Historical
Paul and Silas in Thessalonica
17 Paul and Silas traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica. In that city there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 Paul went into the synagogue as he always did. On each Sabbath day for three weeks, Paul talked with the Jews about the Scriptures. 3 He explained and proved that the Christ must die and then rise from death. He said, “This Jesus I am telling you about is the Christ.” 4 Some of the Jews were convinced and joined Paul and Silas. Many of the Greeks who worshiped the true God and many of the important women joined them.
5 But the Jews became jealous. They got some evil men from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot. They ran to Jason’s house, looking for Paul and Silas. The men wanted to bring Paul and Silas out to the people. 6 But they did not find them. So they dragged Jason and some other believers to the leaders of the city. The people were yelling, “These men have made trouble everywhere in the world. And now they have come here too! 7 Jason is keeping them in his house. All of them do things against the laws of Caesar. They say that there is another king called Jesus.”
8 When the people and the leaders of the city heard these things, they became very upset. 9 They made Jason and the others put up a sum of money. Then they let the believers go free.
Paul and Silas Go to Berea
10 That same night the believers sent Paul and Silas to Berea. There Paul and Silas went to the Jewish synagogue. 11 These Jews were better than the Jews in Thessalonica. They were eager to hear the things Paul and Silas said. These Jews in Berea studied the Scriptures every day to find out if these things were true. 12 So, many of them believed. Many important Greek men and women also believed. 13 But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God in Berea, they came there, too. They upset the people and made trouble. 14 So the believers quickly sent Paul away to the coast. But Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea. 15 The men who took Paul went with him to Athens. Then they carried a message from Paul back to Silas and Timothy. It said, “Come to me as soon as you can.”
Paul in Athens
16 Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy in Athens. He was troubled because he saw that the city was full of idols. 17 In the synagogue, he talked with the Jews and the Greeks who worshiped the true God. He also talked every day with people in the marketplace.
18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers[a] argued with him. Some of them said, “This man doesn’t know what he is talking about. What is he trying to say?” Paul was telling them the Good News of Jesus’ rising from death. They said, “He seems to be telling us about some other gods.” 19 They got Paul and took him to a meeting of the Areopagus.[b] They said, “Please explain to us this new idea that you have been teaching. 20 The things you are saying are new to us. We want to know what this teaching means.” 21 (All the people of Athens and those from other countries always used their time talking about all the newest ideas.)
22 Then Paul stood before the meeting of the Areopagus. He said, “Men of Athens, I can see that you are very religious in all things. 23 I was going through your city, and I saw the things you worship. I found an altar that had these words written on it: “TO A GOD WHO IS NOT KNOWN.” You worship a god that you don’t know. This is the God I am telling you about! 24 He is the God who made the whole world and everything in it. He is the Lord of the land and the sky. He does not live in temples that men build! 25 This God is the One who gives life, breath, and everything else to people. He does not need any help from them. He has everything he needs. 26 God began by making one man. From him came all the different people who live everywhere in the world. He decided exactly when and where they must live. 27 God wanted them to look for him and perhaps search all around for him and find him. But he is not far from any of us: 28 ‘By his power we live and move and exist.’ Some of your own poets have said: ‘For we are his children.’ 29 We are God’s children. So, you must not think that God is like something that people imagine or make. He is not like gold, silver, or rock. 30 In the past, people did not understand God, but God ignored this. But now, God tells everyone in the world to change his heart and life. 31 God has decided on a day that he will judge all the world. He will be fair. He will use a man to do this. God chose that man long ago. And God has proved this to everyone by raising that man from death!”
32 When the people heard about Jesus being raised from death, some of them laughed. They said, “We will hear more about this from you later.” 33 So Paul went away from them. 34 But some of the people believed Paul and joined him. One of those who believed was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus. Also a woman named Damaris and some others believed.
