Thematic Bible: Paul's
Thematic Bible
Paul's » Example
For you yourselves know that it is your duty to follow our example. There was no disorder in our lives among you,
In all things I have set you an example, showing you that, by working as I do, you ought to help the weak, and to bear in mind the words of the Lord Jesus, how He Himself said, "'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"
Provide yourself with an outline of the sound teaching which you have heard from my lips, and be true to the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.
Brethren, vie with one another in imitating me, and carefully observe those who follow the example which we have set you.
I entreat you therefore to become like me.
Yet I would that everybody lived as I do; but each of us has his own special gift from God--one in one direction and one in another.
Be imitators of me, in so far as I in turn am an imitator of Christ.
The doctrines and the line of conduct which I taught you--both what you heard and what you saw in me-- hold fast to them; and God who gives peace will be with you.
Paul's » Care for the church
Therefore be on the alert; and remember that, night and day, for three years, I never ceased admonishing every one, even with tears.
Therefore, though I wrote to you, it was not to punish the offender, nor to secure justice for him who had suffered the wrong, but it was chiefly in order that your earnest feeling on our behalf might become manifest to yourselves in the sight of God.
And besides other things, which I pass over, there is that which presses on me daily--my anxiety for all the Churches.
For I am afraid that perhaps when I come I may not find you to be what I desire, and that you may find me to be what you do not desire; that perhaps there may be contention, jealousy, bitter feeling, party spirit, ill-natured talk, backbiting, undue eulogy, unrest;
I am alarmed about you, and am afraid that I have perhaps bestowed labour upon you to no purpose.
while night and day, with intense earnestness, we pray that we may see your faces, and may bring to perfection whatever may be still lacking in your faith?
Paul's » Voyage to rome - with luke, aristarchus, and others ac 27-28 » Self-support
and because he was of the same trade--that of tent-maker--he lodged with them and worked with them.
For you remember, brethren, our labour and toil: how, working night and day so as not to become a burden to any one of you, we came and proclaimed among you God's Good News.
You yourselves know that these hands of mine have provided for my own necessities and for the people with me.
nor did we eat any one's bread without paying for it, but we laboured and toiled, working hard night and day in order not to be a burden to any of you.
After this Paul lived for fully two years in a hired house of his own, receiving all who came to see him.
But I, for my part, have not used, and do not use, my full rights in any of these things. Nor do I now write with that object so far as I myself am concerned, for I would rather die than have anybody make this boast of mine an empty one.
Paul's » Voyage to rome - with luke, aristarchus, and others ac 27-28 » Thorn
And judging by the stupendous grandeur of the revelations--therefore lest I should be over-elated there has been sent to me, like the agony of impalement, Satan's angel dealing blow after blow, lest I should be over-elated.
And you know that in those early days it was on account of bodily infirmity that I proclaimed the Good News to you,
Paul's » First - with barnabas and john mark ac 13-14 » Third - with timothy and others
After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out on a tour, visiting the whole of Galatia and Phrygia in order, and strengthening all the disciples. Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos came to Ephesus. He was a native of Alexandria, a man of great learning and well versed in the Scriptures. He had been instructed by word of mouth in the way of the Lord, and, being full of burning zeal, he used to speak and teach accurately the facts about Jesus, though he knew of no baptism but John's. read more.
He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, and Priscilla and Aquila, after hearing him, took him home and explained God's way to him more accurately. Then, as he had made up his mind to cross over into Greece, the brethren wrote to the disciples in Corinth begging them to give him a kindly welcome. Upon his arrival he rendered valuable help to those who through grace had believed; for he powerfully and in public overcame the Jews in argument, proving to them from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ. During the stay of Apollos in Corinth, Paul, after passing through the inland districts, came to Ephesus, where he found a few disciples. "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you first believed?" he asked them. "No," they replied, "we did not even hear that there is a Holy Spirit." "Into what then were you baptized?" he asked. "Into John's baptism," they replied. "John," he said, "administered a baptism of repentance, bidding the people believe on One who was to come after him; namely, on Jesus." On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus; and when Paul laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began to speak in tongues and to prophesy. They numbered in all about twelve men. Afterwards he went into the synagogue. There for three months he continued to preach fearlessly, explaining in words which carried conviction the truths which concern the Kingdom of God. But some grew obstinate in unbelief and spoke evil of the new faith before all the congregation. So Paul left them, and, taking with him those who were disciples, held discussions daily in Tyrannus's lecture-hall. This went on for two years, so that all the inhabitants of the province of Asia, Jews as well as Greeks, heard the Lord's Message. God also brought about extraordinary miracles through Paul's instrumentality. Towels or aprons, for instance, which Paul had handled used to be carried to the sick, and they recovered from their ailments, or the evil spirits left them. But there were also some wandering Jewish exorcists who undertook to invoke the name of Jesus over those who had the evil spirits, saying, "I command you by that Jesus whom Paul preaches." There were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew of high-priestly family, who were doing this. "Jesus I know," the evil spirit answered, "and Paul I have heard of, but who are you?" And the man in whom the evil spirit was sprang on two of them, over-mastered them both, and treated them with such violence, that they fled from the house stripped of their clothes and wounded. All the people of Ephesus, Jews as well as Greeks, came to know of this. There was widespread terror, and they began to hold the name of the Lord Jesus in high honour. Many also of those who believed came confessing without reserve what their conduct had been, and not a few of those who had practised magical arts brought their books together and burnt them in the presence of all. The total value was reckoned and found to be 50,000 silver coins. Thus mightily did the Lord's Message spread and triumph! When matters had reached this point, Paul decided in his own mind to travel through Macedonia and Greece, and go to Jerusalem. "After that," he said, "I must also see Rome." But he sent two of his assistants, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he himself remained for a while in Roman Asia. Now just at that time there arose no small commotion about the new faith. There was a certain Demetrius, a silversmith, who made miniature silver sanctuaries of Diana, a business which brought great gain to the mechanics in his employ. He called his workmen together, and