Thematic Bible
Thematic Bible
Accessions » Accessions to the church » Under paul's preaching
At Iconium too they went to the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks came to believe.
Verse Concepts
So the churches through faith continued to grow in strength and to increase in numbers from day to day.
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So some of them were convinced, and they joined Paul and Silas; also quite a number of devout Greeks and not a few women of the first rank.
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But Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, became a believer in the Lord, and so did all his family, and from time to time many of the Corinthians heard, believed, and were baptized.
Verse Concepts
Church » Growth of accessions to » Under paul's preaching
At Iconium too they went to the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks came to believe.
Verse Concepts
So the churches through faith continued to grow in strength and to increase in numbers from day to day.
Verse Concepts
So some of them were convinced, and they joined Paul and Silas; also quite a number of devout Greeks and not a few women of the first rank.
Verse Concepts
But Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, became a believer in the Lord, and so did all his family, and from time to time many of the Corinthians heard, believed, and were baptized.
Verse Concepts
Church » Accessions to » Under paul's preaching
At Iconium too they went to the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks came to believe.
Verse Concepts
So the churches through faith continued to grow in strength and to increase in numbers from day to day.
Verse Concepts
So some of them were convinced, and they joined Paul and Silas; also quite a number of devout Greeks and not a few women of the first rank.
Verse Concepts
But Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, became a believer in the Lord, and so did all his family, and from time to time many of the Corinthians heard, believed, and were baptized.
Verse Concepts
Elder » In the Christian church
So the disciples decided to send a contribution, each in proportion to his prosperity, to help the brothers who lived in Judea. And this they did and sent it to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.
Some people came down from Judea and began to teach the brothers, "Unless you are circumcised in accordance with the custom that Moses handed down, you cannot be saved." So, as a dire disturbance and a serious discussion had been created between Paul and Barnabas and them, they decided that Paul and Barnabas and some others from their number should go up to Jerusalem to confer with the apostles and elders about this question. So they were endorsed and sent on by the church, and as they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told of the conversion of the heathen and brought great rejoicing to all the brothers. read more.
When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church, the apostles, and the elders, and they reported what God had done through them as instruments. But some members of the Pharisaic party, who had become believers, arose and said that such converts must be circumcised and told to keep the law of Moses. Now the apostles and elders met to consider this matter. After a lengthy discussion Peter got up and said to them, "Brothers, you know that in the early days God chose among you that through me the heathen should hear the message of the good news and believe it. And God who knows men's hearts testifies for them by giving them the Holy Spirit, as He did us, and in this way He put no difference between us and them, because He cleansed their hearts by faith. Then why do you now try to test God by putting on these disciples' necks a yoke which neither our forefathers nor we could bear? In fact, we believe that it is through the favor of the Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are." By this he quieted the whole congregation, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul tell of the signs and wonders which God had done through them among the heathen. When they finished, James responded as follows: "Brothers, listen to me. Symeon has told how God at first graciously visited the heathen to take from among them a people to bear His name. The words of the prophets are in accord with this, as it is written: 'After this I will return and rebuild David's fallen dwelling; I will rebuild its ruins and set it up again, So that the rest of mankind may earnestly seek the Lord, Yes, all the heathen who are called by my name, says the Lord, who has been making this known from ages past.' So I give it as my opinion, we ought not to put difficulties in the way of the heathen who turn to God, but we should write them to abstain from everything that is contaminated by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals, and from tasting blood. For Moses from the ancient generations has had his preachers in every town, and on every sabbath has been read aloud in the synagogues." Then the apostles and elders in cooperation with the whole church passed a resolution to select and send some men of their number with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch. These were Judas, who was called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers. They sent this letter by them: "The apostles and elders as brothers send greeting to the brothers from among the heathen in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. As we have heard that some of our number have disturbed you by their teaching, by continuing to unsettle your minds, we have passed a unanimous resolution to select and send messengers to you with our beloved brothers Barnabas and Paul, who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we send Judas and Silas to you, to bring you the same message by word of mouth. For the Holy Spirit and we have decided not to lay upon you any burden but these essential requirements, that you abstain from everything that is offered to idols, from tasting blood, from the meat of animals that have been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves free from these things, you will prosper. Good-by." So the messengers were sent out, and they went down to Antioch, called a meeting of the congregation, and delivered the letter. When they had read it, they were delighted with the encouragement it brought them. Now Judas and Silas, as they were prophets themselves, in a lengthy talk encouraged and strengthened the brothers. After spending some time there, they were sent back with a greeting to those who sent them. Omitted Text. But Paul and Barnabas stayed on at Antioch, and with many others continued to teach the Lord's message and to tell the good news.
When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church, the apostles, and the elders, and they reported what God had done through them as instruments. But some members of the Pharisaic party, who had become believers, arose and said that such converts must be circumcised and told to keep the law of Moses. Now the apostles and elders met to consider this matter. After a lengthy discussion Peter got up and said to them, "Brothers, you know that in the early days God chose among you that through me the heathen should hear the message of the good news and believe it. And God who knows men's hearts testifies for them by giving them the Holy Spirit, as He did us, and in this way He put no difference between us and them, because He cleansed their hearts by faith. Then why do you now try to test God by putting on these disciples' necks a yoke which neither our forefathers nor we could bear? In fact, we believe that it is through the favor of the Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are." By this he quieted the whole congregation, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul tell of the signs and wonders which God had done through them among the heathen. When they finished, James responded as follows: "Brothers, listen to me. Symeon has told how God at first graciously visited the heathen to take from among them a people to bear His name. The words of the prophets are in accord with this, as it is written: 'After this I will return and rebuild David's fallen dwelling; I will rebuild its ruins and set it up again, So that the rest of mankind may earnestly seek the Lord, Yes, all the heathen who are called by my name, says the Lord, who has been making this known from ages past.' So I give it as my opinion, we ought not to put difficulties in the way of the heathen who turn to God, but we should write them to abstain from everything that is contaminated by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals, and from tasting blood. For Moses from the ancient generations has had his preachers in every town, and on every sabbath has been read aloud in the synagogues." Then the apostles and elders in cooperation with the whole church passed a resolution to select and send some men of their number with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch. These were Judas, who was called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers. They sent this letter by them: "The apostles and elders as brothers send greeting to the brothers from among the heathen in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. As we have heard that some of our number have disturbed you by their teaching, by continuing to unsettle your minds, we have passed a unanimous resolution to select and send messengers to you with our beloved brothers Barnabas and Paul, who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we send Judas and Silas to you, to bring you the same message by word of mouth. For the Holy Spirit and we have decided not to lay upon you any burden but these essential requirements, that you abstain from everything that is offered to idols, from tasting blood, from the meat of animals that have been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves free from these things, you will prosper. Good-by." So the messengers were sent out, and they went down to Antioch, called a meeting of the congregation, and delivered the letter. When they had read it, they were delighted with the encouragement it brought them. Now Judas and Silas, as they were prophets themselves, in a lengthy talk encouraged and strengthened the brothers. After spending some time there, they were sent back with a greeting to those who sent them. Omitted Text. But Paul and Barnabas stayed on at Antioch, and with many others continued to teach the Lord's message and to tell the good news.