Paul in Corinth
18 Later, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 Here he met a Jew named Aquila. Aquila was born in the country of Pontus. But Aquila and his wife, Priscilla, had recently moved to Corinth from Italy. They left Italy because Claudius[c] commanded that all Jews must leave Rome. Paul went to visit Aquila and Priscilla. 3 They were tentmakers, just as he was. He stayed with them and worked with them. 4 Every Sabbath day he talked with the Jews and Greeks in the synagogue. Paul tried to persuade these people to believe in Jesus.
5 Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia and joined Paul in Corinth. After this, Paul used all his time telling people the Good News. He showed the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. 6 But they would not accept Paul’s teaching and said some evil things. So he shook off the dust from his clothes.[d] He said to them, “If you are not saved, it will be your own fault! I have done all I can do! After this, I will go to non-Jewish people!” 7 Paul left the synagogue and moved into the home of Titius Justus. It was next to the synagogue. This man worshiped the true God. 8 Crispus was the leader of that synagogue. He and all the people living in his house believed in the Lord. Many others in Corinth also listened to Paul. They too believed and were baptized.
9 During the night, Paul had a vision. The Lord said to him, “Don’t be afraid! Continue talking to people and don’t be quiet! 10 I am with you. No one will hurt you because many of my people are in this city.” 11 Paul stayed there for a year and a half, teaching God’s word to the people.
Paul Is Brought Before Gallio
12 Gallio became the governor of the country of Southern Greece. At that time, some of the Jews came together against Paul and took him to the court. 13 They said to Gallio, “This man is teaching people to worship God in a way that is against our law!”
14 Paul was about to say something, but Gallio spoke to the Jews. Gallio said, “I would listen to you Jews if you were complaining about a crime or some wrong. 15 But the things you are saying are only questions about words and names—arguments about your own law. So you must solve this problem yourselves. I don’t want to be a judge of these things!” 16 Then Gallio made them leave the court.
17 Then they all grabbed Sosthenes. (Sosthenes was now the leader of the synagogue.) They beat him there before the court. But this did not bother Gallio.
Paul Returns to Antioch
18 Paul stayed with the believers for many more days. Then he left and sailed for Syria. Priscilla and Aquila went with him. At Cenchrea, Paul cut off his hair.[e] This showed that he had made a promise to God. 19 Then they went to Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. While Paul was there, he went into the synagogue and talked with the Jews. 20 When they asked him to stay with them longer, he refused. 21 He left them, but he said, “I will come back to you again if God wants me to.” And so he sailed away from Ephesus.
22 Paul landed at Caesarea. Then he went and gave greetings to the church in Jerusalem. After that, Paul went to Antioch. 23 He stayed there for a while and then left and went through the countries of Galatia and Phrygia. He traveled from town to town in these countries, giving strength to all the followers.
Apollos in Ephesus and Corinth
24 A Jew named Apollos came to Ephesus. He was born in the city of Alexandria. He was an educated man who knew the Scriptures well. 25 He had been taught about the Lord. He was always very excited when he spoke and taught the truth about Jesus. But the only baptism that Apollos knew about was the baptism that John[f] taught. 26 Apollos began to speak very boldly in the synagogue, and Priscilla and Aquila heard him. So they took him to their home and helped him better understand the way of God. 27 Now Apollos wanted to go to the country of Southern Greece, so the believers helped him. They wrote a letter to the followers there, asking them to accept him. These followers had believed in Jesus because of God’s grace. When Apollos went there, he helped them very much. 28 He argued very strongly with the Jews before all the people. Apollos clearly proved that the Jews were wrong. Using the Scriptures, he proved that Jesus is the Christ.
Paul in Ephesus
19 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul was visiting some places on the way to Ephesus. There he found some followers. 2 Paul asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
They said, “We have never even heard of a Holy Spirit!”
3 So he asked, “What kind of baptism did you have?”
They said, “It was the baptism that John[g] taught.”
4 Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of changed hearts and lives. He told people to believe in the One who would come after him. That One is Jesus.”
5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 Then Paul laid his hands on them,[h] and the Holy Spirit came upon them. They began speaking different languages and prophesying. 7 There were about 12 men in this group.
