| Chapter 17
|
| 1 | Now when they
had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where
was a synagogue of the Jews: |
| 2
| And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days
reasoned with them out of the scriptures, |
| 3 | Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have
suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach
unto you, is Christ. |
| 4 |
And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout
Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few. |
| 5 | But the Jews which believed not, moved
with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered
a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason,
and sought to bring them out to the people. |
| 6 | And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain
brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world
upside down are come hither also; |
|
7 | Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the
decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus. |
| 8 | And they troubled the people and the
rulers of the city, when they heard these things. |
|
9 | And when they had taken security of Jason, and of
the other, they let them go. |
| 10
| And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto
Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. |
| 11 | These were more noble than those in
Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and
searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. |
| 12 | Therefore many of them believed; also
of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few. |
| 13 | But when the Jews of Thessalonica had
knowledge that the word of God was preached of Paul at Berea, they came thither
also, and stirred up the people. |
|
14 | And then immediately the brethren sent away Paul to go as it
were to the sea: but Silas and Timotheus abode there still. |
| 15 | And they that conducted Paul brought
him unto Athens: and receiving a commandment unto Silas and Timotheus for to
come to him with all speed, they departed. |
| 16 | Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit
was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. |
| 17 | Therefore disputed he in the
synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily
with them that met with him. |
| 18
| Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks,
encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He
seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them
Jesus, and the resurrection. |
| 19
| And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know
what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is? |
|
20 | For thou bringest certain strange things to our
ears: we would know therefore what these things mean. |
| 21 | (For all the Athenians and strangers
which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to
hear some new thing.) |
| 22 |
Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I
perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. |
| 23 | For as I passed by, and beheld your
devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom
therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. |
| 24 | God that made the world and all things
therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples
made with hands; |
| 25 |
Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing
he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; |
|
26 | And hath made of one blood all nations of men for
to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before
appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; |
|
27 | That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might
feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: |
| 28 | For in him we live, and
move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we
are also his offspring. |
| 29 |
Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that
the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's
device. |
| 30 | And the times
of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to
repent: |
| 31 | Because he
hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by
that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men,
in that he hath raised him from the dead. |
| 32 | And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead,
some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. |
| 33 | So Paul departed from among
them. |
| 34 | Howbeit certain
men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite,
and a woman named Damaris, and others with them. |
