Historical

Paul goes to Thessalonica, where the Jews set the city on a roar. Paul escapes and goes to Athens, where he preaches the true and unknown God.

17 As they made their journey through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. ² And Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, ³ explaining and showing that the Christ must necessarily have suffered and risen again from death, and that this Jesus was Christ, whom (said he) I preach to you. ⁴ And some of them believed, and came and kept company with Paul and Silas; also of the honourable Greeks a great number, and of the chief women not a few.

⁵ But the Jews who did not believe, being indignant, took some evil men who were vagabonds and gathered a company, and set all the city on a roar, and attacked the house of Jason, and intended to bring Paul and Silas out to the people. ⁶ But when they did not find them, they drew Jason and certain brethren to the officials of the city, shouting, Those men that trouble the world have come here also, ⁷ and Jason took them in. And these people all go contrary to the decrees of Caesar, affirming another king, one Jesus!

⁸ And the people and the officials of the city were troubled when they heard these things. ⁹ But when they were sufficiently answered by Jason and by the others, they let them go.

¹⁰ And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night to Berea. When they arrived there, they entered into the synagogue of the Jews. ¹¹ These were the noblest of birth among those of Thessalonica, and received the word with all diligence of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. ¹² And many of them believed; also noble women who were Greek, and men not a few.

¹³ When the Jews of Thessalonica learned that the word of God was preached by Paul at Berea, they came and stirred up the people there. ¹⁴ And then immediately the brethren sent Paul away to go to the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there still. ¹⁵ And the men who guided Paul brought him to Athens, and were given a message for Silas and Timothy to come to him at once, and went their way.

¹⁶ While Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was moved in him, to see the city given to the worship of idols. ¹⁷ Then he spoke at length in the synagogue with the Jews and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with those who came to him. ¹⁸ Certain philosophers of the Epicures and of the Stoics debated with him. And there were some who said, What will this babbler say? Other said, He seems to be a preacher of new devils, because he preached Jesus and the resurrection to them. ¹⁹ And they took him and brought him into Mars Street, saying, May we not know what this new doctrine is of which you speak? ²⁰ For you bring strange tidings to our ears. We would like to know therefore what these things mean. ²¹ (For all the Athenians and foreigners who were there gave themselves to nothing else but either to tell or to hear new things.)

²² Paul stood in the middle of Mars Street and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are too superstitious. ²³ For as I passed by and saw how you worship your gods, I found an altar on which was written, to the unknown god. Him then, whom you worship without knowledge, I proclaim to you. ²⁴ God, who made the world and everything that is in it, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwells not in temples made with hands. ²⁵ Neither is he worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself gives life and breath to all people everywhere. ²⁶ And he has made from one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, determining beforehand how long, and also the bounds of their habitation, ²⁷ desiring them to seek God, if they might feel after and find him – though he is not far from any one of us. ²⁸ For in him we live and move and have our being, as certain of your own poets have said. For we are also his offspring. ²⁹ Since, then, we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the godhead is as gold, silver, or stone, graven by the craft and imagination of man.

³⁰ And God overlooked the time of this ignorance. But now he bids all people everywhere to repent, ³¹ because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world according to righteousness, by that man whom he has appointed. And he has offered faith to all peoples, after raising him from death.

³² When they heard of the resurrection from death, some mocked, but others said, We would like to hear you again concerning this matter.

³³ Leaving it there, Paul departed from the assembly. ³⁴ However, certain men joined with Paul and believed, among whom was Dionysius, a member of the aristocratic council, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

Paul preaches at Corinth, continuing there a year and a half. He goes again into Syria, and to Ephesus, Caesarea, and Antioch. Of Aquila and Priscilla, and Apollos.

18 After that, Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth. ² And he met a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because the Emperor Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome. And he fell in with them. ³ And because he was of the same craft, he stayed with them and worked; their craft was to make tents. ⁴ And he preached in the synagogue every Sabbath day, and exhorted the Jews and the Gentiles.

⁵ When Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was constrained by the Spirit to testify to the Jews that Jesus was the very Christ. ⁶ And when they contradicted and reviled him, he shook out his clothing and said to them, Your blood is upon your own heads, and from henceforth I go blameless to the Gentiles. ⁷ And moving on from there, he entered into the house of a certain man named Justus, a worshipper of God whose house adjoined the synagogue. ⁸ However one Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his household, and many of the Corinthians listened and 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 hold your peace. ¹⁰ For I am with you, and no man will attack you that will hurt you. For I have many people in this city.

¹¹ And Paul continued there a year and six months, and taught the people the word of God.

¹² When Gallio was ruler of the province of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack against Paul, and brought him to the judgment seat, ¹³ saying, This fellow counsels the people to worship God contrary to the law. ¹⁴ And as Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, If it were a matter of wrong, or an evil deed, O ye Jews, I should by reason hear you. ¹⁵ But if it is a question of words, or of names, or of your law, look to it yourselves. For I will be no judge in such matters. ¹⁶ And he drove them from the seat. ¹⁷ Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him outside the judge’s seat. And Gallio cared about none of these things.

