Acts 17
17
Acts 17
1¶ Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where the synagogue of the Jews was.
2And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,
3declaring openly and proposing that it behooved the Christ to have suffered and risen again from the dead and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is the Christ.
4And some of them believed and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the noble women not a few.
5But the disobedient Jews, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort and gathered a company and set all the city on an uproar and assaulted the house of Jason and sought to bring them out to the people.
6And when they did not find them, they brought Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down have come here also,
7whom Jason has received, and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.
8And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city when they heard these things.
9And when they had taken security of Jason and of the others, they let them go.
10¶ And the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night unto Berea, who when they got there went into the synagogue of the Jews.
11These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all diligence and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
12Therefore many of them believed, also of honourable women who were Greeks and of men, not a few.
13But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was preached by Paul at Berea, they came there also and stirred up the people.
14And then immediately the brethren sent Paul to go away towards the sea, but Silas and Timothy abode there still.
15And those that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens; and receiving an order from him unto Silas and Timothy to come unto him as soon as possible, they departed.
16¶ Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him when he saw the city completely given over to idolatry.
17Therefore he disputed in the synagogue with the Jews and with the devout persons and in the market daily with those that he met with.
18Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans and of the Stoics encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? others, He seems to be a setter forth of new gods, because he preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection.
19And they took him and brought him unto the Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine is, of which thou speakest?
20For thou bringest certain new things to our ears; we desire, therefore, to know what these things mean.
21(For all the Athenians and strangers who were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing.)
22¶ Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus, {Mars’ Hill} and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
23For as I passed by and beheld your sanctuaries, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him I declare unto you.
24The God that made the world and all the things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands;
25neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he gives to all life and breath and all things
26and has made of one blood all the lineage of men to dwell on all the face of the earth and has determined the seasons (which he has limited) and the bounds of their habitation;
27that they should seek the Lord, if in any manner they might reach out to touch him and find him though he is not far from each one of us;
28for in him we live and move and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also of his lineage.
29Being therefore of the lineage of God, we ought not to think that which is Divine is like unto gold or silver or stone, bearing the mark of art and man’s imagination.
30For the times of this ignorance God overlooked, but he now commands all men everywhere to repent
31because he has appointed a day, in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he has ordained; of whom he has given assurance unto all men in that he has raised him from the dead.
32¶ And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.
33So Paul departed from among them.
34But certain men believed and joined themselves with him, among whom was Dionysius of the Areopagus and a woman named Damaris and others with them.
Currently Selected:
Acts 17: JUB
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International
Acts 17
17
Paul and Silas Arrive in Thessalonica
1Paul and those traveling with him passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia. They came to Thessalonica. A Jewish synagogue was there. 2Paul went into the synagogue as he usually did. For three Sabbath days in a row he talked with the Jews about the Scriptures. 3He explained and proved that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am telling you about is the Messiah!” he said. 4His words won over some of the Jews. They joined Paul and Silas. A large number of Greeks who worshiped God joined them too. So did quite a few important women.
5But other Jews were jealous. So they rounded up some evil people from the market place. Forming a crowd, they started all kinds of trouble in the city. The Jews rushed to Jason’s house. They were looking for Paul and Silas. They wanted to bring them out to the crowd. 6But they couldn’t find them. So they dragged Jason and some other believers to the city officials. “These men have caused trouble all over the world,” they shouted. “Now they have come here. 7Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all disobeying Caesar’s commands. They say there is another king. He is called Jesus.” 8When the crowd and the city officials heard this, they became very upset. 9They made Jason and the others give them money. The officials did this to make sure they would return to the court. Then they let Jason and the others go.
Paul and Silas Are Sent to Berea
10As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. When they arrived, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11The Berean Jews were very glad to receive Paul’s message. They studied the Scriptures carefully every day. They wanted to see if what Paul said was true. So they were more noble than the Thessalonian Jews. 12Because of this, many of the Berean Jews believed. A number of important Greek women also became believers. And so did many Greek men.
13But the Jews in Thessalonica found out that Paul was preaching God’s word in Berea. So some of them went there too. They stirred up the crowds and got them all worked up. 14Right away the believers sent Paul to the coast. But Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea. 15The believers who went with Paul took him to Athens. Then they returned with orders that Silas and Timothy were supposed to join him as soon as they could.
Paul Preaches in Athens
16Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy in Athens. He was very upset to see that the city was full of statues of gods. 17So he went to the synagogue. There he talked both with Jews and with Greeks who worshiped God. Each day he spoke with anyone who happened to be in the market place. 18A group of Epicurean and Stoic thinkers began to argue with him. Some of them asked, “What is this fellow chattering about?” Others said, “He seems to be telling us about gods we’ve never heard of.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus. He was telling them that Jesus had risen from the dead. 19They took him to a meeting of the Areopagus. There they said to him, “What is this new teaching you’re giving us? 20You have some strange ideas we’ve never heard before. We would like to know what they mean.” 21All the people of Athens spent their time talking about and listening to the latest ideas. People from other lands who lived there did the same.
22Then Paul stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus. He said, “People of Athens! I see that you are very religious in every way. 23As I walked around, I looked carefully at the things you worship. I even found an altar with
To an Unknown God
written on it. So you don’t know what you are worshiping. Now I am going to tell you about this ‘unknown god.’
24“He is the God who made the world. He also made everything in it. He is the Lord of heaven and earth. He doesn’t live in temples built by human hands. 25He is not served by human hands. He doesn’t need anything. Instead, he himself gives life and breath to all people. He also gives them everything else they have. 26From one man he made all the people of the world. Now they live all over the earth. He decided exactly when they should live. And he decided exactly where they should live. 27God did this so that people would seek him. And perhaps they would reach out for him and find him. They would find him even though he is not far from any of us. 28‘In him we live and move and exist.’ As some of your own poets have also said, ‘We are his children.’
29“Yes, we are God’s children. So we shouldn’t think that God is made out of gold or silver or stone. He isn’t a statue planned and made by clever people. 30In the past, God didn’t judge people for what they didn’t know. But now he commands all people everywhere to turn away from their sins. 31He has set a day when he will judge the world fairly. He has appointed a man to be its judge. God has proved this to everyone by raising that man from the dead.”
32They heard Paul talk about the dead being raised. Some of them made fun of this idea. But others said, “We want to hear you speak about this again.” 33So Paul left the meeting of the Areopagus. 34Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed in Jesus. Dionysius was one of them. He was a member of the Areopagus. A woman named Damaris also became a believer. And so did some others.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.