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place before the rulers, 20 and when they had brought them unto the magistrates, they said, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, 21 and set forth customs which it is not lawful for us to receive, or to observe, being Romans. 22 And the multitude rose up together against them: and the 'magistrates rent their garments off them, and commanded to beat them with rods. 23 And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: 24 who, having received such a charge, cast them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. 25 But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns unto God, and the prisoners were listening to them; 26 and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prisonhouse were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened; and every one's bands were loosed. 27 And the jailor being roused out of sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, drew his sword, and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. 29 And he called for lights, and sprang in, and, trembling for fear, fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 and brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house. 32 And they spake the word of the Lord unto him, with all that were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, immediately. 34 And he brought them up into his house, and set meat before them, and rejoiced greatly, with all his house, having believed in God.

35 But when it was day, the 1magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go. 36 And the jailor reported the words to Paul, saying, The 1 magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore come forth, and go in peace. 37 But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men that are Romans, and have cast us into prison; and do they now cast us out privily? nay verily; but let them come themselves and bring us out. 38 And the serjeants reported these words unto the 1 magistrates: and they feared, when they heard that they were Romans; 39 and they came and besought them; and when they had brought them out, they asked them to go away from the city. 40 And they went out of the prison, and entered into the house of Lydia: and when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them, and departed.

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$43. THE PLANTING OF THE CHURCH IN THESSALONICA.

ACTS 17:1-9.

I Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: 2 and Paul, as his custom was, went in unto them, and for three sabbath

1 Gr. prætors. 2 Some ancient authorities read God. 3 Gr. a table. Or, having

believed God Gr. lictors. Or, exhorted 7 Or, weeks

See passages marked a page 44.

days reasoned with them from the scriptures, 3 opening 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. 4 And 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. 5 But 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. 6 And when they found them not, they dragged Jason and certain brethren before the rulers of the city,

* 1 Thess. 1:2-2:14. We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; 3 remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labour of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father; 4 knowing, brethren beloved of God, your election, 5 how that our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; even as ye know what manner of men we shewed ourselves toward you for your sake. 6 And ye became imitators of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost; 7 so that ye became an ensample to all that believe in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For from you hath sounded forth the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith to God-ward is gone forth; so that we need not to speak anything. 9 For they themselves report concerning us what manner of entering in we had unto you; and how ye turned unto God from idols, to serve a living and true God, Io and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivereth us from the

wrath to come.

2:1 For yourselves, brethren, know our entering in unto you, that it hath not been found vain : 2 but having suffered before, and been shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we waxed bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God in much conflict. 3 For our exhortation is not of error, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile: 4 but even as we have been approved of God to be intrusted with the gospel, so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God which proveth our hearts. 5 For neither at any time were we found using words of flattery, as ye know, nor a cloke of covetousness, God is witness; 6 nor seeking glory of men, neither from you, nor from others, when we might have been burdensome, as apostles of Christ. 7 But we were gentle in the midst of you, as when a nurse cherisheth her own children: 8 even so, being affectionately desirous of you, we were well pleased to impart unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were become very dear to us. 9 For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: working night and day, that we might not burden any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God. 10 Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and righteously and unblameably we behaved ourselves toward you that believe: II as ye know how we dealt with each one of you, as a father with his own children, exhorting you, and encouraging you, and testifying, 12 to the end that ye should walk worthily of God, who calleth you into his own kingdom and glory.

13 And for this cause we also thank God without ceasing, that, when ye received from us the word of the message, even the word of God, ye accepted it not as the word of men, but, as it is in truth, the word of God, which also worketh in you that believe. 14 For ye, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judæa in Christ Jesus: for ye also suffered the same things of your own countrymen, even as they did of the Jews.

a 2 Thess. 3:7, 8. For we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you; 8 neither did we eat bread for nought at any man's hand, but in labour and travail, working night and day, that we might not burden any of you.

a Phil. 4:15, 16. And ye yourselves also know, ye Philippians, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church had fellowship with me in the matter of giving and receiving, but ye only; 16 for even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my need.

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crying, These that have turned 1 the world upside down are come hither also; 7 whom Jason hath received: and these all act contrary to the decrees of Cæsar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus. 8 And they troubled the multitude and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things. 9 And when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

$44. PREACHING IN THE SYNAGOGUE AT BERCEA.

ACTS 17: 10-15.