others who were engaged in similar trades, and said to them, "You men well know that our prosperity depends on this business of ours; and you see and hear that, not in Ephesus only but throughout almost the whole province of Asia, this fellow Paul has led away a vast number of people by inducing them to believe that they are not gods at all that are made by men's hands. There is danger, therefore, not only that this our trade will become of no account, but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana will fall into utter disrepute, and that before long she will be actually deposed from her majestic rank--she who is now worshipped by the whole province of Asia; nay, by the whole world." After listening to this harangue, they became furiously angry and kept calling out, "Great is the Ephesian Diana!" The riot and uproar spread through the whole city, till at last with one accord they rushed into the Theatre, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, two Macedonians who were fellow travellers with Paul. Then Paul would have liked to go in and address the people, but the disciples would not let him do so. A few of the public officials, too, who were friendly to him, sent repeated messages entreating him not to venture into the Theatre. The people, meanwhile, kept shouting, some one thing and some another; for the assembly was all uproar and confusion, and the greater part had no idea why they had come together. Then some of the people crowded round Alexander, whom the Jews had pushed forward; and Alexander, motioning with his hand to get silence, was prepared to make a defence to the people. No sooner, however, did they see that he was a Jew, than there arose from them all one roar of shouting, lasting about two hours. "Great is the Ephesian Diana," they said. At length the Recorder quieted them down. "Men of Ephesus," he said, "who is there of all mankind that needs to be told that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Diana and of the image which fell down from Zeus? These facts, then, being unquestioned, it becomes you to maintain your self-control and not act recklessly. For you have brought these men here, who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of our goddess. If, however, Demetrius and the mechanics who support his contention have a grievance against any one, there are Assize-days and there are Proconsuls: let the persons interested accuse one another. But if you desire anything further, it will have to be settled in the regular assembly. For in connexion with to-day's proceedings there is danger of our being charged with attempted insurrection, there having been no real reason for this riot; nor shall we be able to justify the behaviour of this disorderly mob." With these words he dismissed the assembly. When the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples; and, after speaking words of encouragement to them, he took his leave, and started for Macedonia. Passing through those districts he encouraged the disciples in frequent addresses, and then came into Greece, and spent three months there. The Jews having planned to waylay him whenever he might be on the point of taking ship for Syria, he decided to travel back by way of Macedonia. He was accompanied as far as the province of Asia by Sopater the Beroean, the son of Pyrrhus; by the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; by Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and by the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus. These brethren had gone on and were waiting for us in the Troad. But we ourselves sailed from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and five days later joined them in the Troad, where we remained for a week. On the first day of the week, when we had met to break bread, Paul, who was going away the next morning, was preaching to them, and prolonged his discourse till midnight. Now there were a good many lamps in the room upstairs where we all were, and a youth of the name of Eutychus was sitting at the window. This lad, gradually sinking into deep sleep while Paul preached at unusual length, overcome at last by sleep, fell from the second floor and was taken up dead. Paul, however, went down, threw himself upon him, and folding him in his arms said, "Do not be alarmed; his life is still in him." Then he went upstairs again, broke bread, and took some food; and after a long conversation which was continued till daybreak, at last he parted from them. They had taken the lad home alive, and were greatly comforted. The rest of us had already gone on board a ship, and now we set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul on board there; for so he had arranged, he himself intending to go by land. Accordingly, when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and came to Mitylene. Sailing from there, we arrived the next day off Chios. On the next we touched at Samos; and on the day following reached Miletus. For Paul's plan was to sail past Ephesus, so as not to spend much time in the province of Asia; since he was very desirous of being in Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of the Harvest Festival. From Miletus he sent to Ephesus for the Elders of the Church to come to him. Upon their arrival he said to them, "You Elders well know, from the first day of my setting foot in the province of Asia, the kind of life I lived among you the whole time, serving the Lord in all humility, and with tears, and amid trials which came upon me through the plotting of the Jews-- and that I never shrank from declaring to you anything that was profitable, or from teaching you in public and in your homes, and urging upon both Jews and Greeks the necessity of turning to God and of believing in Jesus our Lord. "And now, impelled by a sense of duty, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit, at town after town, testifies to me that imprisonment and suffering are awaiting me. But even the sacrifice of my life I count as nothing, if only I may perfect my earthly course, and be faithful to the duty which the Lord Jesus has entrusted to me of proclaiming, as of supreme importance, the Good News of God's grace. "And now, I know that none of you among whom I have gone in and out proclaiming the coming of the Kingdom will any longer see my face. Therefore I protest to you to-day that I am not responsible for the ruin of any one of you. For I have not shrunk from declaring to you God's whole truth. "Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has placed you to take the oversight for Him and act as shepherds to the Church of God, which He has bought with His own blood. I know that, when I am gone, cruel wolves will come among you and will not spare the flock; and that from among your own selves men will rise up who will seek with their perverse talk to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert; and remember that, night and day, for three years, I never ceased admonishing every one, even with tears. "And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace. He is able to build you up and to give you your inheritance among His people. No one's silver or gold or clothing have I coveted. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have provided for my own necessities and for the people with me. In all things I have set you an example, showing you that, by working as I do, you ought to help the weak, and to bear in mind the words of the Lord Jesus, how He Himself said, "'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" Having spoken thus, Paul knelt down and prayed with them all; and with loud lamentation they all threw their arms round his neck, and kissed him lovingly, grieved above all things at his having told them that after that day they were no longer to see his face. And they went with him to the ship. When, at last, we had torn ourselves away and had set sail, we ran in a straight course to Cos; the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara. Finding a ship bound for Phoenicia, we went on board and put to sea. After sighting Cyprus and leaving that island on our left, we continued our voyage to Syria and put in at Tyre; for there the ship was to unload her cargo. Having searched for the disciples and found them, we stayed at Tyre for seven days; and, taught by the Spirit, they repeatedly urged Paul not to proceed to Jerusalem. When, however, our time was up, we left and went on our way, all the disciples and their wives and children coming to see us off. Then, after kneeling down on the beach and praying, we took leave of one another; and we went on board, while they returned home. As for us, our voyage was over when having sailed from Tyre we reached Ptolemais. here we inquired after the welfare of the brethren, and remained a day with them. On the morrow we left Ptolemais and went on to Caesarea, where we came to the house of Philip the Evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. Now Philip had four unmarried daughters who were prophetesses; and during our somewhat lengthy stay a Prophet of the name of Agabus came down from Judaea. When he arrived he took Paul's loincloth, and bound his own feet and arms with it, and said, "Thus says the Holy Spirit, 'So will the Jews in Jerusalem bind the owner of this loincloth, and will hand him over to the Gentiles.'" As soon as we heard these words, both we and the brethren at Caesarea entreated Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. His reply was, "What can you mean by thus breaking my heart with your grief? Why, as for me, I am ready not only to go to Jerusalem and be put in chains, but even to die there for the sake of the Lord Jesus." So when he was not to be dissuaded, we ceased remonstrating with him and said, "The Lord's will be done!" A few days afterwards we loaded our baggage-cattle and continued our journey to Jerusalem.
He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, and Priscilla and Aquila, after hearing him, took him home and explained God's way to him more accurately. Then, as he had made up his mind to cross over into Greece, the brethren wrote to the disciples in Corinth begging them to give him a kindly welcome. Upon his arrival he rendered valuable help to those who through grace had believed; for he powerfully and in public overcame the Jews in argument, proving to them from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ. During the stay of Apollos in Corinth, Paul, after passing through the inland districts, came to Ephesus, where he found a few disciples. "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you first believed?" he asked them. "No," they replied, "we did not even hear that there is a Holy Spirit." "Into what then were you baptized?" he asked. "Into John's baptism," they replied. "John," he said, "administered a baptism of repentance, bidding the people believe on One who was to come after him; namely, on Jesus." On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus; and when Paul laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began to speak in tongues and to prophesy. They numbered in all about twelve men. Afterwards he went into the synagogue. There for three months he continued to preach fearlessly, explaining in words which carried conviction the truths which concern the Kingdom of God. But some grew obstinate in unbelief and spoke evil of the new faith before all the congregation. So Paul left them, and, taking with him those who were disciples, held discussions daily in Tyrannus's lecture-hall. This went on for two years, so that all the inhabitants of the province of Asia, Jews as well as Greeks, heard the Lord's Message. God also brought about extraordinary miracles through Paul's instrumentality. Towels or aprons, for instance, which Paul had handled used to be carried to the sick, and they recovered from their ailments, or the evil spirits left them. But there were also some wandering Jewish exorcists who undertook to invoke the name of Jesus over those who had the evil spirits, saying, "I command you by that Jesus whom Paul preaches." There were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew of high-priestly family, who were doing this. "Jesus I know," the evil spirit answered, "and Paul I have heard of, but who are you?" And the man in whom the evil spirit was sprang on two of them, over-mastered them both, and treated them with such violence, that they fled from the house stripped of their clothes and wounded. All the people of Ephesus, Jews as well as Greeks, came to know of this. There was widespread terror, and they began to hold the name of the Lord Jesus in high honour. Many also of those who believed came confessing without reserve what their conduct had been, and not a few of those who had practised magical arts brought their books together and burnt them in the presence of all. The total value was reckoned and found to be 50,000 silver coins. Thus mightily did the Lord's Message spread and triumph! When matters had reached this point, Paul decided in his own mind to travel through Macedonia and Greece, and go to Jerusalem. "After that," he said, "I must also see Rome." But he sent two of his assistants, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he himself remained for a while in Roman Asia. Now just at that time there arose no small commotion about the new faith. There was a certain Demetrius, a silversmith, who made miniature silver sanctuaries of Diana, a business which brought great gain to the mechanics in his employ. He called his workmen together, and others who were engaged in similar trades, and said to them, "You men well know that our prosperity depends on this business of ours; and you see and hear that, not in Ephesus only but throughout almost the whole province of Asia, this fellow Paul has led away a vast number of people by inducing them to believe that they are not gods at all that are made by men's hands. There is danger, therefore, not only that this our trade will become of no account, but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana will fall into utter disrepute, and that before long she will be actually deposed from her majestic rank--she who is now worshipped by the whole province of Asia; nay, by the whole world." After listening to this harangue, they became furiously angry and kept calling out, "Great is the Ephesian Diana!" The riot and uproar spread through the whole city, till at last with one accord they rushed into the Theatre, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, two Macedonians who were fellow travellers with Paul. Then Paul would have liked to go in and address the people, but the disciples would not let him do so. A few of the public officials, too, who were friendly to him, sent repeated messages entreating him not to venture into the Theatre. The people, meanwhile, kept shouting, some one thing and some another; for the assembly was all uproar and confusion, and the greater part had no idea why they had come together. Then some of the people crowded round Alexander, whom the Jews had pushed forward; and Alexander, motioning with his hand to get silence, was prepared to make a defence to the people. No sooner, however, did they see that he was a Jew, than there arose from them all one roar of shouting, lasting about two hours. "Great is the Ephesian Diana," they said. At length the Recorder quieted them down. "Men of Ephesus," he said, "who is there of all mankind that needs to be told that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Diana and of the image which fell down from Zeus? These facts, then, being unquestioned, it