Act 17 | ESV | STEP | Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia , they came to Thessalonica , where there was a synagogue of the Jews .

‏ Acts 17

Paul and Silas in Thessalonica

1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to ^aThessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 And Paul went in, ^bas was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them ^cfrom the Scriptures, 3 ^dexplaining and proving that it was necessary for ^ethe Christ to suffer and ^fto rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” 4 And ^gsome of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did ^ha great many of the devout ⁱGreeks and not a few of the leading women. 5 ^jBut the Jews ^{▼▼Greek Ioudaioi probably refers here to Jewish religious leaders, and others under their influence, in that time; also verse 13} ^lwere jealous, and taking ^msome wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. 6 And when they could not find them, ⁿthey dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, 7 and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against ^othe decrees of Caesar, saying that there is ^panother king, Jesus.” 8 And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. 9 And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

Paul and Silas in Berea

10 ^qThe brothers ^{▼▼Or brothers and sisters; also verse 14} immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they ^swent into the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, ^texamining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. 12 ^uMany of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek ^vwomen of high standing as well as men. 13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, ^wagitating and stirring up the crowds. 14 Then the brothers ^ximmediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and ^yTimothy remained there. 15 ^zThose who conducted Paul brought him as far as ^aaAthens, and after receiving a command ^abfor Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed.

Paul in Athens

16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was ^acprovoked within him as he saw that the city was ^adfull of idols. 17 So ^aehe reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. 18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, ^af“What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because ^aghe was preaching ^ahJesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to ^aithe Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this ^ajnew teaching is that you are presenting? 20 For you bring some ^akstrange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.” 21 Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.

Paul Addresses the Areopagus

22 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ^al‘To the unknown god.’ ^amWhat therefore you worship ^anas unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 ^aoThe God who made the world and everything in it, being ^apLord of heaven and earth, ^aqdoes not live in temples made by man, ^{▼▼Greek made by hands} 25 nor is he served by human hands, ^asas though he needed anything, since he himself ^atgives to all mankind ^aulife and breath and everything. 26 And ^avhe made from one man every nation of mankind to live ^awon all the face of the earth, ^axhaving determined allotted periods and ^aythe boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 ^azthat they should seek God, ^baand perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. ^bbYet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for

^bc“‘In him we live and move and have our being’; ^{▼▼Probably from Epimenides of Crete}

as even some of ^beyour own poets have said,

“‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ ^{▼▼From Aratus’s poem “Phainomena”}

29 ^bgBeing then God’s offspring, ^bhwe ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. 30 ^biThe times of ignorance ^bjGod overlooked, but ^bknow he ^blcommands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed ^bma day on which ^bnhe will judge the world ^boin righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and ^bpof this he has given assurance to all ^bqby raising him from the dead.”

32 Now when they heard of ^brthe resurrection of the dead, ^bssome mocked. But others said, ^bt“We will hear you again about this.” 33 So Paul went out from their midst. 34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius ^buthe Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.