World English Bible · Under Rome
Acts 13
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Now in that was at there were some and teachers: , Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen the foster brother of , and . As they and , said, "Separate and for me, for the work to which I have called them." Then, when they had and and on them, they sent them away. So, being sent out by , they went down to . From there they sailed to . When they were at , they proclaimed word in the . They also had as their attendant. When they had gone through the island to , they found a certain , a false , a whose name was Bar , who was with the proconsul, , a man of understanding. This man summoned and , and sought to hear the word of . But Elymas the (for so is his name by ) withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the . But , who is also called , filled with , fastened his eyes on him and said, "You son of the devil, full of all deceit and all cunning, you enemy of all , will you not cease to pervert the right ways of ? Now, behold, the hand of is on you, and you will be blind, not seeing the sun for a season!" Immediately a mist and fell on him. He went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul, when he saw what was done, , being astonished at the teaching of . Now and his company set sail from and came to in Pamphylia. departed from them and returned to . But they, passing on from , came to of Pisidia. They went into the on the and sat down. After the reading of and , the of the sent to them, saying, "Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, speak." stood up, and gesturing with his hand said, "Men of Israel, and you who , listen. The of this people chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they stayed as aliens in the land of , and with an uplifted arm, he led them out of it. For a period of about forty years he put up with them in . When he had destroyed seven nations in the land of , he gave them their land for an for about four hundred fifty years. After these things, he gave them judges until the . Afterward they asked for a king, and gave to them the son of , a man of the tribe of , for forty years. When he had removed him, he up to be their king, to whom he also testified, 'I have found the son of , a man after , who will do all my will.' From this man's , has brought to Israel according to his promise, before his coming, when had first preached the of to Israel. As was fulfilling his course, he said, 'What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. But behold, one comes after me, the of whose feet I am not worthy to .' "Brothers, children of the stock of , and those among you who , the word of this is sent out to you. For those who in , and their , because they didn't know him, nor the voices of which are read every , fulfilled them by condemning him. Though they found no cause for , they still asked to have him killed. When they had fulfilled all things that were written about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a . But him from , and he was seen for many days by those who came up with him from to , who are his to the people. We bring you of the promise made to the fathers, that has fulfilled this to us, their children, in that he up . As it is also written in the second psalm, 'You are my Son. Today I have become your .' "Concerning that he him up from , now no more to return to corruption, he has spoken thus: 'I will give you the and sure of .' Therefore he says also in another psalm, 'You will not allow your One to see decay.' For , after he had in his own generation the of , fell asleep, was laid with his fathers, and saw decay. But he whom up saw no decay. Be it known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man is proclaimed to you remission of ; and by him everyone who believes is from all things, from which you could not be by of . Beware therefore, lest that come on you which is spoken in : 'Behold, you scoffers! Wonder and , for I work a work in your days, a work which you will in no way , if one declares it to you.'" So when the went out of the , the begged that these words might be preached to them the next . Now when the broke up, many of the and of the devout proselytes followed and ; who, speaking to them, urged them to continue in the of . The next , almost the whole city was gathered together to hear the word of . But when the saw the , they were filled with , and contradicted the things which were spoken by , and blasphemed. and spoke out boldly, and said, "It was necessary that word should be spoken to you first. Since indeed you thrust it from yourselves, and judge yourselves unworthy of , behold, we turn to the . For so has commanded us, saying, 'I have set you as a for the , that you should bring to the uttermost parts of the earth.'" As the heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of . As many as were appointed to . word was spread abroad throughout all the region. But the stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, and stirred up a persecution against and , and threw them out of their borders. But they shook off of their feet against them, and came to . were filled with joy and with .
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The world at this moment · Under Rome, 63 BC to AD 100 ›
Judea as a client kingdom and then a province. Roads, garrisons, taxes, crucifixion, and a common Greek language that let a message travel the empire faster than any before it.
- Rome
- The republic tears itself apart in civil war and comes out as an empire under Augustus. What follows is two centuries of relative peace across the whole Mediterranean, enforced by legions and paid for by taxes, with safe roads and safe sea lanes. Every one of Paul's journeys depends on that.
- Judea
- Governed first through Herod the Great, a client king of enormous ability and enormous brutality who rebuilds the temple into one of the wonders of the ancient world, then directly by Roman prefects. Crucifixion is the standard penalty for sedition and is used often and publicly.
- The wider world
- Greek is spoken from Spain to Syria, which means a letter written in Corinth can be read in Rome without translation. Jewish communities already exist in most major cities, which is where the first Christian preaching lands. Mystery religions, imperial cult, and philosophy all compete in the same marketplace.
- Further afield
- The Han dynasty rules China and trades silk westward along routes that touch the Roman world at second hand. In Britain the Roman conquest begins within a decade of the crucifixion.