Acts Chapter 17
1 After Paul and Silas passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica where was a synagogue of the Jews.
2 Keeping his usual custom⁺, Paul went in to them and for three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures.
3 He opened the Scripture and showed⁺ them that it was necessary⁺ for Christ to suffer and rise again from the dead. And he said: This Jesus I proclaim⁺ to you, is Christ.
4 Some of them believed and joined⁺ with Paul and Silas, including a large⁺ number⁺ of the devout Greeks and not a few of the prominent⁺ women.
5 But the Jews who did not believe were moved with envy. So they took some evil⁺ fellows who could be bought⁺ and gathered a mob⁺ and set all the city in an uproar. Then they assaulted the house of Jason and sought to bring out Paul and Silas to the people.
6 When the mob did not find them, they dragged⁺ Jason and certain brothers to the rulers of the city, crying out: Those who have turned the world upside down have now come here also.
7 And Jason has received them. They all do things that are contrary to the decrees of Caesar by saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.
8 This troubled the people and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things.
9 So when they had taken security from Jason and from the others, they let them go.
10 The family⁺ immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. Upon arriving⁺, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.
11 These Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the Word with all readiness of mind and they searched the Scriptures daily to see if those things claimed were so.
12 Therefore many of these Jews believed as well as many prominent⁺ Greek women and not a few Greek men.
13 But when the Jews of Thessalonica learned⁺ that the Word of God was proclaimed⁺ by Paul at Berea, they came there also and stirred up the people.
14 Then immediately the family⁺ urged⁺ Paul to go on his way by sea. But Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea.
15 Those who escorted⁺ Paul took⁺ him to Athens. And then, after receiving instructions for Silas and Timothy to come to Paul with all speed, they departed.
16 While Paul waited for them in Athens, his spirit was stirred in him when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.
17 Therefore he contended⁺ with the Jews and religious⁺ people in the synagogue and in the market daily with those who met with him.
18 Then certain Epicurean and Stoick philosophers confronted⁺ him and said: What is this babbler~ saying? Others said: He seems to be a proposer⁺ of strange gods, because he proclaimed⁺ Jesus and the resurrection to them.
19 So they took him to the Areopagus saying: We would like to know what this new doctrine is of which you speak?
20 For you bring certain strange things to our ears. Therefore, we would like to know what these things mean.
21 For all the Athenians and strangers there spent their time doing nothing else but to tell or hear about some new thing.
22 So Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill and said: You men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are too superstitious.
23 For as I passed by and saw⁺ the objects of your worship⁺, I saw⁺ an altar with this inscription: To the Unknown God. Therefore, I now declare to you the God whom you worship as unknown.
24 God who made the world and everything⁺ in it, since He is Lord of Heaven and Earth, does not dwell in temples made by human hands.
25 Neither is any worship or service needed from human⁺ hands. For God gives all life and breath to all things.
26 God has made all nations of mankind to dwell on all the face of the Earth from one blood, and He has determined long ago⁺ the times appointed and the boundaries⁺ of their habitation.
27 God desires that all mankind should seek the Lord. Even hoping perhaps⁺ that some will feel~ His presence and find Him, although He is not far from each of us.
28 For in Him we live and move and have our being. And as some of your own poets have said: For we also are His offspring.
29 Since⁺ we are the offspring of God, we should not to think that the Godhead is like gold or silver or stone, engraved like art by man's devices.
30 The times of ignorance in the past God overlooked⁺, but now He commands~ everyone⁺ everywhere to repent.
31 Because He has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance to everyone⁺ in that He raised Jesus from the dead.
32 When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. Others said: We will hear you again on this matter.
33 So Paul departed from among them.
34 However certain men joined⁺ to him, and believed. Among them were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.