Part 19 (2/2)
(28)And there they abode no inconsiderable time with the disciples.
CHAP. XV.
AND certain persons coming down from Judea taught the brethren, That if ye are not circ.u.mcised according to the ordinances of Moses, ye cannot be saved. (2)There being therefore no small contention and dispute maintained by Paul and Barnabas against them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain others of their body, should go up to the apostles and presbyters at Jerusalem, for the decision of this question. (3)They therefore being sent on their way by the church, pa.s.sed through Phoenicia and Samaria, giving a particular narrative of the conversion of the Gentiles: and they gave great joy to all the brethren. (4)Then when they arrived at Jerusalem, they were cordially received by the church, and the apostles and presbyters, and they related how great things G.o.d had done by them. (5)But up rose some of the pharisaical sect, who professed the faith, insisting, That it was necessary to circ.u.mcise them, and to enjoin them to observe the law of Moses. (6)Then the apostles and presbyters were a.s.sembled to consider of this matter. (7)When after much dispute, Peter arose, and said unto them,
Men and brethren, ye know that a considerable time ago G.o.d chose among us, by my mouth, that the Gentiles should hear the gospel-word, and believe. (8)And G.o.d, who is the discerner of the heart, bore them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as to us; (9)and made no difference betwixt either us or them, purifying their hearts by faith.
(10)Why then now tempt ye G.o.d, by imposing a yoke on the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? (11)But we believe that we shall be saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the same way as they. (12)Then the whole mult.i.tude kept silence, and listened to Barnabas and Paul, relating how great signs and miracles G.o.d had wrought among the Gentiles by them.
(13)Now when they ceased speaking, James replied, saying, Men and brethren, hear me: (14)Simon hath fully related, how at first G.o.d graciously looked upon _the Gentiles_, to take from them a people for his name. (15)And in accord with this are the words of the prophets; as it is written, (16)”After this will I return, and build again the tabernacle of David, that is fallen; and re-edify what hath been dug up from the foundation, and will set it upright again: (17)that the residue of men may diligently seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles, among whom my name is invoked, even among them, saith the Lord, who doth all these things[46].” (18)Known unto G.o.d from the beginning are all his works. (19)Therefore I am decided, that we give no unnecessary disquietude to those who from the heathen have turned to G.o.d: (20)but that we write to them, that they abstain from pollutions of idol _sacrifices_, and from wh.o.r.edom, and from what is strangled, and from blood. (21)For Moses for ages past in every city hath those who preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath-day.
(22)Then it was determined by the apostles and presbyters with the whole church, to send select men from themselves unto Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren; (23)writing a letter by their hand, in these words:
The apostles and presbyters and the brethren, to the brethren from among the Gentiles which are at Antioch, and in Syria, and Cilicia, greeting: (24)Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain persons who went out from us have disturbed you with discourses, unsettling your minds, insisting, that you should be circ.u.mcised, and observe the law: to whom we gave no such charge: (25)it hath seemed fit to us, a.s.sembled unanimously, to send unto you select men with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, (26)men who have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (27)We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, and they by word of mouth will tell you the same things. (28)For it hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us, to lay upon you no other burden except these things which are of absolute necessity; (29)that ye abstain from eating whatever is sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what is strangled, and from wh.o.r.edom: from which things carefully preserving yourselves, ye shall do well. Farewell.
(30)They then being thus dispatched, came to Antioch: and a.s.sembling the mult.i.tude, they delivered the letter: (31)and when they had read it, they rejoiced in the consolation _of it_. (32)Then Judas and Silas, being also themselves prophets, exhorted the brethren, in many a discourse, and established them. (33)And having stayed their time, they were dismissed in peace from the brethren to the apostles. (34)However Silas thought proper to abide there. (35)Paul also and Barnabas abode at Antioch, teaching and preaching, with many others also, the word of the Lord.
(36)Then after certain days said Paul to Barnabas, Let us now return and visit our brethren in every city among whom we have preached the word of the Lord, that we may see how they hold on. (37)Now Barnabas had resolved to take with him John, whose surname is Mark. (38)But Paul did not think him a fit person to take with them, who had withdrawn from them from Pamphylia, and no longer went with them to the service.
