Thematic Bible
Thematic Bible
Athens » A city » A city of greece
Now those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they left. Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be there. read more.
And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. Some said, "What would this idle babbler wish to say?" Others, "He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign deities,"because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. And they took hold of him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new teaching is which you present? For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean." (Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.) So Paul stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens, I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.'What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by hands; nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all men life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of men to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being,' as even some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.' Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given proof to all men by raising him from the dead." Now when they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, "We want to hear you again on this subject." So Paul went out from among them. But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.
And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. Some said, "What would this idle babbler wish to say?" Others, "He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign deities,"because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. And they took hold of him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new teaching is which you present? For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean." (Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.) So Paul stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens, I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.'What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by hands; nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all men life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of men to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being,' as even some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.' Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given proof to all men by raising him from the dead." Now when they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, "We want to hear you again on this subject." So Paul went out from among them. But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.
Therefore when we could endure it no longer, we thought it best to be left behind at Athens alone,
Gentiles » Unclassified sciptures relating to
And some of them were persuaded, and joined Paul and Silas; as did a large number of the God-fearing Greeks and not a few of the leading women.
Now this I affirm and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds, they are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality, greedy for the practice of every kind of impurity.
Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
No, but I say that the things pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons.
And when you pray, do not use empty repetitions as the Gentiles do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
In past generations he allowed all the nations to go their own ways;
Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be there.
So Paul stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens, I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.'What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by hands; read more.
nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all men life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of men to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all men life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of men to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth, for what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world his invisible nature, even his eternal power and deity, has been clearly seen, being understood by the things that have been made. So they are without excuse; read more.
for although they knew God they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural. And the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in their own persons the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to retain the knowledge of God, God gave them over to a base mind, to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of wickedness, evil, covetousness, depravity. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
for although they knew God they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural. And the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in their own persons the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to retain the knowledge of God, God gave them over to a base mind, to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of wickedness, evil, covetousness, depravity. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
Therefore you have no excuse, O man, whoever you are who judge another; for in whatever point you pass judgment on him you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things. We know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who do such things. Do you think, O man, that when you judge those who do such things and yet do the same yourself, you will escape the judgment of God? read more.
Or do you presume upon the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not know that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But by your hardness and your impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. For he "will render to each one according to his works": to those who by patience in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey wickedness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality. All who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous in the sight of God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. When Gentiles, who have not the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts accusing or else excusing them
Or do you presume upon the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not know that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But by your hardness and your impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. For he "will render to each one according to his works": to those who by patience in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey wickedness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality. All who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous in the sight of God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. When Gentiles, who have not the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts accusing or else excusing them
You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to mute idols, however you may have been moved.
For it is a shame even to speak of the things that they do in secret.
that each one of you know how to take his own spouse for himself in holiness and honor,
For you have spent enough time in the past doing what the Gentiles like to do, living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and lawless idolatry. In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they abuse you;
Missionary journeys » Ac 13-14 » Second - with silas
After some days Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us return and visit the brethren in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are." Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them. But Paul kept insisting that they should not take along one who had deserted them in Pamphylia, and had not gone with them to the work. read more.
