Acts 17

17 ¹After traveling through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. ²Paul, as usual, went in to them and reasoned with them from the Scriptures on three Sabbaths. ³Opening and explaining the Scriptures that the Christ must suffer and rise from the dead, he said, "This Jesus I proclaim to you is the Christ. ⁴Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a great many devout Greeks and quite a few leading women. ⁵But the Jews grew jealous, gathered evil men from the marketplace, formed a mob, and threw the city into chaos. They stormed Jason's house, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. ⁶Not finding them, they dragged Jason and some brothers before the city officials, shouting, "These men who have turned the world upside down have come here too, ⁷Jason welcomed them. They all defy Caesar's decrees, claiming there is another king — Jesus. ⁸And they stirred up the crowd and the city authorities who heard these things." ⁹And when they had taken bail from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

The Bereans Search the Scriptures

¹⁰The brothers at once sent Paul and Silas off by night to Berea; on arrival they went to the Jewish synagogue. ¹¹These Jews were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, receiving the word eagerly and examining Scripture daily to see if these things were true. ¹²So many of them believed, along with many prominent Greek women and men. ¹³When Jews from Thessalonica learned Paul proclaimed the word of our Father in Berea too, they went there also, agitating and stirring up the crowds. ¹⁴The brothers immediately sent Paul off to the sea, but Silas and Timothy stayed there. ¹⁵Paul's escorts brought him to Athens, then left with orders for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.

Paul Arrives in Athens

¹⁶While Paul waited for them in Athens, his spirit was provoked within him, seeing the city full of idols. ¹⁷So he debated in the synagogue with Jews and worshipers of God, and daily in the marketplace with whoever was there. ¹⁸Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also debated with him. Some asked, "What's this babbler trying to say?" Others said, "He seems to promote foreign gods" — since he preached the good news of Jesus and the resurrection.

¹⁹They took him and brought him to the Areopagus, asking, "Can we know what this new teaching you're presenting is? ^a a v19 The Areopagus, or "Mars Hill," was the rocky hill in Athens where the city's council met to weigh new ideas and teachings. ²⁰For you bring strange things to our ears, so we want to know what they mean." ²¹Now all the Athenians and foreigners living there spent their time on nothing but telling or hearing something new.

²²Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus and said, "Athenians, I see that you are extremely religious in every way. ²³For as I passed through and examined your sacred objects, I found an altar inscribed: 'To an unknown god.' What you worship without knowing it, I now proclaim to you. ²⁴Our Father, who made the world and everything in it, being Sovereign of heaven and earth, doesn't live in temples made by hands, ^b b v24 Paul tells the pagan Athenians that the "unknown god" they worship is in truth our Father — the Creator of all things, who cannot be housed in any temple. ²⁵nor served by human hands, as if he needed anything—he himself gives everyone life, breath, and everything. ²⁶From one man he made every nation of mankind live across the whole earth, fixing their set times and the boundaries of their homelands, ²⁷so they might seek our Father, perhaps reach for him and find him — though he is not far from each of us, ²⁸for "In him we live and move and have our being"; as even some of your own poets have said, "We too are his descendants. ²⁹So as our Father's children, we shouldn't think the divine is like gold, silver, or stone — an image shaped by human skill and imagination. ³⁰The times of ignorance our Father overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. ³¹He set a day to judge the world justly, through a man he appointed—proving it to all by raising him from the dead." ^c c v31 The man our Father appointed to judge the world is Jesus; the Father's proof to everyone is that he raised Jesus from the dead.

³²Hearing of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; others said, "We'll hear you on this again." ³³So Paul left them. ³⁴But some men joined him and believed, including Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others.