(39)So there grew up a sudden quarrel, insomuch that they separated from each other: and Barnabas, taking Mark with him, sailed away to Cyprus: (40)but Paul selecting Silas, departed, being commended by the brethren to the favour of G.o.d. (41)And he pa.s.sed through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches.
CHAP. XVI.
THEN he came to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold! a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman, who believed; but his father was a Greek: (2)who was highly spoken of by the brethren at Lystra and Iconium. (3)Him Paul resolved to take out with him; and took and circ.u.mcised him because of the Jews who were in those places: for they all knew his father, that he was a Greek. (4)So as they pa.s.sed through the cities, they delivered to them for their observance the ordinances decreed by the apostles and presbyters that were at Jerusalem.
(5)Then were the churches established truly in the faith, and increased in number daily. (6)So pa.s.sing through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, being forbidden by the Holy Ghost to speak the word in Asia, (7)coming as far as Mysia, they made an effort to go unto Bythinia: but the Spirit permitted them not. (8)Whereupon pa.s.sing by Mysia they went down to Troas. (9)And a vision by night appeared to Paul; a certain man, a Macedonian, stood by him, entreating him, and saying, Pa.s.s over into Macedonia, and help us. (10)But when he saw the vision, immediately we sought to go forth into Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them. (11)Therefore sailing from Troas, we came in a direct course to Samothrace, and the next day to Neapolis; (12)and from thence to Philippi, which is the first city in that part of Macedonia, and a colony: and we abode in that city some days.
(13)And on the sabbath-day we went forth out of the city to the river side, where an oratory was by custom established; and sitting down, we spoke to the women who there a.s.sembled. (14)And a certain woman, Lydia by name, a seller of purple, from the city of Thyatira, a wors.h.i.+pper of G.o.d, hearkened: whose heart the Lord thoroughly opened, to attend to the words spoken by Paul. (15)So when she was baptised, and her house, she entreated, saying, Since ye have judged that I am faithful to the Lord, come and abide at my house. And she constrained us.
(16)Now it happened as we were going to the oratory, a certain damsel having a pythonic spirit met us, who produced for her masters much gain as a fortuneteller: (17)she following Paul and us, cried out, saying, These men are the servants of the most high G.o.d, who preach to you the way of salvation. (18)And this she did for several days. Then Paul was wearied out, and turning, said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out that very hour. (19)But when her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone, they laid hold on Paul and Silas, and dragged them into the forum before the chief rulers, (20)and presenting them to the magistrates, they said, These are the men that exceedingly disturb the peace of our city, being Jews, (21)and enjoin customs which it is not lawful for us to receive, or to practise, being Romans. (22)And the populace stood up together against them: and the magistrates, after having had their garments torn from their backs, commanded them to be beaten with rods.
(23)And laying on them many stripes, cast them into prison, commanding the jailor to keep them in safe custody: (24)who, receiving such an injunction, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. (25)But about midnight Paul and Silas, after joining in prayer, sang hymns to G.o.d: and the prisoners heard them. (26)And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the very foundations of the prison were shaken: and instantly all the doors flew open, and every man's chains were loosed. (27)Then the jailor being roused from sleep, and seeing the doors of the prison open, drew his sword, going to destroy himself, supposing the prisoners had escaped. (28)But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no injury: for we are all here. (29)Thereupon calling for a light, he rushed in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas; (30)and having first brought them out, said, Sirs! what must I do to be saved? (31)And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, thou, and thy house.
(32)And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all who were in his house. (33)And taking them that same hour of the night, he washed their stripes; and was baptised, himself and all who belonged to him immediately. (34)And when he had brought them into his house, he spread the table, and greatly rejoiced with all his household, believing in G.o.d.
(35)But when it was day, the magistrates sent the lictors, saying, Set those men at large. (36)Then the jailor told these words to Paul, That the magistrates had sent to set them at liberty: now therefore, _said he,_ get ye out, and pursue your journey in peace. (37)But Paul said to them, They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men that are Roman citizens, and have cast us into prison; and would they now clandestinely send us away? no, verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out. (38)Then the lictors reported all these words to the magistrates: and they were terrified, when they heard they were Roman citizens. (39)So they came and spoke kindly to them, and fetching them out, besought them to depart from the city. (40)Then leaving the prison, they went unto Lydia: and when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them, and went their way.