They helped them select elders in each church, and after praying and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
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Stop neglecting the gift you received, which was given you through prophetic utterance when the elders laid their hands upon you.
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As they journeyed on from town to town, they delivered to the brothers to keep the decisions reached by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. So the churches through faith continued to grow in strength and to increase in numbers from day to day.
From Miletus he sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church.
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Take care of yourselves and of the whole flock, of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, so as to continue to be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own blood. Because I know that after I have gone violent wolves will break in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will appear who will try, by speaking perversions of truth, to draw away the disciples after them. read more.
So ever be on your guard and always remember that for three years, night and day, I never ceased warning you one by one, and that with tears. And now I commit you to the Lord, and to the message of His favor, which is able to build you up and to give you your proper possession among all God's consecrated people.
So ever be on your guard and always remember that for three years, night and day, I never ceased warning you one by one, and that with tears. And now I commit you to the Lord, and to the message of His favor, which is able to build you up and to give you your proper possession among all God's consecrated people.
On the next day we went with Paul to see James, and all the elders of the church came too.
Verse Concepts
Elders who do their duties well should be considered as deserving twice the salary they get especially those who keep on toiling in preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, "You must not muzzle an ox when he is treading out the grain," and, "The workman deserves his pay." Make it a rule not to consider a charge preferred against an elder, unless it is supported by two or three witnesses.
I left you in Crete for this express purpose, to set in order the things that are lacking, and to appoint elders in each town, as I directed you -- each elder must be above reproach, have only one wife, and his children must not be liable to the charge of profligacy or disobedience. For as God's trustee a pastor must be above reproach, not stubborn or quick-tempered or addicted to strong drink or pugnacious or addicted to dishonest gain, read more.
but hospitable, a lover of goodness, sensible, upright, of pure life, self-controlled, and a man who continues to cling to the trustworthy message as he was taught it, so that he may be competent to encourage others with wholesome teaching and to convict those who oppose him.
but hospitable, a lover of goodness, sensible, upright, of pure life, self-controlled, and a man who continues to cling to the trustworthy message as he was taught it, so that he may be competent to encourage others with wholesome teaching and to convict those who oppose him.
Show 5 more verses
For by it the men of old won God's approval.
Verse Concepts
Is anyone sick among you? He should call in the elders of the church, and they should pray over him, and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer that is offered in faith will save the sick man; the Lord will raise him to health, and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
So, as a joint-elder with them, a witness of the suffering borne by Christ, and a sharer of the glory that is to be uncovered, I beg the elders among you, be shepherds of the flock of God that is among you, not as though you had to but of your own free will, not from the motive of personal profit but freely, and not as domineering over those in your charge but proving yourselves models for the flock to imitate; read more.
and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the glorious crown that never fades. You younger men, on your part, must be submissive to the elders. And you must all put on the servant's apron of humility to one another, because God opposes the haughty but bestows His unmerited favor on the humble.
and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the glorious crown that never fades. You younger men, on your part, must be submissive to the elders. And you must all put on the servant's apron of humility to one another, because God opposes the haughty but bestows His unmerited favor on the humble.
The Elder to the chosen lady and her children, whom I truly love, and not only I but all who know the truth,
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The Elder to the dearly beloved Gaius, whom I truly love.
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Missionary journeys » Ac 13-14 » Second - with silas
Some days after this Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us go back and visit the brothers in every town where we preached the Lord's message, to see how they are." But Barnabas persisted in wanting to take along John who was called Mark. Paul, however, did not consider such a man fit to take along with them, the man who deserted them in Pamphylia and did not go on with them to the work. read more.