10 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berca: who when they were come thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. II Now 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. 12 Many of them therefore believed; also of the Greek women of honourable estate, and of men, not a few. 13 But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was proclaimed of Paul at Bercea also, they came thither likewise, stirring up and troubling the multitudes. 14 And then immediately the brethren sent forth Paul to go as far as to the sea: and Silas and Timothy abode there still. 15 But 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.

$45. PAUL AT ATHENS.

ACTS 17: 16-34.

16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him, as he beheld the city full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with them that met with him. 18 And 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 2 gods: because he preached Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And 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? 20 For 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 5 spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing.) 22 And Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus, and said,

Ye men of Athens, in all things I perceive that ye are somewhat 'superstitious. 23 For as I passed along, and observed the objects of

1 Gr. the inhabited earth.

had leisure for nothing else

Gr. demons. Or, before Or, the hill of Mars 50r, Or, religious

a1 Thess. 3: 1, 2. Wherefore when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left behind at Athens alone; 2 and sent Timothy

...

your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 1TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. What therefore ye worship in ignorance, this set I forth unto you. 24 The God that made the world and all things therein, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in 2temples made with hands; 25 neither is he served by men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; 26 and 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; 27 that they should seek God, if haply they might feel after 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 certain even of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. 29 Being 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. 30 The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked; but now he 1 commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent: 31 inasmuch 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.

32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but others said, We will hear thee concerning this yet again. 33 Thus Paul went out from among them. 34 But certain men clave unto him, and believed: among whom also was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

§46. PAUL'S FIRST MINISTRY IN CORINTH: THE TWO LETTERS TO THE THESSALONIANS.

ACTS 18: 1-17. I Thess. entire. 2 Thess. entire.

(1) The planting of the church in Corinth.

ACTS 18: I-II.

I After these things he departed from Athens, and came to Corinth. 2 And 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; 3 and because he was of the same trade, he abode with them, and

10r, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. 2Or, sanctuaries Or, that which is divine * Some ancient authorities read declareth to men. 5 Gr. The inhabited earth. Gr. in. 7Or,

a man

a I Cor. 9: 1, 2. an apostle, yet at ye in the Lord.

Are not ye my work in the Lord ? 2 If to others I am not least I am to you: for the seal of mine apostleship are

a I Cor. 3:5,6. What then is Apollos? and what is Paul? Ministers through whom ye believed; and each as the Lord gave to him. 6 I planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.

a 1 Cor. 3: 10. According to the grace of God which was given unto me, as a wise master-builder I laid a foundation.

a I Cor. 1: 14-16. I thank God that I baptized none of you, save Crispus and Gaius; 15 lest any man should say that ye were baptized into my name. 16 And

they wrought; for by their trade they were tentmakers. 4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and 1persuaded Jews and Greeks.

5 b But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was constrained by the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. 6 And when they opposed themselves, and 2 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. 7 And 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. 8 And Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized. 9 And the Lord said unto Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: Io for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to harm thee: for I have much people in this city. II And he dwelt there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

(2) Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians.*

1: .: 1 Paul, and Silvanus, and Timothy, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.

1 Gr. sought to persuade. 2 Or, railed 3 Gr. believed the Lord.

I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides I know not whether I baptized any other.

&I Cor. 2:1-5. And I, brethren, when I came unto you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the mystery of God. 2 For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5 that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

a I Cor. 3:1, 2. And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, as unto babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not with meat; for ye were not yet able to bear it.

&I Cor. 9: II, 12.

If we sowed unto you spiritual things, is it a great matter if we shall reap your carnal things? 12 If others partake of this right over you, do not we yet more? Nevertheless we did not use this right. (Cf. Acts. 18: 3, above.)

a 2 Cor. II:7-9. Or did I commit a sin in abasing myself that ye might be exalted, because I preached to you the gospel of God for nought? 8 I robbed other churches, taking wages of them that I might minister unto you; and when I was present with you and was in want, I was not a burden on any man; for the brethren, when they came from Macedonia, supplied the measure of my want; and in everything I kept myself from being burdensome unto you. br Thess. 3:6, 7. But when Timothy came even now unto us from you, and brought us glad tidings of your faith and love, and that ye have good remembrance of us always, longing to see us, even as we also to see you; for this cause, brethren, we were comforted over you in all our distress and affliction through your faith.

b Cf. also i Thess. I: 1, above, and see Note 5.

b 2 Cor. II: 19. For the brethren, when they came from Macedonia, supplied the measure of my wants.

b Phil. 4:15. And ye yourselves also know, ye Philippians, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church had fellowship with me in the matter of giving and receiving, but ye only.

* See Note 5.

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