CHAP. XVII.
SO journeying through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of Jews: (2)And Paul, according to his usual custom, went in to them, and for three sabbaths he reasoned with them from the scriptures, (3)opening them clearly, and laying it evidently down that the Messiah must suffer, and rise again from the dead; and that this man is the Messiah, even Jesus, whom I preach unto you. (4)And some of them believed, and a.s.sociated themselves with Paul and Silas; and of the religious Greeks a vast mult.i.tude, and of the wives of the first people not a few. (5)But the unbelieving Jews, roused to a fit of zeal, and taking some of the lowest vulgar men of vile characters, and raising a mob, set the city in an uproar, and besetting the house of Jason, sought them to bring them unto the people. (6)But not finding them there, they dragged Jason and certain brethren to the city magistrates, roaring out, These are the men who are movers of sedition through the world, and are come in hither; (7)whom Jason has entertained in his house: and the practice of all these fellows is in direct opposition to all Caesar's ordinances, for they affirm that another is king, one Jesus. (8)And they greatly agitated the people and the city magistrates when they heard these things. (9)So after taking sufficient security from Jason and the rest, they dismissed them.
(10)Then the disciples immediately by night sent off both Paul and Silas to Berea; who were no sooner arrived, than they went into the synagogue of the Jews. (11)Now these were more liberally minded men than those of Thessalonica, for they received the word with all readiness of mind, daily, examining the Scriptures if these things were really so. (12)Then many of them truly believed: and of the Grecian proselyte women of respectability, and of the men not a few.
(13)But when the Jews of Thessalonica knew that at Berea also the word of G.o.d was preached by Paul, they came thither, and stirred up the populace. (14)Then immediately on this the brethren sent off Paul, to go as if by sea: but Silas and Timothy abode there still. (15)And those who conduced Paul brought him as far as Athens, and receiving an injunction for Silas and Timothy that they should come to him as speedily as possible, they departed. (16)Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit within him was greatly grieved, beholding the city so devoted to idolatry. (17)Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews, and those who wors.h.i.+pped there, and in the forum every day with those he happened to meet.
(18)Then certain of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers attacked him: and some said, What will this chattering fellow say? but others, He seemeth to be a preacher of foreign deities, because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection. (19)So they took him and led him to the hill of Mars, saying, May we know what this novel doctrine taught by thee is? (20)For thou bringest some strange stories to our ears; we wish therefore to know what these things mean. (21)Now all the Athenians and the strangers who come to sojourn there, take pleasure in spending their time in nothing else but in talking, or hearing of some novelty.
(22)Then Paul standing in the midst of the Areopagus said, Ye men of Athens, I observe that in all things ye are too much devoted to the wors.h.i.+p of daemons. (23)For as I walked about, and attentively viewed the objects of your wors.h.i.+p, I found even an altar on which was this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN G.o.d. Whom therefore you in ignorance adore, him I preach unto you. (24)The G.o.d who created the world, and all things in it, he that is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples of man's construction; (25)nor is he served by human hands, as if he needed any creature, himself imparting to all beings life, and breath, and all things. (26)And hath made from one man's blood all the nations of mankind, to dwell upon the whole face of the earth, fixing the predetermined periods of their existence, and the boundaries of their several abodes; (27)that they should seek the Lord, if indeed they might haply grope him out, and find him, though truly he is not far from any individual of us: (28)for from him we derive life, and power of motion, and existence; as also some of your own poets have said, ”For we are even his offspring.” (29)Being then the offspring of G.o.d, we ought not to imagine that the Divinity is like to gold, or silver, or stone sculptured by human art or contrivance. (30)These times indeed of ignorance G.o.d then overlooked; but he now commands all men in every place to repent: (31)because he hath fixed the day in which he will judge the whole world in righteousness by the man whom he hath appointed; affording evidence of this to all, by raising him from the dead.
(32)But when they heard of the resurrection from the dead, Some scoffed: and others said, We will hear thee again on this subject.
(33)And so Paul departed from the midst of them. (34)But certain persons cleaving to him, believed: among whom was even Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
CHAP. XVIII.
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