The disagreement was so sharp that they separated, and Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus. But Paul selected Silas and set out, after the brothers had committed him to the favor of the Lord. He journeyed on through Syria and Cilicia and continued to strengthen the churches. Now he went to Derbe and Lystra too. At Lystra there was a disciple named Timothy, whose mother was a Christian Jewess, but his father was a Greek. He had a high reputation among the brothers in Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted this man to join him in his journey; so on account of the Jews in that district he took him and had him circumcised, for everybody knew that his father was a Greek. As they journeyed on from town to town, they delivered to the brothers to keep the decisions reached by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. So the churches through faith continued to grow in strength and to increase in numbers from day to day. Then they crossed Phrygia and Galatia. But because they were prevented by the Holy Spirit from speaking the message in Asia, they went on to Mysia and tried to get into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not permit them. So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. There Paul had a vision one night: a man from Macedonia kept standing and pleading with him in these words, "Come over to Macedonia and help us!" As soon as he had this vision, we laid our plans to get off to Macedonia, because we confidently concluded that God had called us to tell them the good news. So we sailed away from Troy and struck a bee line for Samothrace, and the next day on to Neapolis. From there we went on to Philippi, a Roman colony, the leading town in that part of Macedonia. In this town we stayed some days. On the sabbath we went outside the gate, to the bank of the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and began to talk with the women who had met there. Among them was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple goods from the town of Thyatira, and she stayed to listen to us. She was already a worshiper of God, and the Lord so moved upon her heart that she accepted the message spoken by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she begged us by continuing to say, "If you have made up your mind that I am a real believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house." And she continued to insist that we do so. Once as we were on our way to the place of prayer, a slave girl met us who had the gift of magical fortune-telling, and continued to make great profits for her owners by fortune-telling. This girl kept following Paul and the rest of us, shrieking, "These men are slaves of the Most High God, and they are proclaiming to you a way of salvation." She kept this up for a number of days. Because Paul was so much annoyed by her, he turned and said to the spirit in her, "In the name of Jesus Christ I order you to come out of her." And that very moment it came out. But as the owners saw that the hope of their profit-making was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them to the public square, before the authorities, and brought them to the chiefs of the police court. They said, "These men are Jews; they continue to make great disturbance in our town and to advocate practices which it is against the law for us Romans to accept or observe." The crowd also joined in the attack upon them, and the chiefs of the police court had them stripped and flogged. After flogging them severely, they put them into jail, and gave the jailer orders to keep close watch on them. Because he had such strict orders, he put them into the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. But about midnight, while Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, suddenly there was an earthquake so great that it shook the very foundations of the jail, the doors all flew open, and every prisoner's chains were unfastened. When the jailer awoke and saw that the jail doors were open, he drew his sword and was on the point of killing himself, because he thought that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul at once shouted out to him, "Do yourself no harm, for we are all here!" Then the jailer called for lights and rushed in and fell trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas. After leading them out of the jail, he said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They answered, "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you and your household will be saved." Then they told God's message to him and to all the members of his household. Even at that time of the night he took them and washed their wounds, and he and all the members of his household at once were baptized. Then he took them up to his house and gave them food, and he and all the members of his household were happy in their faith in God. When day broke, the chiefs of the police court sent policemen with the message to let the men go. The jailer reported this message to Paul, saying, "The chiefs of the police court have sent orders to let you go. So now you may come out and go in peace." But Paul said to them, "They beat us in public and that without a trial, and put us in jail although we are Roman citizens! Let them come here themselves and take us out!" The policemen reported this message to the chiefs of the police court, and they became alarmed when they heard that they were Roman citizens, and came and pleaded with them, and took them out and begged them to leave town. After getting out of jail, they went to Lydia's house; they saw the brothers and encouraged them, and then left town. Now they traveled on through Amphipolis and Apollonia until they reached Thessalonica. Here there was a Jewish synagogue. So Paul, as he usually did, went to the synagogue, and for three sabbaths discussed with them the Scriptures, explaining them and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead, and said, "This very Jesus whom I proclaim to you is the Christ." So some of them were convinced, and they joined Paul and Silas; also quite a number of devout Greeks and not a few women of the first rank. But this enraged the Jews; so they got together some wicked loafers about the public square, formed a mob, and set the town in an uproar. They stopped at Jason's house and tried to bring them out to the people. So, as they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the town magistrates, shouting, "These fellows, who have turned the world topsy-turvy, have come here too, and Jason has welcomed them. They are all acting contrary to the Emperor's decrees, because they claim there is another king, Jesus." Thus they wrought up to great excitement the crowd and the town magistrates, on their hearing this, and they made Jason and the other brothers give bond, and then turned them loose. That night at once the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea, and on arriving there they went to the Jewish synagogue. The Jews there were better disposed than those in Thessalonica, for they welcomed the message with all eagerness and carried on a daily study of the Scriptures to see if Paul's message was true. Many of them came to believe, and not a few distinguished Greek women and men. But when the Jews at Thessalonica learned that God's message had been proclaimed at Berea by Paul, they came there too to excite the masses and stir up a riot. Then the brothers at once sent Paul off to the coast, while Silas and Timothy stayed on there. The men who acted as Paul's bodyguard took him all the way to Athens, and then went back with orders for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible. While Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred to its depths to see the city completely steeped in idolatry. So he kept up his discussions in the synagogue with the Jews and the pagans who were worshiping there, and also day by day in the public square with any who chanced to be there. Some of the Epicurean and the Stoic philosophers began to debate with him; and some said, "What is this scraps-of-truth-picker trying to say?" Others said, "He seems to be a preacher of foreign deities." They said so because he was telling the good news of Jesus and the resurrection. So they took him and brought him to the city auditorium and said, "May we know what this new teaching of yours is? For some of the things you bring sound startling to us; so we want to know just what they mean." (Now all the Athenians and foreign visitors in Athens used to spend their time in nothing else than telling or listening to the latest new thing out.) So Paul stood up in the center of the auditorium and said: "Men of Athens, at every turn I make I see that you are very religious. For as I was going here and there and looking at the things you worship, I even found an altar with this inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.' So it is about the Being whom you are in ignorance already worshiping that I am telling you. The God who made the world and all that it contains, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made by human hands, nor is He served by human hands as though He were in need of anything, for He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one forefather He made every nation of mankind, for living all over the face of the earth, fixing their appointed times and the limits of their lands, so that they might search for God, possibly they might grope for Him, and find Him, though He is really not far from any of us. For it is through union with Him that we live and move and exist, as some of your own poets have said, "'For we are His offspring too.' Since then we are God's offspring, we ought not to suppose that His nature is like gold or silver or stone or anything carved by man's art and thought. Though God overlooked those times of ignorance, He now commands all men everywhere to repent, since He has set a day on which He will justly judge the world through a man whom He has appointed. He has made this credible to all by raising Him from the dead." But when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some sneered, but others said, "We will hear you again on this subject." So Paul left the auditorium. Some men, however, joined him and came to believe, among them Dionysius, a member of the city council; also a woman named Damaris, and some others. After this he left Athens and went to Corinth. There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had issued an edict for all Jews to leave Rome. So Paul paid them a visit, and as they all had the same trade, they proceeded to work together. Every sabbath it was Paul's habit to preach in the synagogue and to persuade both Jews and Greeks. By the time Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was wholly absorbed in preaching the message and was enthusiastically assuring the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. But as they opposed and abused him, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, "Your blood be upon your own heads! I am not to blame for it myself. Hereafter I am going to the heathen." So he moved into the house of a pagan named Titus Justus, who worshiped the true God; his house was next to the synagogue. But Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, became a believer in the Lord, and so did all his family, and from time to time many of the Corinthians heard, believed, and were baptized. One night in a vision the Lord said to Paul, "Stop being afraid, go on speaking, never give up; because I am with you, and no one is going to attack you so as to injure you, because I have many people in this city." So for a year and a half he settled down among them and went on teaching God's message. While Gallio was governor of Greece, the Jews unanimously attacked Paul and one day brought him before the court, and said, "This fellow is inducing people to worship God in ways that violate our laws." As Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, "If it were some misdemeanor or underhanded rascality, O Jews, I would in reason listen to you; but as it is questions about words and titles and your own law, you will have to see to it yourselves. I refuse to act as judge in these matters." So he drove them away from the court. Then they all seized Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and kept beating him right in front of the court; but Gallio paid no attention to it. Now Paul stayed a considerable time longer in Corinth, and then bade the brothers goodbye and set sail for Syria, accompanied by Aquila and Priscilla. At Cenchreae he had his hair cut, for he was under a vow. Then they came to Ephesus, and Paul left them there. He went into the synagogue and had a discussion with the Jews. They asked him to stay longer, but he would not consent. But as he bade them goodbye, he promised, "I will come back to you again, if it is God's will." Then he set sail from Ephesus. When he reached Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church there; then he went down to Antioch.
The disagreement was so sharp that they separated, and Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus. But Paul selected Silas and set out, after the brothers had committed him to the favor of the Lord. He journeyed on through Syria and Cilicia and continued to strengthen the churches. Now he went to Derbe and Lystra too. At Lystra there was a disciple named Timothy, whose mother was a Christian Jewess, but his father was a Greek. He had a high reputation among the brothers in Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted this man to join him in his journey; so on account of the Jews in that district he took him and had him circumcised, for everybody knew that his father was a Greek. As they journeyed on from town to town, they delivered to the brothers to keep the decisions reached by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. So the churches through faith continued to grow in strength and to increase in numbers from day to day. Then they crossed Phrygia and Galatia. But because they were prevented by the Holy Spirit from speaking the message in Asia, they went on to Mysia and tried to get into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not permit them. So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. There Paul had a vision one night: a man from Macedonia kept standing and pleading with him in these words, "Come over to Macedonia and help us!" As soon as he had this vision, we laid our plans to get off to Macedonia, because we confidently concluded that God had called us to tell them the good news. So we sailed away from Troy and struck a bee line for Samothrace, and the next day on to Neapolis. From there we went on to Philippi, a Roman colony, the leading town in that part of Macedonia. In this town we stayed some days. On the sabbath we went outside the gate, to the bank of the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and began to talk with the women who had met there. Among them was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple goods from the town of Thyatira, and she stayed to listen to us. She was already a worshiper of God, and the Lord so moved upon her heart that she accepted the message spoken by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she begged us by continuing to say, "If you have made up your mind that I am a real believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house." And she continued to insist that we do so. Once as we were on our way to the place of prayer, a slave girl met us who had the gift of magical fortune-telling, and continued to make great profits for her owners by fortune-telling. This girl kept following Paul and the rest of us, shrieking, "These men are slaves of the Most High God, and they are proclaiming to you a way of salvation." She kept this up for a number of days. Because Paul was so much annoyed by her, he turned and said to the spirit in her, "In the name of Jesus Christ I order you to come out of her." And that very moment it came out. But as the owners saw that the hope of their profit-making was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them to the public square, before the authorities, and brought them to the chiefs of the police court. They said, "These men are Jews; they continue to make great disturbance in our town and to advocate practices which it is against the law for us Romans to accept or observe." The crowd also joined in the attack upon them, and the chiefs of the police court had them stripped and flogged. After flogging them severely, they put them into jail, and gave the jailer orders to keep close watch on them. Because he had such strict orders, he put them into the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. But about midnight, while Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, suddenly there was an earthquake so great that it shook the very foundations of the jail, the doors all flew open, and every prisoner's chains were unfastened. When the jailer awoke and saw that the jail doors were open, he drew his sword and was on the point of killing himself, because he thought that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul at once shouted out to him, "Do yourself no harm, for we are all here!" Then the jailer called for lights and rushed in and fell trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas. After leading them out of the jail, he said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They answered, "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you and your household will be saved." Then they told God's message to him and to all the members of his household. Even at that time of the night he took them and washed their wounds, and he and all the members of his household at once were baptized. Then he took them up to his house and gave them food, and he and all the members of his household were happy in their faith in God. When day broke, the chiefs of the police court sent policemen with the message to let the men go. The jailer reported this message to Paul, saying, "The chiefs of the police court have sent orders to let you go. So now you may come out and go in peace." But Paul said to them, "They beat us in public and that without a trial, and put us in jail although we are Roman citizens! Let them come here themselves and take us out!" The policemen reported this