Paul’s Second Missionary Journey Map

Paul and his companion Barnabas left for the Second Missionary Journey from Jerusalem, in late Autumn 49 AD, after the meeting of the Council of Jerusalem where the circumcision question was debated. They stopped in Antioch where they had a sharp argument about taking John Mark with them on their trips, as in the previous trip he had left them and gone home. Unable to resolve the dispute, Paul and Barnabas decided to separate; Barnabas took John Mark with him, while Silas joined Paul.

Paul and Silas initially visited Tarsus (Paul’s birthplace), Derbe and Lystra. In Lystra, they met a disciple named Timothy, who was well-spoken of by the Christians who were at Lystra and Iconium, and decided to take him with them. Meanwhile, the number of believers kept growing daily (Acts 16:5).

In Philippi, they met a woman named Lydia, a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God and welcomed them in her house, and then Paul cast a spirit of divination out of a slave girl. Her masters were upset about the loss of income her soothsaying provided (Acts 16:16-24), so they turned the city against the missionaries, and Paul and Silas were put in jail. After a miraculous earthquake, the gates of the prison fell apart and Paul and Silas could have escaped but remained; this event led to the conversion of the jailor (Acts 16:25-40). They continued traveling, going by Berea and then to Athens where Paul preached to the Jews and to the believing Greeks in the synagogue and to the Greek intellectuals and philosophers in the Areopagus/Mars’ Hill. Around 50-52 AD, Paul spent a year and a half in Corinth. In Corinth, Paul met Priscilla and Aquila who became believers and helped Paul through his other missionary journeys. The couple followed Paul and his companions to Ephesus, and stayed there to start a Church. In 52 AD, Paul and Silas sailed to Caesarea to greet the Church there and then traveled north to Antioch where they stayed for about a year before leaving again on their third missionary journey.

The Paul’s Second Missionary Journey Map outlines his Second Evangelical Mission itinerary.