1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to *ch. 20:4;Phil. 4:16;1 Thess. 1:1Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 And Paul went in, *See ch. 13:5as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them *See ch. 8:35from the Scriptures, 3 *Luke 24:26,32explaining and proving that it was necessary for *See ch. 3:18the Christ to suffer and *See John 20:9to rise from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ." 4 And *[1 Thess. 2:1,2]; See ch. 14:4some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did *ver. 12a great many of the devout *See John 7:35Greeks and not a few of the leading women. 5 *1 Thess. 2:14-16;See ch. 13:50But the Jews*17:5 Greek Ioudaioi probably refers here to Jewish religious leaders, and others under their influence, in that time; also verse 13*See ch. 5:17were jealous, and taking *[Judg. 9:4;11:3;2 Chr. 13:7]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. 6 And when they could not find them, *ch. 16:19-21they 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, 7 and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against *ch. 16:4;Luke 2:1the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is *See Luke 23:2another king, Jesus." 8 And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. 9 And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

10 *ver. 14;See John 21:23The brothers*17:10 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 14 immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they *ver. 2went into the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, *[Isa. 34:16;John 5:39]examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. 12 *ver. 4Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek *ch. 13:50women of high standing as well as men. 13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, *ver. 8agitating and stirring up the crowds. 14 Then the brothers *ver. 10;See Matt. 10:23immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and *See ch. 16:1Timothy remained there. 15 *[ch. 15:3] Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as *ch. 18:1;1 Thess. 3:1Athens, and after receiving a command *ch. 18:5for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed.

16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was *[2 Pet. 2:8] provoked within him as he saw that the city was *[Isa. 2:8]full of idols. 17 So *See ch. 13:5he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. 18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, *[1 Cor. 4:10] "What does this babbler wish to say?" Others said, "He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities"—because *See ch. 5:42he was preaching *ver. 31, 32;ch. 4:2;[1 Cor. 15:12]Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to *ver. 22;[ver. 34]the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this *Mark 1:27;[John 7:16;Heb. 13:9]new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 For you bring some *1 Pet. 4:4,12;[Hos. 8:12]strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean." 21 Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.

22 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: "Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: *[John 4:22;1 Cor. 15:34] ‘To the unknown god.’ *[John 4:22;1 Cor. 15:34] What therefore you worship *[ver. 30]as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 *Isa. 42:5;See ch. 14:15The God who made the world and everything in it, being *Matt. 11:25;[Deut. 10:14;Ps. 115:16] Lord of heaven and earth, *See ch. 7:48does not live in temples made by man,*17:24 Greek made by hands25 nor is he served by human hands, *Ps. 50:8-12;[1 Chr. 29:14,16;Job 22:2] as though he needed anything, since he himself *1 Tim. 6:17;James 1:5,17gives to all mankind *Gen. 2:7;7:22;Job 33:4;[Job 27:3;Eccles. 12:7;Zech. 12:1]; See ver. 28life and breath and everything. 26 And *[Gen. 3:20;Mal. 2:10] he made from one man every nation of mankind to live *Gen. 11:8;Luke 21:35on all the face of the earth, *[Job 12:23;14:5] having determined allotted periods and *Deut. 32:8;[Ps. 74:17]the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 *[ch. 15:17] that they should seek God, *[Job 23:3,8,9] and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. *[Deut. 4:7;Ps. 145:18;Jer. 23:23,24]; See ch. 14:17Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for

*Job 12:10;Dan. 5:23;[Heb. 2:11] "‘In him we live and move and have our being’;*17:28 Probably from Epimenides of Crete

as even some of *[Titus 1:12]your own poets have said,

"‘For we are indeed his offspring.’*17:28 From Aratus’s poem "Phainomena"

29 *[Luke 3:38;Heb. 12:9] Being then God’s offspring, *Isa. 40:18,19,25;46:5;[Rom. 1:23]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. 30 *Eph. 4:18;1 Pet. 1:14;[ver. 23] The times of ignorance *[Rom. 3:25]; See ch. 14:16God overlooked, but *[Mark 1:15;Titus 2:11,12;1 Pet. 4:3] now he *Mark 6:12commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed *Matt. 12:36;Rom. 2:16;1 Cor. 3:13;2 Pet. 2:9;1 John 4:17;[Isa. 2:12] a day on which *2 Tim. 4:8;See ch. 10:42he will judge the world *Ps. 9:8;96:13;98:9;1 Pet. 2:23;[Rom. 3:6] in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and *[John 16:10,11;Rom. 1:4] of this he has given assurance to all *See ch. 2:24by raising him from the dead."

32 Now when they heard of *Heb. 6:2;See ver. 18the resurrection of the dead, *[ch. 2:13;26:8] some mocked. But others said, *ch. 24:25"We will hear you again about this." 33 So Paul went out from their midst. 34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius *ver. 19, 22the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.