1 Now when they had passed through :Amphipolis and :Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: 2 and :Paul, as his :custom was, went in unto them, and for three sabbaths reasoned with them from the scriptures, 3 opening and alleging that it behooved the Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead; and that this :Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ. 4 And some of them were persuaded, and consorted with :Paul and :Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few. 5 But the Jews, moved with jealousy, took unto them certain vile men of the rabble, and gathering a crowd, set the city on an uproar; and assaulting the house of Jason, they sought to bring them forth to the people. 6 And when they found them not, they dragged Jason and certain brethren before the city rulers, crying [that], These that have turned the †world upside down are come hither also; 7 whom Jason hath received: and these all act contrary to the decrees of Cæsar, saying that there is another king, Jesus. 8 And they troubled the crowd and the city rulers, when they heard these things. 9 And when they had taken :security from :Jason and the rest, they let them go. 10 And the brethren immediately sent away both :Paul and :Silas by night unto Berea: who when they arrived went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, examining the scriptures daily, whether these things were so. 12 Many of them therefore believed; also of the Greek :honorable women, and of men, not a few. 13 But when the Jews of :Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of :God was proclaimed by :Paul at :Berea also, they came thither also, stirring up and troubling the crowds. 14 And then immediately the brethren sent forth :Paul to go as far as to the sea: and both :Silas and :Timothy abode there still. 15 But they that conducted :Paul brought him as far as Athens: and receiving a commandment unto :Silas and :Timothy that they come unto him with all speed, they departed.
16 Now while :Paul waited for them at :Athens, his :spirit was provoked within him as he beheld the city full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the market every day with them that happened along. 18 And certain also of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, What would this :babbler say? others, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange demons: because he preached the gospel of :Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took hold of him, and brought him †unto the Areopagus, saying, Can we know what this new :teaching is, which is spoken by thee? 20 For thou bringest certain strange things to our hearing: we would know therefore what these things mean. 21 (Now all the Athenians and the sojourning strangers spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear something rather new.) 22 And Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus, and said, Men of Athens, in all things I perceive that ye are rather religious. 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, To GOD UNKNOWN. What therefore ye worship in ignorance, this I set forth to you. 24 The God that made the world and all things therein, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25 neither is he served by men’s hands, as if he needed anything, he himself giving to all life, and breath, and all :things; 26 and he made of one every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed seasons, and the bounds of their :habitation; 27 that they should seek :God, if haply they might feel after and find him, though he is not far from each of us: 28 for in him we live, and move, and have our being, as certain even of your own :poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
29 Being then the offspring of :God, we ought not to think the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and device of man. 30 The times of :ignorance therefore :God overlooked; but now he declareth to :men that they should all everywhere repent: 31 inasmuch as he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the inhabited earth in righteousness by a man whom he hath ordained: having given assurance unto all, in that he hath raised him from the dead. 32 Now when they heard of a resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but others said, We will hear thee concerning this yet again. 33 Thus :Paul went out from their midst. 34 But certain men clave to him, and believed: among whom also Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman, Damaris by name, and others with them.