There arose such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas and left, being commended by the brethren to the grace of the Lord. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. And he came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer; but his father was a Greek, and he was well spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted this man to accompany him; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions which had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in numbers daily. And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they came to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit o Jesus did not allow them; so passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and begging him, and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. So putting out to sea from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and on the day following to Neapolis; and from there to Philippi, which is the leading city of the district of Macedonia, and a Roman colony. We stayed in this city some days; and on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had come together. A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, who was a worshiper of God, was listening. The Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. When she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay." And she prevailed upon us. It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave-girl who had a spirit of divination. She brought her owners much profit by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and the rest of us, crying, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way of salvation." She continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!" And it came out at that very moment. But when her owners saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities, and when they had brought them to the magistrates they said, "These men are Jews and they are throwing our city into an uproar. They advocate customs which it is not lawful for us Romans to accept or practice." The crowd joined against them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and ordered them to be beaten with rods. And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to guard them securely. Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were unfastened. When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!" And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. He brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. He took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his family. Then he brought them up into his house, and set food before them; and he rejoiced with his whole household that he had believed in God. But when it was day, the magistrates sent their police, saying, "Release those men." And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, "The chief magistrates have sent to release you. Therefore come out now and go in peace." But Paul said to them, "They have beaten us publicly, without trial, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now cast us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out." The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. So they came and apologized to them, and they took them out and asked them to leave the city. They went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brethren, they encouraged them and departed. Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and for three weeks he reasoned with them from the scriptures, explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ." And some of them were persuaded, and joined Paul and Silas; as did a large number of the God-fearing Greeks and not a few of the leading women. But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men from the market place, they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; they attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the people. When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brethren before the city authorities, shouting, "These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has welcomed them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus." The crowd and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard this. And when they had taken a pledge from Jason and the others, they let them go. The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Therefore many of them believed, along with a number of prominent Greek women and men. But when the Jews of Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul in Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds. Then the brethren immediately sent Paul out to go as far as the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there. Now those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they left. Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be there. And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. Some said, "What would this idle babbler wish to say?" Others, "He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign deities,"because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. And they took hold of him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new teaching is which you present? For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean." (Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.) So Paul stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens, I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.'What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by hands; nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all men life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of men to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being,' as even some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.' Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given proof to all men by raising him from the dead." Now when they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, "We want to hear you again on this subject." So Paul went out from among them. But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them. After this he left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He went to see them, and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them, and they worked, for by trade they were tentmakers. And every Sabbath he was reasoning in the synagogue, and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. But when they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles." Then he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next door to the synagogue. Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with all his household; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized. And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, "Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will attack you to harm you, for I have many people in this city." And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. But while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack upon Paul and brought him before the judgment seat, saying, "This man is persuading men to worship God contrary to the law." But when Paul was about to open 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; but since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves; I refuse to be a judge of these things." And he drove them from the judgment seat. And they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the judgment seat. But Gallio paid no attention to this. After this Paul stayed many days longer, and then took leave of the brethren and sailed for Syria, and with him were Priscilla and Aquila. In Cenchrea he had his hair cut, for he had taken a vow. They came to Ephesus, and he left them there. Now he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. When they asked him to stay for a longer time, he declined; but on taking leave of them he said, "I will return to you if God wills," and he set sail from Ephesus. When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch.
There arose such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas and left, being commended by the brethren to the grace of the Lord. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. And he came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer; but his father was a Greek, and he was well spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted this man to accompany him; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions which had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in numbers daily. And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they came to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit o Jesus did not allow them; so passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and begging him, and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. So putting out to sea from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and on the day following to Neapolis; and from there to Philippi, which is the leading city of the district of Macedonia, and a Roman colony. We stayed in this city some days; and on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had come together. A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, who was a worshiper of God, was listening. The Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. When she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay." And she prevailed upon us. It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave-girl who had a spirit of divination. She brought her owners much profit by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and the rest of us, crying, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way of salvation." She continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!" And it came out at that very moment. But when her owners saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities, and when they had brought them to the magistrates they said, "These men are Jews and they are throwing our city into an uproar. They advocate customs which it is not lawful for us Romans to accept or practice." The crowd joined against them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and ordered them to be beaten with rods. And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to guard them securely. Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were unfastened. When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!" And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. He brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. He took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his family. Then he brought them up into his house, and set food before them; and he rejoiced with his whole household that he had believed in God. But when it was day, the magistrates sent their police, saying, "Release those men." And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, "The chief magistrates have sent to release you. Therefore come out now and go in peace." But Paul said to them, "They have beaten us publicly, without trial, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now cast us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out." The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. So they came and apologized to them, and they took them out and asked them to leave the city. They went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brethren, they encouraged them and departed. Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and for three weeks he reasoned with them from the scriptures, explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ." And some of them were persuaded, and joined Paul and Silas; as did a large number of the God-fearing Greeks and not a few of the leading women. But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men from the market place, they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; they attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the people. When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brethren before the city authorities, shouting, "These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has welcomed them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus." The crowd and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard this. And when they had taken a pledge from Jason and the others, they let them go. The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Therefore many of them believed, along with a number of prominent Greek women and men. But when the Jews of Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul in Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds. Then the brethren immediately sent Paul out to go as far as the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there. Now those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they left. Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be there. And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. Some said, "What would this idle babbler wish to say?" Others, "He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign deities,"because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. And they took hold of him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new teaching is which you present? For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean." (Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.) So Paul stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens, I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.'What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by hands; nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all men life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of men to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being,' as even some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.' Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given proof to all men by raising him from the dead." Now when they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, "We want to hear you again on this subject." So Paul went out from among them. But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them. After this he left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He went to see them, and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them, and they worked, for by trade they were tentmakers. And every Sabbath he was reasoning in the synagogue, and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. But when they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles." Then he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next door to the synagogue. Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with all his household; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized. And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, "Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will attack you to harm you, for I have many people in this city." And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. But while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack upon Paul and brought him before the judgment seat, saying, "This man is persuading men to worship God contrary to the law." But when Paul was about to open 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; but since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves; I refuse to be a judge of these things." And he drove them from the judgment seat. And they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the judgment seat. But Gallio paid no attention to this. After this Paul stayed many days longer, and then took leave of the brethren and sailed for Syria, and with him were Priscilla and Aquila. In Cenchrea he had his hair cut, for he had taken a vow. They came to Ephesus, and he left them there. Now he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. When they asked him to stay for a longer time, he declined; but on taking leave of them he said, "I will return to you if God wills," and he set sail from Ephesus. When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch.
