Acts 17

Preaching Christ at Thessalonica

1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.2 Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures,3 explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.4 And some of them were persuaded; and a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and not a few of the leading women, joined Paul and Silas.

Assault on Jasons House

5 But the Jews who were not persuaded, becoming envious, took some of the evil men from the marketplace, and gathering a mob, set all the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.6 But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.7 Jason has harbored them, and these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another kingJesus.8 And they troubled the crowd and the rulers of the city when they heard these things.9 So when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

Ministering at Berea

10 Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.11 These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.12 Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men.13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was preached by Paul at Berea, they came there also and stirred up the crowds.14 Then immediately the brethren sent Paul away, to go to the sea; but both Silas and Timothy remained there.15 So those who conducted Paul brought him to Athens; and receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him with all speed, they departed.

The Philosophers at Athens

16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols.17 Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there.18 Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, What does this babbler want to say? Others said, He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods, because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection.19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak?20 For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean.21 For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.

Addressing the Areopagus

22 Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious;23 for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.24 God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.25 Nor is He worshiped with mens hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, For we are also His offspring.29 Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and mans devising.30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,31 because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.32 And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, We will hear you again on this matter. 33 So Paul departed from among them.34 However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

ACTS 17

Trouble in Thessalonica

1 After Paul and his friends had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they went on to Thessalonica. A synagogue was in that city. 2 So as usual, Paul went there to worship, and on three Sabbaths he spoke to the people. He used the Scriptures 3 to show them that the Messiah had to suffer, but that he would rise from death. Paul also told them that Jesus is the Messiah he was preaching about.

4 Some of them believed what Paul had said, and they became followers with Paul and Silas. Some Gentilest and many important women also believed the message.
5 The Jewish leaders were jealous and got some troublemakers who hung around the marketplace to start a riot in the city. They wanted to drag Paul and Silas out to the mob, and so they went straight to Jason's home. 6 But when they did not find them there, they dragged out Jason and some of the Lord's followers. They took them to the city authorities and shouted, “Paul and Silas have been upsetting things everywhere. Now they have come here,

7 and Jason has welcomed them into his home. All of them break the laws of the Roman Emperor by claiming that someone named Jesus is king.”
8 The officials and the people were upset when they heard this.

9 So they made Jason and the other followers pay bail before letting them go.

People in Berea Welcome //the Message

12 Many of them put their faith in the Lord, including some important Greek women and several men.

13 When the Jewish leaders in Thessalonica heard that Paul had been preaching God's message in Berea, they went there and caused trouble by turning the crowds against Paul.
14 At once the followers sent Paul down to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea.

15 Some men went with Paul as far as Athens, and then returned with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.

Paul in Athens

18 Some of them were Epicureanst and some were Stoics, t and they started arguing with him.
People were asking, “What is this know-it-all trying to say?”
Some even said, “Paul must be preaching about foreign gods! That's what he means when he talks about Jesus and about people rising from death.”t
19 They brought Paul before a council called the Areopagus, and said, “Tell us what your new teaching is all about.

20 We have heard you say some strange things, and we want to know what you mean.”
21 More than anything else the people of Athens and the foreigners living there loved to hear and to talk about anything new.

22 So Paul stood up in front of the council and said:
People of Athens, I see that you are very religious. 23 t As I was going through your city and looking at the things you worship, I found an altar with the words, “To an Unknown God.” You worship this God, but you don't really know him. So I want to tell you about him. 24 t This God made the world and everything in it. He is Lord of heaven and earth, and he doesn't live in temples built by human hands. 25 t He doesn't need help from anyone. He gives life, breath, and everything else to all people.

26 t From one person God made all nations who live on earth, and he decided when and where every nation would be.
27  t God has done all this, so that we will look for him and reach out and find him. He isn't far from any of us,

28 and he gives us the power to live, to move, and to be who we are. “We are his children,” just as some of your poets have said.
29 Since we are God's children, we must not think that he is like an idol made out of gold or silver or stone. He isn't like anything that humans have thought up and made. 30 In the past, God forgave all this because people did not know what they were doing. But now he says that everyone everywhere must turn to him.

31 He has set a day when he will judge the world's people with fairness. And he has chosen the man Jesus to do the judging for him. God has given proof of this to all of us by raising Jesus from death.
32 As soon as the people heard Paul say a man had been raised from death, some of them started laughing. Others said, “We will hear you talk about this some other time.” 33 When Paul left the council meeting, 34 some of the men put their faith in the Lord and went with Paul. One of them was a council member named Dionysius. A woman named Damaris and several others also put their faith in the Lord.