In Thessalonica

17 When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica,z where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue,a and on three Sabbathb days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,c 3 explaining and proving that the Messiah had to sufferd and rise from the dead.e “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,”f he said. 4 Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas,g as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women.

5 But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city.h They rushed to Jason’si house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd.a 6 But when they did not find them, they draggedj Jason and some other believersk before the city officials, shouting: “These men who have caused trouble all over the worldl have now come here,m 7 and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.”n 8 When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. 9 Then they made Jasono and the others post bond and let them go.

In Berea

10 As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silasp away to Berea.q On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue.r 11 Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica,s for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scripturest every day to see if what Paul said was true.u 12 As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.v

13 But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea,w some of them went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. 14 The believersx immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silasy and Timothyz stayed at Berea. 15 Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athensa and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.b