Paul » Debates » Mar's hill
Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be there. And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. Some said, "What would this idle babbler wish to say?" Others, "He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign deities,"because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. read more.
And they took hold of him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new teaching is which you present? For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean." (Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.) So Paul stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens, I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.'What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by hands; nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all men life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of men to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being,' as even some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.' Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given proof to all men by raising him from the dead." Now when they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, "We want to hear you again on this subject." So Paul went out from among them. But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.
And they took hold of him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new teaching is which you present? For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean." (Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.) So Paul stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens, I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.'What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by hands; nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all men life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of men to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being,' as even some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.' Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given proof to all men by raising him from the dead." Now when they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, "We want to hear you again on this subject." So Paul went out from among them. But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.
Paul's » First - with barnabas and john mark ac 13-14 » Second - with silas
After some days Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us return and visit the brethren in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are." Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them. But Paul kept insisting that they should not take along one who had deserted them in Pamphylia, and had not gone with them to the work. read more.
There arose such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas and left, being commended by the brethren to the grace of the Lord. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. And he came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer; but his father was a Greek, and he was well spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted this man to accompany him; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions which had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in numbers daily. And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they came to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit o Jesus did not allow them; so passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and begging him, and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. So putting out to sea from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and on the day following to Neapolis; and from there to Philippi, which is the leading city of the district of Macedonia, and a Roman colony. We stayed in this city some days; and on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had come together. A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, who was a worshiper of God, was listening. The Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. When she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay." And she prevailed upon us. It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave-girl who had a spirit of divination. She brought her owners much profit by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and the rest of us, crying, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way of salvation." She continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!" And it came out at that very moment. But when her owners saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities, and when they had brought them to the magistrates they said, "These men are Jews and they are throwing our city into an uproar. They advocate customs which it is not lawful for us Romans to accept or practice." The crowd joined against them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and ordered them to be beaten with rods. And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to guard them securely. Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were unfastened. When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!" And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. He brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. He took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his family. Then he brought them up into his house, and set food before them; and he rejoiced with his whole household that he had believed in God. But when it was day, the magistrates sent their police, saying, "Release those men." And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, "The chief magistrates have sent to release you. Therefore come out now and go in peace." But Paul said to them, "They have beaten us publicly, without trial, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now cast us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out." The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. So they came and apologized to them, and they took them out and asked them to leave the city. They went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brethren, they encouraged them and departed. Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and for three weeks he reasoned with them from the scriptures, explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ." And some of them were persuaded, and joined Paul and Silas; as did a large number of the God-fearing Greeks and not a few of the leading women. But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men from the market place, they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; they attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the people. When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brethren before the city authorities, shouting, "These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has welcomed them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus." The crowd and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard this. And when they had taken a pledge from Jason and the others, they let them go. The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Therefore many of them believed, along with a number of prominent Greek women and men. But when the Jews of Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul in Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds. Then the brethren immediately sent Paul out to go as far as the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there. Now those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they left. Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be there. And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. Some said, "What would this idle babbler wish to say?" Others, "He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign deities,"because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. And they took hold of him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new teaching is which you present? For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean." (Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.) So Paul stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens, I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.'What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by hands; nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all men life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of men to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being,' as even some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.' Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given proof to all men by raising him from the dead." Now when they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, "We want to hear you again on this subject." So Paul went out from among them. But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them. After this he left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He went to see them, and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them, and they worked, for by trade they were tentmakers. And every Sabbath he was reasoning in the synagogue, and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. But when they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles." Then he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next door to the synagogue. Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with all his household; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized. And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, "Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will attack you to harm you, for I have many people in this city." And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. But while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack upon Paul and brought him before the judgment seat, saying, "This man is persuading men to worship God contrary to the law." But when Paul was about to open 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; but since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves; I refuse to be a judge of these things." And he drove them from the judgment seat. And they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the judgment seat. But Gallio paid no attention to this. After this Paul stayed many days longer, and then took leave of the brethren and sailed for Syria, and with him were Priscilla and Aquila. In Cenchrea he had his hair cut, for he had taken a vow. They came to Ephesus, and he left them there. Now he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. When they asked him to stay for a longer time, he declined; but on taking leave of them he said, "I will return to you if God wills," and he set sail from Ephesus. When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch.
