1 N ow when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews:

2 a nd Paul, as his custom was, went in unto them, and for three sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures,

3 o pening and alleging that it behooved the Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom, said he, I proclaim unto you, is the Christ.

4 A nd some of them were persuaded, and consorted with Paul and Silas, and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.

5 B ut the Jews, being moved with jealousy, took unto them certain vile fellows of the rabble, and gathering a crowd, set the city on an uproar; and assaulting the house of Jason, they sought to bring them forth to the people.

6 A nd when they found them not, they dragged Jason and certain brethren before the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;

7 w hom Jason hath received: and these all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.

8 A nd they troubled the multitude and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things.

9 A nd when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

10 A nd the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Beroea: who when they were come thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.

11 N ow these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of the mind, examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so.

12 M any of them therefore believed; also of the Greek women of honorable estate, and of men, not a few.

13 B ut when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was proclaimed of Paul at Beroea also, they came thither likewise, stirring up and troubling the multitudes.

14 A nd then immediately the brethren sent forth Paul to go as far as to the sea: and Silas and Timothy abode there still.

15 B ut they that conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens: and receiving a commandment unto Silas and Timothy that they should come to him with all speed, they departed.

16 N ow while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he beheld the city full of idols.

17 S o he reasoned in the synagogue with Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with them that met him.

18 A nd certain also of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, What would this babbler say? others, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached Jesus and the resurrection.

19 A nd they took hold of him, and brought him unto the Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new teaching is, which is spoken by thee?

20 F or thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean.

21 ( Now all the Athenians and the strangers sojourning there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing.)

22 A nd Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus, and said, Ye men of Athens, in all things, I perceive that ye are very religious.

23 F or 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 ye worship in ignorance, this I set forth unto you.

24 T he God that made the world and all things therein, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

25 n either is he served by men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;

26 a nd he made of one every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed seasons, and the bounds of their habitation;

27 t hat they should seek God, if haply they might feel after him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us:

28 f or in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain even of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

29 B eing then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and device of man.

30 T he times of ignorance therefore God overlooked; but now he commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent:

31 i nasmuch as he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

32 N ow when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but others said, We will hear thee concerning this yet again.

33 T hus Paul went out from among them.

34 B ut certain men clave unto him, and believed: among whom also was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.