Paul and Silas Arrive in Thessalonica

17 Paul and those traveling with him passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia. They came to Thessalonica. A Jewish synagogue was there. ² Paul went into the synagogue as he usually did. For three Sabbath days in a row he talked with the Jews about the Scriptures. ³ He explained and proved that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am telling you about is the Messiah!” he said. ⁴ His words won over some of the Jews. They joined Paul and Silas. A large number of Greeks who worshiped God joined them too. So did quite a few important women.

⁵ But other Jews were jealous. So they rounded up some evil people from the market place. Forming a crowd, they started all kinds of trouble in the city. The Jews rushed to Jason’s house. They were looking for Paul and Silas. They wanted to bring them out to the crowd. ⁶ But they couldn’t find them. So they dragged Jason and some other believers to the city officials. “These men have caused trouble all over the world,” they shouted. “Now they have come here. ⁷ Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all disobeying Caesar’s commands. They say there is another king. He is called Jesus.” ⁸ When the crowd and the city officials heard this, they became very upset. ⁹ They made Jason and the others give them money. The officials did this to make sure they would return to the court. Then they let Jason and the others go.

Paul and Silas Are Sent to Berea

¹⁰ As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. When they arrived, they went to the Jewish synagogue. ¹¹ The Berean Jews were very glad to receive Paul’s message. They studied the Scriptures carefully every day. They wanted to see if what Paul said was true. So they were more noble than the Thessalonian Jews. ¹² Because of this, many of the Berean Jews believed. A number of important Greek women also became believers. And so did many Greek men.

¹³ But the Jews in Thessalonica found out that Paul was preaching God’s word in Berea. So some of them went there too. They stirred up the crowds and got them all worked up. ¹⁴ Right away the believers sent Paul to the coast. But Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea. ¹⁵ The believers who went with Paul took him to Athens. Then they returned with orders that Silas and Timothy were supposed to join him as soon as they could.