becomes you to maintain your self-control and not act recklessly. For you have brought these men here, who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of our goddess. If, however, Demetrius and the mechanics who support his contention have a grievance against any one, there are Assize-days and there are Proconsuls: let the persons interested accuse one another. But if you desire anything further, it will have to be settled in the regular assembly. For in connexion with to-day's proceedings there is danger of our being charged with attempted insurrection, there having been no real reason for this riot; nor shall we be able to justify the behaviour of this disorderly mob." With these words he dismissed the assembly. When the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples; and, after speaking words of encouragement to them, he took his leave, and started for Macedonia. Passing through those districts he encouraged the disciples in frequent addresses, and then came into Greece, and spent three months there. The Jews having planned to waylay him whenever he might be on the point of taking ship for Syria, he decided to travel back by way of Macedonia. He was accompanied as far as the province of Asia by Sopater the Beroean, the son of Pyrrhus; by the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; by Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and by the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus. These brethren had gone on and were waiting for us in the Troad. But we ourselves sailed from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and five days later joined them in the Troad, where we remained for a week. On the first day of the week, when we had met to break bread, Paul, who was going away the next morning, was preaching to them, and prolonged his discourse till midnight. Now there were a good many lamps in the room upstairs where we all were, and a youth of the name of Eutychus was sitting at the window. This lad, gradually sinking into deep sleep while Paul preached at unusual length, overcome at last by sleep, fell from the second floor and was taken up dead. Paul, however, went down, threw himself upon him, and folding him in his arms said, "Do not be alarmed; his life is still in him." Then he went upstairs again, broke bread, and took some food; and after a long conversation which was continued till daybreak, at last he parted from them. They had taken the lad home alive, and were greatly comforted. The rest of us had already gone on board a ship, and now we set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul on board there; for so he had arranged, he himself intending to go by land. Accordingly, when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and came to Mitylene. Sailing from there, we arrived the next day off Chios. On the next we touched at Samos; and on the day following reached Miletus. For Paul's plan was to sail past Ephesus, so as not to spend much time in the province of Asia; since he was very desirous of being in Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of the Harvest Festival. From Miletus he sent to Ephesus for the Elders of the Church to come to him. Upon their arrival he said to them, "You Elders well know, from the first day of my setting foot in the province of Asia, the kind of life I lived among you the whole time, serving the Lord in all humility, and with tears, and amid trials which came upon me through the plotting of the Jews-- and that I never shrank from declaring to you anything that was profitable, or from teaching you in public and in your homes, and urging upon both Jews and Greeks the necessity of turning to God and of believing in Jesus our Lord. "And now, impelled by a sense of duty, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit, at town after town, testifies to me that imprisonment and suffering are awaiting me. But even the sacrifice of my life I count as nothing, if only I may perfect my earthly course, and be faithful to the duty which the Lord Jesus has entrusted to me of proclaiming, as of supreme importance, the Good News of God's grace. "And now, I know that none of you among whom I have gone in and out proclaiming the coming of the Kingdom will any longer see my face. Therefore I protest to you to-day that I am not responsible for the ruin of any one of you. For I have not shrunk from declaring to you God's whole truth. "Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has placed you to take the oversight for Him and act as shepherds to the Church of God, which He has bought with His own blood. I know that, when I am gone, cruel wolves will come among you and will not spare the flock; and that from among your own selves men will rise up who will seek with their perverse talk to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert; and remember that, night and day, for three years, I never ceased admonishing every one, even with tears. "And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace. He is able to build you up and to give you your inheritance among His people. No one's silver or gold or clothing have I coveted. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have provided for my own necessities and for the people with me. In all things I have set you an example, showing you that, by working as I do, you ought to help the weak, and to bear in mind the words of the Lord Jesus, how He Himself said, "'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" Having spoken thus, Paul knelt down and prayed with them all; and with loud lamentation they all threw their arms round his neck, and kissed him lovingly, grieved above all things at his having told them that after that day they were no longer to see his face. And they went with him to the ship. When, at last, we had torn ourselves away and had set sail, we ran in a straight course to Cos; the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara. Finding a ship bound for Phoenicia, we went on board and put to sea. After sighting Cyprus and leaving that island on our left, we continued our voyage to Syria and put in at Tyre; for there the ship was to unload her cargo. Having searched for the disciples and found them, we stayed at Tyre for seven days; and, taught by the Spirit, they repeatedly urged Paul not to proceed to Jerusalem. When, however, our time was up, we left and went on our way, all the disciples and their wives and children coming to see us off. Then, after kneeling down on the beach and praying, we took leave of one another; and we went on board, while they returned home. As for us, our voyage was over when having sailed from Tyre we reached Ptolemais. here we inquired after the welfare of the brethren, and remained a day with them. On the morrow we left Ptolemais and went on to Caesarea, where we came to the house of Philip the Evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. Now Philip had four unmarried daughters who were prophetesses; and during our somewhat lengthy stay a Prophet of the name of Agabus came down from Judaea. When he arrived he took Paul's loincloth, and bound his own feet and arms with it, and said, "Thus says the Holy Spirit, 'So will the Jews in Jerusalem bind the owner of this loincloth, and will hand him over to the Gentiles.'" As soon as we heard these words, both we and the brethren at Caesarea entreated Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. His reply was, "What can you mean by thus breaking my heart with your grief? Why, as for me, I am ready not only to go to Jerusalem and be put in chains, but even to die there for the sake of the Lord Jesus." So when he was not to be dissuaded, we ceased remonstrating with him and said, "The Lord's will be done!" A few days afterwards we loaded our baggage-cattle and continued our journey to Jerusalem.
