When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in the form of men!”

A woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God, was listening. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was spoken by Paul.

Then he escorted them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

Then also, some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers argued with him. Some said, “What is this pseudo-intellectual trying to say?”

Others replied, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign deities”—because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the Resurrection.

For what you say sounds strange to us, and we want to know what these ideas mean.”

For as I was passing through and observing the objects of your worship, I even found an altar on which was inscribed:

TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.

Therefore, what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.

“Then what baptism were you baptized with?” he asked them.

“With John’s baptism,” they replied.

However, when the city clerk had calmed the crowd down, he said, “Men of Ephesus! What man is there who doesn’t know that the city of the Ephesians is the temple guardian of the great Artemis, and of the image that fell from heaven?

In fact, we run a risk of being charged with rioting for what happened today, since there is no justification that we can give as a reason for this disorderly gathering.”

“And now I am on my way to Jerusalem, bound in my spirit, not knowing what I will encounter there,

He came to us, took Paul’s belt, tied his own feet and hands, and said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into Gentile hands.’”

Then Paul replied, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

After greeting them, he related in detail what God did among the Gentiles through his ministry.

So what is to be done? They will certainly hear that you’ve come.

Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have obligated themselves with a vow.

Take these men, purify yourself along with them, and pay for them to get their heads shaved. Then everyone will know that what they were told about you amounts to nothing, but that you yourself are also careful about observing the law.

With regard to the Gentiles who have believed, we have written a letter containing our decision that they should keep themselves from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from what is strangled, and from sexual immorality.”

shouting, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, our law, and this place. What’s more, he also brought Greeks into the temple and has profaned this holy place.”

Then the commander came up, took him into custody, and ordered him to be bound with two chains. He asked who he was and what he had done.

“Then I said, ‘What should I do, Lord?’

“And the Lord told me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told about everything that is assigned for you to do.’

For you will be a witness for Him to all people of what you have seen and heard.

When the centurion heard this, he went and reported to the commander, saying, “What are you going to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.”

The shouting grew loud, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees’ party got up and argued vehemently: “We find nothing evil in this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”

Then the commander took him by the hand, led him aside, and inquired privately, “What is it you have to report to me?”

After he read it, he asked what province he was from. So when he learned he was from Cilicia,

When the governor motioned to him to speak, Paul replied: “Because I know you have been a judge of this nation for many years, I am glad to offer my defense in what concerns me.

Neither can they provide evidence to you of what they now bring against me.

Either let these men here state what wrongdoing they found in me when I stood before the Sanhedrin,

If then I am doing wrong, or have done anything deserving of death, I do not refuse to die, but if there is nothing to what these men accuse me of, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar!”

To this very day, I have obtained help that comes from God, and I stand and testify to both small and great, saying nothing else than what the prophets and Moses said would take place—

But the centurion paid attention to the captain and the owner of the ship rather than to what Paul said.

So they heaped many honors on us, and when we sailed, they gave us what we needed.

But we would like to hear from you what you think. For concerning this sect, we are aware that it is spoken against everywhere.”

Some were persuaded by what he said, but others did not believe.

since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them.

For His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse.

This is why God delivered them over to degrading passions. For even their females exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones.

And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a worthless mind to do what is morally wrong.

So, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, instinctively do what the law demands, they are a law to themselves even though they do not have the law.

on the day when God judges what people have kept secret, according to my gospel through Christ Jesus.

So what advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?

What then? If some did not believe, will their unbelief cancel God’s faithfulness?

But if our unrighteousness highlights God’s righteousness, what are we to say? I use a human argument: Is God unrighteous to inflict wrath?

What then? Are we any better? Not at all! For we have previously charged that both Jews and Gentiles are all under sin,

Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By one of works? No, on the contrary, by a law of faith.

What then can we say that Abraham, our physical ancestor, has found?

For what does the Scripture say?

Abraham believed God,
and it was credited to him for righteousness.

He believed, hoping against hope, so that he became the father of many nations according to what had been spoken: So will your descendants be.

because he was fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.

What should we say then? Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply?

What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Absolutely not!

So what fruit was produced then from the things you are now ashamed of? For the end of those things is death.

But now we have been released from the law, since we have died to what held us, so that we may serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old letter of the law.

What should we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin if it were not for the law. For example, I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, Do not covet.

Therefore, did what is good cause my death? Absolutely not! On the contrary, sin, in order to be recognized as sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that through the commandment, sin might become sinful beyond measure.

For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate.

And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree with the law that it is good.

For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it.

Now if I do what I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but it is the sin that lives in me.

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this dying body?

What the law could not do since it was limited by the flesh, God did. He condemned sin in the flesh by sending His own Son in flesh like ours under sin’s domain, and as a sin offering,

Now in this hope we were saved, yet hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees?

But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patience.

In the same way the Spirit also joins to help in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with unspoken groanings.

What then are we to say about these things?
If God is for us, who is against us?

What should we say then? Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not!

But who are you, a mere man, to talk back to God? Will what is formed say to the one who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?”

And what if God, desiring to display His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience objects of wrath ready for destruction?

And what if He did this to make known the riches of His glory on objects of mercy that He prepared beforehand for glory—

What should we say then? Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained righteousness—namely the righteousness that comes from faith.

On the contrary, what does it say? The message is near you, in your mouth and in your heart. This is the message of faith that we proclaim:

So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ.

God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or don’t you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he pleads with God against Israel?

But what was God’s reply to him? I have left 7,000 men for Myself who have not bowed down to Baal.

What then? Israel did not find what it was looking for, but the elect did find it. The rest were hardened,

For if their rejection brings reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?

Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

Love must be without hypocrisy. Detest evil; cling to what is good.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Try to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes.

For if your brother is hurt by what you eat, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy that one Christ died for by what you eat.

So then, we must pursue what promotes peace and what builds up one another.

Do not tear down God’s work because of food. Everything is clean, but it is wrong for a man to cause stumbling by what he eats.

Do you have a conviction? Keep it to yourself before God. The man who does not condemn himself by what he approves is blessed.

Therefore I have reason to boast in Christ Jesus regarding what pertains to God.

For I would not dare say anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to make the Gentiles obedient by word and deed,

The report of your obedience has reached everyone. Therefore I rejoice over you. But I want you to be wise about what is good, yet innocent about what is evil.

What I am saying is this: Each of you says, “I’m with Paul,” or “I’m with Apollos,” or “I’m with Cephas,” or “I’m with Christ.”

But as it is written:

What eye did not see and ear did not hear,
and what never entered the human mind—
God prepared this for those who love Him.

Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who comes from God, so that we may understand what has been freely given to us by God.

But the unbeliever does not welcome what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluated spiritually.

What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, and each has the role the Lord has given.

For no one can lay any other foundation than what has been laid down. That foundation is Jesus Christ.

If anyone destroys God’s sanctuary, God will destroy him; for God’s sanctuary is holy, and that is what you are.

Therefore don’t judge anything prematurely, before the Lord comes, who will both bring to light what is hidden in darkness and reveal the intentions of the hearts. And then praise will come to each one from God.

Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the saying: “Nothing beyond what is written.” The purpose is that none of you will be inflated with pride in favor of one person over another.

For who makes you so superior? What do you have that you didn’t receive? If, in fact, you did receive it, why do you boast as if you hadn’t received it?

What do you want? Should I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?

For what business is it of mine to judge outsiders? Don’t you judge those who are inside?

However, each one must live his life in the situation the Lord assigned when God called him. This is what I command in all the churches.

Now I am saying this for your own benefit, not to put a restraint on you, but because of what is proper and so that you may be devoted to the Lord without distraction.