That night Paul had a vision in which he saw a Macedonian standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us!"

in which I saw the Lord, as he said to me, 'Hurry and leave Jerusalem quickly, because the people here will not accept your witness about me.'

That night the Lord stood by Paul and said, "Don't be afraid! You have given your witness for me here in Jerusalem, and you must also do the same in Rome."

For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship came to me

So take courage, men! For I trust in God that it will be just as I was told.

I have to boast, even though it doesn't do any good. But I will now talk about visions and revelations given me by the Lord.

I repeat, I know that this man was snatched to Paradise (again, I do not know whether this actually happened or whether it was a vision---only God knows), and there he heard things which cannot be put into words, things that human lips may not speak.

The LORD says, "Shout as loud as you can! Tell my people Israel about their sins!

Get ready, Jeremiah; go and tell them everything I command you to say. Do not be afraid of them now, or I will make you even more afraid when you are with them.

"But you, mortal man, must not be afraid of them or of anything they say. They will defy and despise you; it will be like living among scorpions. Still, don't be afraid of those rebels or of anything they say.

"Mortal man, listen to what I tell you. Don't be rebellious like them. Open your mouth and eat what I am going to give you."

I will make you as firm as a rock, as hard as a diamond; don't be afraid of those rebels."

Then go to the people of your nation who are in exile and tell them what I, the Sovereign LORD, am saying to them, whether they pay attention to you or not."

He said, "Go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to the people the message I have given you."

But as for me, the LORD fills me with his spirit and power, and gives me a sense of justice and the courage to tell the people of Israel what their sins are.

And pray also for me, that God will give me a message when I am ready to speak, so that I may speak boldly and make known the gospel's secret.

For the sake of this gospel I am an ambassador, though now I am in prison. Pray that I may be bold in speaking about the gospel as I should.

You know how we had already been mistreated and insulted in Philippi before we came to you in Thessalonica. And even though there was much opposition, our God gave us courage to tell you the Good News that comes from him.