Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews:
and Paul, as his custom was, went in unto them, and for three {Or, weeks}sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
opening and alleging that it behooved 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.
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.
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.
And when they found them not, they dragged Jason and certain brethren before the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned {Greek: the inhabited earth.}the world upside down are come hither also;
whom Jason hath received: and these all act contrary to the decrees of Cæsar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.
And they troubled the multitude and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things.
And when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.
And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Beroea: who when they were come thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.
Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of the mind, examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so.
Many of them therefore believed; also of the Greek women of honorable estate, and of men, not a few.
But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was proclaimed of Paul at Beroea also, they came thither likewise, stirring up and troubling the multitudes.
And then immediately the brethren sent forth Paul to go as far as to the sea: and Silas and Timothy abode there still.
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.
Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he beheld the city full of idols.
So he reasoned in the synagogue with Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with them that met him.
And certain also of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, What would this babbler say? others, He seemeth to be a setter forth of {Or, foreign divinities}strange {Greek: demons.}gods: because he {See marginal note on chapter 5:42.}preached Jesus and the resurrection.
And they took hold of him, and brought him {Or, before}unto {Or, the hill of Mars}the Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new teaching is, which is spoken by thee?
For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean.
(Now all the Athenians and the strangers sojourning there {Or, had leisure for nothing else}spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing.)
And Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus, and said,
Ye men of Athens, in all things, I perceive that ye are {Or, somewhat superstitious}very religious.
For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. What therefore ye worship in ignorance, this I set forth unto you.
The God that made the world and all things therein, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in {Or, sanctuaries}temples made with hands;
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;
and he made of one every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed seasons, and the bounds of their habitation;
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:
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.
Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that {Or, that which is divine}the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and device of man.
The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked; but now he {Some ancient authorities read declareth to men.}commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent:
inasmuch as he hath appointed a day in which he will judge {Greek: the inhabited earth.}the world in righteousness {Greek: in.}by {Or, a man}the man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but others said, We will hear thee concerning this yet again.
Thus Paul went out from among them.
But certain men clave unto him, and believed: among whom also was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
Querverweise zu Apostelgeschichte 17,3 Apg 17,3
but this is that which hath been spoken through the prophet Joel:
{Joel 2:28 ff.}And it shall be in the last days, saith God,I will pour forth of my Spirit upon all flesh:And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,And your young men shall see visions,And your old men shall dream dreams:
Yea and on my {Greek: bondmen.}servants and on my {Greek: bondmaidens.}handmaidens in those daysWill I pour forth of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.
And I will show wonders in the heaven above,And signs on the earth beneath;Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke:
The sun shall be turned into darkness,And the moon into blood,Before the day of the Lord come,That great and notable day.
And it shall be, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Ye men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God unto you by {Greek: powers.}mighty works and wonders and signs which God did by him in the midst of you, even as ye yourselves know;
him, being delivered up by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye by the hand of {Or, men without the law See Romans 2:12.}lawless men did crucify and slay:
whom God raised up, having loosed the pangs of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.
For David saith concerning him, {Psalm 16:8 ff.}I beheld the Lord always before my face;For he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved:
Therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;Moreover my flesh also shall {Or, tabernacle}dwell in hope:
Because thou wilt not leave my soul unto Hades,Neither wilt thou give thy Holy One to see corruption.
Thou madest known unto me the ways of life;Thou shalt make me full of gladness {Or, in thy presence}with thy countenance.
Brethren, I may say unto you freely of the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us unto this day.
Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins {Or, one should sit}he would set one upon his throne;
he foreseeing this spake of the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was he left unto Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.
This Jesus did God raise up, {Or, of whom}whereof we all are witnesses.
Being therefore {Or, at }by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he hath poured forth this, which ye see and hear.
For David ascended not into the heavens: but he saith himself, {Psalm 110:1.}The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,
Till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet.
Let {Or, every house}all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly, that God hath made himboth Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom ye crucified.
Behooved it not the Christ to suffer these things, and to enter into his glory?
Let {Or, every house}all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly, that God hath made himboth Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom ye crucified.
and, {Or, eating with them}being assembled together with them, he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, said he, ye heard from me:
Moses indeed said, {Deuteronomy 18:15.}A prophet shall the Lord God raise up unto you from among your brethren, {Or, as he raised up me}like unto me; to him shall ye hearken in all things whatsoever he shall speak unto you.
{Deuteronomy 18:19.}And it shall be, that every soul that shall not hearken to that prophet, shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.
Yea and all the prophets from Samuel and them that followed after, as many as have spoken, they also told of these days.
Ye are the sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God {Greek: covenanted.}made with your fathers, saying unto Abraham, {Genesis 12:3; 22:18; 26:4; 28:14.}And in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
Unto you first God, having raised up his {Or, Child See Matthew 12:18; Isaiah 42:1; 52:13; 53:11.}Servant, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.
And beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews that dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is the Christ.
Brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and those among you that fear God, to us is the word of this salvation sent forth.
For they that dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him.
And though they found no cause of death in him, yet asked they of Pilate that he should be slain.
And when they had fulfilled all things that were written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a tomb.
But God raised him from the dead:
and he was seen for many days of them that came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses unto the people.
And we bring you good tidings of the promise made unto the fathers,
that God hath fulfilled the same unto our children, in that he raised up Jesus; as also it is written in the second psalm, {Psalm 2:7}Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.
And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he hath spoken on this wise, {Isaiah 55:3}I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.
Because he saith also in another psalm, {Psalm 16:10}Thou wilt not give thy Holy One to see corruption.
For David, after he had {Or, served his own generation by the counsel of God, fell asleep Or, served his own generation, fell asleep by the counsel of God}in his own generation served the counsel of God, fell asleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption:
but he whom God raised up saw no corruption.
Be it known unto you therefore, brethren, that through this man is proclaimed unto you remission of sins:
and by him every one that believeth is justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.
And they said one to another, Was not our heart burning within us, while he spake to us in the way, while he opened to us the scriptures?
for he powerfully confuted the Jews, {Or, showing publicly}and that publicly, showing by the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.
And he said unto them, These are my words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must needs be fulfilled, which are written in the law of Moses, and the prophets, and the psalms, concerning me.
O foolish Galatians, who did bewitch you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was openly set forth crucified?
and he said unto them, Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer, and rise again from the dead the third day;
For I delivered unto you first of all that which also I received: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
and that he was buried; and that he hath been raised on the third day according to the scriptures;
{Or, because our gospel & c.}how that our {Greek: good tidings: and so elsewhere; see marginal note on Matthew 4:23.}gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in much {Or, fulness}assurance; even as ye know what manner of men we showed ourselves toward you for your sake.
And ye became imitators of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit;