Acts 17-19

Acts 17

¹Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews:

²and Paul, as his custom was, went in unto them, and for three sabbath days reasoned with them from the scriptures,

³opening and alleging, that it behoved the Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom, said he, I proclaim unto you, is the Christ.

⁴And some of them were persuaded, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.

⁵But the Jews, being moved with jealousy, took unto them certain vile fellows of the rabble, and gathering a crowd, set the city on an uproar; and assaulting the house of Jason, they sought to bring them forth to the people.

⁶And when they found them not, they dragged Jason and certain brethren before the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;

⁷whom Jason hath received: and these all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.

⁸And they troubled the multitude and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things.

⁹And when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

¹⁰And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Beroea: who when they were come thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.

¹¹Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, examining the scriptures daily, whether these things were so.

¹²Many of them therefore believed; also of the Greek women of honourable estate, and of men, not a few.

¹³But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was proclaimed of Paul at Beroea also, they came thither likewise, stirring up and troubling the multitudes.

¹⁴And then immediately the brethren sent forth Paul to go as far as to the sea: and Silas and Timothy abode there still.

¹⁵But they that conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens: and receiving a commandment unto Silas and Timothy that they should come to him with all speed, they departed.

¹⁶Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him, as he beheld the city full of idols.

¹⁷So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with them that met with him.

¹⁸And certain also of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, What would this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached Jesus and the resurrection.

¹⁹And they took hold of him, and brought him unto the Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new teaching is, which is spoken by thee?

²⁰For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean.

²¹(Now all the Athenians and the strangers sojourning there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing.)

²²And Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus, and said, Ye men of Athens, in all things I perceive that ye are somewhat superstitious.

²³For 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 ye worship in ignorance, this set I forth unto you.

²⁴The God that made the world and all things therein, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

²⁵neither is he served by men’s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;

²⁶and he made of one every nation of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed seasons, and the bounds of their habitation;

²⁷that they should seek God, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he is not far from each one of us:

²⁸for in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain even of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

²⁹Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and device of man.

³⁰The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked; but now he commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent:

³¹inasmuch as he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

³²Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but others said, We will hear thee concerning this yet again.

³³Thus Paul went out from among them.

³⁴But certain men clave unto him, and believed: among whom also was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

Acts 18

¹After these things he departed from Athens, and came to Corinth.

²And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, a man of Pontus by race, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome: and he came unto them;

³and because he was of the same trade, he abode with them, and they wrought; for by their trade they were tentmakers.

⁴And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded Jews and Greeks.

⁵But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was constrained by the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.

⁶And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook out his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.

⁷And he departed thence, and went into the house of a certain man named Titus Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue.

⁸And Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized.

⁹And the Lord said unto Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace:

¹⁰for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to harm thee: for I have much people in this city.

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

¹²But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul, and brought him before the judgment-seat,

¹³saying, This man persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law.

¹⁴But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, If indeed it were a matter of wrong or of wicked villany, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you:

¹⁵but if they are questions about words and names and your own law, look to it yourselves; I am not minded to be a judge of these matters.

¹⁶And he drave them from the judgment-seat.

¹⁷And they all laid hold on Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment-seat. And Gallio cared for none of these things.

¹⁸And Paul, having tarried after this yet many days, took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchreae: for he had a vow.

¹⁹And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there: but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews.

²⁰And when they asked him to abide a longer time, he consented not;

²¹but taking his leave of them, and saying, I will return again unto you, if God will, he set sail from Ephesus.

²²And when he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and saluted the church, and went down to Antioch.

²³And having spent some time there, he departed, and went through the region of Galatia and Phrygia in order, stablishing all the disciples.

²⁴Now a certain Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by race, a learned man, came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the scriptures.

²⁵This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spake and taught carefully the things concerning Jesus, knowing only the baptism of John:

²⁶and he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more carefully.

²⁷And when he was minded to pass over into Achaia, the brethren encouraged him, and wrote to the disciples to receive him: and when he was come, he helped them much which had believed through grace:

²⁸for he powerfully confuted the Jews, and that publicly, shewing by the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.

Acts 19

¹And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper country came to Ephesus, and found certain disciples:

²and he said unto them, Did ye receive the Holy Ghost when ye believed? And they said unto him, Nay, we did not so much as hear whether the Holy Ghost was given.

³And he said, Into what then were ye baptized? And they said, Into John’s baptism.

⁴And Paul said, John baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Jesus.

⁵And when they heard this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.

⁶And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.

⁷And they were in all about twelve men.

⁸And he entered into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, reasoning and persuading as to the things concerning the kingdom of God.

⁹But when some were hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.

¹⁰And this continued for the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

¹¹And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul:

¹²insomuch that unto the sick were carried away from his body handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out.

¹³But certain also of the strolling Jews, exorcists, took upon them to name over them which had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.

¹⁴And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, a chief priest, which did this.

¹⁵And the evil spirit answered and said unto them, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?

¹⁶And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and mastered both of them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

¹⁷And this became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, that dwelt at Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.

¹⁸Many also of them that had believed came, confessing, and declaring their deeds.

¹⁹And not a few of them that practised curious arts brought their books together, and burned them in the sight of all: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.

²⁰So mightily grew the word of the Lord and prevailed.

²¹Now after these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome.

²²And having sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.

²³And about that time there arose no small stir concerning the Way.

²⁴For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines of Diana, brought no little business unto the craftsmen;

²⁵whom he gathered together, with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this business we have our wealth.

²⁶And ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands:

²⁷and not only is there danger that this our trade come into disrepute; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana be made of no account, and that she should even be deposed from her magnificence, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.

²⁸And when they heard this, they were filled with wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.

²⁹And the city was filled with the confusion: and they rushed with one accord into the theatre, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel.

³⁰And when Paul was minded to enter in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not.

³¹And certain also of the chief officers of Asia, being his friends, sent unto him, and besought him not to adventure himself into the theatre.

³²Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was in confusion; and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together.

³³And they brought Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand, and would have made a defence unto the people.

³⁴But when they perceived that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.

³⁵And when the townclerk had quieted the multitude, he saith, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there who knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is temple-keeper of the great Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?

³⁶Seeing then that these things cannot be gainsaid, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rash.

³⁷For ye have brought hither these men, which are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of our goddess.

³⁸If therefore Demetrius, and the craftsmen that are with him, have a matter against any man, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls: let them accuse one another.

³⁹But if ye seek anything about other matters, it shall be settled in the regular assembly.

⁴⁰For indeed we are in danger to be accused concerning this day’s riot, there being no cause for it: and as touching it we shall not be able to give account of this concourse.

⁴¹And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly.