Preaching Christ at Thessalonica

17 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to ^(A)Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. ² Then Paul, as his custom was, ^(B)went in to them, and for three Sabbaths ^(C)reasoned with them from the Scriptures, ³ explaining and demonstrating ^(D)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 (E)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 ^(F)Silas.

Assault on Jason’s House

⁵ But the Jews ^[a]who were not persuaded, ^[b]becoming ^(G)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 ^(H)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, ^(I)“These who have turned the world upside down have come here too. ⁷ Jason has ^[c]harbored them, and these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, ^(J)saying there is another king—Jesus.” 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 ^(K)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 ^[d]fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and ^(L)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 (M)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 ^(N)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, ^(O)his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was ^[e]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 [f]Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, “What does this ^[g]babbler want to say?”

Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods,” because he preached to them ^(P)Jesus and the resurrection.

¹⁹ And they took him and brought him to the ^[h]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 ^[i]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.

Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: ^24 (Q)God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is ^(R)Lord of heaven and earth, ^(S)does not dwell in temples made with hands. ²⁵ Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He ^(T)gives to all life, breath, and all things. ²⁶ And He has made from one ^[j]blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and ^(U)the boundaries of their dwellings, ^27 (V)so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, ^(W)though He is not far from each one of us; ²⁸ for ^(X)in Him we live and move and have our being, ^(Y)as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ ²⁹ Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, ^(Z)we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. ³⁰ Truly, ^(AA)these times of ignorance God overlooked, but ^(AB)now commands all men everywhere to repent, ³¹ because He has appointed a day on which ^(AC)He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by ^(AD)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.