Acts 17

1When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.

2As was his habit, Paul went into the synagogue. On three Sabbath days he talked with them using the Scriptures,

3He explained and proved that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. He said: This Jesus I am telling you about is the Messiah.

4Some of the Jews were convinced and joined Paul and Silas. So did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few important women.

5But other Jews were jealous. They gathered some troublemakers from the marketplace, formed a mob, and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason's house looking for Paul and Silas, wanting to bring them out to the crowd.

6But when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city officials. They shouted: These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here,

7And Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all breaking Caesar's laws, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.

8When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were very upset.

9Then they made Jason and the others pay money to guarantee good behavior, and let them go.

10As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue.

11Now the Jews in Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica. They received the message eagerly, and they studied the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

12As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.

13When the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was also preaching the word of God in Berea, some of them went there too. They stirred up and upset the crowds.

14The believers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea.

15Those who went with Paul brought him to Athens. Then they left, with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join Paul as soon as possible.

16While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was very troubled to see that the city was full of idols.

17So he talked in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks. He also talked every day in the marketplace with whoever was there.

18A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to argue with him. Some of them asked: What is this babbler trying to say? Others said: He seems to be teaching about foreign gods. They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.

19Then they took Paul and brought him to a meeting of the council of Mars Hill. They said to him: May we know what this new teaching is that you are talking about?

20You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.

21All the people of Athens and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the newest ideas.

22Paul then stood up in the meeting of the council of Mars Hill and said: People of Athens! I can see that you are very religious in every way.

23As I walked around and looked closely at the things you worship, I even found an altar with these words written on it: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. So you are worshiping something you do not know. Now I am going to tell you about it.

24The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth. He does not live in temples built by human hands.

25And human hands cannot serve Him, as if He needed anything. In fact, He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.

26From one man, God made every nation to live on the whole earth. He decided beforehand the exact times and the exact borders where they would live.

27God did this so that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from any one of us.

28For in Him we live and move and exist, as some of your own poets have said: We are His children.

29So since we are God's children, we should not think that God is like an image of gold, silver, or stone, made by human hands and human ideas.

30In the past, God overlooked this kind of ignorance. But now He commands all people everywhere to turn from their sin.

31For He has set a day when He will judge the world fairly, through the man He has chosen. God has given proof of this to everyone by raising this man from the dead.

32When they heard about people rising from the dead, some of them laughed at Paul. But others said: We want to hear you talk about this again.

33After this, Paul left the council.

34Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the council of Mars Hill, a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.