Acts of the Apostles 17

¹ Passing through Amphipolis and Apol onia, they eventual y reached Thessalonica, where there was aJewish synagogue.

² Paul as usual went in and for three consecutive Sabbaths developed the arguments from scripture forthem,

³ explaining and proving how it was ordained that the Christ should suffer and rise from the dead. 'Andthe Christ', he said, 'is this Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you.'

⁴ Some of them were convinced and joined Paul and Silas, and so did a great many godfearing peopleand Greeks, as wel as a number of the leading women.

⁵ The Jews, ful of resentment, enlisted the help of a gang from the market place, stirred up a crowd, andsoon had the whole city in an uproar. They made for Jason's house, hoping to bring them before the People'sAssembly;

⁶ however, they found only Jason and some of the brothers, and these they dragged before the citycouncil, shouting, 'The people who have been turning the whole world upside down have come here now;

⁷ they have been staying at Jason's. They have broken Caesar's edicts by claiming that there is anotherking, Jesus.'

⁸ Hearing this, the citizens and the city council ors were alarmed,

⁹ and they made Jason and the rest give security before setting them free.

¹⁰ When it was dark the brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away to Beroea, where they went tothe Jewish synagogue as soon as they arrived.

¹¹ Here the Jews were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they welcomed the wordvery readily; every day they studied the scriptures to check whether it was true.

¹² Many of them became believers, and so did many Greek women of high standing and a number ofthe men.

¹³ When the Jews of Thessalonica came to learn that the word of God was being preached by Paul inBeroea as wel , they went there to make trouble and stir up the people.

¹⁴ So the brothers arranged for Paul to go immediately as far as the coast, leaving Silas and Timothybehind.

¹⁵ Paul's escort took him as far as Athens, and went back with instructions for Silas and Timothy torejoin Paul as soon as they could.

¹⁶ Paul waited for them in Athens and there his whole soul was revolted at the sight of a city given overto idolatry.

¹⁷ In the synagogue he debated with the Jews and the godfearing, and in the market place he debatedevery day with anyone whom he met.

¹⁸ Even a few Epicurean and Stoic philosophers argued with him. Some said, 'What can this parrotmean?' And, because he was preaching about Jesus and Resurrection, others said, 'He seems to be apropagandist for some outlandish gods.'

¹⁹ They got him to accompany them to the Areopagus, where they said to him, 'Can we know what thisnew doctrine is that you are teaching?

²⁰ Some of the things you say seemed startling to us and we would like to find out what they mean.'

²¹ The one amusement the Athenians and the foreigners living there seem to have is to discuss andlisten to the latest ideas.

²² So Paul stood before the whole council of the Areopagus and made this speech: 'Men of Athens, Ihave seen for myself how extremely scrupulous you are in all religious matters,

²³ because, as I strol ed round looking at your sacred monuments, I noticed among other things an altarinscribed: To An Unknown God. In fact, the unknown God you revere is the one I proclaim to you.

²⁴ 'Since the God who made the world and everything in it is himself Lord of heaven and earth, he doesnot make his home in shrines made by human hands.

²⁵ Nor is he in need of anything, that he should be served by human hands; on the contrary, it is he whogives everything -- including life and breath -- to everyone.

²⁶ From one single principle he not only created the whole human race so that they could occupy theentire earth, but he decreed the times and limits of their habitation.

²⁷ And he did this so that they might seek the deity and, by feeling their way towards him, succeed infinding him; and indeed he is not far from any of us,

²⁸ since it is in him that we live, and move, and exist, as indeed some of your own writers have said: Weare al his children.

²⁹ 'Since we are the children of God, we have no excuse for thinking that the deity looks like anything ingold, silver or stone that has been carved and designed by a man.

³⁰ 'But now, overlooking the times of ignorance, God is tel ing everyone everywhere that they mustrepent,

³¹ because he has fixed a day when the whole world will be judged in uprightness by a man he hasappointed. And God has publicly proved this by raising him from the dead.'

³² At this mention of rising from the dead, some of them burst out laughing; others said, 'We would liketo hear you talk about this another time.'

³³ After that Paul left them,

³⁴ but there were some who attached themselves to him and became believers, among them Dionysiusthe Aeropagite and a woman cal ed Damaris, and others besides.