Acts 17
17
A Short Ministry in Thessalonica
1After they passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica,#Ac 20:4; Php 4:16; 1Th 1:1; 2Tm 4:10 where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2As usual, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures,#Ac 8:35; 9:20; 13:13–14 3explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and rise from the dead: “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah.”#Lk 24:26; Jn 20:9; Ac 3:18; 9:22; 18:28 4Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, including a large number of God-fearing Greeks, as well as a number of the leading women.#Jn 7:35; Ac 14:4; 15:22
Riot in the City
5But the Jews became jealous, and they brought together some wicked men from the marketplace, formed a mob, and started a riot in the city. Attacking Jason’s house, they searched for them to bring them out to the public assembly.#Ac 17:13; Rm 16:21; 1Th 2:14–16 6When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here too, 7and Jason has welcomed them. They are all acting contrary to Caesar’s decrees,#Lk 2:1; Rm 1:32; Eph 2:15 saying that there is another king — Jesus.”#Lk 23:2; Jn 19:12 8The crowd and city officials who heard these things were upset. 9After taking a security bond from Jason and the others, they released them.
The Bereans Search the Scriptures
10As soon as it was night, the brothers and sisters sent Paul and Silas away to Berea.#Ac 17:13–14; 20:4 Upon arrival, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11The people here were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, since they received the word with eagerness and examined#17:11 Or asked about the Scriptures#Is 34:16; Lk 16:29; Jn 5:39 daily to see if these things were so. 12Consequently, many of them believed, including a number of the prominent Greek women as well as men. 13But when the Jews from Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul at Berea, they came there too, agitating and upsetting#17:13 Other mss omit and upsetting the crowds. 14Then the brothers and sisters immediately sent Paul away to go to the coast, but Silas and Timothy#Mt 10:23; Ac 15:22; 16:1 stayed on there. 15Those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving instructions for Silas and Timothy to come to him as quickly as possible, they departed.#Ac 18:1,5; 1Th 3:1
Paul in Athens
16While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply distressed when he saw that the city was full of idols. 17So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with those who worshiped God, as well as in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.#Ac 9:20; 2Pt 2:8 18Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also debated with him. Some said, “What is this ignorant show-off#17:18 Lit this seed picker trying to say?”
Others replied, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign deities” — because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.#Ac 4:2; 17:31–32
19They took him and brought him to the Areopagus,#17:19 Or Mars Hill and said, “May we learn about this new teaching you are presenting?#Mk 1:27; Ac 17:22 20Because what you say sounds strange to us, and we want to know what these things mean.” 21Now all the Athenians and the foreigners residing there spent their time on nothing else but telling or hearing something new.
The Areopagus Address
22Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus and said, “People of Athens! I see that you are extremely religious in every respect. 23For as I was passing through and observing the objects of your worship, I even found an altar on which was inscribed, ‘To an Unknown God.’ Therefore, what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. 24The God who made the world and everything in it#Is 42:5; Ac 14:15 — he is Lord of heaven and earth#Dt 10:14; Ps 115:16; Mt 11:25 — does not live in shrines made by hands.#Ac 7:48 25Neither is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything,#Jb 22:2; Ps 50:10–12 since he himself gives everyone life and breath and all things.#Gn 2:7; Jb 27:3; 33:4; Zch 12:1 26From one man#17:26 Other mss read blood he has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live.#Dt 32:8; Jb 12:23; Mal 2:10 27He did this so that they might seek God, and perhaps they might reach out and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.#Dt 4:7; Jr 23:23–24; Ac 14:17 28For in him we live and move and have our being, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring.’#Jb 12:10; Dn 5:23; Ti 1:12 29Since, then, we are God’s offspring, we shouldn’t think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image fashioned by human art and imagination.#Is 40:18–19; Rm 1:23
30“Therefore, having overlooked#Lk 24:47; Ac 14:16; Rm 3:25; Ti 2:11–12; 1Pt 1:14; 4:3 the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to repent, 31because he has set a day when he is going to judge the world in righteousness by the man he has appointed. He has provided proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”#Ps 9:8; 98:9; Mt 10:15; Ac 2:24; Rm 2:16
32When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some began to ridicule him, but others said, “We’d like to hear from you again about this.” 33So Paul left their presence. 34However, some people joined him and believed, including Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
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Acts 17: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Acts 17
17
Paul and Silas in Thessalonica
1Paul and Silas traveled through the cities of Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to the city of Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue. 2As usual, Paul went into the synagogue. On three consecutive days of rest—holy days, he had discussions about Scripture with the synagogue members. 3He explained and showed them that the Messiah had to suffer, die, and come back to life, and that Jesus, the person he talked about, was this Messiah.
