17:1 After they traveled through 1 Amphipolis 2 and Apollonia, 3 they came to Thessalonica, 4 where there was a Jewish synagogue. 5 17:2 Paul went to the Jews in the synagogue, 6 as he customarily did, and on three Sabbath days he addressed 7 them from the scriptures, 17:3 explaining and demonstrating 8 that the Christ 9 had to suffer and to rise from the dead, 10 saying, 11 “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.” 12 17:4 Some of them were persuaded 13 and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large group 14 of God-fearing Greeks 15 and quite a few 16 prominent women. 17:5 But the Jews became jealous, 17 and gathering together some worthless men from the rabble in the marketplace, 18 they formed a mob 19 and set the city in an uproar. 20 They attacked Jason’s house, 21 trying to find Paul and Silas 22 to bring them out to the assembly. 23 17:6 When they did not find them, they dragged 24 Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, 25 screaming, “These people who have stirred up trouble 26 throughout the world 27 have come here too, 17:7 and 28 Jason has welcomed them as guests! They 29 are all acting against Caesar’s 30 decrees, saying there is another king named 31 Jesus!” 32 17:8 They caused confusion among 33 the crowd and the city officials 34 who heard these things. 17:9 After 35 the city officials 36 had received bail 37 from Jason and the others, they released them.
17:10 The brothers sent Paul and Silas off to Berea 38 at once, during the night. When they arrived, 39 they went to the Jewish synagogue. 40 17:11 These Jews 41 were more open-minded 42 than those in Thessalonica, 43 for they eagerly 44 received 45 the message, examining 46 the scriptures carefully every day 47 to see if these things were so. 17:12 Therefore many of them believed, along with quite a few 48 prominent 49 Greek women and men. 17:13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica 50 heard that Paul had also proclaimed the word of God 51 in Berea, 52 they came there too, inciting 53 and disturbing 54 the crowds. 17:14 Then the brothers sent Paul away to the coast 55 at once, but Silas and Timothy remained in Berea. 56 17:15 Those who accompanied Paul escorted him as far as Athens, 57 and after receiving an order for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they left. 58
17:16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, 59 his spirit was greatly upset 60 because he saw 61 the city was full of idols. 17:17 So he was addressing 62 the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles 63 in the synagogue, 64 and in the marketplace every day 65 those who happened to be there. 17:18 Also some of the Epicurean 66 and Stoic 67 philosophers were conversing 68 with him, and some were asking, 69 “What does this foolish babbler 70 want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods.” 71 (They said this because he was proclaiming the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.) 72 17:19 So they took Paul and 73 brought him to the Areopagus, 74 saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are proclaiming? 17:20 For you are bringing some surprising things 75 to our ears, so we want to know what they 76 mean.” 17:21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there used to spend their time 77 in nothing else than telling 78 or listening to something new.) 79
17:22 So Paul stood 80 before the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I see that you are very religious 81 in all respects. 82 17:23 For as I went around and observed closely your objects of worship, 83 I even found an altar with this inscription: 84 ‘To an unknown god.’ Therefore what you worship without knowing it, 85 this I proclaim to you. 17:24 The God who made the world and everything in it, 86 who is 87 Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by human hands, 88 17:25 nor is he served by human hands, as if he needed anything, 89 because he himself gives life and breath and everything to everyone. 90 17:26 From one man 91 he made every nation of the human race 92 to inhabit the entire earth, 93 determining their set times 94 and the fixed limits of the places where they would live, 95 17:27 so that they would search for God and perhaps grope around 96 for him and find him, 97 though he is 98 not far from each one of us. 17:28 For in him we live and move about 99 and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.’ 100 17:29 So since we are God’s offspring, we should not think the deity 101 is like gold or silver or stone, an image 102 made by human 103 skill 104 and imagination. 105 17:30 Therefore, although God has overlooked 106 such times of ignorance, 107 he now commands all people 108 everywhere to repent, 109 17:31 because he has set 110 a day on which he is going to judge the world 111 in righteousness, by a man whom he designated, 112 having provided proof to everyone by raising 113 him from the dead.”
17:32 Now when they heard about 114 the resurrection from the dead, some began to scoff, 115 but others said, “We will hear you again about this.” 17:33 So Paul left the Areopagus. 116 17:34 But some people 117 joined him 118 and believed. Among them 119 were Dionysius, who was a member of the Areopagus, 120 a woman 121 named Damaris, and others with them.