Acts 17:1-20:6

Jubilee Bible 2000

17 ¶ Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where the synagogue of the Jews was.

² And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,

³ declaring openly and proposing that it behooved the Christ to have suffered and risen again from the dead and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is the Christ.

⁴ And some of them believed and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the noble women not a few.

⁵ But the disobedient Jews, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort and gathered a company and set all the city on an uproar and assaulted the house of Jason and sought to bring them out to the people.

⁶ And when they did not find them, they brought Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down have come here also,

⁷ whom Jason has received, and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.

⁸ And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city when they heard these things.

⁹ And when they had taken security of Jason and of the others, they let them go.

¹⁰ ¶ And the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night unto Berea, who when they got there went into the synagogue of the Jews.

¹¹ These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all diligence and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

¹² Therefore many of them believed, also of honourable women who were Greeks and of men, not a few.

¹³ But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was preached by Paul at Berea, they came there also and stirred up the people.

¹⁴ And then immediately the brethren sent Paul to go away towards the sea, but Silas and Timothy abode there still.

¹⁵ And those that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens; and receiving an order from him unto Silas and Timothy to come unto him as soon as possible, they departed.

¹⁶ ¶ Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him when he saw the city completely given over to idolatry.

¹⁷ Therefore he disputed in the synagogue with the Jews and with the devout persons and in the market daily with those that he met with.

¹⁸ Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans and of the Stoics encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? others, He seems to be a setter forth of new gods, because he preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection.

¹⁹ And they took him and brought him unto the Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine is, of which thou speakest?

²⁰ For thou bringest certain new things to our ears; we desire, therefore, to know what these things mean.

²¹ (For all the Athenians and strangers who were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing.)

²² ¶ Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus, {Mars’ Hill} and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.

²³ For as I passed by and beheld your sanctuaries, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him I declare unto you.

²⁴ The God that made the world and all the things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands;

²⁵ neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he gives to all life and breath and all things

²⁶ and has made of one blood all the lineage of men to dwell on all the face of the earth and has determined the seasons (which he has limited) and the bounds of their habitation;

²⁷ that they should seek the Lord, if in any manner they might reach out to touch him and find him though he is not far from each one of us;

²⁸ for in him we live and move and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also of his lineage.

²⁹ Being therefore of the lineage of God, we ought not to think that which is Divine is like unto gold or silver or stone, bearing the mark of art and man’s imagination.

³⁰ For the times of this ignorance God overlooked, but he now commands all men everywhere to repent

³¹ because he has appointed a day, in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he has ordained; of whom he has given assurance unto all men in that he has raised him from the dead.

³² ¶ And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.

³³ So Paul departed from among them.

³⁴ But certain men believed and joined themselves with him, among whom was Dionysius of the Areopagus and a woman named Damaris and others with them.

18 ¶ After these things Paul departed from Athens and came to Corinth

² and found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla (for Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome) and came unto them.

³ And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them and worked, for by their occupation they were tentmakers.

⁴ And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath and persuaded Jews and Greeks.

⁵ And when Silas and Timothy were come from Macedonia, Paul was impressed by the Spirit and testified to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.

⁶ And when they opposed themselves and blasphemed, he shook his raiment and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean; from now on I will go unto the Gentiles.

⁷ ¶ And he departed from there and entered into a certain man’s house, named Titus the Just, one that feared God, whose house was next to the synagogue.

⁸ And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized.

⁹ Then the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent,

¹⁰ For I am with thee, and no one shall be able to hurt thee, for I have many people in this city.

¹¹ And he continued there a year and six months, teaching them the word of God.

¹² ¶ And when Gallio was the proconsul of Achaia, the Jews rose up with one accord against Paul and brought him to the judgment seat,

¹³ saying, This fellow persuades men to honor God contrary to the law.

¹⁴ And when Paul was now about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you;

¹⁵ but if it is a question of words and names and of your law, look ye to it, for I will be no judge of such matters.

¹⁶ And he drove them from the judgment seat.

¹⁷ Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. And Gallio cared for none of those things.

¹⁸ ¶ And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while and then took his leave of the brethren and sailed from there into Syria and with him Priscilla and Aquila, having shorn his head in Cenchrea, for he had a vow.

