THE BOOK OF ACTS

 

Acts Chapter 17

1 ¶ Now after they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue:

2 And Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and on three sabbath days reasoned with them from the scriptures,

3 Explaining and showing, that Christ had to suffer, and rise again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach to you, is the Messiah.

4 And some of the Jews believed, and joined with Paul and Silas; as did a large number of the devout Greeks, and many prominent women.

5 But the unbelieving Jews, aroused to jealousy, rounded up some scoundrels and loafers from the market place, formed a mob, and set the town in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring Paul and Silas out to the people.

6 And when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the rulers of the city, shouting, Those men who have turned the world upside down have come here also;

7 And Jason has welcomed them: and they are all going contrary to the decrees of Caesar, by saying that there is another king, Jesus.

8 And they stirred up the crowd and the city officials, who heard these things.

9 And after they made Jason, and the others, post bond, they let them go.

10 ¶ So the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea: and when they arrived they went into the synagogue of the Jews.

11 These were of better character than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so.

12 Therefore many of them believed; along with many prominent Greek women, and several Greek men.

13 But when the Jews in Thessalonica found out that Paul was preaching the word of God in Berea, they came there as well, and stirred up the people.

14 So the brethren sent Paul away at once to go as far as the sea: but Silas and Timothy remained there.

15 And those who accompanied Paul brought him as far as Athens: and then left, with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.

16 ¶ Now while Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was grieved, when he saw that the city was given over to idolatry.

17 Therefore he began to reason in the synagogue with the Jews, and with Gentiles who worshiped there, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those he happened to meet.

18 Then some of the Epicurean, and Stoic philosophers, began to dispute with him. And some asked, What is this pseudo-intellectual trying to say? others said, He seems to be advocating foreign gods: because he preached Jesus, and the resurrection.

19 Then they took him, and brought him to Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new teaching is, that you are proclaiming?

20 For you are bringing some strange ideas to our ears: and we want to know what they mean.

21 (For all the Athenians and foreigners who were there spent their time doing nothing else, but either telling, or listening to some new idea.)

22 ¶ Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Men of Athens, I can see on every hand that you are unusually devoted to divinities.

23 For as I passed through, and saw your objects of worship, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore I proclaim to you, the one whom you worship in ignorance.

24 The 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 served by men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, since he himself gives to everyone life, and breath, and everything else;

26 And has made of one blood all nations of men to live on all the face of the earth, and has determined their appointed times, and the boundaries they live in;

27 So that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for him, and find him, although he is not far from any one of us:

28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; and some of your own poets have said, We are his offspring.

29 Now if we are the offspring of God, we should not think that the divine nature is like silver, or gold, or stone, carved by man’s art and imagination.

30 Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance; God now commands all men every where to repent:

31 Because he has appointed a day, when he will judge the world in righteousness by the man he has appointed; having given all men assurance of this, by raising him from the dead.

32 ¶ And when they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: but others said, We will hear you again concerning this.

33 So Paul left the meeting.

34 However some men joined him, and believed: among whom was Dionysius a judge of the Areopagus, a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.