message to the chiefs of the police court, and they became alarmed when they heard that they were Roman citizens, and came and pleaded with them, and took them out and begged them to leave town. After getting out of jail, they went to Lydia's house; they saw the brothers and encouraged them, and then left town. Now they traveled on through Amphipolis and Apollonia until they reached Thessalonica. Here there was a Jewish synagogue. So Paul, as he usually did, went to the synagogue, and for three sabbaths discussed with them the Scriptures, explaining them and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead, and said, "This very Jesus whom I proclaim to you is the Christ." So some of them were convinced, and they joined Paul and Silas; also quite a number of devout Greeks and not a few women of the first rank. But this enraged the Jews; so they got together some wicked loafers about the public square, formed a mob, and set the town in an uproar. They stopped at Jason's house and tried to bring them out to the people. So, as they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the town magistrates, shouting, "These fellows, who have turned the world topsy-turvy, have come here too, and Jason has welcomed them. They are all acting contrary to the Emperor's decrees, because they claim there is another king, Jesus." Thus they wrought up to great excitement the crowd and the town magistrates, on their hearing this, and they made Jason and the other brothers give bond, and then turned them loose. That night at once the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea, and on arriving there they went to the Jewish synagogue. The Jews there were better disposed than those in Thessalonica, for they welcomed the message with all eagerness and carried on a daily study of the Scriptures to see if Paul's message was true. Many of them came to believe, and not a few distinguished Greek women and men. But when the Jews at Thessalonica learned that God's message had been proclaimed at Berea by Paul, they came there too to excite the masses and stir up a riot. Then the brothers at once sent Paul off to the coast, while Silas and Timothy stayed on there. The men who acted as Paul's bodyguard took him all the way to Athens, and then went back with orders for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible. While Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred to its depths to see the city completely steeped in idolatry. So he kept up his discussions in the synagogue with the Jews and the pagans who were worshiping there, and also day by day in the public square with any who chanced to be there. Some of the Epicurean and the Stoic philosophers began to debate with him; and some said, "What is this scraps-of-truth-picker trying to say?" Others said, "He seems to be a preacher of foreign deities." They said so because he was telling the good news of Jesus and the resurrection. So they took him and brought him to the city auditorium and said, "May we know what this new teaching of yours is? For some of the things you bring sound startling to us; so we want to know just what they mean." (Now all the Athenians and foreign visitors in Athens used to spend their time in nothing else than telling or listening to the latest new thing out.) So Paul stood up in the center of the auditorium and said: "Men of Athens, at every turn I make I see that you are very religious. For as I was going here and there and looking at the things you worship, I even found an altar with this inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.' So it is about the Being whom you are in ignorance already worshiping that I am telling you. The God who made the world and all that it contains, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made by human hands, nor is He served by human hands as though He were in need of anything, for He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one forefather He made every nation of mankind, for living all over the face of the earth, fixing their appointed times and the limits of their lands, so that they might search for God, possibly they might grope for Him, and find Him, though He is really not far from any of us. For it is through union with Him that we live and move and exist, as some of your own poets have said, "'For we are His offspring too.' Since then we are God's offspring, we ought not to suppose that His nature is like gold or silver or stone or anything carved by man's art and thought. Though God overlooked those times of ignorance, He now commands all men everywhere to repent, since He has set a day on which He will justly judge the world through a man whom He has appointed. He has made this credible to all by raising Him from the dead." But when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some sneered, but others said, "We will hear you again on this subject." So Paul left the auditorium. Some men, however, joined him and came to believe, among them Dionysius, a member of the city council; also a woman named Damaris, and some others. After this he left Athens and went to Corinth. There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had issued an edict for all Jews to leave Rome. So Paul paid them a visit, and as they all had the same trade, they proceeded to work together. Every sabbath it was Paul's habit to preach in the synagogue and to persuade both Jews and Greeks. By the time Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was wholly absorbed in preaching the message and was enthusiastically assuring the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. But as they opposed and abused him, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, "Your blood be upon your own heads! I am not to blame for it myself. Hereafter I am going to the heathen." So he moved into the house of a pagan named Titus Justus, who worshiped the true God; his house was next to the synagogue. But Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, became a believer in the Lord, and so did all his family, and from time to time many of the Corinthians heard, believed, and were baptized. One night in a vision the Lord said to Paul, "Stop being afraid, go on speaking, never give up; because I am with you, and no one is going to attack you so as to injure you, because I have many people in this city." So for a year and a half he settled down among them and went on teaching God's message. While Gallio was governor of Greece, the Jews unanimously attacked Paul and one day brought him before the court, and said, "This fellow is inducing people to worship God in ways that violate our laws." As Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, "If it were some misdemeanor or underhanded rascality, O Jews, I would in reason listen to you; but as it is questions about words and titles and your own law, you will have to see to it yourselves. I refuse to act as judge in these matters." So he drove them away from the court. Then they all seized Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and kept beating him right in front of the court; but Gallio paid no attention to it. Now Paul stayed a considerable time longer in Corinth, and then bade the brothers goodbye and set sail for Syria, accompanied by Aquila and Priscilla. At Cenchreae he had his hair cut, for he was under a vow. Then they came to Ephesus, and Paul left them there. He went into the synagogue and had a discussion with the Jews. They asked him to stay longer, but he would not consent. But as he bade them goodbye, he promised, "I will come back to you again, if it is God's will." Then he set sail from Ephesus. When he reached Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church there; then he went down to Antioch.
Paul » Visits lystra; circumcises timothy
Now he went to Derbe and Lystra too. At Lystra there was a disciple named Timothy, whose mother was a Christian Jewess, but his father was a Greek. He had a high reputation among the brothers in Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted this man to join him in his journey; so on account of the Jews in that district he took him and had him circumcised, for everybody knew that his father was a Greek. read more.
As they journeyed on from town to town, they delivered to the brothers to keep the decisions reached by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. So the churches through faith continued to grow in strength and to increase in numbers from day to day.
As they journeyed on from town to town, they delivered to the brothers to keep the decisions reached by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. So the churches through faith continued to grow in strength and to increase in numbers from day to day.
Paul's » First - with barnabas and john mark ac 13-14 » Second - with silas
Some days after this Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us go back and visit the brothers in every town where we preached the Lord's message, to see how they are." But Barnabas persisted in wanting to take along John who was called Mark. Paul, however, did not consider such a man fit to take along with them, the man who deserted them in Pamphylia and did not go on with them to the work. read more.
