American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
And he came also to Derbe and to Lystra: and behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewess that believed; but his father was a Greek.
The same was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium.
Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and he took and circumcised him because of the Jews that were in those parts: for they all knew that his father was a Greek.
And as they went on their way through the cities, they delivered them the decrees to keep which had been ordained of the apostles and elders that were at Jerusalem.
So the churches were strengthened {Or, in faith}in the faith, and increased in number daily.
And they went through {Or, Phrygia and the region of Galatia}the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden of the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia;
and when they were come over against Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia; and the Spirit of Jesus suffered them not;
and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.
And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: There was a man of Macedonia standing, beseeching him, and saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.
And when he had seen the vision, straightway we sought to go forth into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to {Greek: bring good tidings. See chapter 5:42.}preach the gospel to them.
Setting sail therefore from Troas, we made a straight course to Samothrace, and the day following to Neapolis;
and from thence to Philippi, which is a city of Macedonia, the first of the district, a Roman colony: and we were in this city tarrying certain days.
And on the sabbath day we went forth without the gate by a river side, {Many ancient authorities read where was wont to be & c.}where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down, and spake unto the women that were come together.
And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple of the city of Thyatira, one that worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened to give heed unto the things which were spoken by Paul.
And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.
And it came to pass, as we were going to the place of prayer, that a certain maid having a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much gain by soothsaying.
The same following after Paul and us cried out, saying, These men are {Greek: bondservants.}servants of the Most High God, who proclaim unto you {Or, a way}the way of salvation.
And this she did for many days. But Paul, being sore troubled, turned and said to the spirit, I charge thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And it came out that very hour.
But when her masters saw that the hope of their gain was {Greek: come out.}gone, they laid hold on Paul and Silas, and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers,
and when they had brought them unto the {Greek: praetors: compare verses 22, 35, 36, 38.}magistrates, they said, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city,
and set forth customs which it is not lawful for us to receive, or to observe, being Romans.
And the multitude rose up together against them: and the {Greek: praetors: compare verses 22, 35, 36, 38.}magistrates rent their garments off them, and commanded to beat them with rods.
And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:
who, having received such a charge, cast them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.
But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns unto God, and the prisoners were listening to them;
and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison-house were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened: and every one's bands were loosed.
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.
But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.
And he called for lights and sprang in, and, trembling for fear, fell down before Paul and Silas,
and brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house.
And they spake the word of {Some ancient authorities read God.}the Lord unto him, with all that were in his house.
And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, immediately.
And he brought them up into his house, and set {Greek: a table.}food before them, and rejoiced greatly, with all his house, {Greek: having believed God.}having believed in God.
But when it was day, the {Greek: praetors. See verse 20.}magistrates sent the {Greek: lictors.}serjeants, saying, Let those men go.
And the jailor reported the words to Paul, saying, The {Greek: praetors. See verse 20.}magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore come forth, and go in peace.
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.
And the {Greek: lictors.}serjeants reported these words unto the {Greek: praetors. See verse 20.}magistrates: and they feared when they heard that they were Romans;
and they came and besought them; and when they had brought them out, they asked them to go away from the city.
And they went out of the prison, and entered into the house of Lydia: and when they had seen the brethren, they {Or, exhorted}comforted them, and departed.
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.
Now while Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there was gathered together unto him out of Israel a very great assembly of men and women and children; for the people wept very sore.
And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have married foreign women of the peoples of the land: yet now there is hope for Israel concerning this thing.
Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of {Or, the Lord}my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law.
Arise; for the matter belongeth unto thee, and we are with thee: be of good courage, and do it.
Then arose Ezra, and made the chiefs of the priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they would do according to this word. So they sware.
Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib: and when he came thither, he did eat no bread, nor drink water; for he mourned because of the trespass of them of the captivity.
And they made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem unto all the children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together unto Jerusalem;
and that whosoever came not within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and the elders, all his substance should be {Hebrew: devoted}forfeited, and himself separated from the assembly of the captivity.
Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together unto Jerusalem within the three days (it was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month); and all the people sat in the broad place before the house of God, trembling because of this matter, and for {Hebrew: the rains.}the great rain.
And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have trespassed, and have married foreign women, to increase the guilt of Israel.
Now therefore {Or, give thanks}make confession unto Jehovah, the God of your fathers, and do his pleasure; and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land, and from the foreign women.
Then all the assembly answered and said with a loud voice, {Or, As thou hast said, so it behooved us to do}As thou hast said concerning us, so must we do.
But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand without: neither is this a work of one day or two; for we have greatly transgressed in this matter.
Let now our princes {Hebrew: stand.}be appointed for all the assembly, and let all them that are in our cities that have married foreign women come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our God be turned from us, {Or, as touching this matter}until this matter be despatched.
Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah {Or, were appointed over this}stood up against this matter: and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them.
And the children of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest, with certain heads of fathers' houses, after their fathers' houses, and all of them by their names, were set apart; and they sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter.
And they made an end with all the men that had married foreign women by the first day of the first month.
And among the sons of the priests there were found that had married foreign women: namely, of the sons of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and his brethren, Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah.
And they gave their hand that they would put away their wives; and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their guilt.
And of the sons of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah.
And of the sons of Harim: Maaseiah, and Elijah, and Shemaiah, and Jehiel, and Uzziah.
And of the sons of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah.
And of the Levites: Jozabad, and Shimei, and Kelaiah (the same is Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.
And of the singers: Eliashib. And of the porters: Shallum, and Telem, and Uri.
And of Israel: Of the sons of Parosh: Ramiah, and Izziah, and Malchijah, and Mijamin, and Eleazar, and Malchijah, and Benaiah.
And of the sons of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, and Abdi, and Jeremoth, and Elijah.
And of the sons of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, and Jeremoth, and Zabad, and Aziza.
And of the sons of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, Athlai.
And of the sons of Bani: Meshullam, Malluch, and Adaiah, Jashub, and Sheal, {Another reading is, and Ramoth.}Jeremoth.
And of the sons of Pahath-moab: Adna, and Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, and Binnui, and Manasseh.
And of the sons of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,
Benjamin, Malluch, Shemariah.
Of the sons of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, Shimei.
Of the sons of Bani: Maadai, Amram, and Uel,
Benaiah, Bedeiah, {Another reading is, Cheluhu.}Cheluhi,
Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,
Mattaniah, Mattenai, and {Another reading is, Jaasai.}Jaasu,
and Bani, and Binnui, Shimei,
and Shelemiah, and Nathan, and Adaiah,
Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai,
Azarel, and Shelemiah, Shemariah,
Shallum, Amariah, Joseph.
Of the sons of Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, {}Iddo, and Joel, Benaiah.
All these had taken foreign wives; and {Or, some of the wives had borne children.}some of them had wives by whom they had children.