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.
Parallel translations
- WEB When they had come opposite Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit didn’t allow them.
- KJV After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not.
- BSB And when they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not permit them.
- NKJV After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them.
- NASB and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them;
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
When they tried to enter Bithynia, the Spirit of Jesus again held them back.
Overview
A second closed door confirms that God was narrowing Paul's path. Luke's phrase 'the Spirit of Jesus' identifies the guiding Spirit with the risen Lord, underscoring the deity of Christ and His active rule over the mission. God's 'no' here was preparing the way for a greater 'yes' in Macedonia.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Phil 1:19For I know that this will turn out to my salvation, through your supplication and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,
- Gal 4:6And because you are children, God sent out the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!”
- Acts 8:29The Spirit said to Philip, “Go near, and join yourself to this chariot.”
- Rom 8:9But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if it is so that the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his.
- 1 Pet 1:1Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the chosen ones who are living as foreigners in the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
- 1 Pet 1:11searching for who or what kind of time the Spirit of Christ, which was in them, pointed to, when he predicted the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that would follow them.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.
How Acts 16:7 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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