17 After they traveled through [ a ] Amphipolis [ b ] and Apollonia, [ c ] they came to Thessalonica, [ d ] where there was a Jewish synagogue. [ e ] 2 Paul went to the Jews in the synagogue, [ f ] as he customarily did, and on three Sabbath days he addressed [ g ] them from the scriptures, 3 explaining and demonstrating [ h ] that the Christ [ i ] had to suffer and to rise from the dead, [ j ] saying, [ k ] “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.” [ l ] 4 Some of them were persuaded [ m ] and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large group [ n ] of God-fearing Greeks [ o ] and quite a few [ p ] prominent women. 5 But the Jews became jealous, [ q ] and gathering together some worthless men from the rabble in the marketplace, [ r ] they formed a mob [ s ] and set the city in an uproar. [ t ] They attacked Jason’s house, [ u ] trying to find Paul and Silas [ v ] to bring them out to the assembly. [ w ] 6 When they did not find them, they dragged [ x ] Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, [ y ] screaming, “These people who have stirred up trouble [ z ] throughout the world [ aa ] have come here too, 7 and [ ab ] Jason has welcomed them as guests! They [ ac ] are all acting against Caesar’s [ ad ] decrees, saying there is another king named [ ae ] Jesus!” [ af ] 8 They caused confusion among [ ag ] the crowd and the city officials [ ah ] who heard these things. 9 After [ ai ] the city officials [ aj ] had received bail [ ak ] from Jason and the others, they released them.
10 The brothers sent Paul and Silas off to Berea [ al ] at once, during the night. When they arrived, [ am ] they went to the Jewish synagogue. [ an ] 11 These Jews [ ao ] were more open-minded [ ap ] than those in Thessalonica, [ aq ] for they eagerly [ ar ] received [ as ] the message, examining [ at ] the scriptures carefully every day [ au ] to see if these things were so. 12 Therefore many of them believed, along with quite a few [ av ] prominent [ aw ] Greek women and men. 13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica [ ax ] heard that Paul had also proclaimed the word of God [ ay ] in Berea, they came there too, inciting [ az ] and disturbing [ ba ] the crowds. 14 Then the brothers sent Paul away to the coast [ bb ] at once, but Silas and Timothy remained in Berea. [ bc ] 15 Those who accompanied Paul escorted him as far as Athens, and after receiving an order for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they left. [ bd ]
16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was greatly upset [ be ] because he saw [ bf ] the city was full of idols. 17 So he was addressing [ bg ] the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles [ bh ] in the synagogue, [ bi ] and in the marketplace [ bj ] every day [ bk ] those who happened to be there. 18 Also some of the Epicurean [ bl ] and Stoic [ bm ] philosophers were conversing [ bn ] with him, and some were asking, [ bo ] “What does this foolish babbler [ bp ] want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods.” [ bq ] (They said this because he was proclaiming the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.) [ br ] 19 So they took Paul and [ bs ] brought him to the Areopagus, [ bt ] saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are proclaiming? 20 For you are bringing some surprising things [ bu ] to our ears, so we want to know what they [ bv ] mean.” 21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there used to spend their time [ bw ] in nothing else than telling [ bx ] or listening to something new.) [ by ]
22 So Paul stood [ bz ] before the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I see that you are very religious [ ca ] in all respects. [ cb ] 23 For as I went around and observed closely your objects of worship, [ cc ] I even found an altar with this inscription: [ cd ] ‘To an unknown god.’ Therefore what you worship without knowing it, [ ce ] this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, [ cf ] who is [ cg ] Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by human hands, [ ch ] 25 nor is he served by human hands, as if he needed anything, [ ci ] because he himself gives life and breath and everything to everyone. [ cj ] 26 From one man [ ck ] he made every nation of the human race [ cl ] to inhabit the entire earth, [ cm ] determining their set times [ cn ] and the fixed limits of the places where they would live, [ co ] 27 so that they would search for God and perhaps grope around [ cp ] for him and find him, [ cq ] though he is [ cr ] not far from each one of us. 28 For in him we live and move about [ cs ] and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.’ [ ct ] 29 So since we are God’s offspring, we should not think the deity [ cu ] is like gold or silver or stone, an image [ cv ] made by human [ cw ] skill [ cx ] and imagination. [ cy ] 30 Therefore, although God has overlooked [ cz ] such times of ignorance, [ da ] he now commands all people [ db ] everywhere to repent, [ dc ] 31 because he has set [ dd ] a day on which he is going to judge the world [ de ] in righteousness, by a man whom he designated, [ df ] having provided proof to everyone by raising [ dg ] him from the dead.”
32 Now when they heard about [ dh ] the resurrection from the dead, some began to scoff, [ di ] but others said, “We will hear you again about this.” 33 So Paul left the Areopagus. [ dj ] 34 But some people [ dk ] joined him [ dl ] and believed. Among them [ dm ] were Dionysius, who was a member of the Areopagus, [ dn ] a woman [ do ] named Damaris, and others with them.