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Acts 17 :: New English Translation (NET)

Act 17:1After they traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.
Act 17:2Paul went to the Jews in the synagogue, as he customarily did, and on three Sabbath days he addressed them from the scriptures,
Act 17:3explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and to rise from the dead, saying, "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ."
Act 17:4Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large group of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women.
Act 17:5But the Jews became jealous, and gathering together some worthless men from the rabble in the marketplace, they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar. They attacked Jason's house, trying to find Paul and Silas to bring them out to the assembly.
Act 17:6When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, screaming, "These people who have stirred up trouble throughout the world have come here too,
Act 17:7and Jason has welcomed them as guests! They are all acting against Caesar's decrees, saying there is another king named Jesus!"
Act 17:8They caused confusion among the crowd and the city officials who heard these things.
Act 17:9After the city officials had received bail from Jason and the others, they released them.

Paul at Berea

Act 17:10The brothers sent Paul and Silas off to Berea at once, during the night. When they arrived, they went to the Jewish synagogue.
Act 17:11These Jews were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they eagerly received the message, examining the scriptures carefully every day to see if these things were so.
Act 17:12Therefore many of them believed, along with quite a few prominent Greek women and men.
Act 17:13But when the Jews from Thessalonica heard that Paul had also proclaimed the word of God in Berea, they came there too, inciting and disturbing the crowds.
Act 17:14Then the brothers sent Paul away to the coast at once, but Silas and Timothy remained in Berea.
Act 17:15Those who accompanied Paul escorted him as far as Athens, and after receiving an order for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they left.

Paul at Athens

Act 17:16While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was greatly upset because he saw the city was full of idols.
Act 17:17So he was addressing the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles in the synagogue, and in the marketplace every day those who happened to be there.
Act 17:18Also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him, and some were asking, "What does this foolish babbler want to say?" Others said, "He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods." (They said this because he was proclaiming the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.)
Act 17:19So they took Paul and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are proclaiming?
Act 17:20For you are bringing some surprising things to our ears, so we want to know what they mean."
Act 17:21(All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there used to spend their time in nothing else than telling or listening to something new.)

Sermon on Mars Hill

Act 17:22So Paul stood before the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I see that you are very religious in all respects.
Act 17:23For as I went around and observed closely your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: 'To an unknown god.' Therefore what you worship without knowing it, this I proclaim to you.
Act 17:24The God who made the world and everything in it, who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by human hands,
Act 17:25nor is he served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives life and breath and everything to everyone.
Act 17:26From one man he made every nation of the human race to inhabit the entire earth, determining their set times and the fixed limits of the places where they would live,
Act 17:27so that they would search for God and perhaps grope around for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
Act 17:28For in him we live and move about and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we too are his offspring.'
Act 17:29So since we are God's offspring, we should not think the deity is like gold or silver or stone, an image made by human skill and imagination.
Act 17:30Therefore, although God has overlooked such times of ignorance, he now commands all people everywhere to repent,
Act 17:31because he has set a day on which he is going to judge the world in righteousness, by a man whom he designated, having provided proof to everyone by raising him from the dead."
Act 17:32Now when they heard about the resurrection from the dead, some began to scoff, but others said, "We will hear you again about this."
Act 17:33So Paul left the Areopagus.
Act 17:34But some people joined him and believed. Among them were Dionysius, who was a member of the Areopagus, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
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Pericope

Pericope taken from the NASB95 and has been graciously provided by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved.

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