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Timothy travels with Paul and Silas

16 Paul travelled to Derbe and then he arrived in Lystra. A man called Timothy lived in Lystra. He was a believer. His mother was a Jew who had become a believer in Jesus. But Timothy's father was a Gentile who came from Greece. All the believers in Lystra and Iconium said good things about Timothy. Paul wanted Timothy to travel with him to different places. All the Jews in that region knew that Timothy's father was a Gentile. So Paul circumcised Timothy, so that the Jews would accept him.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. 16:3 Timothy's father was not a Jew. So nobody had circumcised Timothy when he was a baby. Paul wanted Timothy to go with him to help him with his work. Paul wanted to tell Jews, not only Gentiles, the good news about Jesus. These Jews knew Timothy. They knew that his father was not a Jew. This is why Paul circumcised Timothy. If he had not done this, the Jews would not have accepted him.