Paul's » First - with barnabas and john mark ac 13-14 » Second - with silas
After a while Paul said to Barnabas, "Suppose we now revisit the brethren in the various towns in which we have made known the Lord's Message--to see whether they are prospering!" Barnabas, however, was bent on taking with them John, whose other name was Mark, while Paul deemed it undesirable to have as their companion one who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone on with them to the work. read more.
So there arose a serious disagreement between them, which resulted in their parting from one another, Barnabas taking Mark and setting sail for Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas as his travelling companion; and set out, after being commended by the brethren to the grace of the Lord; and he passed through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the Churches. He also came to Derbe and to Lystra. At Lystra he found a disciple, Timothy by name--the son of a Christian Jewess, though he had a Greek father. Timothy was well spoken of by the brethren at Lystra and Iconium, and Paul desiring that he should accompany him on his journey, took him and circumcised him on account of the Jews in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. As they journeyed on from town to town, they handed to the brethren for their observance the decisions which had been arrived at by the Apostles and Elders in Jerusalem. So the Churches went on gaining a stronger faith and growing in numbers from day to day. Then Paul and his companions passed through Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Message in the province of Asia. When they reached the frontier of Mysia, they were about to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not permit this. So, passing along Mysia, they came to Troas. Here, one night, Paul saw a vision. There was a Macedonian who was standing, entreating him and saying, "Come over into Macedonia and help us." So when he had seen the vision, we immediately looked out for an opportunity of passing on into Macedonia, confidently inferring that God had called us to proclaim the Good News to the people there. Accordingly we put out to sea from Troas, and ran a straight course to Samothrace. The next day we came to Neapolis, and thence to Philippi, which is a city in Macedonia, the first in its district, a Roman colony. And there we stayed some little time. On the Sabbath we went beyond the city gate to the riverside, where we had reason to believe that there was a place for prayer; and sitting down we talked with the women who had come together. Among our hearers was one named Lydia, a dealer in purple goods. She belonged to the city of Thyateira, and was a worshipper of the true God. The Lord opened her heart, so that she gave attention to what Paul was saying. When she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, "If in your judgement I am a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house." And she made us go there. One day, as we were on our way to the place of prayer, a slave girl met us who claimed to be inspired and was accustomed to bring her owners large profits by telling fortunes. She kept following close behind Paul and the rest of us, crying aloud, "These men are the bondservants of the Most High God, and are proclaiming to you the way of salvation." This she persisted in for a considerable time, until Paul, wearied out, turned round and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And it came out immediately. But when her owners saw that their hopes of gain were gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them off to the magistrates in the public square. Then they brought them before the praetors. "These men," they said, "are creating a great disturbance in our city. They are Jews, and are teaching customs which we, as Romans, are not permitted to adopt or practise." The crowd, too, joined in the outcry against them, till at length the praetors ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods; and, after severely flogging them, they threw them into jail and bade the jailer keep them safely. He, having received an order like that, lodged them in the inner prison, and secured their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, when suddenly there was such a violent shock of earthquake that the prison shook to its foundations. Instantly the doors all flew open, and the chains fell off from every prisoner. Starting up from sleep and seeing the doors of the jail wide open, the jailer drew his sword and was on the point of killing himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted loudly to him, saying, "Do yourself no injury: we are all here. Then, calling for lights, he sprang in and fell trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas; and, bringing them out of the prison, he exclaimed, "O sirs, what must I do to be saved?" "Believe on the Lord Jesus," they replied, "and both you and your household will be saved." And they told the Lord's Message to him as well as to all who were in his house. Then he took them, even at that time of night, washed their wounds, and he and all his household were immediately baptized; and bringing the Apostles up into his house, he spread a meal for them, and was filled with gladness, with his whole household, his faith resting on God. In the morning the praetors sent their lictors with the order, "Release those men." So the jailer brought Paul word, saying, "The praetors have sent orders for you to be released. Now therefore you can go, and proceed on your way in peace." But Paul said to them, "After cruelly beating us in public, without trial, Roman citizens though we are, they have thrown us into prison, and are they now going to send us away privately? No, indeed! Let them come in person and fetch us out." This answer the lictors took back to the praetors, who were alarmed when they were told that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. Accordingly they came and apologized to them; and, bringing them out, asked them to leave the city. Then Paul and Silas, having come out of the prison, went to Lydia's house; and, after seeing the brethren and encouraging them, they left Philippi. Then, passing through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they went to Thessalonica. Here there was a synagogue of the Jews. Paul--following his usual custom--betook himself to it, and for three successive Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, which he clearly explained, pointing out that it had been necessary for the Christ to suffer and rise again from the dead, and insisting, "The Jesus whom I am announcing to you is the Christ." Some of the people were won over, and attached themselves to Paul and Silas, including many God-fearing Greeks and not a few gentlewomen of high rank. But the jealousy of the Jews was aroused, and, calling to their aid some ill-conditioned and idle fellows, they got together a riotous mob and filled the city with uproar. They then attacked the house of Jason and searched for Paul and Silas, to bring them out before the assembly of people. But, failing to find them, they dragged Jason and some of the other brethren before the