17:1 Now when they had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.
17:2 And according to Paul’s custom, he ①visited them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
▷ ①Lit entered to them
17:3 ①explaining and ②giving evidence that the ③Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the ④Christ.”
▷ ①Lit opening ②Lit placing before ③I.e., Messiah ④I.e., Messiah
17:4 And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, ①along with a large number of the God-fearing Greeks and ②a significant number of the leading women.
▷ ①Lit and a large ②Lit not a few
17:5 But the Jews, becoming jealous and taking along some wicked men from the marketplace, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; and they attacked the house of Jason and were seeking to bring them out to the people.
17:6 When they did not find them, they began dragging Jason and some brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have upset ①the world have come here also;
▷ ①Lit the inhabited earth
17:7 ①and Jason has welcomed them, and they all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.”
▷ ①Lit whom Jason has welcomed
17:8 They stirred up the crowd and the city authorities who heard these things.
17:9 And when they had received a ①pledge from Jason and the others, they released them.
▷ ①Or bond
17:10 The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, ①and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.
▷ ①Lit who when...arrived went
17:11 Now these people were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, ①for they received the word with ②great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.
▷ ①Lit who received ②Lit all
17:12 Therefore, many of them believed, ①along with a significant number of prominent Greek women and men.
▷ ①Lit and not a few
17:13 But when the Jews of Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Berea also, they came there as well, agitating and stirring up the crowds.
17:14 Then immediately the brothers sent Paul out to go as far as the sea; and Silas and Timothy remained there.
17:15 Now those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they left.
17:16 Now while Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he observed that the city was full of idols.
17:17 So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be present.
17:18 And some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers as well were ①conversing with him. Some were saying, “What could this ②scavenger of tidbits want to say?” Others, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.
▷ ①Or disputing ②Lit seed gatherer; i.e., an unlearned person collecting only scraps of knowledge
17:19 And they took him and brought him ①to the ②Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is ③which you are proclaiming?
▷ ①Or before ②Or Hill of Ares; Greek god of war ③Lit which is being spoken by you
17:20 For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean.”
17:21 (Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)
17:22 So Paul stood in the midst of the ①Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I see that you are very religious in all respects.
▷ ①Or the Council of the Areopagus
17:23 For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore, what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.
17:24 The God who made the world and everything that is in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made by hands;
17:25 nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things;
17:26 and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation,
17:27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might feel around for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;
17:28 for in Him we live and move and ①exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His descendants.’
▷ ①Lit are
17:29 Therefore, since we are the descendants of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by human skill and thought.
17:30 So having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now proclaiming to mankind that all people everywhere are to repent,
17:31 because He has set a day on which He will judge ①the world in righteousness ②through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all people ③by raising Him from the dead.”
▷ ①Lit the inhabited earth ②Lit by; or in ③Or when He raised
17:32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began to scoff, but others said, “We shall hear from you ①again concerning this.”
▷ ①Lit also again
17:33 So Paul went out from among them.
17:34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.