Chapter 17

Paul at Thessalonica

1 Now when they had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to aThessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.

2 And aaccording to Paul’s custom, he went to them, and for three bSabbaths reasoned with them from cthe Scriptures,

3 1explaining and 2giving evidence that the 3Christ ahad to suffer and brise again from the dead, and saying, “cThis Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the 3Christ.”

4 aAnd some of them were persuaded and joined bPaul and Silas, 1along with a large number of the cGod-fearing dGreeks and 2a number of the eleading women.

5 But athe Jews, becoming jealous and taking along some wicked men from the market place, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; and attacking the house of bJason, they were seeking to bring them out to the people.

6 When they did not find them, they began adragging Jason and some brethren before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have upset 1bthe world have come here also;

7 1and Jason ahas welcomed them, and they all act bcontrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.”

8 They stirred up the crowd and the city authorities who heard these things.

9 And when they had received a 1pledge from aJason and the others, they released them.

Paul at Berea

10 aThe brethren immediately sent bPaul and Silas away by night to cBerea, 1and when they arrived, they went into dthe synagogue of the Jews.

11 Now these were more noble-minded than those in aThessalonica, 1for they received the word with 2great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.

12 Therefore amany of them believed, 1along with a number of bprominent Greek cwomen and men.

13 But when the Jews of aThessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in bBerea also, they came there as well, agitating and stirring up the crowds.

14 Then immediately athe brethren sent Paul out to go as far as the sea; and bSilas and cTimothy remained there.

15 Now athose who escorted Paul brought him as far as bAthens; and receiving a command for cSilas and Timothy to dcome to him as soon as possible, they left.

Paul at Athens

16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at aAthens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols.

17 So he was reasoning ain the synagogue with the Jews and bthe God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be present.

18 And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were 1conversing with him. Some were saying, “What would athis 2idle babbler wish to say?” Others, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,”—because he was preaching bJesus and the resurrection.

19 And they atook him and brought him 1to the 2bAreopagus, saying, “May we know what cthis new teaching is 3which you are proclaiming?

20 “For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean.”

21 (Now all the Athenians and the strangers avisiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)

Sermon on Mars Hill

22 So Paul stood in the midst of the 1Areopagus and said, “Men of aAthens, I observe that you are very breligious in all respects.

23 “For while I was passing through and examining the aobjects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what byou worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.

24 “aThe God who made the world and all things in it, since He is bLord of heaven and earth, does not cdwell in temples made with hands;

25 nor is He served by human hands, aas though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things;

26 and aHe made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having bdetermined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation,

27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, athough He is not far from each one of us;

28 for ain Him we live and move and 1exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’

29 “Being then the children of God, we aought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man.

30 “Therefore having aoverlooked bthe times of ignorance, God is cnow declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent,

31 because He has fixed aa day in which bHe will judge 1cthe world in righteousness 2through a Man whom He has dappointed, having furnished proof to all men 3by eraising Him from the dead.”

32 Now when they heard of athe resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer, but others said, “We shall hear you 1again concerning this.”

33 So Paul went out of their midst.

34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the aAreopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.

Chapter 18

Paul at Corinth

1 After these things he left aAthens and went to bCorinth.

2 And he found a Jew named aAquila, a native of bPontus, having recently come from cItaly with his wife aPriscilla, because dClaudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He came to them,

3 and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and athey were working, for by trade they were tent-makers.

4 And he was reasoning ain the synagogue every bSabbath and trying to persuade cJews and Greeks.

5 But when aSilas and Timothy bcame down from cMacedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly dtestifying to the Jews that eJesus was the 1Christ.

6 But when they resisted and blasphemed, he ashook out his garments and said to them, “Your bblood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go cto the Gentiles.”

7 Then he left there and went to the house of a man named 1Titius Justus, aa worshiper of God, whose house was next to the synagogue.

8 aCrispus, bthe leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord cwith all his household, and many of the dCorinthians when they heard were believing and being baptized.

9 And the Lord said to Paul in the night by aa vision, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent;

10 for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.”

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

12 But while Gallio was aproconsul of bAchaia, cthe Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him before dthe judgment seat,

13 saying, “This man persuades men to worship God contrary to athe law.”

14 But when Paul was about to aopen his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrong or of vicious crime, O Jews, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you;

15 but if there are aquestions about words and names and your own law, look after it yourselves; I am unwilling to be a judge of these matters.”

16 And he drove them away from athe judgment seat.

17 And they all took hold of aSosthenes, bthe leader of the synagogue, and began beating him in front of cthe judgment seat. But Gallio was not concerned about any of these things.

18 Paul, having remained many days longer, atook leave of bthe brethren and put out to sea for cSyria, and with him were dPriscilla and dAquila. In eCenchrea 1he fhad his hair cut, for he was keeping a vow.