¹⁹ And he came to Ephesus and left them there, but he himself entered into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.

²⁰ When they desired him to tarry longer time with them, he consented not,

²¹ but bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that comes in Jerusalem, but I will return again unto you, if God wills. And he sailed from Ephesus.

²² And when he had landed at Caesarea and gone up to Jerusalem and after greeting the congregation, {Gr. ekklesia – called out ones} he went down to Antioch.

²³ And after he had spent some time there, he departed and went over all the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order, confirming all the disciples.

²⁴ ¶ And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus.

²⁵ This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spoke and taught diligently the things of the Lord, teaching only in the baptism of John.

²⁶ And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Aquila and Priscilla had heard him, they took him unto them and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.

²⁷ And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the exhorted brethren wrote the disciples to receive him, who, when he was come, was very helpful through grace unto those who had believed;

²⁸ for he mightily convinced the Jews in public, showing by the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.

19 ¶ And it came to pass that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper coasts, came to Ephesus, and finding certain disciples,

² he said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Spirit since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there is any Holy Spirit.

³ And he said unto them, Into what then were ye baptized? And they said, Into John’s baptism.

⁴ Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on him who should come after him, that is, on Christ, Jesus.

⁵ When they heard this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.

⁶ And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.

⁷ And all the men were about twelve.

⁸ ¶ And he went into the synagogue and spoke freely for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God.

⁹ But when some were hardened and disobedient, but cursing the way before the multitude, he departed from them and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus.

¹⁰ And this continued by the space of two years so that all those who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

¹¹ And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul

¹² so that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.

¹³ ¶ Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon themselves to invoke over those who had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.

¹⁴ (And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew and prince of the priests, who did so.)

¹⁵ And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I am acquainted with, but who are ye?

¹⁶ And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them and overcame them and prevailed against them so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

¹⁷ And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.

¹⁸ And many that believed came, confessing and declaring their deeds.

¹⁹ In the same manner many who had practiced vain arts brought their books together and burned them before everyone, and they counted the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.

²⁰ So the word of God grew mightily and prevailed.

²¹ ¶ After these things were ended, Paul purposed by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem, after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, saying, After I have been there, it behooves me to see Rome also.

²² So he sent into Macedonia two of those that ministered unto him, Timothy and Erastus, but he himself stayed in Asia for a season.

²³ And the same time there arose no small stir about the way.

²⁴ For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen,

²⁵ whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation and said, Sirs, ye know that by this gain we have our wealth.

²⁶ Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are not gods which are made with hands

²⁷ so that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought, but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worship.

²⁸ And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.

²⁹ And the whole city was filled with confusion, and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theatre.

³⁰ And when Paul would have entered in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not.

³¹ And certain of the chief persons of Asia, who were his friends, sent unto him, asking him that he not present himself in the theatre.

³² Some therefore cried one thing, and some another, for the assembly was confused; and most of them did not know why they were come together.

³³ And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand and would have made his defense unto the people.

³⁴ But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.

³⁵ Then the town scribe, appeasing the people, said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that does not know how the city of the Ephesians is honored of the great goddess Diana and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?

³⁶ Seeing then that these things cannot be gainsaid, ye ought to be quiet and to do nothing rashly.

³⁷ For ye have brought here these men, who are neither guilty of sacrilege, nor blasphemers of your goddess.

³⁸ Therefore if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a matter against any man, the law is open, and there are proconsuls; let them accuse one another.

³⁹ But if ye enquire any thing concerning other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly.

⁴⁰ For we are in danger of being accused of sedition for this day’s uproar, there being no cause by which we may give an account of this concourse.

⁴¹ And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly.

20 ¶ And after the uproar was ceased, Paul called the disciples and embraced them and departed to go into Macedonia.

² And when he had gone over those parts and had exhorted them with much word, he came into Greece

³ and there abode three months. And when the Jews laid in wait for him, as he was about to sail into Syria, he took counsel to return through Macedonia.

⁴ And there accompanied him into Asia Sopater of Berea; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe and Timothy; and of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus.

⁵ These going before tarried for us at Troas.

⁶ And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread and came unto them to Troas in five days, where we abode seven days.