The disagreement was so sharp that they separated, and Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus. But Paul selected Silas and set out, after the brothers had committed him to the favor of the Lord. He journeyed on through Syria and Cilicia and continued to strengthen the churches. Now he went to Derbe and Lystra too. At Lystra there was a disciple named Timothy, whose mother was a Christian Jewess, but his father was a Greek. He had a high reputation among the brothers in Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted this man to join him in his journey; so on account of the Jews in that district he took him and had him circumcised, for everybody knew that his father was a Greek. As they journeyed on from town to town, they delivered to the brothers to keep the decisions reached by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. So the churches through faith continued to grow in strength and to increase in numbers from day to day. Then they crossed Phrygia and Galatia. But because they were prevented by the Holy Spirit from speaking the message in Asia, they went on to Mysia and tried to get into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not permit them. So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. There Paul had a vision one night: a man from Macedonia kept standing and pleading with him in these words, "Come over to Macedonia and help us!" As soon as he had this vision, we laid our plans to get off to Macedonia, because we confidently concluded that God had called us to tell them the good news. So we sailed away from Troy and struck a bee line for Samothrace, and the next day on to Neapolis. From there we went on to Philippi, a Roman colony, the leading town in that part of Macedonia. In this town we stayed some days. On the sabbath we went outside the gate, to the bank of the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and began to talk with the women who had met there. Among them was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple goods from the town of Thyatira, and she stayed to listen to us. She was already a worshiper of God, and the Lord so moved upon her heart that she accepted the message spoken by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she begged us by continuing to say, "If you have made up your mind that I am a real believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house." And she continued to insist that we do so. Once as we were on our way to the place of prayer, a slave girl met us who had the gift of magical fortune-telling, and continued to make great profits for her owners by fortune-telling. This girl kept following Paul and the rest of us, shrieking, "These men are slaves of the Most High God, and they are proclaiming to you a way of salvation." She kept this up for a number of days. Because Paul was so much annoyed by her, he turned and said to the spirit in her, "In the name of Jesus Christ I order you to come out of her." And that very moment it came out. But as the owners saw that the hope of their profit-making was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them to the public square, before the authorities, and brought them to the chiefs of the police court. They said, "These men are Jews; they continue to make great disturbance in our town and to advocate practices which it is against the law for us Romans to accept or observe." The crowd also joined in the attack upon them, and the chiefs of the police court had them stripped and flogged. After flogging them severely, they put them into jail, and gave the jailer orders to keep close watch on them. Because he had such strict orders, he put them into the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. But about midnight, while Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, suddenly there was an earthquake so great that it shook the very foundations of the jail, the doors all flew open, and every prisoner's chains were unfastened. When the jailer awoke and saw that the jail doors were open, he drew his sword and was on the point of killing himself, because he thought that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul at once shouted out to him, "Do yourself no harm, for we are all here!" Then the jailer called for lights and rushed in and fell trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas. After leading them out of the jail, he said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They answered, "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you and your household will be saved." Then they told God's message to him and to all the members of his household. Even at that time of the night he took them and washed their wounds, and he and all the members of his household at once were baptized. Then he took them up to his house and gave them food, and he and all the members of his household were happy in their faith in God. When day broke, the chiefs of the police court sent policemen with the message to let the men go. The jailer reported this message to Paul, saying, "The chiefs of the police court have sent orders to let you go. So now you may come out and go in peace." But Paul said to them, "They beat us in public and that without a trial, and put us in jail although we are Roman citizens! Let them come here themselves and take us out!" The policemen reported this message to the chiefs of the police court, and they became alarmed when they heard that they were Roman citizens, and came and pleaded with them, and took them out and begged them to leave town. After getting out of jail, they went to Lydia's house; they saw the brothers and encouraged them, and then left town. Now they traveled on through Amphipolis and Apollonia until they reached Thessalonica. Here there was a Jewish synagogue. So Paul, as he usually did, went to the synagogue, and for three sabbaths discussed with them the Scriptures, explaining them and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead, and said, "This very Jesus whom I proclaim to you is the Christ." So some of them were convinced, and they joined Paul and Silas; also quite a number of devout Greeks and not a few women of the first rank. But this enraged the Jews; so they got together some wicked loafers about the public square, formed a mob, and set the town in an uproar. They stopped at Jason's house and tried to bring them out to the people. So, as they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the town magistrates, shouting, "These fellows, who have turned the world topsy-turvy, have come here too, and Jason has welcomed them. They are all acting contrary to the Emperor's decrees, because they claim there is another king, Jesus." Thus they wrought up to great excitement the crowd and the town magistrates, on their hearing this, and they made Jason and the other brothers give bond, and then turned them loose. That night at once the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea, and on arriving there they went to the Jewish synagogue. The Jews there were better disposed than those in Thessalonica, for they welcomed the message with all eagerness and carried on a daily study of the Scriptures to see if Paul's message was true. Many of them came to believe, and not a few distinguished Greek women and men. But when the Jews at Thessalonica learned that God's message had been proclaimed at Berea by Paul, they came there too to excite the masses and stir up a riot. Then the brothers at once sent Paul off to the coast, while Silas and Timothy stayed on there. The men who acted as Paul's bodyguard took him all the way to Athens, and then went back with orders for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible. While Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred to its depths to see the city completely steeped in idolatry. So he kept up his discussions in the synagogue with the Jews and the pagans who were worshiping there, and also day by day in the public square with any who chanced to be there. Some of the Epicurean and the Stoic philosophers began to debate with him; and some said, "What is this scraps-of-truth-picker trying to say?" Others said, "He seems to be a preacher of foreign deities." They said so because he was telling the good news of Jesus and the resurrection. So they took him and brought him to the city auditorium and said, "May we know what this new teaching of yours is? For some of the things you bring sound startling to us; so we want to know just what they mean." (Now all the Athenians and foreign visitors in Athens used to spend their time in nothing else than telling or listening to the latest new thing out.) So Paul stood up in the center of the auditorium and said: "Men of Athens, at every