19 They came to aEphesus, and he left them there. Now he himself entered bthe synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.

20 When they asked him to stay for a longer time, he did not consent,

21 but ataking leave of them and saying, “I will return to you again bif God wills,” he set sail from cEphesus.

22 When he had landed at aCaesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and went down to bAntioch.

Third Missionary Journey

23 And having spent some time there, he left and passed successively through the aGalatian region and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

24 Now a Jew named aApollos, an bAlexandrian by birth, 1an eloquent man, came to cEphesus; and he was mighty in the Scriptures.

25 This man had been instructed in athe way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus, being acquainted only with bthe baptism of John;

26 and 1he began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when aPriscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him bthe way of God more accurately.

27 And when he wanted to go across to aAchaia, bthe brethren encouraged him and wrote to cthe disciples to welcome him; and when he had arrived, he greatly 1helped those who had believed through grace,

28 for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating aby the Scriptures that bJesus was the 1Christ.

Chapter 19

Paul at Ephesus

1 It happened that while aApollos was at bCorinth, Paul passed through the cupper country and came to dEphesus, and found some disciples.

2 He said to them, “aDid you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “No, bwe have not even heard whether 1there is a Holy Spirit.”

3 And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “aInto John’s baptism.”

4 Paul said, “aJohn baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people bto believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.”

5 When they heard this, they were abaptized 1in the name of the Lord Jesus.

6 And when Paul had alaid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began bspeaking with tongues and cprophesying.

7 There were in all about twelve men.

8 And he entered athe synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them babout the kingdom of God.

9 But when asome were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of bthe Way before the 1people, he withdrew from them and took away cthe disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.

10 This took place for atwo years, so that all who lived in 1bAsia heard cthe word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

Miracles at Ephesus

11 God was performing aextraordinary 1miracles by the hands of Paul,

12 aso that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and bthe evil spirits went out.

13 But also some of the Jewish aexorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.”

14 Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.

15 And the evil spirit answered and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?”

16 And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

17 This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived in aEphesus; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified.

18 Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices.

19 And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it 1fifty thousand apieces of silver.

20 So 1athe word of the Lord bwas growing mightily and prevailing.

21 Now after these things were finished, Paul purposed in the 1Spirit to ago to Jerusalem bafter he had passed through cMacedonia and dAchaia, saying, “After I have been there, eI must also see Rome.”

22 And having sent into aMacedonia two of bthose who ministered to him, cTimothy and dErastus, he himself stayed in 1eAsia for a while.

23 About that time there occurred no small disturbance concerning athe Way.

24 For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of 1Artemis, awas bringing no little 2business to the craftsmen;

25 these he gathered together with the workmen of similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that our prosperity 1depends upon this business.

26 “You see and hear that not only in aEphesus, but in almost all of 1bAsia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable number of people, saying that 2cgods made with hands are no gods at all.

27 “Not only is there danger that this trade of ours fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess 1Artemis be regarded as worthless and that she whom all of 2aAsia and bthe 3world worship will even be dethroned from her magnificence.”

28 When they heard this and were filled with rage, they began crying out, saying, “Great is 1Artemis of the aEphesians!”

29 The city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed 1with one accord into the theater, dragging along aGaius and bAristarchus, Paul’s traveling ccompanions from dMacedonia.

30 And when Paul wanted to go into the 1assembly, athe disciples would not let him.

31 Also some of the 1Asiarchs who were friends of his sent to him and repeatedly urged him not to 2venture into the theater.

32 aSo then, some were shouting one thing and some another, for the 1assembly was in confusion and the majority did not know 2for what reason they had come together.

33 Some of the crowd 1concluded it was Alexander, since the Jews had put him forward; and having amotioned with his hand, Alexander was intending to make a defense to the 2assembly.

34 But when they recognized that he was a Jew, a single outcry arose from them all as they shouted for about two hours, “Great is 1Artemis of the Ephesians!”

35 After quieting the crowd, the town clerk * said, “Men of aEphesus, what man is there after all who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is guardian of the temple of the great 1Artemis and of the image which fell down from 2heaven?

36 “So, since these are undeniable facts, you ought to keep calm and to do nothing rash.

37 “For you have brought these men here who are neither arobbers of temples nor blasphemers of our goddess.

38 “So then, if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a complaint against any man, the courts are in session and 1aproconsuls are available; let them bring charges against one another.

39 “But if you want anything beyond this, it shall be settled in the 1lawful 2assembly.

40 “For indeed we are in danger of being accused of a riot in connection with today’s events, since there is no real cause for it, and in this connection we will be unable to account for this disorderly gathering.”

41 After saying this he dismissed the 1assembly.