17
1 Now
when they had
passed through Amphipolis
and Apollonia, they
came to
Thessalonica, where
there was a
Jewish synagogue.
2 Paul,
as was his
custom, went in
to them; and
for three Sabbath
days reasoned with
them from the
Scriptures,
3 explaining
and demonstrating
that the Christ
had to suffer
and rise again
from the dead,
and saying, “This
Jesus, whom I
proclaim to you,
is the Christ.”
4 Some
of them were
persuaded and
joined Paul and
Silas: of the
devout Greeks a
great multitude,
and not a
few of the
chief women.
5 But
the unpersuaded Jews
took along
some wicked men
from the marketplace
and gathering a crowd,
set the city
in an uproar.
Assaulting the house
of Jason, they
sought to bring
them out to
the people.
6 When
they didn’t find
them, they dragged
Jason and
certain brothers
before the rulers
of the city,
crying, “These who
have turned the
world upside down
have come here
also,
7 whom
Jason has received.
These all
act contrary to
the decrees of
Caesar, saying
that there is
another king,
Jesus!”
8 The
multitude and
the rulers of the
city were troubled
when they heard
these things.
9 When
they had taken
security from
Jason and the
rest, they let
them go.
10 The brothers
immediately sent
Paul and Silas
away by night
to Beroea. When
they arrived, they
went into the
Jewish synagogue.
11 Now
these were more
noble than those
in Thessalonica,
in that they
received the word
with all readiness
of mind, examining
the Scriptures
daily to see
whether these
things were so.
12 Many
of them therefore
believed; also of
the prominent
Greek women, and
not a few
men.
13 But
when the Jews
of Thessalonica
had knowledge that
the word of
God was proclaimed
by Paul at Beroea
also, they came
there likewise,
agitating the
multitudes.
14 Then
the brothers immediately
sent out Paul
to go as
far as to
the sea, and
Silas and Timothy
still stayed there.
15 But
those who escorted
Paul brought him
as far as Athens.
Receiving a
commandment to
Silas and Timothy
that they should
come to him
very quickly, they
departed.
16 Now
while Paul waited
for them at Athens,
his spirit was
provoked within
him as he
saw the city
full of idols.
17 So
he reasoned in
the synagogue with
the Jews and
the devout persons,
and in
the marketplace every
day with those
who met him.
18 Some
of the Epicurean
and Stoic
philosophers also
were conversing
with him. Some
said, “What does
this babbler want
to say?”
Others said, “He
seems to
be advocating foreign deities,”
because he
preached Jesus and
the resurrection.
19 They
took hold of
him and brought
him to
the Areopagus, saying, “May
we know what
this new teaching
is, which you
are speaking about?
20 For
you bring certain
strange things to
our ears. We want
to know therefore
what these things
mean.”
21 Now
all the Athenians
and the
strangers living there spent
their time in
nothing else, but
either to tell
or to hear some
new thing.
22 Paul
stood in the
middle of
the Areopagus and
said, “You men
of Athens, I
perceive that you
are very religious
in all things.
23 For
as I passed
along and observed
the objects of
your worship, I
also found an
altar with this
inscription: ‘TO
AN UNKNOWN GOD.’
What therefore you
worship in ignorance,
I announce to you.
24 The
God who made
the world and
all things in
it, he, being
Lord of heaven
and earth, doesn’t
dwell in temples
made with hands.
25 He isn’t
served by men’s
hands, as though
he needed anything,
seeing he himself gives
to all life
and breath and
all things.
26 He
made from one blood
every nation of
men to dwell
on all the surface
of the earth,
having determined
appointed seasons
and the boundaries
of their dwellings,
27 that
they should seek
the Lord,
if perhaps they
might reach out
for him and
find him, though
he is not
far from each
one of us.
28 ‘For
in him we
live, move, and
have our being.’
As some of
your own poets
have said, ‘For
we are also
his offspring.’
29 Being
then the offspring
of God, we
ought not to
think that the
Divine Nature is
like gold,
or silver, or
stone, engraved by
art and design of
man.
30 The
times of ignorance
therefore God
overlooked. But
now he commands
that all people
everywhere should
repent,
31 because
he has appointed
a day in
which he will
judge the world
in righteousness
by the man
whom he has
ordained; of which
he has given
assurance to all
men, in that
he has raised
him from the
dead.”
32 Now
when they heard of
the resurrection of
the dead, some
mocked; but others
said, “We want
to hear you again
concerning this.”
33 Thus
Paul went out
from among them.
34 But
certain men joined
with him and
believed, including
Dionysius the Areopagite,
and a woman
named Damaris, and
others with them.