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Acts 19:13-20
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13 Now there were some itinerant Jewish exorcists who tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those with evil spirits. They would say, “I command you by Jesus, whom Paul proclaims.”
14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.
15 But one day the evil spirit responded, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?”
16 Then the man with the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. The attack was so violent that they ran out of the house naked and wounded.
17 This became known to all the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, and fear came over all of them. So the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor.
18 Many who had believed now came forward, confessing and disclosing their deeds.
19 And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books and burned them in front of everyone. When the value of the books was calculated, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.
20 So the word of the Lord powerfully continued to spread and prevail. -
Acts 19:1-12
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1 While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the interior and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples
2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” “No,” they answered, “we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
3 “Into what, then, were you baptized?” Paul asked. “The baptism of John,” they replied.
4 Paul explained: “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the One coming after him, that is, in Jesus.”
5 On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.
6 And when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
7 There were about twelve men in all.
8 Then Paul went into the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God.
9 But when some of them stubbornly refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way, Paul took his disciples and left the synagogue to conduct daily discussions in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.
10 This continued for two years, so that everyone who lived in the province of Asia, Jews and Greeks alike, heard the word of the Lord.
11 God did extraordinary miracles through the hands of Paul,
12 so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and the diseases and evil spirits left them. -
Acts 18:23-28
/RSS FeedActs 18:23-28
23 After Paul had spent some time in Antioch, he traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.
24 Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, well versed in the Scriptures.
25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord and was fervent in spirit. He spoke and taught accurately about Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John.
26 And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.
27 When Apollos resolved to cross over to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. On his arrival, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed.
28 For he powerfully refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ. -
Acts 18:12-22
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12 While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews coordinated an attack on Paul and brought him before the judgment seat.
13 “This man is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law,” they said.
14 But just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio told the Jews, “If this matter involved a wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, it would be reasonable for me to hear your complaint.
15 But since it is a dispute about words and names and your own law, settle it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of such things.”
16 And he drove them away from the judgment seat.
17 At this, the crowd seized Sosthenes the synagogue leader and beat him in front of the judgment seat. But none of this was of concern to Gallio.
18 Paul remained in Corinth for quite some time before saying goodbye to the brothers. He had his head shaved in Cenchrea to keep a vow he had made, and then he sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila.
19 When they reached Ephesus, Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue there and reasoned with the Jews.
20 When they asked him to stay for a while longer, he declined.
21 But as he left, he said, “I will come back to you if God is willing.” And he set sail from Ephesus.
22 When Paul had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church at Jerusalem. Then he went down to Antioch. -
Acts 18:1-11
/RSS FeedActs 18:1-11
1 After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.
2 There he found 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 visit them,
3 and he stayed and worked with them because they were tentmakers by trade, just as he was.
4 Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks alike.
5 And when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself fully to the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ.
6 But when they opposed and insulted him, he shook out his garments and told them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
7 So Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titus Justus, a worshiper of God.
8 Crispus, the synagogue leader, and his whole household believed in the Lord. And many of the Corinthians who heard the message 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 will lay a hand on you, because I have many people in this city.”
11 So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching the word of God among the Corinthians. -
Acts 17:22-34
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22 Then Paul stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I see that in every way you are very religious.
23 For as I walked around and examined your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore what you worship as something unknown, I now 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 made by human hands.
25 Nor is He served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives everyone 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 their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands.
27 God intended that they 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, being offspring of God, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by man’s skill and imagination.
30 Although God overlooked the ignorance of earlier times, He now 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 everyone by raising Him from the dead.”
32 When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some began to mock him, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this topic.”
33 At that, Paul left the Areopagus.
34 But some joined him and believed, including Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others who were with them. -
Acts 17:10-21
/RSS FeedActs 17:10-21
10 As soon as night had fallen, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went into the Jewish synagogue.
11 Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true.
12 As a result, many of them believed, along with quite a few prominent Greek women and men.
13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that Paul was also proclaiming the word of God in Berea, they went there themselves to incite and agitate the crowds.
14 The brothers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy remained in Berea.
15 Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then returned with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.
16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply disturbed in his spirit to see that the city was full of idols.
17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and God-fearing Gentiles, and in the marketplace with those he met each day.
18 Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others said, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was proclaiming the good news of Jesus and the resurrection.
19 So they took Paul and brought him to the Areopagus, where they asked him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?
20 For you are bringing some strange notions to our ears, and we want to know what they mean.”
21 Now all the Athenians and foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing more than hearing and articulating new ideas. -
Acts 17:1-9
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1 When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.
2 As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbaths 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 declared.
4 Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few leading women.
5 The Jews, however, became jealous. So they brought in some troublemakers from the marketplace, formed a mob, and sent the city into an uproar. They raided Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas, hoping to bring them out to the people.
6 But when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have now come here,
7 and Jason has welcomed them into his home. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, named Jesus!”
8 On hearing this, the crowd and city officials were greatly disturbed.
9 And they collected bond from Jason and the others and then released them. -
Acts 16:35-40
/RSS FeedActs 16:35-40
35 When daylight came, the magistrates sent their officers with the order: “Release those men.”
36 The jailer informed Paul: “The magistrates have sent orders to release you. Now you may go on your way in peace.”
37 But Paul said to the officers, “They beat us publicly without a trial and threw us into prison, even though we are Roman citizens. And now do they want to send us away secretly? Absolutely not! Let them come themselves and escort us out!”
38 So the officers relayed this message to the magistrates, who were alarmed to hear that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens.
39 They came to appease them and led them out, requesting that they leave the city.
40 After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house to see the brothers and encourage them. Then they left the city. -
Acts 16:25-34
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25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.
26 Suddenly a strong earthquake shook the foundations of the prison. At once all the doors flew open and everyone’s chains came loose.
27 When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, presuming that the prisoners had escaped.
28 But Paul called out in a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself! We are all here!”
29 Calling for lights, the jailer rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.
30 Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.”
32 Then Paul and Silas spoke the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house.
33 At that hour of the night, the jailer took them and washed their wounds. And without delay, he and all his household were baptized.
34 Then he brought them into his home and set a meal before them. So he and all his household rejoiced that they had come to believe in God.