¹⁸ After this, Paul remained there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren and set sail for Syria, Priscilla and Aquila accompanying him. And he shaved his head in Cenchrea, for he had made a vow. ¹⁹ And he came to Ephesus, and left Priscilla and Aquila there; but he himself entered into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. ²⁰ When they asked him to stay longer with them, he did not consent, ²¹ but bid them farewell, saying, I must be in Jerusalem at the coming feast. But I will return again to you, if God so wills. And he sailed from Ephesus, ²² and landed at Ceasarea, and ascended to Jerusalem, and briefly visited the congregation.

 And he went down to Antioch (in Syria). ²³ And when he had stayed there a while, he departed and went over all the region of Galatia and Phrygia systematically, strengthening all the disciples.

²⁴ And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, went to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, and strong in the scriptures. ²⁵ He was informed in the way of the Lord, and spoke fervently in spirit, and taught diligently the things of the Lord; but he knew only the baptism of John. ²⁶ And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him to themselves and expounded to him the way of God more perfectly. ²⁷ And when he wanted to go into Achaia, the brethren wrote exhorting the disciples to receive him. After he got there, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace. ²⁸ And with strong arguments he overcame the Jews, and that openly, showing by the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.

Of the twelve men that Paul baptized at Ephesus, and what miracles were done by him. Demetrius incites riot in the city.

19 It came about, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul passed through the upper regions and went to Ephesus, and found certain disciples, ² and said to them, Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed? And they said to him, No, we have not heard whether there is a Holy Spirit or not. ³ And he said to them, With what then were you baptized? And they said, With John’s baptism. ⁴ Then Paul said, John baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on him who was to come after him; that is, on Christ Jesus.

⁵ When they heard that, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶ And Paul laid his hands upon them, and the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. ⁷ And the men were about twelve in all.

⁸ And he went into the synagogue, and spoke boldly for the space of three months, teaching and giving them exhortations of the kingdom of God. ⁹ When some grew hardhearted and did not believe, but spoke evil of the Way, and that before the assembly, he departed from them and withdrew the disciples. And he held discussions daily in the school of one called Tyrannus. ¹⁰ And this continued for two years, so that all those who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

¹¹ And God worked no small miracles by the hands of Paul. ¹² Napkins or partlets were even brought from his body to the sick, and their diseases departed from them and the evil spirits went out of them.

¹³ Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, We exorcise you by Jesus whom Paul preaches! ¹⁴ And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew and chief of the priests, who did this. ¹⁵ And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you? ¹⁶ And the man in whom the evil spirit was ran on them and overcame them, and so prevailed against them that they fled out of that house with their clothes torn off and wounded. ¹⁷ And this became known to all, both the Jews and Greeks that dwelt at Ephesus. And fear came on them all, and they magnified the name of the Lord Jesus.

¹⁸ And many who believed came and confessed, and showed their works. ¹⁹ Many of those who had been involved in occult practices brought their books and burned them openly. They estimated the value of them, and found it fifty thousand silverlings. ²⁰ Thus the word of God grew mightily and prevailed.

²¹ After these things were accomplished, Paul purposed in the Spirit to pass over Macedonia and Achaia and to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome. ²² And he sent into Macedonia two of those who assisted him, Timothy and Erastus; but he himself remained in Asia for a season.

²³ At that time there arose no little ado about the Way. ²⁴ For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines for Diana, brought no little income to the craftsmen. ²⁵ He called these men together, with the workmen of related occupations, and said, Sirs, you know that we profit from this trade. ²⁶ Moreover, you see and hear that not only at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that things made with hands are not gods. ²⁷ As a result, not only is this our craft at risk of being discredited, but also the temple of the great goddess Diana may fall into disrepute, and her magnificence be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worship.

²⁸ When they heard this, the men were full of wrath and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians! ²⁹ And all the city was on a roar, and the people rushed into the public theatre with one assent and caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions.

³⁰ When Paul would have entered in to the people, the disciples prevented him. ³¹ Also, certain of the leading Asians that were his friends sent to him, urging him not to press into the theatre. ³² Some cried one thing and some another, and the crowd was all out of order, and the majority did not know why they had come together.

³³ Some of the crowd drew Alexander out, the Jews thrusting him forward. Alexander motioned with his hand and wanted to give the people an answer. ³⁴ But when they knew that he was a Jew, there arose a shout for almost two hours, everyone crying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians!

³⁵ When the town clerk had quieted the people, he said, Men of Ephesus, what man is it that does not know that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana and of the image that came from heaven? ³⁶ Seeing then that no one here denies this, you ought to be quiet, and do nothing rashly. ³⁷ For you have brought here these men who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of your goddess. ³⁸ And so if Demetrius and the craftsmen that are with him have any charge against anyone, the court is open, and there are deputies. Let them bring complaints against one another. ³⁹ If you have any other matter, it may be determined in a lawful assembly. ⁴⁰ For we are at risk of charges being made against us for this day’s uproar, since there is no good reason we can give to account for this mob of people.

⁴¹ And when he had thus spoken, he let the assembly depart.