There arose such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas and left, being commended by the brethren to the grace of the Lord. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. And he came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer; but his father was a Greek, and he was well spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted this man to accompany him; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions which had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in numbers daily. And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they came to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit o Jesus did not allow them; so passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and begging him, and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. So putting out to sea from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and on the day following to Neapolis; and from there to Philippi, which is the leading city of the district of Macedonia, and a Roman colony. We stayed in this city some days; and on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had come together. A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, who was a worshiper of God, was listening. The Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. When she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay." And she prevailed upon us. It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave-girl who had a spirit of divination. She brought her owners much profit by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and the rest of us, crying, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way of salvation." She continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!" And it came out at that very moment. But when her owners saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities, and when they had brought them to the magistrates they said, "These men are Jews and they are throwing our city into an uproar. They advocate customs which it is not lawful for us Romans to accept or practice." The crowd joined against them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and ordered them to be beaten with rods. And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to guard them securely. Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were unfastened. When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!" And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. He brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. He took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his family. Then he brought them up into his house, and set food before them; and he rejoiced with his whole household that he had believed in God. But when it was day, the magistrates sent their police, saying, "Release those men." And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, "The chief magistrates have sent to release you. Therefore come out now and go in peace." But Paul said to them, "They have beaten us publicly, without trial, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now cast us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out." The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. So they came and apologized to them, and they took them out and asked them to leave the city. They went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brethren, they encouraged them and departed. Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and for three weeks he reasoned with them from the scriptures, explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ." And some of them were persuaded, and joined Paul and Silas; as did a large number of the God-fearing Greeks and not a few of the leading women. But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men from the market place, they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; they attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the people. When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brethren before the city authorities, shouting, "These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has welcomed them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus." The crowd and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard this. And when they had taken a pledge from Jason and the others, they let them go. The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Therefore many of them believed, along with a number of prominent Greek women and men. But when the Jews of Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul in Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds. Then the brethren immediately sent Paul out to go as far as the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there. Now those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they left. Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be there. And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. Some said, "What would this idle babbler wish to say?" Others, "He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign deities,"because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. And they took hold of him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new teaching is which you present? For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean." (Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.) So Paul stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens, I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.'What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by hands; nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all men life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of men to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being,' as even some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.' Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given proof to all men by raising him from the dead." Now when they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, "We want to hear you again on this subject." So Paul went out from among them. But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them. After this he left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He went to see them, and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them, and they worked, for by trade they were tentmakers. And every Sabbath he was reasoning in the synagogue, and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. But when they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles." Then he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next door to the synagogue. Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with all his household; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized. And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, "Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will attack you to harm you, for I have many people in this city." And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. But while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack upon Paul and brought him before the judgment seat, saying, "This man is persuading men to worship God contrary to the law." But when Paul was about to open 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; but since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves; I refuse to be a judge of these things." And he drove them from the judgment seat. And they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the judgment seat. But Gallio paid no attention to this. After this Paul stayed many days longer, and then took leave of the brethren and sailed for Syria, and with him were Priscilla and Aquila. In Cenchrea he had his hair cut, for he had taken a vow. They came to Ephesus, and he left them there. Now he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. When they asked him to stay for a longer time, he declined; but on taking leave of them he said, "I will return to you if God wills," and he set sail from Ephesus. When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch.
Synagogues » The apostles frequently taught and preached in
Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.
When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John as their helper.
And immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "He is the Son of God."
So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be there.