American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
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.
We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;
remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and {Or, stedfastness}patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before {Or, God and our Father}our God and Father;
knowing, brethren beloved of God, your election,
{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;
so that ye became an ensample to all that believe in Macedonia and in Achaia.
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.
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,
and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivereth us from the wrath to come.
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.
After these things he departed from Athens, and came to Corinth.
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;
and because he was of the same trade, he abode with them, and they wrought; for by their trade they were tentmakers.
And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded Jews and Greeks.
But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was constrained by the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.
And when they opposed themselves and {Or, railed}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.
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.
And Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, {Greek: believed the Lord.}believed in the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized.
And the Lord said unto Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak and hold not thy peace:
for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to harm thee: for I have much people in this city.
And he dwelt there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him before the judgment-seat,
saying, This man persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law.
But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, If indeed it were a matter of wrong or of wicked villany, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you:
but if they are questions about words and names and your own law, look to it yourselves; I am not minded to be a judge of these matters.
And he drove them from the judgment-seat.
And they all laid hold on Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment-seat. And Gallio cared for none of these things.
And Paul, having tarried after this yet many days, took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila: having shorn his head in Cenchreae; for he had a vow.
And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there: but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews.
And when they asked him to abide a longer time, he consented not;
but taking his leave of them, and saying, I will return again unto you if God will, he set sail from Ephesus.
And when he had landed at Cæsarea, he went up and saluted the church, and went down to Antioch.
And having spent some time there, he departed, and went through the region of Galatia, and Phrygia, in order, establishing all the disciples.
Now a certain Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by race, {Or, a learned man}an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the scriptures.
This man had been {Greek: taught by word of mouth.}instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spake and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, knowing only the baptism of John:
and he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more accurately.
And when he was minded to pass over into Achaia, the brethren encouraged him, and wrote to the disciples to receive him: and when he was come, he {Or, helped much through grace them that had believed}helped them much that had believed through grace;
for he powerfully confuted the Jews, {Or, showing publicly}and that publicly, showing by the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.
If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal.
And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
And if I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body {Many ancient authorities read that I may glory.}to be burned, but have not love, it profiteth me nothing.
Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not provoked, taketh not account of evil;
rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth;
{Or, covereth Compare 1 Peter 4:8.}beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away.
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part;
but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away.
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child: now that I am become a man, I have put away childish things.
For now we see in a mirror, {Greek: in a riddle.}darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know fully even as also I was fully known.
But now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; and the {Greek: greater. Compare Matthew 18:1, 4; 23:11}greatest of these is love.
even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before {Or, him: having in love foreordained us}him in love:
Yea, and all that would live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
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.