Jul. 28, 29
Acts 17
Act 17:1 Now when they
had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to
Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.
Act 17:2 Paul, as was
his custom, went in to them, and for three Sabbath days reasoned with
them from the Scriptures,
Act 17:3 explaining and
demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the
dead, and saying, "This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the
Christ."
Act 17:4 Some of them
were persuaded, and joined Paul and Silas, of the devout Greeks a
great multitude, and not a few of the chief women.
Act 17:5 But the
unpersuaded Jews took along some wicked men from the marketplace, and
gathering a crowd, set the city in an uproar. Assaulting the house of
Jason, they sought to bring them out to the people.
Act 17:6 When they
didn't find them, they dragged Jason and certain brothers before the
rulers of the city, crying, "These who have turned the world
upside down have come here also,
Act 17:7 whom Jason has
received. These all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying
that there is another king, Jesus!"
Act 17:8 The multitude
and the rulers of the city were troubled when they heard these
things.
Act 17:9 When they had
taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.
Act 17:10 The brothers
immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Beroea. When they
arrived, they went into the Jewish synagogue.
Act 17:11 Now these
were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the
word with all readiness of the mind, examining the Scriptures daily
to see whether these things were so.
Act 17:12 Many of them
therefore believed; also of the prominent Greek women, and not a few
men.
Act 17:13 But when the
Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was
proclaimed by Paul at Beroea also, they came there likewise,
agitating the multitudes.
Act 17:14 Then the
brothers immediately sent out Paul to go as far as to the sea, and
Silas and Timothy still stayed there.
Act 17:15 But those who
escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens. Receiving a commandment
to Silas and Timothy that they should come to him very quickly, they
departed.
Act 17:16 Now while
Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as
he saw the city full of idols.
Act 17:17 So he
reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and
in the marketplace every day with those who met him.
Act 17:18 Some of the
Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also were conversing with him. Some
said, "What does this babbler want to say?" Others said,
"He seems to be advocating foreign deities," because he
preached Jesus and the resurrection.
Act 17:19 They took
hold of him, and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we
know what this new teaching is, which is spoken by you?
Act 17:20 For you bring
certain strange things to our ears. We want to know therefore what
these things mean."
Act 17:21 Now all the
Athenians and the strangers living there spent their time in nothing
else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing.
Act 17:22 Paul stood in
the middle of the Areopagus, and said, "You men of Athens, I
perceive that you are very religious in all things.
Act 17:23 For as I
passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also
an altar with this inscription: 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.' What therefore
you worship in ignorance, this I announce to you.
Act 17:24 The God who
made the world and all things in it, he, being Lord of heaven and
earth, doesn't dwell in temples made with hands,
Act 17:25 neither is he
served by men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he
himself gives to all life and breath, and all things.
Act 17:26 He made from
one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the surface of the
earth, having determined appointed seasons, and the boundaries of
their dwellings,
Act 17:27 that they
should seek the Lord, if perhaps they might reach out for him and
find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
Act 17:28 'For in him
we live, and move, and have our being.' As some of your own poets
have said, 'For we are also his offspring.'
Act 17:29 Being then
the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is
like gold, or silver, or stone, engraved by art and design of man.
Act 17:30 The times of
ignorance therefore God overlooked. But now he commands that all
people everywhere should repent,
Act 17:31 because he
has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness
by the man whom he has ordained; of which he has given assurance to
all men, in that he has raised him from the dead."
Act 17:32 Now when they
heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but others said,
"We want to hear you again concerning this."
Act 17:33 Thus Paul
went out from among them.
Act 17:34 But certain
men joined with him, and believed, among whom also was Dionysius the
Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.