Acts 17
1 Passing through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.
2 As was his custom, Paul went to them and, for three Sabbaths, reasoned with them from the Scriptures.
3 He explained and showed that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead, and he said, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.”
4 Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large crowd of devout Greeks and quite a few prominent women.
5 But the Jews, filled with jealousy, gathered some wicked men from the marketplace, formed a mob, and stirred up the city. They rushed to Jason’s house, looking for Paul and Silas to bring them before the people.
6 When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These people who have stirred up the whole world have come here too.
7 Jason has welcomed them. They are all acting against Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, Jesus.”
8 They stirred up the crowd and the city authorities who heard these things.
9 After taking bail from Jason and the others, they released them.
10 The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went to the synagogue of the Jews.
11 These people were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica: they received the word eagerly, examining the Scriptures every day to see whether these things were so.
12 Therefore many of them believed, along with quite a few prominent Greek women and men.
13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that Paul was proclaiming the word of God in Berea too, they went there as well, stirring up and disturbing the crowds.
14 Then the brothers immediately sent Paul away to go as far as the sea, while Silas and Timothy stayed there.
15 Those who accompanied Paul took him as far as Athens. After receiving instructions for Silas and Timothy to come to him as quickly as possible, they left.
16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols.
17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.
18 Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also debated with him. Some said, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign gods.” This was because he was announcing the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.
19 So they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?
20 For you are bringing some strange things to our ears, and we want to know what they mean.”
21 All the Athenians and the foreigners living there spent their time doing nothing but telling or hearing about something new.
22 Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I see that you are very religious in every way.
23 As I walked around and observed the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: ‘To an unknown god.’ What you worship without knowing, I proclaim to you.
24 The God who made the world and everything in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by human hands.
25 Nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives everyone life, breath, and everything else.
26 From one man he made every nation of humankind to live over the whole face of the earth, determining their appointed times and the boundaries of their dwelling.
27 He did this so they would seek God, hoping they might reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
28 For in him we live and move and exist, as some of your own poets have said: ‘For we too are his offspring.’
29 Since we are God’s offspring, then, we should not think that the divine nature is like gold, silver, or stone, shaped by human skill and imagination.
30 So God, having overlooked the times of ignorance, now announces that all people everywhere must repent.
31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice through a man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”
32 When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, “We will hear you about this again.”
33 So Paul left them.
34 But some men joined him and believed, including Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
Read and listen to this chapter in the Shalem app, free: narration, chapter video and reading progress. Get the app