magistrates of the city, loudly accusing them. "These men," they said, "who have raised a tumult throughout the Empire, have come here also. Jason has received them into his house; and they all set Caesar's authority at defiance, declaring that there is another Emperor-- one called Jesus." Great was the excitement among the crowd, and among the magistrates of the city, when they heard these charges. They required Jason and the rest to find substantial bail, and after that they let them go. The brethren at once sent Paul and Silas away by night to Beroea, and they, on their arrival, went to the synagogue of the Jews. The Jews at Beroea were of a nobler disposition than those in Thessalonica, for they very readily received the Message, and day after day searched the Scriptures to see whether it was as Paul stated. As the result many of them became believers, and so did not a few of the Greeks--gentlewomen of good position, and men. As soon, however, as the Jews of Thessalonica learnt that God's Message had been proclaimed by Paul at Beroea, they came there also, and incited the mob to a riot. Then the brethren promptly sent Paul down to the sea-coast, but Silas and Timothy remained behind. Those who were caring for Paul's safety went with him as far as Athens, and then left him, taking a message from him to Silas and Timothy, asking them to join him as speedily as possible. While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was stirred within him when he noticed that the city was full of idols. So he had discussions in the synagogue with the Jews and the other worshippers, and in the market place, day after day, with those whom he happened to meet. A few of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also encountered him. Some of them asked, "What has this beggarly babbler to say?" "His business," said others, "seems to be to cry up some foreign gods." This was because he had been telling the Good News of Jesus and the Resurrection. Then they took him and brought him up to the Areopagus, asking him, "May we be told what this new teaching of yours is? For the things you are saying sound strange to us. We should therefore like to be told exactly what they mean." (For all the Athenians and their foreign visitors used to devote their whole leisure to telling or hearing about something new.) So Paul, taking his stand in the centre of the Areopagus, spoke as follows: "Men of Athens, I perceive that you are in every respect remarkably religious. For as I passed along and observed the things you worship, I found also an altar bearing the inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.' "The Being, therefore, whom you, without knowing Him, revere, Him I now proclaim to you. GOD who made the universe and everything in it--He, being Lord of Heaven and earth, does not dwell in sanctuaries built by men. Nor is He ministered to by human hands, as though He needed anything--but He Himself gives to all men life and breath and all things. He caused to spring from one forefather people of every race, for them to live on the whole surface of the earth, and marked out for them an appointed span of life and the boundaries of their homes; that they might seek God, if perhaps they could grope for Him and find Him. Yes, though He is not far from any one of us. For it is in closest union with Him that we live and move and have our being; as in fact some of the poets in repute among yourselves have said, 'For we are also His offspring.' Since then we are God's offspring, we ought not to imagine that His nature resembles gold or silver or marble, or anything sculptured by the art and inventive faculty of man. Those times of ignorance God viewed with indulgence. But now He commands all men everywhere to repent, seeing that He has appointed a day on which, before long, He will judge the world in righteousness, through the instrumentality of a man whom He has pre-destined to this work, and has made the fact certain to every one by raising Him from the dead." When they heard Paul speak of a resurrection of dead men, some began to scoff. But others said, "We will hear you again on that subject." So Paul went away from them. A few, however, attached themselves to him and believed, among them being Dionysius a member of the Council, a gentlewoman named Damaris, and some others. After this he left Athens and came to Corinth. Here he found a Jew, a native of Pontus, of the name of Aquila. He and his wife Priscilla had recently come from Italy because of Claudius's edict expelling all the Jews from Rome. So Paul paid them a visit; and because he was of the same trade--that of tent-maker--he lodged with them and worked with them. But, Sabbath after Sabbath, he preached in the synagogue and tried to win over both Jews and Greeks. Now at the time when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was preaching fervently and was solemnly telling the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. But upon their opposing him with abusive language, he shook his clothes by way of protest, and said to them, "Your ruin will be upon your own heads. I am not responsible: in future I will go among the Gentiles." So he left the place and went to the house of a person called Titius Justus, a worshipper of the true God. His house was next door to the synagogue. And Crispus, the Warden of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, and so did all his household; and from time to time many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and received baptism. And, in a vision by night, the Lord said to Paul, "Dismiss your fears: go on speaking, and do not give up. I am with you, and no one shall attack you to injure you; for I have very many people in this city." So Paul remained in Corinth for a year and six months, teaching among them the Message of God. But when Gallio became Proconsul of Greece, the Jews with one accord made a dead set at Paul, and brought him before the court. "This man," they said, "is inducing people to offer unlawful worship to God." But, when Paul was about to begin his defence, Gallio said to the Jews, "If it had been some wrongful act or piece of cunning knavery I might reasonably have listened to you Jews. But since these are questions about words and names and your Law, you yourselves must see to them. I refuse to be a judge in such matters." So he ordered them out of court. Then the people all set upon Sosthenes, the Warden of the synagogue, and beat him severely in front of the court. Gallio did not concern himself in the least about this. After remaining a considerable time longer in Corinth, Paul took leave of the brethren and set sail for Syria; and Priscilla and Aquila were with him. He had shaved his head at Cenchreae, because he was bound by a vow. They put in at Ephesus, and there Paul left his companions behind. As for himself, he went to the synagogue and had a discussion with the Jews. When they asked him to remain longer he did not consent, but took leave of them with the promise, "I will return to you, God willing." So he set sail from Ephesus. Landing at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and inquired after the welfare of the Church, and then went down to Antioch.
