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.