turn I make I see that you are very religious. For as I was going here and there and looking at the things you worship, I even found an altar with this inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.' So it is about the Being whom you are in ignorance already worshiping that I am telling you. The God who made the world and all that it contains, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made by human hands, nor is He served by human hands as though He were in need of anything, for He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one forefather He made every nation of mankind, for living all over the face of the earth, fixing their appointed times and the limits of their lands, so that they might search for God, possibly they might grope for Him, and find Him, though He is really not far from any of us. For it is through union with Him that we live and move and exist, as some of your own poets have said, "'For we are His offspring too.' Since then we are God's offspring, we ought not to suppose that His nature is like gold or silver or stone or anything carved by man's art and thought. Though God overlooked those times of ignorance, He now commands all men everywhere to repent, since He has set a day on which He will justly judge the world through a man whom He has appointed. He has made this credible to all by raising Him from the dead." But when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some sneered, but others said, "We will hear you again on this subject." So Paul left the auditorium. Some men, however, joined him and came to believe, among them Dionysius, a member of the city council; also a woman named Damaris, and some others. After this he left Athens and went to Corinth. There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had issued an edict for all Jews to leave Rome. So Paul paid them a visit, and as they all had the same trade, they proceeded to work together. Every sabbath it was Paul's habit to preach in the synagogue and to persuade both Jews and Greeks. By the time Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was wholly absorbed in preaching the message and was enthusiastically assuring the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. But as they opposed and abused him, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, "Your blood be upon your own heads! I am not to blame for it myself. Hereafter I am going to the heathen." So he moved into the house of a pagan named Titus Justus, who worshiped the true God; his house was next to the synagogue. But Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, became a believer in the Lord, and so did all his family, and from time to time many of the Corinthians heard, believed, and were baptized. One night in a vision the Lord said to Paul, "Stop being afraid, go on speaking, never give up; because I am with you, and no one is going to attack you so as to injure you, because I have many people in this city." So for a year and a half he settled down among them and went on teaching God's message. While Gallio was governor of Greece, the Jews unanimously attacked Paul and one day brought him before the court, and said, "This fellow is inducing people to worship God in ways that violate our laws." As Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, "If it were some misdemeanor or underhanded rascality, O Jews, I would in reason listen to you; but as it is questions about words and titles and your own law, you will have to see to it yourselves. I refuse to act as judge in these matters." So he drove them away from the court. Then they all seized Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and kept beating him right in front of the court; but Gallio paid no attention to it. Now Paul stayed a considerable time longer in Corinth, and then bade the brothers goodbye and set sail for Syria, accompanied by Aquila and Priscilla. At Cenchreae he had his hair cut, for he was under a vow. Then they came to Ephesus, and Paul left them there. He went into the synagogue and had a discussion with the Jews. They asked him to stay longer, but he would not consent. But as he bade them goodbye, he promised, "I will come back to you again, if it is God's will." Then he set sail from Ephesus. When he reached Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church there; then he went down to Antioch.
The disagreement was so sharp that they separated, and Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus. But Paul selected Silas and set out, after the brothers had committed him to the favor of the Lord. He journeyed on through Syria and Cilicia and continued to strengthen the churches. Now he went to Derbe and Lystra too. At Lystra there was a disciple named Timothy, whose mother was a Christian Jewess, but his father was a Greek. He had a high reputation among the brothers in Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted this man to join him in his journey; so on account of the Jews in that district he took him and had him circumcised, for everybody knew that his father was a Greek. As they journeyed on from town to town, they delivered to the brothers to keep the decisions reached by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. So the churches through faith continued to grow in strength and to increase in numbers from day to day. Then they crossed Phrygia and Galatia. But because they were prevented by the Holy Spirit from speaking the message in Asia, they went on to Mysia and tried to get into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not permit them. So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. There Paul had a vision one night: a man from Macedonia kept standing and pleading with him in these words, "Come over to Macedonia and help us!" As soon as he had this vision, we laid our plans to get off to Macedonia, because we confidently concluded that God had called us to tell them the good news. So we sailed away from Troy and struck a bee line for Samothrace, and the next day on to Neapolis. From there we went on to Philippi, a Roman colony, the leading town in that part of Macedonia. In this town we stayed some days. On the sabbath we went outside the gate, to the bank of the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and began to talk with the women who had met there. Among them was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple goods from the town of Thyatira, and she stayed to listen to us. She was already a worshiper of God, and the Lord so moved upon her heart that she accepted the message spoken by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she begged us by continuing to say, "If you have made up your mind that I am a real believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house." And she continued to insist that we do so. Once as we were on our way to the place of prayer, a slave girl met us who had the gift of magical fortune-telling, and continued to make great profits for her owners by fortune-telling. This girl kept following Paul and the rest of us, shrieking, "These men are slaves of the Most High God, and they are proclaiming to you a way of salvation." She kept this up for a number of days. Because Paul was so much annoyed by her, he turned and said to the spirit in her, "In the name of Jesus Christ I order you to come out of her." And that very moment it came out. But as the owners saw that the hope of their profit-making was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them to the public square, before the authorities, and brought them to the chiefs of the police court. They said, "These men are Jews; they continue to make great disturbance in our town and to advocate practices which it is against the law for us Romans to accept or observe." The crowd also joined in the attack upon them, and the chiefs of the police court had them stripped and flogged. After flogging them severely, they put them into jail, and gave the jailer orders to keep close watch on them. Because he had such strict orders, he put them into the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. But about midnight, while Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, suddenly there was an earthquake so great that it shook the very foundations of the jail, the doors all flew open, and every prisoner's chains were unfastened. When the jailer awoke and saw that the jail doors were open, he drew his sword and was on the point of killing himself, because he thought that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul at once shouted out to him, "Do yourself no harm, for we are all here!" Then the jailer called for lights and rushed in and fell trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas. After