4Some of the Jews were persuaded to join Paul and Silas, especially a large group of Greeks who had converted to Judaism and the wives of many prominent men.
5Then the Jews became jealous. They took some low-class characters who hung around the public square, formed a mob, and started a riot in the city. They attacked Jason’s home and searched it for Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. 6When they didn’t find Paul and Silas, they dragged Jason and some other believers in front of the city officials. They shouted, “Those men who have made trouble all over the world are now here in Thessalonica, 7and Jason has welcomed them as his guests. All of them oppose the emperor’s decrees by saying that there is another king, whose name is Jesus.”
8The crowd and the officials were upset when they heard this. 9But after they had made Jason and the others post bond, they let them go.
10Immediately when night came, the believers sent Paul and Silas to the city of Berea.
Paul and Silas in Berea
When Paul and Silas arrived in the city of Berea, they entered the synagogue. 11The people of Berea were more open-minded than the people of Thessalonica. They were very willing to receive God’s message, and every day they carefully examined the Scriptures to see if what Paul said was true. 12Many of them became believers, and quite a number of them were prominent Greek men and women.
13But when the Jews in Thessalonica found out that Paul was also spreading God’s word in Berea, they went there to upset and confuse the people. 14The believers immediately sent Paul to the seacoast, but Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea.
Paul in Athens
15The men who escorted Paul took him all the way to the city of Athens. When the men left Athens, they took instructions back to Silas and Timothy to join Paul as soon as possible.
16While Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy in Athens, he saw that the city had statues of false gods everywhere. This upset him. 17He held discussions in the synagogue with Jews and converts to Judaism. He also held discussions every day in the public square with anyone who happened to be there. 18Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers had discussions with him. Some asked, “What is this babbling fool trying to say?” Others said, “He seems to be speaking about foreign gods.” The philosophers said these things because Paul was telling the Good News about Jesus and saying that people would come back to life.
19Then they brought Paul to the city court, the Areopagus, and asked, “Could you tell us these new ideas that you’re teaching? 20Some of the things you say sound strange to us. So we would like to know what they mean.”
21Everyone who lived in Athens looked for opportunities to tell or hear something new and unusual.
22Paul stood in the middle of the court and said, “Men of Athens, I see that you are very religious. 23As I was going through your city and looking closely at the objects you worship, I noticed an altar with this written on it: ‘To an unknown god.’ I’m telling you about the unknown god you worship. 24The God who made the universe and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth. He doesn’t live in shrines made by humans, 25and he isn’t served by humans as if he needed anything. He gives everyone life, breath, and everything they have. 26From one man he has made every nation of humanity to live all over the earth. He has given them the seasons of the year and the boundaries within which to live. 27He has done this so that they would look for God, somehow reach for him, and find him. In fact, he is never far from any one of us. 28Certainly, we live, move, and exist because of him. As some of your poets have said, ‘We are God’s children.’ 29So if we are God’s children, we shouldn’t think that the divine being is like an image made from gold, silver, or stone, an image that is the product of human imagination and skill.
30“God overlooked the times when people didn’t know any better. But now he commands everyone everywhere to turn to him and change the way they think and act. 31He has set a day when he is going to judge the world with justice, and he will use a man he has appointed to do this. God has given proof to everyone that he will do this by bringing that man back to life.”
32When the people of the court heard that a person had come back to life, some began joking about it, while others said, “We’ll hear you talk about this some other time.”
33With this response, Paul left the court. 34Some men joined him and became believers. With them were Dionysius, who was a member of the court, and a woman named Damaris, and some other people.
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