8 Paul went into the synagogue and spoke out boldly for three months. He talked with the Jews and persuaded them to accept the things he said about the kingdom of God. 9 But some of the Jews became stubborn and refused to believe. These Jews said evil things about the Way of Jesus. All the people heard these things. So Paul left them and took the followers with him. He went to a place where a man named Tyrannus had a school. There Paul talked with people every day 10 for two years. Because of his work, every Jew and Greek in Asia heard the word of the Lord.
The Sons of Sceva
11 God used Paul to do some very special miracles. 12 Some people took handkerchiefs and clothes that Paul had used and put them on the sick. When they did this, the sick were healed and evil spirits left them.
13-14 But some Jews also were traveling around and making evil spirits go out of people. The seven sons of Sceva were doing this. (Sceva was a leading Jewish priest.) These Jews tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus to force the evil spirits out. They would say, “By the same Jesus that Paul talks about, I order you to come out!”
15 But one time an evil spirit said to these Jews, “I know Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?”
16 Then the man, who had the evil spirit in him, jumped on these Jews. He was much stronger than all of them. He beat them and tore their clothes off, so they ran away from the house. 17 All the people in Ephesus, Jews and Greeks, learned about this. They were filled with fear. And the people gave great honor to the Lord Jesus. 18 Many of the believers began to confess openly and tell all the evil things they had done. 19 Some of them had used magic. These believers brought their magic books and burned them before everyone. Those books were worth about 50,000 silver coins.[i]
20 So in a powerful way the word of the Lord kept spreading and growing.
Paul Plans a Trip
21 After these things, Paul made plans to go to Jerusalem. He planned to go through the countries of Macedonia and Southern Greece, and then on to Jerusalem. He said, “After I have been to Jerusalem, I must also visit Rome.” 22 Paul sent Timothy and Erastus, two of his helpers, ahead to Macedonia. He himself stayed in Asia for a while.
Trouble in Ephesus
23 But during that time, there was some serious trouble in Ephesus about the Way of Jesus. 24 There was a man named Demetrius, who worked with silver. He made little silver models that looked like the temple of the goddess Artemis.[j] The men who did this work made much money. 25 Demetrius had a meeting with these men and some others who did the same kind of work. He told them, “Men, you know that we make a lot of money from our business. 26 But look at what this man Paul is doing! He has convinced and turned away many people in Ephesus and in almost all of Asia! He says the gods that men make are not real. 27 There is a danger that our business will lose its good name. But there is also another danger: People will begin to think that the temple of the great goddess Artemis is not important! Her greatness will be destroyed. And Artemis is the goddess that everyone in Asia and the whole world worships.”
28 When the men heard this, they became very angry. They shouted, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29 The whole city became confused. The people grabbed Gaius and Aristarchus. (These two men were from Macedonia and were traveling with Paul.) Then all the people ran to the theater. 30 Paul wanted to go in and talk to the crowd, but the followers did not let him. 31 Also, some leaders of Asia were friends of Paul. They sent him a message, begging him not to go into the theater. 32 Some people were shouting one thing, and some were shouting another. The meeting was completely confused. Most of the people did not know why they had come together. 33 The Jews put a man named Alexander in front of the people. Some of them had told him what to do. Alexander waved his hand because he wanted to explain things to the people. 34 But when they saw that Alexander was a Jew, they all began shouting the same thing. They continued shouting for two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
35 Then the city clerk made the crowd be quiet. He said, “Men of Ephesus, everyone knows that Ephesus is the city that keeps the temple of the great goddess Artemis. All people know that we also keep her holy stone[k] that fell from heaven. 36 No one can say that this is not true. So you should be quiet. You must stop and think before you do anything. 37 You brought these men here, but they have not said anything evil against our goddess. They have not stolen anything from her temple. 38 We have courts of law, and there are judges. Do Demetrius and the men who work with him have a charge against anyone? They should go to the courts! That is where they can argue with each other! 39 Is there something else you want to talk about? It can be decided at the regular town meeting of the people. 40 I say this because some people might see this trouble today and say that we are rioting. We could not explain this because there is no real reason for this meeting.” 41 After the city clerk said these things, he told the people to go home.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.