Day 15

ACTS 17

1 And they traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.

2 And according to his custom Paul went in to them, and on three Sabbaths he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,

3 Opening and setting before them that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead, and saying, This is the Christ, the Jesus whom I announce to you.

4 And some of them were persuaded and were joined to Paul and Silas, as well as a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and of the chief women not a few.

5 But the Jews, becoming jealous and taking along some evil men from among the loafers in the marketplace, gathered a crowd and set the city in an uproar; and coming upon the house of Jason, they sought to bring them to the populace.

6 But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brothers before the city officials, shouting, These men who have upset the world have come here also,

7 Whom Jason has welcomed; and these all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.

8 And they stirred up the crowd and the city officials, who listened to these things.

9 And when they had taken bail from Jason and the rest, they released them.

10 And the brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away during the night to Berea, who, when they arrived, went off into the synagogue of the Jews.

11 Now these people were more noble than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.

12 Therefore many of them believed, and there were not a few Greek women of high standing and men.

13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been announced by Paul in Berea also, they came there as well, agitating and stirring up the crowds.

14 And immediately the brothers then sent Paul off, to go as far as the sea; and Silas and Timothy remained there.

15 And those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as quickly as possible, they went off.

16 And while Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he beheld that the city was full of idols.

17 He reasoned therefore in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.

18 And some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also confronted him. And some said, What would this babbler wish to say? And others, He seems to be an announcer of foreign deities — because he was announcing Jesus and the resurrection as the gospel.

19 And they took hold of him and led him to the Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new teaching is which is being spoken by you?

20 For you are bringing strange things to our ears. We intend to know therefore what these things mean.

21 (Now all the Athenians and the foreigners sojourning there spent their time on nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)

22 And Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, Men of Athens, I observe that in every way you very much revere your deities.

23 For while I was passing through and carefully observing the objects of your worship, I even found an altar on which was inscribed, TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. What therefore you worship without knowing, this I announce to you.

24 The God who made the world and all things in it, this One, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands;

25 Neither is He served by human hands as though He needed anything in addition, since He Himself gives to all life and breath and all things.

26 And He made from one every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, determining beforehand their appointed seasons and the boundaries of their dwelling,

27 That they might seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, even though He is not far from each one of us;

28 For in Him we live and move and are, as even some poets among you have said, For we are also His race.

29 Being then the race of God, we ought not to suppose that what is divine is like gold or silver or stone, like an engraving of art and thought of man.

30 Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now charges all men everywhere to repent,

31 Because He has set a day in which He is to judge the world in righteousness by the man whom He has designated, having furnished proof to all by raising Him from the dead.

32 And when they heard of a resurrection of the dead, some scoffed; and others said, We will hear you yet again concerning this.

33 Thus Paul went out from their midst.

34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also was Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.

ACTS 18

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

2 And having found a certain Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy, and Priscilla his wife (because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to depart from Rome), he went to them.

3 And because he was of the same trade, he remained with them and worked; for they were tentmakers by trade.

4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, persuading Jews and Greeks.

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

6 But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, Your blood be upon your head; I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.

7 And he left there and went into the house of one named Titius Justus, one who worshipped God, whose house was next to the synagogue.

8 And Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with his whole household; and many of the Corinthians, when they heard, believed and were baptized.

9 And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent;

10 Because I Myself am with you, and no one will assail you to harm you, because I have many people in this city.

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

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

13 Saying, This man incites men to worship God contrary to the law.

14 But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, If it were a matter of wrongdoing or some wicked crime, O Jews, I would for that reason tolerate you;

15 But if there are questions concerning words and names and your own law, look after it yourselves. A judge of these things I do not intend to be.

16 And he drove them away from the judgment seat.

17 And they all laid hold of Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the judgment seat. And Gallio was not concerned about any of these things.

18 And Paul, having remained there yet a considerable number of days, took leave of the brothers and sailed away to Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila, having shorn his head in Cenchrea, for he had a vow.

19 And they arrived at Ephesus, and he left them there; but he entered into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.

20 And when they asked him to remain for a longer time, he did not consent;

21 But taking leave of them and saying, I will come back to you again, God willing, he put out to sea from Ephesus.

22 And coming down to Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church and went down to Antioch.

23 And when he had spent some time there, he went off, passing through the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order, confirming all the disciples.

24 And a certain Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, an eloquent man, arrived at Ephesus, and he was powerful in the Scriptures.

25 This man was instructed in the way of the Lord, and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John.

26 And this man began to speak boldly in the synagogue. And when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him to themselves and expounded the way of God to him more accurately.

27 And when he intended to pass through into Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him; and when he arrived there, he helped much through grace those who had believed;

28 For he vigorously confuted the Jews publicly, showing by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.