reater suffering than in those days in
Antioch. My jealousy was like a hungry animal, gnawing at my ribs till,
unable to bear it any longer, and seeing in visions all that I had
raised pulled down, I started with Titus and travelled all over Galatia
and Phrygia to Bithynia, along the shores of Pontus, and returned back
again, informing the kindly, docile souls, who loved us in their
weakness, of Lystra, Derbe and other towns, setting up my loom and
preaching every evening the coming of the Lord, whither I went in
Macedonia, Thessalonica, Iconium, Laodicea, not forgetful of Colossae
for two years or more (I have forgotten), and then hearing that Apollos,
an Alexandrian Jew of great learning, our most notable convert, of whom
I have not spoken, for there is no time to speak of everything, had
taken ship at Corinth for Ephesus, I returned the way I had come along
the coast to meet him there, likewise many good friends, Aquila and
Priscilla, who were working at their looms, gathering a faithful circle
about them. We set up shop again as we had done at Corinth, Aquila,
Priscilla and myself worked at our looms all day, and preached in the
evening in and about the city, and on the Sabbath in the synagogue.
CHAP. XXXVI.
In Ephesus stands a temple said to be one of the wonders of the world,
the Temple of Diana; pilgrims come to it from all countries, and buy
statues of the goddess to set upon their tables (little silver statues),
and as the making of these is the principal industry in that city, the
silversmiths raised cries against me in the theatre, where once I stood
up to address the people. Great is Diana, goddess of the Ephesians! they
cried out, and would have thrown me to the beasts. Yea, I fought with
the beasts, for they were nothing else, and had not Aquila and Priscilla
risked their lives to save me I should have perished that day. That day
or another day; it matters not; we all perish sooner or later. My life
has never been my concern, but God's, a thing upheld by God for so many
years that I shun danger no longer. It has even come to pass that I am
lonely in security, withdrawn from God in houses, and safe in his arms
when clinging to a spar in the dark sea. God and our Lord Jesus Christ,
his beloved son, have walked on either side of me in mountain passes
where robbers lie in wait. We are nearer to God in hunger and thirst
than when the mouth is full. In fatigue rather than in rest, and to know
oneself
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