So there arose a serious disagreement between them, which resulted in their parting from one another, Barnabas taking Mark and setting sail for Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas as his travelling companion; and set out, after being commended by the brethren to the grace of the Lord; and he passed through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the Churches. He also came to Derbe and to Lystra. At Lystra he found a disciple, Timothy by name--the son of a Christian Jewess, though he had a Greek father. Timothy was well spoken of by the brethren at Lystra and Iconium, and Paul desiring that he should accompany him on his journey, took him and circumcised him on account of the Jews in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. As they journeyed on from town to town, they handed to the brethren for their observance the decisions which had been arrived at by the Apostles and Elders in Jerusalem. So the Churches went on gaining a stronger faith and growing in numbers from day to day. Then Paul and his companions passed through Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Message in the province of Asia. When they reached the frontier of Mysia, they were about to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not permit this. So, passing along Mysia, they came to Troas. Here, one night, Paul saw a vision. There was a Macedonian who was standing, entreating him and saying, "Come over into Macedonia and help us." So when he had seen the vision, we immediately looked out for an opportunity of passing on into Macedonia, confidently inferring that God had called us to proclaim the Good News to the people there. Accordingly we put out to sea from Troas, and ran a straight course to Samothrace. The next day we came to Neapolis, and thence to Philippi, which is a city in Macedonia, the first in its district, a Roman colony. And there we stayed some little time. On the Sabbath we went beyond the city gate to the riverside, where we had reason to believe that there was a place for prayer; and sitting down we talked with the women who had come together. Among our hearers was one named Lydia, a dealer in purple goods. She belonged to the city of Thyateira, and was a worshipper of the true God. The Lord opened her heart, so that she gave attention to what Paul was saying. When she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, "If in your judgement I am a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house." And she made us go there. One day, as we were on our way to the place of prayer, a slave girl met us who claimed to be inspired and was accustomed to bring her owners large profits by telling fortunes. She kept following close behind Paul and the rest of us, crying aloud, "These men are the bondservants of the Most High God, and are proclaiming to you the way of salvation." This she persisted in for a considerable time, until Paul, wearied out, turned round and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And it came out immediately. But when her owners saw that their hopes of gain were gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them off to the magistrates in the public square. Then they brought them before the praetors. "These men," they said, "are creating a great disturbance in our city. They are Jews, and are teaching customs which we, as Romans, are not permitted to adopt or practise." The crowd, too, joined in the outcry against them, till at length the praetors ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods; and, after severely flogging them, they threw them into jail and bade the jailer keep them safely. He, having received an order like that, lodged them in the inner prison, and secured their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, when suddenly there was such a violent shock of earthquake that the prison shook to its foundations. Instantly the doors all flew open, and the chains fell off from every prisoner. Starting up from sleep and seeing the doors of the jail wide open, the jailer drew his sword and was on the point of killing himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted loudly to him, saying, "Do yourself no injury: we are all here. Then, calling for lights, he sprang in and fell trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas; and, bringing them out of the prison, he exclaimed, "O sirs, what must I do to be saved?" "Believe on the Lord Jesus," they replied, "and both you and your household will be saved." And they told the Lord's Message to him as well as to all who were in his house. Then he took them, even at that time of night, washed their wounds, and he and all his household were immediately baptized; and bringing the Apostles up into his house, he spread a meal for them, and was filled with gladness, with his whole household, his faith resting on God. In the morning the praetors sent their lictors with the order, "Release those men." So the jailer brought Paul word, saying, "The praetors have sent orders for you to be released. Now therefore you can go, and proceed on your way in peace." But Paul said to them, "After cruelly beating us in public, without trial, Roman citizens though we are, they have thrown us into prison, and are they now going to send us away privately? No, indeed! Let them come in person and fetch us out." This answer the lictors took back to the praetors, who were alarmed when they were told that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. Accordingly they came and apologized to them; and, bringing them out, asked them to leave the city. Then Paul and Silas, having come out of the prison, went to Lydia's house; and, after seeing the brethren and encouraging them, they left Philippi. Then, passing through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they went to Thessalonica. Here there was a synagogue of the Jews. Paul--following his usual custom--betook himself to it, and for three successive Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, which he clearly explained, pointing out that it had been necessary for the Christ to suffer and rise again from the dead, and insisting, "The Jesus whom I am announcing to you is the Christ." Some of the people were won over, and attached themselves to Paul and Silas, including many God-fearing Greeks and not a few gentlewomen of high rank. But the jealousy of the Jews was aroused, and, calling to their aid some ill-conditioned and idle fellows, they got together a riotous mob and filled the city with uproar. They then attacked the house of Jason and searched for Paul and Silas, to bring them out before the assembly of people. But, failing to find them, they dragged Jason and some of the other brethren before the magistrates of the city, loudly accusing them. "These men," they said, "who have raised a tumult throughout the Empire, have come here also. Jason has received them into his house; and they all set Caesar's authority at defiance, declaring that there is another Emperor-- one