Acts 17; Acts 18:1-18
1 When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia,
they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 As
his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he
reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and
proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. "This Jesus
I am proclaiming to you is the Christ, " he said. 4 Some
of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of
God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women. 5 But the
Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace,
formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason's house in
search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. 6 But
when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before
the city officials, shouting: "These men who have caused trouble all over
the world have now come here, 7 and Jason has welcomed them
into his house. They are all defying Caesar's decrees, saying that there is
another king, one called Jesus." 8 When they heard this,
the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. 9 Then
they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go. 10 As
soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On
arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now the
Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received
the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see
if what Paul said was true. 12 Many of the Jews believed, as
did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men. 13 When
the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at
Berea, they went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. 14 The
brothers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at
Berea.15 The men who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then
left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible. 16 While
Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the
city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue
with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by
day with those who happened to be there.18 A group of Epicurean and
Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, "What is
this babbler trying to say?" Others remarked, "He seems to be
advocating foreign gods." They said this because Paul was preaching the
good news about Jesus and the resurrection. 19 Then they took
him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him,
"May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 You
are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they
mean." 21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived
there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the
latest ideas.) 22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the
Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very
religious. 23For as I walked around and looked carefully at your
objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown
god. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. 24 "The
God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and
does not live in temples built by hands. 25 And he is not
served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all
men life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he
made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he
determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27 God
did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him,
though he is not far from each one of us. 28 'For in him we
live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are
his offspring.' 29 "Therefore since we are God's
offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or
stone--an image made by man's design and skill. 30 In the past
God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to
repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world
with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men
by raising him from the dead." 32 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." 33 At that, Paul
left the Council. 34 A few men became followers of Paul and
believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman
named Damaris, and a number of others.
1 After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 There
he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy
with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave
Rome. Paul went to see them, 3 and because he was a tentmaker
as they were, he stayed and worked with them. 4 Every Sabbath
he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. 5 When
Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to
preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. 6 But
when the Jews opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in
protest and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am clear of
my responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles." 7 Then
Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a
worshiper of God. 8 Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his
entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard
him believed and were baptized. 9 One night the Lord spoke to
Paul in a vision: "Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. 10 For
I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many
people in this city." 11 So Paul stayed for a year and a
half, teaching them the word of God. 12 While Gallio was
proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him into
court. 13 "This man," they charged, "is
persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law." 14 Just
as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, "If you Jews were
making a complaint about some misdemeanor or serious crime, it would be
reasonable for me to listen to you. 15 But since it involves
questions about words and names and your own law--settle the matter yourselves.
I will not be a judge of such things." 16 So he had them
ejected from the court. 17 Then they all turned on Sosthenes
the synagogue ruler and beat him in front of the court. But Gallio showed no
concern whatever. 18 Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time.
Then he left the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and
Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchrea because of a vow
he had taken.
