Paul and Silas in Thessalonica

¹Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to gThessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. ²And Paul went in, has was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them ifrom the Scriptures, ³jexplaining and proving that it was necessary for kthe Christ to suffer and lto rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” ⁴And msome of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did na great many of the devout oGreeks and not a few of the leading women. ⁵pBut the Jews1 qwere jealous, and taking rsome wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. ⁶And when they could not find them, sthey dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, ⁷and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against tthe decrees of Caesar, saying that there is uanother king, Jesus.” ⁸And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. ⁹And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

Paul and Silas in Berea

¹⁰vThe brothers2 immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they wwent into the Jewish synagogue. ¹¹Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, xexamining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. ¹²yMany of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek zwomen of high standing as well as men. ¹³But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, aagitating and stirring up the crowds. ¹⁴Then the brothers bimmediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and cTimothy remained there. ¹⁵dThose who conducted Paul brought him as far as eAthens, and after receiving a command ffor Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed.

Paul in Athens

¹⁶Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was gprovoked within him as he saw that the city was hfull of idols. ¹⁷So ihe reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. ¹⁸Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, j“What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because khe was preaching lJesus and the resurrection. ¹⁹And they took him and brought him to mthe Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this nnew teaching is that you are presenting? ²⁰For you bring some ostrange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.” ²¹Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.

Paul Addresses the Areopagus

²²So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. ²³For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: p‘To the unknown god.’ pWhat therefore you worship qas unknown, this I proclaim to you. ²⁴rThe God who made the world and everything in it, being sLord of heaven and earth, tdoes not live in temples made by man,3 ²⁵nor is he served by human hands, uas though he needed anything, since he himself vgives to all mankind wlife and breath and everything. ²⁶And xhe made from one man every nation of mankind to live yon all the face of the earth, zhaving determined allotted periods and athe boundaries of their dwelling place, ²⁷bthat they should seek God, cand perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. dYet he is actually not far from each one of us, ²⁸for

e“‘In him we live and move and have our being’;4

as even some of fyour own poets have said,

“‘For we are indeed his offspring.’5

²⁹gBeing then God's offspring, hwe ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. ³⁰iThe times of ignorance jGod overlooked, but know he lcommands all people everywhere to repent, ³¹because he has fixed ma day on which nhe will judge the world oin righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and pof this he has given assurance to all qby raising him from the dead.”

³²Now when they heard of rthe resurrection of the dead, ssome mocked. But others said, t“We will hear you again about this.” ³³So Paul went out from their midst. ³⁴But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius uthe Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.