Acts 17 :: New International Version (NIV)

In Thessalonica

Act 17:1When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.

Act 17:2

Act 17:2As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,

Act 17:3

Act 17:3explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said.

Act 17:4

Act 17:4Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women.

Act 17:5

Act 17:5But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd.[fn]

Act 17:6

Act 17:6But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city officials, shouting: “These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here,

Act 17:7

Act 17:7and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.”

Act 17:8

Act 17:8When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil.

Act 17:9

Act 17:9Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go.

In Berea

Act 17:10

Act 17:10As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue.

Act 17:11

Act 17:11Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

Act 17:12

Act 17:12As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.

Act 17:13

Act 17:13But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, some of them went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up.

Act 17:14

Act 17:14The believers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea.

Act 17:15

Act 17:15Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.

In Athens

Act 17:16

Act 17:16While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols.

Act 17:17

Act 17:17So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.

Act 17:18

Act 17:18A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.

Act 17:19

Act 17:19Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?

Act 17:20

Act 17:20You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.”

Act 17:21

Act 17:21(All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)

Act 17:22

Act 17:22Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.

Act 17:23

Act 17:23For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.

Act 17:24

Act 17:24“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.

Act 17:25

Act 17:25And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.

Act 17:26

Act 17:26From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.

Act 17:27

Act 17:27God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.

Act 17:28

Act 17:28‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’[fn] As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’[fn]

Act 17:29

Act 17:29“Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill.

Act 17:30

Act 17:30In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.

Act 17:31

Act 17:31For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

Act 17:32

Act 17:32When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.”

Act 17:33

Act 17:33At that, Paul left the Council.

Act 17:34

Act 17:34Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.