leading them out of the jail, he said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They answered, "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you and your household will be saved." Then they told God's message to him and to all the members of his household. Even at that time of the night he took them and washed their wounds, and he and all the members of his household at once were baptized. Then he took them up to his house and gave them food, and he and all the members of his household were happy in their faith in God. When day broke, the chiefs of the police court sent policemen with the message to let the men go. The jailer reported this message to Paul, saying, "The chiefs of the police court have sent orders to let you go. So now you may come out and go in peace." But Paul said to them, "They beat us in public and that without a trial, and put us in jail although we are Roman citizens! Let them come here themselves and take us out!" The policemen reported this message to the chiefs of the police court, and they became alarmed when they heard that they were Roman citizens, and came and pleaded with them, and took them out and begged them to leave town. After getting out of jail, they went to Lydia's house; they saw the brothers and encouraged them, and then left town. Now they traveled on through Amphipolis and Apollonia until they reached Thessalonica. Here there was a Jewish synagogue. So Paul, as he usually did, went to the synagogue, and for three sabbaths discussed with them the Scriptures, explaining them and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead, and said, "This very Jesus whom I proclaim to you is the Christ." So some of them were convinced, and they joined Paul and Silas; also quite a number of devout Greeks and not a few women of the first rank. But this enraged the Jews; so they got together some wicked loafers about the public square, formed a mob, and set the town in an uproar. They stopped at Jason's house and tried to bring them out to the people. So, as they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the town magistrates, shouting, "These fellows, who have turned the world topsy-turvy, have come here too, and Jason has welcomed them. They are all acting contrary to the Emperor's decrees, because they claim there is another king, Jesus." Thus they wrought up to great excitement the crowd and the town magistrates, on their hearing this, and they made Jason and the other brothers give bond, and then turned them loose. That night at once the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea, and on arriving there they went to the Jewish synagogue. The Jews there were better disposed than those in Thessalonica, for they welcomed the message with all eagerness and carried on a daily study of the Scriptures to see if Paul's message was true. Many of them came to believe, and not a few distinguished Greek women and men. But when the Jews at Thessalonica learned that God's message had been proclaimed at Berea by Paul, they came there too to excite the masses and stir up a riot. Then the brothers at once sent Paul off to the coast, while Silas and Timothy stayed on there. The men who acted as Paul's bodyguard took him all the way to Athens, and then went back with orders for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible. While Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred to its depths to see the city completely steeped in idolatry. So he kept up his discussions in the synagogue with the Jews and the pagans who were worshiping there, and also day by day in the public square with any who chanced to be there. Some of the Epicurean and the Stoic philosophers began to debate with him; and some said, "What is this scraps-of-truth-picker trying to say?" Others said, "He seems to be a preacher of foreign deities." They said so because he was telling the good news of Jesus and the resurrection. So they took him and brought him to the city auditorium and said, "May we know what this new teaching of yours is? For some of the things you bring sound startling to us; so we want to know just what they mean." (Now all the Athenians and foreign visitors in Athens used to spend their time in nothing else than telling or listening to the latest new thing out.) So Paul stood up in the center of the auditorium and said: "Men of Athens, at every turn I make I see that you are very religious. For as I was going here and there and looking at the things you worship, I even found an altar with this inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.' So it is about the Being whom you are in ignorance already worshiping that I am telling you. The God who made the world and all that it contains, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made by human hands, nor is He served by human hands as though He were in need of anything, for He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one forefather He made every nation of mankind, for living all over the face of the earth, fixing their appointed times and the limits of their lands, so that they might search for God, possibly they might grope for Him, and find Him, though He is really not far from any of us. For it is through union with Him that we live and move and exist, as some of your own poets have said, "'For we are His offspring too.' Since then we are God's offspring, we ought not to suppose that His nature is like gold or silver or stone or anything carved by man's art and thought. Though God overlooked those times of ignorance, He now commands all men everywhere to repent, since He has set a day on which He will justly judge the world through a man whom He has appointed. He has made this credible to all by raising Him from the dead." But when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some sneered, but others said, "We will hear you again on this subject." So Paul left the auditorium. Some men, however, joined him and came to believe, among them Dionysius, a member of the city council; also a woman named Damaris, and some others. After this he left Athens and went to Corinth. There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had issued an edict for all Jews to leave Rome. So Paul paid them a visit, and as they all had the same trade, they proceeded to work together. Every sabbath it was Paul's habit to preach in the synagogue and to persuade both Jews and Greeks. By the time Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was wholly absorbed in preaching the message and was enthusiastically assuring the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. But as they opposed and abused him, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, "Your blood be upon your own heads! I am not to blame for it myself. Hereafter I am going to the heathen." So he moved into the house of a pagan named Titus Justus, who worshiped the true God; his house was next to the synagogue. But Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, became a believer in the Lord, and so did all his family, and from time to time many of the Corinthians heard, believed, and were baptized. One night in a vision the Lord said to Paul, "Stop being afraid, go on speaking, never give up; because I am with you, and no one is going to attack you so as to injure you, because I have many people in this city." So for a year and a half he settled down among them and went on teaching God's message. While Gallio was governor of Greece, the Jews unanimously attacked Paul and one day brought him before the court, and said, "This fellow is inducing people to worship God in ways that violate our laws." As Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, "If it were some misdemeanor or underhanded rascality, O Jews, I would in reason listen to you; but as it is questions about words and titles and your own law, you will have to see to it yourselves. I refuse to act as judge in these matters." So he drove them away from the court. Then they all seized Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and kept beating him right in front of the court; but Gallio paid no attention to it. Now Paul stayed a considerable time longer in Corinth, and then bade the brothers goodbye and set sail for Syria, accompanied by Aquila and Priscilla. At Cenchreae he had his hair cut, for he was under a vow. Then they came to Ephesus, and Paul left them there. He went into the synagogue and had a discussion with the Jews. They asked him to stay longer, but he would not consent. But as he bade them goodbye, he promised, "I will come back to you again, if it is God's will." Then he set sail from Ephesus. When he reached Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church there; then he went down to Antioch.