called Jesus." Great was the excitement among the crowd, and among the magistrates of the city, when they heard these charges. They required Jason and the rest to find substantial bail, and after that they let them go. The brethren at once sent Paul and Silas away by night to Beroea, and they, on their arrival, went to the synagogue of the Jews. The Jews at Beroea were of a nobler disposition than those in Thessalonica, for they very readily received the Message, and day after day searched the Scriptures to see whether it was as Paul stated. As the result many of them became believers, and so did not a few of the Greeks--gentlewomen of good position, and men. As soon, however, as the Jews of Thessalonica learnt that God's Message had been proclaimed by Paul at Beroea, they came there also, and incited the mob to a riot. Then the brethren promptly sent Paul down to the sea-coast, but Silas and Timothy remained behind. Those who were caring for Paul's safety went with him as far as Athens, and then left him, taking a message from him to Silas and Timothy, asking them to join him as speedily as possible. While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was stirred within him when he noticed that the city was full of idols. So he had discussions in the synagogue with the Jews and the other worshippers, and in the market place, day after day, with those whom he happened to meet. A few of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also encountered him. Some of them asked, "What has this beggarly babbler to say?" "His business," said others, "seems to be to cry up some foreign gods." This was because he had been telling the Good News of Jesus and the Resurrection. Then they took him and brought him up to the Areopagus, asking him, "May we be told what this new teaching of yours is? For the things you are saying sound strange to us. We should therefore like to be told exactly what they mean." (For all the Athenians and their foreign visitors used to devote their whole leisure to telling or hearing about something new.) So Paul, taking his stand in the centre of the Areopagus, spoke as follows: "Men of Athens, I perceive that you are in every respect remarkably religious. For as I passed along and observed the things you worship, I found also an altar bearing the inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.' "The Being, therefore, whom you, without knowing Him, revere, Him I now proclaim to you. GOD who made the universe and everything in it--He, being Lord of Heaven and earth, does not dwell in sanctuaries built by men. Nor is He ministered to by human hands, as though He needed anything--but He Himself gives to all men life and breath and all things. He caused to spring from one forefather people of every race, for them to live on the whole surface of the earth, and marked out for them an appointed span of life and the boundaries of their homes; that they might seek God, if perhaps they could grope for Him and find Him. Yes, though He is not far from any one of us. For it is in closest union with Him that we live and move and have our being; as in fact some of the poets in repute among yourselves have said, 'For we are also His offspring.' Since then we are God's offspring, we ought not to imagine that His nature resembles gold or silver or marble, or anything sculptured by the art and inventive faculty of man. Those times of ignorance God viewed with indulgence. But now He commands all men everywhere to repent, seeing that He has appointed a day on which, before long, He will judge the world in righteousness, through the instrumentality of a man whom He has pre-destined to this work, and has made the fact certain to every one by raising Him from the dead." When they heard Paul speak of a resurrection of dead men, some began to scoff. But others said, "We will hear you again on that subject." So Paul went away from them. A few, however, attached themselves to him and believed, among them being Dionysius a member of the Council, a gentlewoman named Damaris, and some others. After this he left Athens and came to Corinth. Here he found a Jew, a native of Pontus, of the name of Aquila. He and his wife Priscilla had recently come from Italy because of Claudius's edict expelling all the Jews from Rome. So Paul paid them a visit; and because he was of the same trade--that of tent-maker--he lodged with them and worked with them. But, Sabbath after Sabbath, he preached in the synagogue and tried to win over both Jews and Greeks. Now at the time when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was preaching fervently and was solemnly telling the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. But upon their opposing him with abusive language, he shook his clothes by way of protest, and said to them, "Your ruin will be upon your own heads. I am not responsible: in future I will go among the Gentiles." So he left the place and went to the house of a person called Titius Justus, a worshipper of the true God. His house was next door to the synagogue. And Crispus, the Warden of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, and so did all his household; and from time to time many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and received baptism. And, in a vision by night, the Lord said to Paul, "Dismiss your fears: go on speaking, and do not give up. I am with you, and no one shall attack you to injure you; for I have very many people in this city." So Paul remained in Corinth for a year and six months, teaching among them the Message of God. But when Gallio became Proconsul of Greece, the Jews with one accord made a dead set at Paul, and brought him before the court. "This man," they said, "is inducing people to offer unlawful worship to God." But, when Paul was about to begin his defence, Gallio said to the Jews, "If it had been some wrongful act or piece of cunning knavery I might reasonably have listened to you Jews. But since these are questions about words and names and your Law, you yourselves must see to them. I refuse to be a judge in such matters." So he ordered them out of court. Then the people all set upon Sosthenes, the Warden of the synagogue, and beat him severely in front of the court. Gallio did not concern himself in the least about this. After remaining a considerable time longer in Corinth, Paul took leave of the brethren and set sail for Syria; and Priscilla and Aquila were with him. He had shaved his head at Cenchreae, because he was bound by a vow. They put in at Ephesus, and there Paul left his companions behind. As for himself, he went to the synagogue and had a discussion with the Jews. When they asked him to remain longer he did not consent, but took leave of them with the promise, "I will return to you, God willing." So he set sail from Ephesus. Landing at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and inquired after the welfare of the Church, and then went down to Antioch.
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