two centuries of relative peace across the whole Mediterranean, enforced by legions and paid for by taxes, with safe roads and safe sea lanes. Every one of Paul's journeys depends on that.
- Judea
- Governed first through Herod the Great, a client king of enormous ability and enormous brutality who rebuilds the temple into one of the wonders of the ancient world, then directly by Roman prefects. Crucifixion is the standard penalty for sedition and is used often and publicly.
- The wider world
- Greek is spoken from Spain to Syria, which means a letter written in Corinth can be read in Rome without translation. Jewish communities already exist in most major cities, which is where the first Christian preaching lands. Mystery religions, imperial cult, and philosophy all compete in the same marketplace.
- Further afield
- The Han dynasty rules China and trades silk westward along routes that touch the Roman world at second hand. In Britain the Roman conquest begins within a decade of the crucifixion.