Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they
came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And
Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he
reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that
it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the
dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the
Christ.” And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas,
as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the
leading women. But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked
men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar,
and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the
crowd. And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and
some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These
men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and
Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the
decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” And
the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard
these things. And when they had taken money as security from Jason
and the rest, they let them go.
The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to
Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue.
Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they
received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures
daily to see if these things were so. Many of them therefore
believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as
men. But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of
God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too,
agitating and stirring up the crowds. Then the brothers immediately
sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained
there. Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and
after receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as
soon as possible, they departed.
Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was
provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. So
he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons,
and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be
there. Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed
with him. And some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?”
Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign
divinities”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.
And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we
know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? For you
bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore
what these things mean.” Now all the Athenians and the foreigners
who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or
hearing something new.
So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of
Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as
I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found
also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What
therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God
who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and
earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by
human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives
to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one
man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth,
having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their
dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their
way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each
one of us, for
“‘In him we live and move and have our being’;
as even some of your own poets have said,
“‘For we are indeed his offspring.’
Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the
divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by
the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God
overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,
because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in
righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has
given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked.
But others said, “We will hear you again about this.” So Paul went
out from their midst. But some men joined him and believed, among
whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris
and others with them.
