But some members of the so-called `Synagogue of the Freed-men,' together with some Cyrenaeans, Alexandrians, Cilicians and men from Roman Asia, were roused to encounter Stephen in debate.
»For this reason I am sending to you Prophets and wise men and Scribes. Some of them you will put to death–nay, crucify; some of them you will flog in your synagogues and chase from town to town;«
»You yourselves must be on your guard. They will deliver you up to Sanhedrins; you will be brought into synagogues and cruelly beaten; and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to be witnesses to them for me.«
»But before all these things happen they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you up to synagogues and to prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my sake.«
But some of them were Cyprians and Cyrenaeans, who, on coming to Antioch, spoke to the Greeks also and told them the Good News concerning the Lord Jesus.
Now there were in Antioch, in the Church there –as Prophets and teachers– barnabas, Symeon surnamed `the black,' Lucius the Cyrenaean, Manaen (who was Herod the Tetrarch's foster-brother), and Saul.
and they took with them the following letter: »The Apostles and the elder brethren send greeting to the Gentile brethren throughout Antioch, Syria and Cilicia.
Then Paul and his companions passed through Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Message in the province of Asia.
and you see and hear that, not in Ephesus only but throughout almost the whole province of Asia, this fellow Paul has led away a vast number of people by inducing them to believe that they are not gods at all that are made by men's hands.
But, when the seven days were nearly over, the Jews from the province of Asia, having seen Paul in the Temple, set about rousing the fury of all the people against him.
»I am a Jew,« replied Paul, »belonging to Tarsus in Cilicia, and am a citizen of no unimportant city. Give me leave, I pray you, to speak to the people.«
»`Lord,' I replied, `they themselves well know how active I was in imprisoning, and in flogging in synagogue after synagogue those who believe in Thee;«
»I am a Jew, born at Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I was carefully trained at the feet of Gamaliel in the Law of our forefathers, and, like all of you to-day, was zealous for God.«
While I was busy about these, they found me in the Temple purified, with no crowd around me and no uproar; but there were certain Jews from the province of Asia.
Where is your wise man? Where your expounder of the Law? Where your investigator of the questions of this present age? Has not God shown the world's wisdom to be utter foolishness?