Acts 20:1-6·~1 min

Paul in Macedonia and Greece

After encouraging the disciples, Paul leaves for Macedonia, then continues through the region speaking many words of encouragement until he reaches Greece. He stays there three months, but when a plot forms against him as he is about to sail for Syria, he decides to return through Macedonia instead.

W¹hen the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples. And after encouraging them, he said goodbye to them and left for Macedonia. ²After traveling through that area and speaking many words of encouragement, he arrived in Greece, ³where he stayed three months. And when the Jews formed a plot against him as he was about to sail for Syria, he decided to go back through Macedonia.

Several companions from Berea, Thessalonica, Derbe, and Asia travel with Paul, and some go on ahead to wait in Troas. After the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Paul and the others sail from Philippi and rejoin them there, staying seven days.

⁴Paul was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia. ⁵These men went on ahead and waited for us in Troas. ⁶And after the Feast of Unleavened Bread, we sailed from Philippi, and five days later we rejoined them in Troas, where we stayed seven days.

Section summaryWhen the uproar ends, Paul departs from Ephesus, encouraging the disciples as he moves through Macedonia and into Greece. A Jewish plot against him changes his sailing plan, companions gather around him from several churches, and after Passover the company regroups in Troas.

Role in the chapterThis opening movement gathers the mission's network while shifting the direction of Paul's travel. The chapter begins not with settled rest but with encouragement, danger, and the assembling of companions for what comes next.